Enhancement of fluorescence in anthracene by chlorination: Vibronic coupling and transition dipole moment density analysis

Ultraviolet Organic Laser from Rhombus Microcrystal: Benefits of Single-Molecule Emission from Twisted Structure

Light-emitting molecular crystals with efficient emission behavior are crucial for fabricating low-threshold ultraviolet organic lasers. Herein, we demonstrated a rhombus microcrystal from a fluorene-based conjugated molecule (CL-1) with robust emission behavior for an ultraviolet organic laser. Due to the synergistic effect of twisted intramolecular conformation and weak π-interaction, the CL-1 single crystal showed an extremely high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of ∼82%, due to their single-molecule excitonic behavior. Considering the diverse noncovalent interactions, CL-1 molecules easily self-assembled into the rhombus microcrystals. Finally, a low-threshold ultraviolet organic laser was fabricated with a sharp emission at 379 nm, attributed to the 0-1 vibration band of a single CL-1 molecule, also further confirming the single twisted-molecule emission in crystal states. Precisely controlling the intramolecular twisted structure and intermolecular interaction of organic conjugated molecules is a precondition to obtain robust ultraviolet emission for optoelectronic applications.

Macrocyclic Engineering of Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescent Emitters for High-Efficiency Organic Light-Emitting Diodes

Several thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials have been studied and developed to realize high-performance organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). However, TADF macrocycles have not been sufficiently investigated owing to the synthetic challenges, resulting in limited exploration of their luminescent properties and the corresponding highly efficient OLEDs. In this study, a series of TADF macrocycles is synthesized using a modularly tunable strategy by introducing xanthones as acceptors and phenylamine derivatives as donors. A detailed analysis of their photophysical properties combined with fragment molecules reveals characteristics of high-performance macrocycles. The results indicate that: a) the ideal structure decreases the energy loss, which in turn reduces the non-radiative transitions; b) reasonable building blocks increase the oscillator strength providing a higher radiation transition rate; c) the horizontal dipole orientation (Θ) of the extended macrocyclic emitters is increased. Owing to the high photoluminescence quantum yields of ≈100% and 92% and excellent Θ of 80 and 79% for macrocycles MC-X and MC-XT in 5 wt% doped films, the corresponding devices exhibit record-high external quantum efficiencies of 31.6% and 26.9%, respectively, in the field of TADF macrocycles.

Color-Tunable Upconversion-Emission Switch Based on Cocrystal-to-Cocrystal Transformation

Cocrystal engineering, involving the assembly of two or more components into a highly ordered solid-state superstructure, has emerged as a popular strategy for tuning the photophysical properties of crystalline materials. The reversible co-assembly and disassembly of multicomponent cocrystals and their reciprocal transformation in the solid state remain challenging objectives. Herein, we report a color-tunable upconversion-emission switch based on the interconversion between two cocrystals. One red- and one yellow-emissive cocrystal, composed of an electron-deficient naphthalenediimide-based triangular macrocycle and different electron donors, have been obtained. The red- and yellow-emissive cocrystals undergo reversible transformations on exchanging the electron donors. Benefiting from intermolecular charge transfer interactions, the two cocrystals display superior two-photon excited upconversion emission. Accompanying the interconversion of the two cocrystals, their luminescent color changes between red and yellow, forming a dual-color upconversion-emission switch. This research provides a rare yet critical example involving precise control of cocrystal-to-cocrystal transformation and affords a reference for fabricating color-tunable nonlinear optical materials in the solid state.

Exploring the excited-state charge transfer fluorescence profile of 7-hydroxycoumarin and 2-methylimidazole - a combined X-ray diffraction and theoretical approach

This study investigated the effect of 2-methylimidazole (2-MIM) addition on the fluorescence of ethyl-7-hydroxy-2-oxo-2H-chromene-3-carboxylate using low-cost density functional theory (DFT) and Time-Dependent DFT calculations on single crystal X-ray geometries of ethyl-7-hydroxy-2-oxo-2H-chromene-3-carboxylate hydrate (1), 2-MIM (2), and the 1 : 1 co-crystal of (1) and (2), (3). At low concentrations (1 : 1-1 : 10) of 2-MIM, the fluorophore shows a decrease in the fluorescence intensity, but at higher concentrations (above 1 : 10) the fluorescence excitation maximum shifted from 354 nm to 405 nm, with a significant emission intensity increase. The changed excitation and emission profile at high concentrations is due to the deprotonation of the coumarin's phenolic group, which was confirmed by the increased shielding of the aromatic protons in the titration ¹H NMR spectra. The experimental fluorescence data between the 1 : 1 and 1 : 10 ratios agreed with the theoretical fluorescence data, with a redshift and decreased intensity when comparing (1) and (3). The data indicated that combining the fluorophore with 2-MIM increased levels of vibronic coupling between 2-MIM and the fluorophore decreasing de-excitation efficiency. These increased vibronic changes were due to charge transfer between the fluorophore and 2-MIM in (3). The subtle movement of the proton, H(5) toward N(2') (0.07 Å) caused a significant decrease in fluorescence due to electron density distribution (EDD) changes. This was identified by comparison of the EDD in the excited (S₁) and ground (S₀) states plotted as an isosurface of EDD difference. For the higher concentrations, an alternative excitation pathway was explored by modifying the crystal geometry of (3) based on ¹H NMR spectroscopy data to resemble excitoplexes. Theses excitoplex geometries reflected the fluorescence profile of the fluorophore with high concentrations of 2-MIM; there were dramatic changes in the theoretical fluorescence pathway, which was 100% vibronic coupling compared to 15.31% in the free fluorophore. At this concentration, the de-excitation pathway causes remodelling of the lactone ring via stretching/breaking the CO bond in the S₁ causing increased fluorescence by movement of the transition dipole moment. These results reflect previous studies, but the methods used are less experimentally and computationally expensive. This study is among the first to explain charge transfer fluorescence using crystalline geometries. This study will be of interest to the fields of crystal engineering and fluorescence spectroscopy.

On-surface photopolymerization of two-dimensional polymers ordered on the mesoscale

The use of solid supports and ultra-high vacuum conditions for the synthesis of two-dimensional polymers is attractive, as it can enable thorough characterization, often with submolecular resolution, and prevent contamination. However, most on-surface polymerizations are thermally activated, which often leads to high defect densities and relatively small domain sizes. Here, we have obtained a porous two-dimensional polymer that is ordered on the mesoscale by the two-staged topochemical photopolymerization of fluorinated anthracene triptycene (fantrip) monomers on alkane-passivated graphite surfaces under ultra-high vacuum. First, the fantrip monomers self-assemble into highly ordered monolayer structures, where all anthracene moieties adopt a suitable arrangement for photopolymerization. Irradiation with violet light then induces complete covalent crosslinking by [4+4] photocycloaddition to form a two-dimensional polymer, while fully preserving the long-range order of the self-assembled structure. The extent of the polymerization is confirmed by local infrared spectroscopy and scanning tunnelling microscopy characterization, in agreement with density functional theory calculations, which also gives mechanistic insights.

The role of the excited state dynamic of the antenna ligand in the lanthanide sensitization mechanism

A fragmentation scheme has been used to describe the photophysical phenomena associated with the antenna effect in organometallic lanthanide complexes. The theoretical protocol allows justifying the sensitization pathways.

Theoretical evidence of low-threshold amplified spontaneous emission in organic emitters: transition density and intramolecular vibrational mode analysis

Organic gain materials are highly attractive for lasing due to their chemical tunability and large stimulated emission cross sections. In previous reports, the radiative decay rate kr was considered as an important factor to determine outstanding amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) performance of organic molecules. In this study, we use quantum mechanics to reveal the influential factors on photophysical properties of organic emitters, and give insight into the effect of kr on ASE performance. Based on the theoretical analysis of three molecules with similar structure, calculated results show that large kr derives from enhanced transition density ρ between the electronic wave functions of the ground-state and the lowest excited singlet state as well as a handful of low-frequency torsional modes with small Huang-Rhys factor S, further, kr values are calculated depending on molecular vibration terms. In addition, through the analysis of non-radiative decay rate knr considering vibration terms (vibronic coupling constants), the comparison of kr and knr shows that the radiative decay process is promoted in the three molecules. The two aspects are desired for outstanding ASE performance. Our work shows that the roles of transition density and vibrational modes are crucial to clarify the photophysical properties, which govern the ASE performance in organic light emitters.

Effects of substituents on luminescent efficiency of stable triaryl methyl radicals

The factors affecting the photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs) of perchlorotriphenyl methyl (PTM) and tris(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)methyl (TTM) radical derivatives were studied systematically for the first time.

Birefringent Stable Glass with Predominantly Isotropic Molecular Orientation

Birefringence in stable glasses produced by physical vapor deposition often implies molecular alignment similar to liquid crystals. As such, it remains unclear whether these glasses share the same energy landscape as liquid-quenched glasses that have been aged for millions of years. Here, we produce stable glasses of 9-(3,5-di(naphthalen-1-yl)phenyl)anthracene molecules that retain three-dimensional shapes and do not preferentially align in a specific direction. Using a combination of angle- and polarization-dependent photoluminescence and ellipsometry experiments, we show that these stable glasses possess a predominantly isotropic molecular orientation while being optically birefringent. The intrinsic birefringence strongly correlates with increased density, showing that molecular ordering is not required to produce stable glasses or optical birefringence, and provides important insights into the process of stable glass formation via surface-mediated equilibration. To our knowledge, such novel amorphous packing has never been reported in the past.

Quantum yield in blue-emitting anthracene derivatives: vibronic coupling density and transition dipole moment density

Diagonal vibronic couplings in the Franck–Condon S₁ state cause torsional distortion, which gives rise to enhancement of fluorescence with a large transition dipole moment.