Diels-Alder "click chemistry" for highly efficient electrooptic polymers

A scheme based on Diels-Alder 'click reaction' to functionalize maleimide-containing nonlinear optical (NLO) chromophores onto polymers that possess pendant anthryl-containing diene moieties was described. The 'click-reaction enables to create different architectures of macromolecules by changing the attaching modes of the chromophore onto polymers. Three different macromolecular architectures were created by covalently attaching the center site of the chromophore bridge to a polymer backbone or a dendritic moiety. The results show that these polymers exhibit high dielectric strength, excellent optical quality, good processability, and reliable poling behavior.