Dispirofluorene–Indenofluorene Derivatives as New Building Blocks for Blue Organic Electroluminescent Devices and Electroactive Polymers

A series of new dispiro[fluorene-9',6,9'',12-indeno[1,2b]fluorenes] (DSF-IFs) has been synthesised. These new building blocks for blue-light-emitting devices and electroactive polymers combine indenofluorene (IF) and spirobifluorene (SBF) properties. We report here our synthetic investigations towards these new structures and their thermal, structural, photophysical and electrochemical properties. These properties have been compared to those of IF and SBF. We also report the anodic oxidation of DSF-IFs that leads to the formation of non-soluble transparent three-dimensional polymers. The structural and electrochemical behaviour of these polymers has been studied. The first application of these building blocks as new blue-light-emitting materials in organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) is also reported.