Hydroxynaphthyridine-derived group III metal chelates: wide band gap and deep blue analogues of green Alq3 (tris(8-hydroxyquinolate)aluminum) and their versatile applications for organic light-emitting diodes

Synthesis and photophysical properties of aluminium tris-(4-morpholine-8-hydroxyquinoline)

Aluminium tris(4-morpholinyl-8-hydroxyquinoline) has been synthesized and characterized. The photoluminescence measurements showed that the new derivative is blue shifted and has relative photoluminescence quantum yield two times higher compared to the pristine Al tris(8-hydroxyquinoline). Deferential scanning colorimetric studies revealed that the newly synthesized Alq3 derivative in this work is amorphous material with the highest transition glass temperature value among the reported amorphous Alq3 derivatives.

Design of efficient thermally activated delayed fluorescence materials for pure blue organic light emitting diodes

Efficient thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) has been characterized for a carbazole/sulfone derivative in both solutions and doped films. A pure blue organic light emitting diode (OLED) based on this compound demonstrates a very high external quantum efficiency (EQE) of nearly 10% at low current density. Because TADF only occurs in a bipolar system where donor and acceptor centered (3)ππ* states are close to or higher than the triplet intramolecular charge transfer ((3)CT) state, control of the π-conjugation length of both donor and acceptor is considered to be as important as breaking the π-conjugation between them in blue TADF material design.

Novel multifunctional organic semiconductor materials based on 4,8-substituted 1,5-naphthyridine: synthesis, single crystal structures, opto-electrical properties and quantum chemistry calculation

A series of 4,8-substituted 1,5-naphthyridines (1a-1h) have been successfully synthesised by a Suzuki cross-coupling between 4,8-dibromo-1,5-naphthyridine (4) and the corresponding boronic acids (2a-2h) in the presence of catalytic palladium acetate in yields of 41.4-75.8% and have ben well characterized. They are thermally robust with high phase transition temperatures (above 186 °C). Compounds 1b, 1e and 1f crystallized in the monoclinic crystal system with the space groups P2(1)/c, P2(1)/c and P2(1)/n, respectively. All of them show the lowest energy absorption bands (λ(max)(Abs): 294-320 nm), revealing low optical band gaps (2.77-3.79 eV). These materials emit blue fluorescence with λ(max)(Em) ranging from 434-521 nm in dilute solution in dichloromethane and 400-501 nm in the solid state. 4,8-Substituted 1,5-naphthyridines 1a-1h have estimated electron affinities (EA) of (2.38-2.72 eV) suitable for electron-transport materials and ionization potentials (IP) of 4.85-5.04 eV facilitate excellent hole-injecting/hole-transport materials properties. Quantum chemical calculations using DFT B3LYP/6-31G* showed nearly identical the lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (LUMO) of -2.39 to -2.19 eV and the highest occupied molecular orbitals (HOMO) of -5.33 to -6.84 eV. These results demonstrate the 4,8-substituted 1,5-naphthyridines 1a-1h with a simple architecture might be promising blue-emitting (or blue-green-emitting) materials, electron-transport materials and hole-injecting/hole-transport materials for applications for developing high-efficiency OLEDs.

Exciplex electroluminescence and photoluminescence spectra of the new organic materials based on zinc complexes of sulphanylamino-substituted ligands

We have investigated the electroluminescence spectra of the electroluminescent devices based on the new zinc complexes of amino-substituted benzothiazoles and quinolines containing the C-N-M-N chains in their chelate cycles. The spectra exhibit strong exciplex bands in the green to yellow region 540 to 590 nm due to interaction of the excited states of zinc complexes and triaryl molecules of the hole-transporting layer. For some devices, the intrinsic luminescence band of 460 nm in the blue region is also observed along with the exciplex band giving rise to an almost white color of the device emission. The exciplex band can be eliminated if the material of the hole-transporting layer is not a triarylamine derivative. We have also found the exciplex emission in the photoluminescence spectra of the films containing blends of zinc complex and triphenylamine material.

Electro-functional octupolar π-conjugated columnar liquid crystals

A series of propeller-shaped π-conjugated molecules based on 2,4,6-tris(thiophene-2-yl)-1,3,5-triazines has been designed and synthesized to obtain ambipolar charge-transporting liquid-crystalline materials. The 3-fold electron-donating aromatic units are attached to the electron-accepting triazine core, which forms electro-functional octupolar π-conjugated structures. These octupolar molecules self-organize into one-dimensional columnar nanostructures and exhibit ambipolar carrier transport behavior, which has been revealed by time-of-flight measurements. In this approach, electron-donor and acceptor electro-active segments are assembled individually in each column to give one-dimensional nanostructured materials with precisely tuned electronic properties. Their desirable electronic structures responsible for both hole and electron conductions have also been examined by cyclic voltammetry and theoretical calculations. The present results provide a new guideline and versatile approach to the design of ambipolar conductive nanostructured liquid-crystalline materials.

2-(9-Anthrylmethyl-ideneamino)-4-methyl-phenol

The title compound, C₂₂H₁₇NO, is a novel Schiff base synthesized via a condensation reaction between 9-anthracenecarboxaldehyde and 2-amino-p-cresol. The asymmetric unit contains two independent mol­ecules that are joined by an O—H⋯OH hydrogen bond. An intra­molecular O—H⋯N hydrogen bond occurs in each mol­ecule. π-stacking about inversion centers was observed between adjacent phenol rings [centroid–centroid distance = 3.850 (2) Å] and adjacent anthracene rings [centroid–centroid distance = 3.834 (2) Å]. The C—N=C—C torsion angles between the phenol and anthracene rings are close to 180° with values of 174.06 (15) and 179.85 (14)°.

Theoretical Investigation of Organic Amines as Hole Transporting Materials: Correlation to the Hammett Parameter of the Substituent, Ionization Potential, and Reorganization Energy Level

Theoretical calculations on organic amines widely used as hole-transporting materials (HTMs) in multilayer organic light-emitting diodes have been performed. The calculated Ip and the reorganization energy for hole transport (λ+) of triphenylamine (TPA), 9-phenyl-9H-carbazole (PC), and their derivatives, are found to be related to their Hammett parameter (σ). In this study, the density functional theory (DFT) calculation is used to optimize 82 TPA and PC derivatives. Electronic structures of these compounds in the neutral and the radical-cation states are obtained based on calculations on optimized geometrical structures. The Ip and λ+ values are derived from calculated heats of formation (or total energy) of the neutral and the radical-cation states. In particular, the calculated Ips for these derivatives correlate well with the experimental data. The substitution effect for the mono-substituted TPA and PC is displayed in that the Ips of the TPA and PC derivatives with electron-donating and -withdrawing substituents are lower and higher than those of TPA and PC, respectively. For the effect of substitution position, the para-substituted TPA derivatives have higher Ip and –EHOMO than those of meta-substituted TPAs. The substitution effects in di- and tri-substituted TPAs are more pronounced than that of mono-substituted ones. According to the results, the calculated Ips shows an excellent agreement with the experimental oxidation potentials (EP/2) in these TPA derivatives. Furthermore, these calculation results can be employed to predict electro-luminescent properties for new and improved HTMs.