Substituent engineering of the diboron molecular architecture for a nondoped and ultrathin emitting layer

Introduction of a Chiral Biphenanthrene-Diol Unit to Achieve Circularly Polarized Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence

Circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) materials are promising candidates for future display technology. However, such highly efficient emitters suffer from the issues of difficult chiral separation and low photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY). In this work, the chiral 4,4'-biphenanthrene-3,3'-diol (BIPOL) unit was introduced into a thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) framework for the first time. We presented two series of enantiomers, R/S-o-DCzBPNCN and R/S-p-DCzBPNCN, and the synthesis of enantiopure BIPOL can be prepared via normal column chromatography. Notably, o-DCzBPNCN showed narrow singlet-triplet gap of 0.05 eV, efficient TADF, and high PLQYs of 82 % in doped films. In addition, R/S-o-DCzBPNCN exhibited high luminescence dissymmetry factor (gPL ) values of -1.94×10-2 /+1.91×10-2 in doped films. The strategy of BIPOL introduction offers a new approach to organic emitters with stereospecific synthesis, TADF, and chiroptical properties.

Modifications of Pyridine-3,5-dicarbonitrile Acceptor for Highly Efficient Green-to-Red Organic Light-Emitting Diodes

The strategy of acceptor modification is a powerful technique for tuning the emission color of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters. In this study, we have successfully designed and synthesized three TADF emitters with donor-acceptor (D-A) structures using a 4-(diphenylamino)-2,6-dimethylphenyl (TPAm) donor and various pyridine-3,5-dicarbonitrile (PC) acceptor units. As a result, three compounds named TPAmbPPC, TPAm2NPC, and TPAmCPPC exhibited greenish-yellow to orange-red emissions with high photoluminescent quantum yields (76-100%) in thin films. Remarkably, a greenish-yellow device based on TPAmbPPC and TPAm2NPC showed a high maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE_max) of 39.1 and 39.0%, respectively. Furthermore, benefiting from the suitable steric hindrance between the acceptor and donor, the nondoped organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on TPAmbPPC demonstrated an exceptional EQE_max of 21.6%, indicating its promising potential as an efficient emitter for the application of OLED applications. Furthermore, orange-red OLED devices based on TPAmCPPC exhibited a high EQE_max of 26.2%, a CE of 50.1 cd A^-1, and a PE of 52.4 lm W^-1.

Highly luminescent antiaromatic diborinines with fused thiophene rings

Tricoordinate boron-incorporated π-conjugated systems are widely investigated as optoelectronic materials because of their unique p-π* orbital interactions and high Lewis acidity. Among them, thiophene-fused diborinines are characterized by moderate antiaromaticity and extended conjugation. In this work, we have developed two new dithienodiborinines with C_2h and C_2v symmetries, which exhibited completely different optical properties. The thiophene-fused diborinines synthesized in this study showed excellent fluorescence properties both in solution and in the solid state, with quantum yields of up to 95%. The high antiaromaticity enhanced the Lewis acidity of the boron centers, as proven by the large association constants with fluoride ion estimated from titration experiments. The high Lewis acidity and the superior luminescence property have enabled their application as fluorescent sensor materials for the detection of ammonia vapor.