Studies on the fluorescence quenching of anthracenes by polysilane copolymers

In this article, the room-temperature solution fluorescence quenching of electron-deficient anthracenes such as 9-cyanoanthracene (CNA), 9,10-dicyanoanthracene (DCNA), and 9,10-dichloroanthracene (DCLA) by polysilane copolymers was studied. The fluorescence quenching data was in conformity with the Stern-Volmer equation F 0 /F = 1 + K SV [Q], the F 0 /F-[Q] straight lines were drawn, and the fluorescence quenching constants K SV were obtained. By measuring the fluorescence lifetimes of the anthracenes, the fluorescence quenching rate constants k q were calculated. Based on experiments and references, we tentatively proposed that for the same polysilane copolymer quencher the fluorescence quenching was caused mainly by the polysilane Si-Si chain and affected in a small degree by the side substituents attached to the Si-Si chain. In addition, it was observed that the order of the fluorescence quenching rate constants k q of the above three electron-deficient anthracenes by the same polysilane copolymer was DCNA > CNA > DCLA, which is just in keeping with that of their electron deficiency.