Synthesis by a Cost-Effective Method and Electroluminescence of a Novel Efficient Yellowish-Green Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescent Molecule

Conformational isomeric thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters: mechanism, applications, and perspectives

Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials have received enormous attention and the mechanism behind them has been investigated in depth. It has been found that some donor-acceptor (D-A) type TADF emitters could obviously exhibit dual stable conformations in the ground states and their distributions significantly affect the physical properties and device performances. Therefore, professional analysis and a summary of the relationship between molecular structures and performances are very important. In this review, we first summarize the mechanism and properties of TADF emitters with conformational isomerism. We also classify their recent progress according to their different applications, and provide an outlook on their perspectives.

Conformational disorder enabled emission phenomena in heavily doped TADF films

Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) compounds doped in solid hosts are prone to undergo solvation effects, similar to those in the solution state. Emission peak shifts and changes in emission decay rates usually follow solid-state solvation (SSS). However, here we show that typical SSS behavior in heavily doped TADF films could be of a completely different origin, mistakenly attributed to SSS. Typically, increasing the doping load was found to redshift the emission peak wavelength and enhance the rISC rate. However, more in-depth analysis revealed that SSS actually is negligible and both phenomena are caused by the specific behavior of delayed emission. Increasing the concentration of the TADF compound was shown to enhance the concentration quenching of long-lived delayed fluorescence from conformer states with the largest singlet energy, eventually leading to a gradual redshift of the delayed emission peak wavelength. Concomitantly, the loss of long-lived delayed fluorescence entailed reverse intersystem crossing rate enhancement, though the rate-governing singlet-triplet energy gap was gradually increasing. The observed phenomena are highly unwanted, burdening molecular structure and OLED performance optimization.

Luminescent Behavior Elucidation of a Disilane-Bridged D-A-D Triad Composed of Phenothiazine and Thienopyrazine

A σ-π extended aryldisilane, comprising a thienopyrazine group as an acceptor fragment and phenothiazine groups as the donor moiety, has been prepared through the introduction of two Si-Si bridges (compound 1). X-ray diffraction analysis determined the crystal structure of 1, and experimental and theoretical approaches investigated its optical properties. Solvatochromic studies revealed the dual emission of 1 in all solvents tested. Compound 1 also exhibited fluorescence in the solid state upon excitation with a hand-held UV lamp, as well as mechanochromic luminescent properties. The packing mode in the crystal structure, variation of phenothiazine conformation, morphological changes between crystalline and amorphous phases are the major factors showing reversible fluorescence under external stimuli. A theoretical conformer study found that 1 exists in distinct conformational groups differing in Gibbs free energy by less than 3 kcal mol^-1 . The conformer in the crystalline state of 1 can promote the complete separation of the HOMO and LUMO between the phenothiazine donor and the thienopyrazine acceptor, linked by the disilane linker. HOMO-LUMO energy transition in the crystalline state is forbidden due to the lack of frontier orbital overlap. Crystalline state emission showed LUMO → HOMO-1 transition (locally excited (LE) state). In the amorphous state, the partial presence of quasi-axial conformers allows intramolecular charge-transfer type emission via energy transfer from dominant quasi-equatorial conformers. The strategy proposed in this work provides important guidance for developing stimuli-responsive materials with controlled excited states.

Steric Manipulation as a Mechanism for Tuning the Reduction and Oxidation Potentials of Phenothiazines

Synthetic chemists customarily tune the redox characteristics of π-conjugated molecules by introducing electron-donating or electron-withdrawing substituents onto the molecular core, or by modifying the length of the π-conjugated pathway. Any steric effects of such efforts on molecular geometry typically affect both the neutral and charged (oxidized or reduced) states indiscriminately. However, in electroactive systems that undergo significant conformational changes upon oxidation or reduction, we can leverage the steric and inductive effects of substitution to attain considerable control over individual redox potentials. Here, we make use of density functional theory to elucidate the interplay between electronic and geometric effects of peripheral substitution on the model system of phenothiazine. For instance, we introduce substituents at positions ortho to the nitrogen atom (positions 1 and 9) to induce steric strain in the radical-cation state without significant effect on the neutral molecule, thereby augmenting the overall ionization potential. Notably, this steric effect persists for electron-donating substituents; the resulting ionization potentials therefore deviate from outcomes foretold by Hammett constants. Moreover, the same procedure has limited effect on electron affinities because of differences in phenothiazines' relaxation process upon reduction compared to oxidation. Our results promote molecular design guidelines for manipulating redox potentials in classes of electroactive compounds that experience dramatic changes in geometry upon ionization.

Control of the dual emission from a thermally activated delayed fluorescence emitter containing phenothiazine units in organic light-emitting diodes

A novel TADF emitter showing dual emission is synthesized and applied to OLEDs with an external quantum efficiency of 11.5%.