Multifunctional polyamides containing pyrrole unit with different triarylamine units owning electrochromic, electrofluorochromic and photoelectron conversion properties

Four kinds of novel polyamides (PAs) containing pyrrole core with different triarylamine (TAA) groups were designed and synthesized. These PAs exhibit good solubility in various organic solvents and excellent thermal stability. The two PAs prepared from cyclohexane-1,4-dicarboxylic acid exhibit fluorescence maximum at 475–476 nm with quantum yields up to 39.0% and 57.3% in N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc) solution. Furthermore, the polymer films show reversible electrochemical redoxidation with color changing from yellowish to khaki to dark blue. Especially, the films have high coloration efficiency (up to 143 cm² C⁻¹ at 750 nm) and after over 1000 s the films still exhibit continuous cyclic stability of electrochromism. What's more, these PAs could be used as the photoelectric conversion material owing to their excellent optoelectronic properties.