Polymers containing coumarin and Ru(BpyMe2)3 2+ chromophores were synthesized using a grafting approach and also a copolymerization approach. It was found that the solubility of polymers made from Ru-containing monomers was higher than that observed for comparable polymers obtained by grafting of Ru complexes onto bpy-containing prepolymers. The resulting bichromophoric macromolecules exhibited enhanced absorption and luminescence properties compared to the single Ru(BpyMe2)3 2+ complexes due to a very efficient (>95%) energy transfer between the coumarin donor dyes and the ruthenium chromophores. In addition, a novel system in which two different donor dyes are present together with the Ru complex was synthesized and also found to deliver efficient energy transfer to the ruthenium complexes.

The synthesis of novel dendrimers functionalized with laser dyes both at the periphery and at the core, along with all relevant model compounds necessary for accurate photophysical studies, is described. The utilized synthetic strategy involves a modular approach in which a variety of peripheral and core moieties can be placed on a dendritic structure bearing electrophilic peripheral groups and a nucleophilic core. Specifically, the target macromolecules required functionalization with the laser dyes coumarin 2 (periphery) and coumarin 343 (core) due to the possibility of energy transfer from the former to the latter dye. In addition, the preparation of a novel, highly soluble and reactive hypermonomer utilized in the rapid and efficient synthesis of high-generation dye-labeled dendrimers and model compounds is outlined.