Amplified spontaneous emission and laser action from solutions of substituted p-oligophenylenes

A series of soluble p-oligophenylenes have been synthesized and studied in dilute solutions. These compounds gave very high fluorescence quantum yields, which in the case of an octaphenylene analogue was 0.92 in a chloroform solution. All compounds gave amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) with low excitation thresholds. They can be employed as active media in dye lasers giving tunable laser emission between 400 and 450 nm.