Over the past two decades, organic optoelectronic materials have been considered very promising. The attractiveness of this group of compounds, regardless of their undisputable application potential, lies in the possibility of their use in the construction of organic–inorganic hybrid materials. This class of frameworks also considers nanostructural polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSSs) with “organic coronae” and precisely defined organic architectures between dispersed rigid silica cores. A significant number of papers on the design and development of POSS-based organic optoelectronic as well as photoluminescent (PL) materials have been published recently. In view of the scientific literature abounding with numerous examples of their application (i.e., as OLEDs), the aim of this review is to present efficient synthetic pathways leading to the formation of nanocomposite materials based on silsesquioxane systems that contain organic chromophores of complex nature. A summary of stoichiometric and predominantly catalytic methods for these silsesquioxane-based systems to be applied in the construction of photoactive materials or their precursors is given.
Platinum complexes bearing bulky N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands, i.e., [Pt(IPr*)(dvtms)] (where, IPr* = 1,3-bis{2,6-bis(diphenylmethyl)-4-methylphenyl}imidazol-2-ylidene) and [Pt(IPr*OMe)(dvtms)] (where, IPr*OMe = 1,3-bis{2,6-bis(diphenylmethyl)-4-methoxyphenyl}imidazol-2-ylidene, dvtms = divinyltetramethyldisiloxane) catalyse nearly quantitatively and highly or completely the selective hydrosilylation of terminal olefins as well as terminal or internal acetylenes.
Synthesis and characterization of new, molecular DDSQ-based compounds functionalized by substituted styrenes (also with heteroatoms) in a stereoselective manner is presented. Additionally, a novel class of vinylene-arylene linear copolymers with double-decker silsesquioxane fragments in the main chain is developed. These molecular and macromolecular compounds were synthesized via efficient and highly stereoselective silylative coupling (and copolycondensation) and cross-metathesis (and ADMET) reactions.