Dipole Moment- and Molecular Orbital-Engineered Phosphine Oxide-Free Host Materials for Efficient and Stable Blue Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence

To utilize thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) technology for future displays, it is necessary to develop host materials which harness the full potential of blue TADF emitters. However, no publication has reported such hosts yet. Although the most popular host for blue TADF, bis[2-(diphenylphosphino)phenyl]ether oxide (DPEPO) guarantees high-maximum external quantum efficiency (EQEmax ) TADF devices, they exhibit very short operational lifetimes. In contrast, long-lifespan blue TADF devices employing stable hosts such as 3',5-di(9H-carbazol-9-yl)-[1,1'-biphenyl]-3-carbonitrile (mCBP-CN) exhibit much lower EQEmax than the DPEPO-employed devices. Here, an elaborative approach for designing host molecules is suggested to achieve simultaneously stable and efficient blue TADF devices. The approach is based on engineering the molecular geometry, ground- and excited-state dipole moments of host molecules. The engineered hosts significantly enhance delayed fluorescence quantum yields of TADF emitters, as stabilizing the charge-transfer excited states of the TADF emitters and suppressing exciton quenching, and improve the charge balance. Moreover, they exhibit both photochemical and electrochemical stabilities. The best device employing one of the engineered hosts exhibits 79% increase in EQEmax compared to the mCBP-CN-employed device, together with 140% and 92-fold increases in operational lifetime compared to the respective mCBP-CN- and the DPEPO-based devices.

Database of Absorption and Fluorescence Spectra of >300 Common Compounds for use in PhotochemCAD

The design of new molecules for photochemical studies typically requires knowledge of spectral features of pertinent chromophores beginning with the absorption spectrum (λabs ) and accompanying molar absorption coefficient (ε, m-1  cm-1 ) and often extending to the fluorescence spectrum (λem ) and fluorescence quantum yield (Φf ), where the fluorescence properties may be of direct relevance or useful as proxies to gain insight into the nature of the first excited singlet state. PhotochemCAD databases, developed over a period of 30 years, are described here. The previous databases for 150 compounds have been expanded to encompass 339 compounds for which absorption spectra (including ε values), fluorescence spectra (including Φf values) and references to the primary literature have been included where available (552 spectra altogether). The compounds exhibit spectra in the ultraviolet, visible and/or near-infrared spectral regions. The compound classes and number of members include acridines (21), aromatic hydrocarbons (41), arylmethane dyes (11), azo dyes (18), biomolecules (18), chlorins/bacteriochlorins (16), coumarins (14), cyanine dyes (19), dipyrrins (7), heterocycles (26), miscellaneous dyes (13), oligophenylenes (13), oligopyrroles (6), perylenes (5), phthalocyanines (11), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (16), polyenes/polyynes (10), porphyrins (34), quinones (24) and xanthenes (15). A database of 31 solar spectra also is included.

Where does Au coordinate to N-(2-pyridiyl)benzotriazole: gold-catalyzed chemoselective dehydrogenation and borrowing hydrogen reactions

Pyridyltriazole gold(i) complexes proved to be an efficient precatalyst for the most challenging gold-catalyzed borrowing hydrogen reaction and dehydrogenation of alcohols and amines.

Solvent-Controlled Doublet Emission of an Organometallic Gold(I) Complex with a Polychlorinated Diphenyl(4-pyridyl)methyl Radical Ligand: Dual Fluorescence and Enhanced Emission Efficiency

A paramagnetic, luminescent organometallic gold(I) complex Au^I(C₆F₅)(PyBTM), where PyBTM is a photostable fluorescent polychlorinated diphenyl(4-pyridyl)methyl radical, was prepared, and its crystal and electronic structures and magnetic and optical properties were investigated. Magnetic studies using electron spin resonance spectroscopy and a superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer indicated the existence of S = ¹/₂ spin per molecule, with the spin density distributed mainly on the PyBTM ligand. The complex exhibited fluorescence in CHCl₃ with emission peak wavelength (λ_em) of 619 nm and the absolute fluorescence quantum yield (ϕ_em) of 0.04, confirming that Au^I(C₆F₅)(PyBTM) is the first luminescent organometallic complex with a coordinated luminescent radical. Solvent-dependent unique luminescent characteristics were observed in halogenated solvents (CCl₄, CHCl₃, CH₂Cl₂, and ClCH₂CH₂Cl). ϕ_em decreased, and λ_em shifted to longer wavelengths as the polarity (dielectric constant) of the solvent increased. Notably, the complex in CCl₄ displayed fluorescence with ϕ_em = 0.23, which was quite high in radicals, while showed dual fluorescence in CH₂Cl₂ and ClCH₂CH₂Cl with lifetimes of around 1 and 7 ns for two emissive components. Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent (TD)-DFT calculations indicated that the fluorescence occurred from an interligand charge transfer (CT) excited state in CCl₄, in which the C₆F₅ and PyBTM moieties acted as electron donor and acceptor, respectively, while the fluorescence was centered at the PyBTM ligand in the other three solvents. This method, i.e., the formation of an interligand CT state, to enhance ϕ_em is distinctly different from the methods reported previously. The present study revealed that a coordination bond is available for forming emissive CT excited states that lead to high ϕ_em, providing a novel method with greater capability for realizing highly emissive radicals.