Silylene-spaced diphenylanthracene derivatives as blue-emitting materials

A novel series of blue emitting silylene-spaced diphenylanthracene derivatives have been synthesized and characterized. The rhodium-catalyzed hydrosilylation of bis[4-(dimethylsilyl)phenyl]anthracene 3-4 yielded stable 9,10-disubstituted (E)-divinylsilylene-diphenylanthracene products 7-10 and salt elimination reaction of bis[4-(chlorodimethylsilyl)phenyl]anthracene 5-6 gave 9,10-disubstituted disilyldiphenylanthracene compounds 11-14. They are fluorescent in the blue region with good quantum efficiencies. The rhodium-catalyzed polyaddition including 2-tert-butyl-9,10-bis[4-(dimethylsilyl) phenyl]anthracene (4) afforded the nonconjugated copolymer 15.