Vapor-Induced Assembly of a Platinum(II) Complex Loaded on Layered Double Hydroxide Nanoparticles

Controlled self-assembly of PtII complexes is key to the development of optical and stimuli-responsive materials, but designing and precisely controlling them is still difficult owing to weak intermolecular interactions. Herein, we report the successful water-vapor-induced assembly of an anionic PtII complex [Pt(CN)2 (ppy)]- (Hppy=2-phenylpyridine) electrostatically loaded onto cationically charged layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanoparticles consisting of Mg2+ and Al3+ ions. When the PtII complexes were densely loaded onto the LDH nanoparticles, the assembly was maintained, even in dilute aqueous media. In the case of sparse loading, the PtII complexes were loaded discretely in the dry state; however, when water vapor was adsorbed, the increased mobility of the PtII complexes led to their assembly on the LDH nanoparticles. The presence of water vapor led to a drastic change in luminescence from green to orange.

Electronic Structure and Magnetic Properties of a High-Spin MnIII Complex: [Mn(mesacac)3 ] (mesacac=1,3-Bis(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)-propane-1,3-dionato)

Metal acetylacetonates of the general formula [M(acac)₃ ] (M^III =Cr, Mn, Fe, Co) are among the best investigated coordination compounds. Many of these first-row transition metal complexes are known to have unique electronic properties. Independently, photophysical research with different β-diketonate ligands pointed towards the possibility of a special effect of the 2,4,6-trimethylphenyl substituted acetylacetonate (mesacac) on the electron distribution between ligand and metal (MLCT). We therefore synthesized and fully characterized the previously unknown octahedral title complex. Its solid-state structure shows a Jahn-Teller elongation with two Mn-O bonds of 2.12/2.15 Å and four Mn-O bonds of 1.93 Å. Thermogravimetric data show a thermal stability up to 270 °C. High-resolution mass spectroscopy helped to identify the decomposition pathways. The electronic state and spin configuration of manganese were characterized with a focus on its magnetic properties by measurement of the magnetic susceptibility and triple-zeta density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The high-spin state of manganese was confirmed by the determination of an effective magnetic moment of 4.85 μ_B for the manganese center.

Luminescent Complexes of Platinum, Iridium, and Coinage Metals Containing N-Heterocyclic Carbene Ligands: Design, Structural Diversity, and Photophysical Properties

The employment of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) to design luminescent metal compounds has been the focus of recent intense investigations because of the strong σ-donor properties, which bring stability to the whole system and tend to push the d-d dark states so high in energy that they are rendered thermally inaccessible, thereby generating highly emissive complexes for useful applications such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), or featuring chiroptical properties, a field that is still in its infancy. Among the NHC complexes, those containing organic chromophores such as naphthalimide, pyrene, and carbazole exhibit rich emission behavior and thus have attracted extensive interest in the past five years, especially carbene coinage metal complexes with carbazolate ligands. In this review, the design strategies of NHC-based luminescent platinum and iridium complexes with large spin-orbit-coupling (SOC) are described first. Subsequent paragraphs illustrate the recent advances of luminescent coinage metal complexes with nucleophilic- and electrophilic-based carbenes based on silver, gold, and copper metal complexes that have the ability to display rich excited state emissions in particular via thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF). The luminescence mechanism and excited state dynamics are also described. We then summarize the advance of NHC-metal complexes in the aforementioned fields in recent years. Finally, we propose the development trend of this fast-growing field of luminescent NHC-metal complexes.

Investigate the Relationship between Structure and Triplet Potential Energy Surface to Control the Phosphorescence Quantum Yield of Platinum(II) Complex: A Theoretical Investigation

Triplet potential energy surfaces are extremely important for phosphors because they are closely related to radiative and nonradiative decay processes. In this article, the correlations between the strctures and the triplet potential energy surfaces for Pt(II) complexes are investigated in detail with the help of density functional theory (DFT). The calculated results indicate that triplet hypersurface minima with different configurations, i.e., planar and bent, rely on the geometries of the platinum(II) complex. A bent configuration could cause an obvious decrease in the phosphorescence quantum yield, and an unusual low-lying triplet excited-state decay route is proposed. In addition, the extension of π-conjugation and addition of suitable substituents, for example arylboron, are promising strategies for changing the triplet hypersurface to achieve the minimum with a planar configuration, leading to a high phosphorescence quantum yield. Moreover, to predict the triplet hypersurface, a useful and simple strategy has been put forward. In our study, the relationship between the structure and the lowest-lying triplet potential energy surface of a Pt(II) complex is constructed, which is significant and meaningful for controlling the phosphorescence quantum yield to design high-performance phosphorescent materials used in the field of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs).

Theoretical Investigation of Triplet Energy Potential Surfaces for (C^C*) Cyclometalated Platinum(II) Complexes and Corresponding Control Strategies

Triplet energy potential surfaces, for phosphorescent material, play a predominate role in determining the radiative and non-radiative decay processes. It is significant and meaningful for providing the promising strategy to...

Computational Protocol to Calculate the Phosphorescence Energy of Pt(II) Complexes: Is the Lowest Triplet Excited State Always Involved in Emission? A Comprehensive Benchmark Study

The reliable calculation of phosphorescence energies of phosphor materials is at the core of designing efficient phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (PhOLEDs). Therefore, it is of paramount importance to have a robust computational protocol to perform those calculations in a black-box manner. In this work, we use Domain-Based Local Pair Natural Orbital Coupled Cluster theory with single, double, and perturbative triple excitation (DLPNO-CCSD(T)) calculations to attain the phosphorescence energies of a large pool of Pt(II) complexes. Several approaches to incorporate relativistic effects in our calculations were tested. In addition, we have used the DLPNO-CCSD(T) values (i.e., our best theoretical values) to assess the performance of different flavors of density functional theory including pure, hybrid, meta-hybrid, and range-separated functionals. Among the tested functionals, the M06HF functional provides the best values compared with the DLPNO-CCSD(T) ones, with a mean absolute deviation (MAD) value of 0.14 eV. In its turn, and thanks to the increased accuracy achieved in the calculation of phosphorescence energies, we also demonstrate that not all of the investigated complexes emit from their lowest-lying triplet state (T₁). The outlier complexes include different complex photophysical scenarios and both Kasha and anti-Kasha types of complexes. Finally, we provide a general computational protocol to pre-screen whether T₁ is actually the emissive state and to accurately calculate the phosphorescence energies of Pt(II) complexes.

Chameleonic Photo- and Mechanoluminescence in Pyrazolate-Bridged NHC Cyclometalated Platinum Complexes

DFT investigations on the ground (GS) and the first triplet (T₁) excited state potential energy surfaces (PES) were performed on a new series of platinum-butterfly complexes, [{Pt(C^∧C*)(μ-Rpz)}₂] (Rpz: pz, 1; 4-Mepz, 2; 3,5-dmpz, 3; 3,5-dppz, 4), containing a cyclometalated NHC in their wings. The geometries of two close-lying local minima corresponding to butterfly spread conformers, 1s-4s, and butterfly folded ones, 1f-4f, with long and short Pt-Pt separations, respectively, were optimized in the GS and T₁ PES. A comparison of the GS and T₁ energy profiles revealed that an opposite trend is obtained in the relative stability of folded and spread conformers, the latter being more stabilized in their GS. Small ΔG (s/f) along with small-energy barriers in the GS support the coexistence of both kinds of conformers, which influence the photo- and mechanoluminescence of these complexes. In 5 wt % doped PMMA films in the air, these complexes exhibit intense sky-blue emissions (PLQY: 72.0-85.9%) upon excitation at λ ≤ 380 nm arising from ³IL/MLCT excited states, corresponding to the predominant 1s-4s conformers. Upon excitation at longer wavelengths (up to 450 nm), the minor 1f-4f conformers afford a blue emission as well, with PLQY still significant (40%-60%). In the solid state, the as-prepared powder of 4 exhibits a greenish-blue emission with QY ∼ 29%, mainly due to ³IL/³MLCT excited states of butterfly spread molecules, 4s. Mechanical grinding resulted in an enhanced and yellowish-green emission (QY ∼ 51%) due to the ³MMLCT excited states of butterfly folded molecules, 4f, in such a way that the mechanoluminescence has been associated with an intramolecular structural change induced by mechanical grinding.

Bright Luminescent Platinum(II)-Biaryl Emitters Synthesized Without Air-Sensitive Reagents

Transition-metal complexes bearing biaryl-2,2'-diyl ligands tend to show intense luminescence. However, difficulties in synthesis have prevented their further functionalization and practical applications. Herein, a series of platinum(II) complexes bearing biaryl-2,2'-diyl ligands, which have never been prepared in air, were synthesized through transmetalation and successive cyclometalation of biarylboronic acids. This approach does not require any air- or moisture-sensitive reagents and features a simple synthesis even in air. The resulting (Et₄ N)₂ [Pt(m,n-F₂ bph)(CN)₂ ] (m,n-F₂ bph=m,n-difluorobiphenyl-2,2'-diyl) complexes exhibit intense green emissions with high quantum efficiencies of up to 0.80 at 298 K. The emission spectral fitting and variable-temperature emission lifetime measurements indicate that the high quantum efficiency was achieved because of the tight packing structure and strong σ-donating ability of bph.

Structure-Emission Property Relationships in Cyclometalated Pt(II) β-Diketonate Complexes

Extending the ligand π-system of phosphorescent (C^∧C*) or (C^∧N) cyclometalated platinum(II) β-diketonate complexes can lead to large and seemingly abrupt variations of the photophysical properties such as triplet quantum yields and phosphorescence lifetimes. Quantum chemical studies using methods including elements from density functional theory (DFT) and multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) as well as spin-orbit coupling (SOC) provide a rationale for these observations. In the Franck-Condon region, the first excited singlet states (S₁) of these complexes are characterized by mixed metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) and ligand-centered (LC) excitations. With increasing extension of the effective π-system, the lowest-lying triplet state yields more and more LC character, thus leading to a decrease of the phosphorescence rate constant. The ability to undergo efficient intersystem crossing from S₁ to T₁ is not diminished as the S₁ state largely retains its character. In the N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes investigated here, at least two triplet states are found energetically below the S₁ state. Out-of-plane distortion enhances the probability for nonradiative decay of the triplet population. In the smaller compounds emitting in the violet or blue spectral region, the phosphorescent state is separated from the lowest-lying dark metal-centered (MC) triplet state by a small barrier only, explaining their experimentally observed low photoluminescence quantum yields in liquid solution. The semiempirical DFT/MRCI-R2018 Hamiltonian employed in our studies proves well-suited for investigating the absorption and emission properties of these platinum(II) complexes. Generally, good agreement is observed between our calculated data and the experimental findings.