Green phosphorescence and electroluminescence of sulfur pentafluoride-functionalized cationic iridium(III) complexes
Abstract
We report four cationic iridium(III) complexes [Ir(C^N)2(dtBubpy)](PF6) that have sulfurpentafluoride-modified 1-phenylpyrazole and 2-phenylpyridine cyclometalating (C^N) ligands (dtBubpy = 4,4'-di-tert-butyl-2,2'-bipyridyl). Three of the complexes were characterized by single-crystal X-ray structure analysis. In cyclic voltammetry, the complexes undergo reversible oxidation of iridium(III) and irreversible reduction of the SF5 group. They emit bright green phosphorescence in acetonitrile solution and in thin films at room temperature, with emission maxima between 482–519 nm and photoluminescence quantum yields of up to 79%. The electron-withdrawing sulfur pentafluoride group on the cyclometalating ligands increases the oxidation potential and the redox gap and blue-shifts the phosphorescence of the iridium complexes more than do the commonly-employed fluoro and trifluoromethyl groups. The irreversible reduction of the SF5 group may be a problem in organic electronics; for example, the complexes do not exhibit electroluminescence in light-emitting electrochemical cells (LEECs). Nevertheless, the complexes exhibit green to yellow-green electroluminescence in doped multilayer organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with emission maxima ranging from 501–520 nm and with an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of up to 1.7% in solution-processed devices.
Citation
Shavaleev , N M , Xie , G , Varghese , S , Cordes , D B , Slawin , A M Z , Momblona , C , Ortí , E , Bolink , H J , Samuel , I D W & Zysman-Colman , E 2015 , ' Green phosphorescence and electroluminescence of sulfur pentafluoride-functionalized cationic iridium(III) complexes ' , Inorganic Chemistry , vol. 54 , no. 12 , pp. 5907–5914 . https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.5b00717
Publication
Inorganic Chemistry
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0020-1669Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © 2015 American Chemical Society. This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Inorganic Chemistry, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see: https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.5b00717
Description
EZ-C acknowledges the University of St Andrews for financial support.Collections
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