Achieving Conformational Control in RTP and TADF Emitters by Functionalization of the Central Core

Three new symmetrical donor–acceptor–donor (D–A–D)-type molecules were prepared with phenothiazine (PTZ) as electron donors and 9,9-dimethylthioxanthene (TX) as the electron acceptor. The PTZ groups are attached at different positions on the acceptor core – ortho or meta to the sulfur of TX. The molecules have been characterized by X-ray crystallography, in-depth photophysical studies and theoretical calculations. This series provides new insights into how molecular functionalization and intramolecular charge transfer determines the singlet-triplet gap ΔEST. Two of the molecules have weak D/A decoupling and a relatively large ΔEST of 0.52 eV which prohibits the upconversion of triplet excitons to the singlet state, showing strong room temperature phosphorescence (RTP). When the TX acceptor strength is enhanced by the attachment of benzoyl substituents a very small ΔEST of <0.01 eV is observed. In this case excitons in the triplet state can be efficiently upconverted to the singlet state via reverse intersystem crossing (RISC) resulting in thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF). TADF and RTP are unambiguously assigned by distinctive photophysical data, notably a comparison of degassed and aerated luminescence spectra, temperature-dependent time-resolved fluorescence decays and power dependence of the intensity of delayed emission (for the TADF emitter)

Sulfonyl-Substituted Heteroleptic Cyclometalated Iridium(III) Complexes as Blue Emitters for Solution-Processable Phosphorescent Organic Light-Emitting Diodes

The synthesis is reported of a series of blue-emitting heteroleptic iridium complexes with phenylpyridine (ppy) ligands substituted with sulfonyl, fluorine, and/or methoxy substituents on the phenyl ring and a picolinate (pic) ancillary ligand. Some derivatives are additionally substituted with a mesityl substituent on the pyridyl ring of ppy to increase solubility. Analogues with two ppy and one 2-(2′-oxyphenyl)pyridyl (oppy) ancillary ligand were obtained by an unusual in situ nucleophilic displacement of a fluorine substituent on one of the ppy ligands by water followed by N^O chelation to iridium. The X-ray crystal structures of seven of the complexes are reported. The photophysical and electrochemical properties of the complexes are supported by density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT calculations. Efficient blue phosphorescent organic light-emitting devices (PhOLEDs) were fabricated using a selection of the complexes in a simple device architecture using a solution-processed single-emitting layer in the configuration ITO/PEDOT:PSS/PVK:OXD-7(35%):Ir complex(15%)/TPBi/LiF/Al. The addition of a sulfonyl substituent blue-shifts the electroluminescence by ca. 12 nm to λmaxEL 463 nm with CIEx,y coordinates (0.19, 0.29), compared to the benchmark complex FIrpic (λmaxEL 475 nm, 0.19, 0.38) in directly comparable devices, confirming the potential of the new complexes to serve as effective blue dopants in PhOLEDs. Replacing a fluorine by a methoxy group in these complexes red shifts the PL and EL λmax by ca. 4–6 nm. The efficiency of the blue PhOLEDs of the sulfonyl-substituted complexes is, in most cases, significantly enhanced by the presence of a mesityl substituent on the pyridyl ring of the ppy ligands

Highly Efficient TADF OLEDs: How the Emitter–Host Interaction Controls Both the Excited State Species and Electrical Properties of the Devices to Achieve Near 100% Triplet Harvesting and High Efficiency

New emitters that can harvest both singlet and triplet excited states to give 100% internal conversion of charge into light, are required to replace Ir based phosphors in organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). Molecules that have a charge transfer (CT) excited state can potentially achieve this through the mechanism of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF). Here, it is shown that a D–A charge transfer molecule in the solid state, can emit not only via an intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) excited state, but also from exciplex states, formed between the molecule and the host material. OLEDs based on a previously studied D–A–D molecule in a host TAPC achieves >14% external electroluminescence yield and shows nearly 100% efficient triplet harvesting. In these devices, it is unambiguously established that the triplet states are harvested via TADF, but more interestingly, these results are found to be independent of whether the emitter is the ICT state or the D–A–D/host exciplex

Formation of two-dimensional weak localization in conducting Langmuir-Blodgett films

We report the magnetotransport properties up to 7 T in the organic highly conducting Langmuir-Blodgett(LB) films formed by a molecular association of the electroactive donor molecule bis(ethylendioxy)tetrathiafulvalene (BEDO-TTF) and stearic acid CH$_3$(CH$_2$)$_{16}$COOH. We show the logarithmic decrease of dc conductivity and the negative transverse magnetoresistance at low temperature. They are interpreted in the weak localization of two-dimensional (2D) electronic system based on the homogeneous conducting layer with the molecular size thickness of BEDO-TTF. The electronic length with phase memory is given at the mesoscopic scale, which provides for the first time evidence of the 2D coherent charge transport in the conducting LB films.Comment: 5 pages, 1 Table and 5 figure