Term: polyphenylenethynylenes
https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.08896

Definition:
Polymer composed of macromolecules containing exclusively alternating phenylene or substituted phenylene and ethynediyl (formerly ethynylene) constitutional repeating units in the backbone: [image] where \(\ce{R^{1}}\), \(\ce{R^{2}}\), \(\ce{R^{3}}\) and \(\ce{R^{4}}\) are each hydrogen, alkyl, aryl, halogen, trialkylsilyl etc. (structure-based polymer class name).

Note: Polyphenylenethynylenes are a subclass of polyarylenethynylenes and also a subclass of conjugated polymers (except for those containing 1,3-phenylene constitutional repeating units).

Example:  [image]

Example: Array

Link: 
Related Term: polyarylenethynylenes (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.08885).
Related Term: conjugated polymers (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.08785).

Images:
1) polyphenylenethynylene (https://goldbook.iupac.org/img/inline/08896-1.jpg) 
2) polyphenylenethynylene (https://goldbook.iupac.org/img/inline/08896-2.jpg) 

Source: PAC, 2022, 94, 15. 'Glossary of terms relating to electronic, photonic and magnetic properties of polymers (IUPAC Recommendations 2021)' on page 59 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2020-0501)

Citation: 'polyphenylenethynylenes' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.08896

License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.

Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.