Photoluminescence of a New Material: Cyclometalated C∧C* Thiazole-2-ylidene Platinum(II) Complexes

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.

Phosphorescent Bimetallic C^C* Platinum( ii ) Complexes with Bridging Substituted Diphenylformamidinates

A series of phosphorescent bimetallic platinum(II) complexes is presented, which were synthesized by the combination of bidentate cyclometalated N-heterocyclic carbene ligands and different bridging diphenylformamidinates. The complexes were characterized by standard techniques and additionally two solid-state structures could be obtained. Photoluminescence measurements revealed the strong emissive behavior of the compounds with quantum yields of up to 90 % and emission lifetimes of approx. 2 μs. The effect of the substitution pattern in the bridging ligands on the structural and photophysical properties of the complexes was examined in detail and rationalized by density functional theory calculations (PBE0/6-311G*).

5-N-Arylaminothiazoles with pyridyl groups and their first-row transition metal complexes: synthesis, photophysical properties, and Zn sensing

A series of 5-N-arylaminothiazoles were synthesized with facile diversity-oriented synthesis from readily available starting materials via the reaction of thioamide dianions and thioformamides. The introduction of various substituents at the 2-position of a thiazole ring (i.e., 2-pyridyl, 4-methylpyridyl, and phenyl groups) and on the nitrogen atom (i.e., p-tolyl and phenyl groups) significantly influenced the absorption and emission spectra of the isolated compounds. X-ray analysis confirmed that the substituents at the amino site were twisted from a thiazole ring, while the formation of its nickel complex showed dinuclear metal complexes bridged with chlorine atoms. Moreover, the formation of zinc-thiazole complexes showed enhanced emission properties in solution and noticeable emission in a solid state. In addition, thiazole-bridged dypyrromethene type ligands showed high selectivity toward Zn+2, which make them good candidates for zinc sensing.

Zn(ii) complexes with thiazolyl–hydrazones: structure, intermolecular interactions, photophysical properties, computational study and anticancer activity

Title ligands and their symmetrical octahedral complexes are not photoluminescent, contrary to other synthesized asymmetrical complexes. In comparison to the ligands, the complexes showed improved antiproliferative activity and lower toxicity.

Critical Assessment of the Reducing Ability of Breslow-type Derivatives and Implications for Carbene-Catalyzed Radical Reactions*

We report the synthesis of acyl azolium salts stemming from thiazolylidenes C_NS, triazolylidenes C_TN, mesoionic carbenes C_MIC and the generation of their corresponding radicals and enolates, covering about 60 Breslow‐type derivatives. This study highlights the role of additives in the redox behavior of these compounds and unveils several critical misconceptions about radical transformations of aldehyde derivatives under N‐heterocyclic carbene catalysis. In particular, the reducing ability of enolates has been dramatically underestimated in the case of biomimetic C_NS. In contrast with previous electrochemical studies, we show that these catalytic intermediates can transfer electrons to iodobenzene within minutes at room temperature. Enols derived from C_MIC are not the previously claimed super electron donors, although enolate derivatives of C_NS and C_MIC are powerful reducing agents.

Functional Materials Based on Cyclometalated Platinum(II) β-Diketonate Complexes: A Review of Structure-Property Relationships and Applications

Square planar organoplatinum(II) complexes have garnered immense interest in the area of materials research. The combination of the Pt(II) fragment with mono-, bi- tri- and tetradentate organic ligands gives rise to a large variety of complexes with intriguing properties, especially cyclometalated Pt(II) complexes in which ligands are connected through covalent bonds demonstrate higher stability, excellent photoluminescence properties, and diverse applications. The properties and applications of the Pt(II)-based materials can be smartly fine-tuned via a judicious selection of the cyclometalating as well as ancillary ligands. In this review, attempts have been made to provide a brief review of the recent developments of neutral Pt(II) organometallic complexes bearing bidentate cyclometalating ligands and β-diketonate ancillary ligands, i.e., (C^N)Pt(O^O) and (C^C)Pt(O^O) derivatives. Both small (monomeric, dimeric) and large (polymeric) materials have been considered. We critically assessed the role of functionalities (ligands) on photophysical properties and their impact on applications.

Tunable Light-Emission Properties of Solution-Processable N-Heterocyclic Carbene Cyclometalated Gold(III) Complexes for Organic Light-Emitting Diodes

N-Heterocyclic carbene (NHC) cyclometalated gold(III) complexes remain very scarce and therefore their photophysical properties remain currently underexplored. Moreover, gold(III) complexes emitting in the blue region of the electromagnetic spectrum are rare. In this work, a series of four phosphorescent gold(III) complexes was investigated bearing four different NHC monocyclometalated (C^C*)-type ligands and a dianionic (N^N)-type ancillary ligand ((N^N)=5,5'-(propane-2,2-diyl)bis(3-(trifluoromethyl)-1 H-pyrazole) (mepzH₂ )). The complexes exhibit strong phosphorescence when doped in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) at room temperature, which were systematically tuned from sky-blue [λ_PL =456 nm, CIE coordinates: (0.20, 034)] to green [λ_PL =516 nm, CIE coordinates: (0.31, 0.54)] by varying the monocyclometalated (C^C*) ligand framework. The complexes revealed high quantum efficiencies (ϕ_PL ) of up to 43 % and excited-state lifetimes (τ₀ ) between 15-266 μs. The radiative rate constant values found for these complexes (k_r =10³ -10⁴  s^-1 ) are the highest found in comparison to previously known best-performing monocyclometalated gold(III) complexes. Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) calculations of these complexes further lend support to the excited-state nature of these complexes. The calculations showed a significant contribution of the gold(III) metal center in the lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (LUMOs) of up to 18 %, which was found to be unique for this class of cyclometalated gold(III) complexes. Additionally, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) were fabricated by using a solution process to provide the first insight into the electroluminescent (EL) properties of this new class of gold(III) complexes.

Ligand-Mediated C-Br Oxidative Addition to Cycloplatinated(II) Complexes and Benzyl-Me C-C Bond Reductive Elimination from a Cycloplatinated(IV) Complex

Reaction of the Pt(II) complexes [PtMe₂(pbt)], 1a, (pbt = 2-(2-pyridyl)benzothiazole) and [PtMe(C^N)(PPh₂Me)] [C^N = deprotonated 2-phenylpyridine (ppy), 1b, or deprotonated benzo[h]quinoline (bhq), 1c] with benzyl bromide, PhCH₂Br, is studied. The reaction of 1a with PhCH₂Br gave the Pt(IV) product complex [PtBr(CH₂Ph)Me₂(pbt)]. The major trans isomer is formed in a trans oxidative addition (2a), while the minor cis products (2a' and 2a″) resulted from an isomerization process. A solution of Pt(II) complex 1a in the presence of benzyl bromide in toluene at 70 °C after 7 days gradually gave the dibromo Pt(IV) complex [Pt(Br)₂Me₂(pbt)], 4a, as determined by NMR spectroscopy and single-crystal XRD. The reaction of complexes 1b and 1c with PhCH₂Br gave the Pt(IV) complexes [PtMeBr(CH₂Ph)(C^N)(PPh₂Me)] (C^N = ppy; 2b; C^N = bhq, 2c), in which the phosphine and benzyl ligands are trans. Multinuclear NMR spectroscopy ruled out other isomers. Attempts to grow crystals of the cycloplatinated(IV) complex 2b yielded a previously reported Pt(II) complex [PtBr(ppy)(PPh₂Me)], 3b, presumably from reductive elimination of ethylbenzene. UV-vis spectroscopy was used to study the kinetics of reaction of Pt(II) complexes 1a-1c with benzyl bromide. The data are consistent with a second-order S_N2 mechanism and the first order in both the Pt complex and PhCH₂Br. The rate of reaction decreases along the series 1a ≫ 1c > 1b. Density functional theory calculations were carried out to support experimental findings and understand the formation of isomers.

Recent advances in phosphorescent platinum complexes for organic light-emitting diodes

Phosphorescent organometallic compounds based on heavy transition metal complexes (TMCs) are an appealing research topic of enormous current interest. Amongst all different fields in which they found valuable application, development of emitting materials based on TMCs have become crucial for electroluminescent devices such as phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (PhOLEDs) and light-emitting electrochemical cells (LEECs). This interest is driven by the fact that luminescent TMCs with long-lived excited state lifetimes are able to efficiently harvest both singlet and triplet electro-generated excitons, thus opening the possibility to achieve theoretically 100% internal quantum efficiency in such devices. In the recent past, various classes of compounds have been reported, possessing a beautiful structural variety that allowed to nicely obtain efficient photo- and electroluminescence with high colour purity in the red, green and blue (RGB) portions of the visible spectrum. In addition, achievement of efficient emission beyond such range towards ultraviolet (UV) and near infrared (NIR) regions was also challenged. By employing TMCs as triplet emitters in OLEDs, remarkably high device performances were demonstrated, with square planar platinum(II) complexes bearing π-conjugated chromophoric ligands playing a key role in such respect. In this contribution, the most recent and promising trends in the field of phosphorescent platinum complexes will be reviewed and discussed. In particular, the importance of proper molecular design that underpins the successful achievement of improved photophysical features and enhanced device performances will be highlighted. Special emphasis will be devoted to those recent systems that have been employed as triplet emitters in efficient PhOLEDs.

4,5-Substituted C^C* cyclometalated thiazol-2-ylidene platinum(ii) complexes - synthesis and photophysical properties

We report the synthesis of seven novel backbone functionalized N-phenyl-1,3-thiazol-2-ylidene platinum(ii) complexes and their photophysical properties. Electronically diverse N-phenyl-1,3-thiazol-2-thiones were prepared by a reaction of aniline with carbon disulfide and different α-haloketone compounds. Oxidative desulfuration and salt metathesis yielded the desired NHC-precursors with hexafluorophosphate counterions. In addition, a new route for the synthesis of N-phenyl-1,3-benzo[d]thiazole tetrafluoroborate via N-arylation using hypervalent iodine species is presented. All complexes were prepared from the corresponding NHC precursor in a one-pot process using silver(i)oxide, transmetalation to platinum and reaction with the β-diketone acetylacetone under basic conditions. These complexes exhibit strong phosphorescence with quantum yields up to 72% in 2 wt% PMMA films with decay lifetimes of 8.8-12.3 μs. The influence of methyl- and phenyl-groups, and an ester-substituent at the 4- and/or 5-position of the 1,3-thiazole moiety, as well as the N-phenyl-1,3-benzo[d]thiazole-derived motif is discussed. The 4,5-unsubstituted-N-phenyl-1,3-thiazol-2-ylidene platinum(ii) acetylacetonato complex served as a reference in this study to evaluate the electronic effects originating from the backbone substitution. All complexes emit in a narrow range of the bluish-green spectrum of the visible light (510 ± 10 nm).

Theoretical Study and Design of Phosphorescent Cyclometalated (C∧C*)PtII(acac) Complexes: The Substituent Effect Controls the Radiative and Nonradiative Decay Processes

Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT calculations were performed to evaluate the influence of substituent effect of (1) R = 4-Me, (2) R = 4-OMe, and (3) R = 2,3-OC₆H₄ on the phenyl ring of (C^∧C*)Pt^II(acac) (C^∧C* = phenylimidazole, acac = acetylacetone), respectively, on absorption and phosphorescent spectra properties, as well as the radiative and nonradiative processes. We found that emissions of complexes 2 and 3 originate from the Kasha-like T₁ state, whereas that of complex 1 originates from non-Kasha T₂ state. Compared with the emission of complex 1, the emission peaks of 2 and 3 are red-shifted, which is attributed to p-π and π-π conjugation effects resulting from the electron-donating groups -OCH₃ and -OC₆H₄ with ligand C^∧C*, respectively. The radiative rate constants (κ_r) of 2 and 3 are larger than that of 1, namely, κ_r(1) < κ_r(2) < κ_r(3), indicating that κ_r can be efficiently increased by enlarging π-conjugation at the main ligand of (C^∧C*)Pt^II(acac), which can cause the increase of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) matrix elements. At the same time, the activation energy barriers for the rate-limiting step can be largely raised accompanied by enlarging the ability of electron-donation of the substituent group at the main ligand of (C^∧C*)Pt^II(acac), which can cause the decrease of the nonradiative rate constant (κ_nr), namely, κ_nr(1) > κ_nr(2) > κ_nr(3). According to Φ_P = κ_r/(κ_r + κ_nr), the quantum yields should have the sequence Φ_P(1) < Φ_P(2) < Φ_P(3), which is in accordance with the experiment. In addition, to guide experimental synthesis of highly efficient (C^∧C*)Pt^II(acac), a new complex 4 through extending the π-conjugation in the C^∧C* ligand of (C^∧C*)Pt^II(acac) was theoretically designed, which has a larger quantum yield than 1-3.

Photophysical properties of a series of cycloplatinated(ii) complexes featuring allyldiphenylphosphane

Cycloplatinated(ii) complexes 1–4 were synthesized and characterized. All complexes exhibit strong luminescence except 3.

Changing the Emission Properties of Phosphorescent C^C*-Cyclometalated Thiazol-2-ylidene Platinum(II) Complexes by Variation of the β-Diketonate Ligands

Cyclometalated thiazol-2-ylidene platinum(II) complexes based on the N-phenyl-4,5-dimethyl-1,3-thiazol-2-ylidene N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligand and seven different β-diketonate ligands have been synthesised and investigated for their structural and photophysical properties. The complexes were synthesised in a one-pot procedure starting with the in situ formation of the corresponding silver(I) carbene and transmetalation to platinum, followed by the reaction with the respective β-diketonate under basic conditions. All the compounds were fully characterised by standard techniques, including ¹⁹⁵ Pt NMR spectroscopy. Three solid-state structures revealed quite different aggregation behaviour depending on the β-diketonate architecture. The reported complexes showed strong phosphorescence at room temperature in amorphous poly(methyl methacrylate) films. The emission wavelengths (ca. 510 nm) were found to be independent of the β-diketonate ligand, but the electronically diverse β-diketonates strongly influence the observed quantum yields (QY) and decay lifetimes. The results of theoretical studies employing density functional theory (DFT) methods support the conclusion of a metal-to-ligand charge transfer (³ MLCT) as the main emission process, in accordance with the reported photophysical properties. Standard organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) prepared with unoptimised matrix materials using one of the complexes showed values of 12.3 % external quantum yield, 24.0 lm W^-1 luminous efficacy and 37.8 cd A^-1 current efficiency at 300 cd m^-2 .

Metal complexes with di(N-heterocyclic carbene) ligands bearing a rigid ortho-, meta or para-phenylene bridge

Ag(i) complexes with diNHC ligands are efficient transmetalating agents towards transition metals.

Theoretical study and design of cyclometalated platinum complexes bearing innovatively a highly-rigid terdentate ligand with carboranyl as a chelating unit

The phosphorescence quantum efficiency can be greatly enhanced through suppression of the non-emissive ³MC population by modifications in the ancillary ligand.