Synthesis and Evaluation of Modified Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane (POSS) Derivatives with Luminescent Side-Chains Having Charge-Transfer Characters

Abstract We describe here synthesis and evaluation of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) derivatives having luminescent charge-transfer molecules. The electron withdrawing groups (EWG), such as trifluoromethyl groups, and electron donating groups (EDG), such as methoxy and dimethylamine groups, were introduced into π-conjugated systems connected at each vertex of the silica cube, and their optical properties were evaluated in solution and solid states. It was shown that the POSS scaffold hardly influenced the electronic structures of each substituent, meanwhile there were significant differences in electronic interactions between EWGs and EDGs depending on the order of connections from the silica cube. Finally, we obtained heat resistant luminescent materials having intermolecular charge-transfer (ICT) characters.