Triplet Emitters for OLED Applications. Mechanisms of Exciton Trapping and Control of Emission Properties

Cationic heteroleptic cyclometalated iridium(III) complexes containing phenyl-triazole and triazole-pyridine clicked ligands

Novel heteroleptic iridium complexes containing the 1-substituted-4-phenyl-1H-1,2,3-triazole (phtl) cyclometalating ligand have been synthesized. The 3+2 Huisgen dipolar cycloaddition method (‘click’ chemistry) was utilized to prepare a class of bidentate ligands (phtl) bearing different substituents on the triazole moiety. By using various ligands (phtl-R₁ and pytl-R₂) (R₁=adamantane, methyl and R₂=adamantane, methyl, β-cyclodextrin, ursodeoxycholic acid), we prepared a small library of new luminescent ionic iridium complexes [Ir(phtr-R₁)₂(pytl-R₂)]Cl and report on their photophysical properties. The flexibility of the clicking approach allows a straightforward control on the chemical-physical properties of the complexes by varying the nature of the substituent on the ligand.

Photophysical properties and OLED applications of phosphorescent platinum(II) Schiff base complexes

The syntheses, crystal structures, and detailed investigations of the photophysical properties of phosphorescent platinum(II) Schiff base complexes are presented. All of these complexes exhibit intense absorption bands with lambda(max) in the range 417-546 nm, which are assigned to states of metal-to-ligand charge-transfer ((1)MLCT) (1)[Pt(5d)-->pi*(Schiff base)] character mixed with (1)[lone pair(phenoxide)-->pi*(imine)] charge-transfer character. The platinum(II) Schiff base complexes are thermally stable, with decomposition temperatures up to 495 degrees C, and show emission lambda(max) at 541-649 nm in acetonitrile, with emission quantum yields up to 0.27. Measurements of the emission decay times in the temperature range from 130 to 1.5 K give total zero-field splitting parameters of the emitting triplet state of 14-28 cm(-1). High-performance yellow to red organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) using these platinum(II) Schiff base complexes have been fabricated with the best efficiency up to 31 cd A(-1) and a device lifetime up to 77 000 h at 500 cd m(-2).

Near-infrared phosphorescent polymeric nanomicelles: efficient optical probes for tumor imaging and detection

We report a formulation of near-infrared (near-IR) phosphorescent polymeric nanomicelles and their use for in vivo high-contrast optical imaging, targeting, and detection of tumors in small animals. Near-IR phosphorescent molecules of Pt(II)-tetraphenyltetranaphthoporphyrin (Pt(TPNP)) were found to maintain their near-IR phosphorescence properties when encapsulated into phospholipid nanomicelles. The prepared phosphorescent micelles are of approximately 100 nm size and are highly stable in aqueous suspensions. A large spectral separation between the Pt(TPNP) absorption, with a peak at approximately 700 nm, and its phosphorescence emission, with a peak at approximately 900 nm, allows a dramatic decrease in the level of background autofluorescence and scattered excitation light in the near-IR spectral range, where the signal from the phosphorescent probe is observed. In vivo animal imaging with subcutaneously xenografted tumor-bearing mice has resulted in high contrast optical images, indicating highly specific accumulation of the phosphorescent micelles into tumors. Using optical imaging with near-IR phosphorescent nanomicelles, detection of smaller, visually undetectable tumors has also been demonstrated.

Linker conjugation effects in rhenium(I) bifunctional hole-transport/emitter molecules

Spectroscopic, electrochemical and density functional theory (DFT) methods have been employed to investigate a group of [Re(CO)(3)(HT)(phen)](+) complexes (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline), and in particular the level of electronic communication between various hole-transporting (HT) ligands and the rhenium centre. Here, the HT ligand consists of a coordinating pyridine connected to dimethylaniline group through a single-, double- or triple-bond-connecting system. Electronic absorption, resonance Raman, and steady-state emission spectroscopy combined with lifetime studies and DFT calculations suggest that multiple dpi(Re)-->pi*(phen) metal-to-ligand charge transfers (MLCTs) exist for each complex, two of which significantly absorb at about 340 and 385 nm, and one that emits at approximately 540 nm. In the complexes containing more-conjugated HT ligands, non-emissive intraligand transitions (IL(HT)) exist with energies between the ground and MLCT excited states. The overlap of these IL(HT) transitions and the absorbing MLCT of lowest energy deactivates emission resulting from about 385 nm excitation, and lowers the quantum yield and excited-state lifetimes of these complexes. Cyclic voltammetry experiments indicate that throughout the series investigated, the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of each complex is centred on the HT ligand, while the occupied molecular orbitals localised on the rhenium are lower in energy.

Low-band-gap platinum acetylide polymers as active materials for organic solar cells

We report on two pairs of platinum acetylide based polymers and model oligomers utilizing a 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (BTD) acceptor moiety flanked on either side by either 2,5-thienyl donor units (Pt2BTD-Th and p-PtBTD-Th) or (3,4-ethylenedioxy)-2,5-thienyl donors (Pt2BTD-EDOT and p-PtBTD-EDOT). Both oligomer/polymer pairs absorb strongly throughout the visible region; however, because the (ethylenedioxy)thiophene moiety is a stronger donor than thiophene, the latter oligomer/polymer pair has a correspondingly lower band gap and, therefore, harvests light more efficiently at longer wavelengths. p-PtBTD-Th exhibits a relatively narrow molecular weight distribution with a number-average molecular weight (Mn) of 22 kDa, while p-PtBTD-EDOT exhibits a comparable Mn of 33 kDa but has a high polydispersity index likely due to aggregation. We provide a complete report of the photophysical and electrochemical characterization of the two oligomer/polymer pairs. The photophysical studies reveal that the materials undergo relatively efficient intersystem crossing. In a discussion of the energetics of photoinduced electron transfer from the platinum polymers to [6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), it is noted that while the singlet state is quenched efficiently, the triplet state is not quenched, indicating that charge generation in the photovoltaic materials must ensue from the singlet manifold. Finally, organic photovoltaic devices based on blends of p-PtBDT-Th or p-PtBDT-EDOT with PCBM were characterized under monochromatic and simulated solar (AM1.5) illumination. Optimized devices exhibit an open-circuit voltage (Voc) of approximately 0.5 V, a short-circuit current density (Isc) of approximately 7.2 mA cm(-2), and a fill factor of approximately 35%, which yields overall power conversion efficiencies of 1.1-1.4%.

Phosphorescent organic light-emitting devices: working principle and iridium based emitter materials

Even though organic light-emitting device (OLED) technology has evolved to a point where it is now an important competitor to liquid crystal displays (LCDs), further scientific efforts devoted to the design, engineering and fabrication of OLEDs are required for complete commercialization of this technology. Along these lines, the present work reviews the essentials of OLED technology putting special focus on the general working principle of single and multilayer OLEDs, fluorescent and phosphorescent emitter materials as well as transfer processes in host materials doped with phosphorescent dyes. Moreover, as a prototypical example of phosphorescent emitter materials, a brief discussion of homo- and heteroleptic iridium(III) complexes is enclosed concentrating on their synthesis, photophysical properties and approaches for realizing iridium based phosphorescent polymers.

Femtosecond fluorescence and intersystem crossing in rhenium(I) carbonyl-bipyridine complexes

Ultrafast electronic-vibrational relaxation upon excitation of the singlet charge-transfer b (1)A' state of [Re(L)(CO) 3(bpy)] ( n ) (L = Cl, Br, I, n = 0; L = 4-Et-pyridine, n = 1+) in acetonitrile was investigated using the femtosecond fluorescence up-conversion technique with polychromatic detection. In addition, energies, characters, and molecular structures of the emitting states were calculated by TD-DFT. The luminescence is characterized by a broad fluorescence band at very short times, and evolves to the steady-state phosphorescence spectrum from the a (3)A" state at longer times. The analysis of the data allows us to identify three spectral components. The first two are characterized by decay times tau 1 = 85-150 fs and tau 2 = 340-1200 fs, depending on L, and are identified as fluorescence from the initially excited singlet state and phosphorescence from a higher triplet state (b (3)A"), respectively. The third component corresponds to the long-lived phosphorescence from the lowest a (3)A" state. In addition, it is found that the fluorescence decay time (tau 1) corresponds to the intersystem crossing (ISC) time to the two emissive triplet states. tau 2 corresponds to internal conversion among triplet states. DFT results show that ISC involves electron exchange in orthogonal, largely Re-localized, molecular orbitals, whereby the total electron momentum is conserved. Surprisingly, the measured ISC rates scale inversely with the spin-orbit coupling constant of the ligand L, but we find a clear correlation between the ISC times and the vibrational periods of the Re-L mode, suggesting that the latter may mediate the ISC in a strongly nonadiabatic regime.