Chromophore hydrolysis and release from photoactivated rhodopsin in native membranes.

For sustained vision, photoactivated rhodopsin (Rho*) must undergo hydrolysis and release of all-trans-retinal, producing substrate for the visual cycle and apo-opsin available for regeneration with 11-cis-retinal. The kinetics of this hydrolysis has yet to be described for rhodopsin in its native membrane environment. We developed a method consisting of simultaneous denaturation and chromophore trapping by isopropanol/borohydride, followed by exhaustive protein digestion, complete extraction, and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Using our method, we tracked Rho* hydrolysis, the subsequent formation of N-retinylidene-phosphatidylethanolamine (N-ret-PE) adducts with the released all-trans-retinal, and the reduction of all-trans-retinal to all-trans-retinol. We found that hydrolysis occurred faster in native membranes than in detergent micelles typically used to study membrane proteins. The activation energy of the hydrolysis in native membranes was determined to be 17.7 ± 2.4 kcal/mol. Our data support the interpretation that metarhodopsin II, the signaling state of rhodopsin, is the primary species undergoing hydrolysis and release of its all-trans-retinal. In the absence of NADPH, free all-trans-retinal reacts with phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), forming a substantial amount of N-ret-PE (∼40% of total all-trans-retinal at physiological pH), at a rate that is an order of magnitude faster than Rho* hydrolysis. However, N-ret-PE formation was highly attenuated by NADPH-dependent reduction of all-trans-retinal to all-trans-retinol. Neither N-ret-PE formation nor all-trans-retinal reduction affected the rate of hydrolysis of Rho*. Our study provides a comprehensive picture of the hydrolysis of Rho* and the release of all-trans-retinal and its reentry into the visual cycle, a process in which alteration can lead to severe retinopathies.

Fresh Impetus in the Chemistry of Calcium Peroxides.

Redox-inactive metal ions are essential in modulating the reactivity of various oxygen-containing metal complexes and metalloenzymes, including photosystem II (PSII). The heart of this unique membrane-protein complex comprises the Mn4CaO5 cluster, in which the Ca2+ ion acts as a critical cofactor in the splitting of water in PSII. However, there is still a lack of studies involving Ca-based reactive oxygen species (ROS) systems, and the exact nature of the interaction between the Ca2+ center and ROS in PSII still generates intense debate. Here, harnessing a novel Ca-TEMPO complex supported by the ß-diketiminate ligand to control the activation of O2, we report the isolation and structural characterization of hitherto elusive Ca peroxides, a homometallic Ca hydroperoxide and a heterometallic Ca/K peroxide. Our studies indicate that the presence of K+ cations is a key factor controlling the outcome of the oxygenation reaction of the model Ca-TEMPO complex. Combining experimental observations with computational investigations, we also propose a mechanistic rationalization for the reaction outcomes. The designed approach demonstrates metal-TEMPO complexes as a versatile platform for O2 activation and advances the understanding of Ca/ROS systems.

Uncovering Factors Controlling Reactivity of Metal-TEMPO Reaction Systems in the Solid State and Solution.

Nitroxides find application in various areas of chemistry, and a more in-depth understanding of factors controlling their reactivity with metal complexes is warranted to promote further developments. Here, we report on the effect of the metal centre Lewis acidity on both the distribution of the O- and N-centered spin density in 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-N-oxyl (TEMPO) and turning TEMPO from the O- to N-radical mode scavenger in metal-TEMPO systems. We use Et(Cl)Zn/TEMPO model reaction system with tuneable reactivity in the solid state and solution. Among various products, a unique Lewis acid-base adduct of Cl2Zn with the N-ethylated TEMPO was isolated and structurally characterised, and the so-called solid-state 'slow chemistry' reaction led to a higher yield of the N-alkylated product. The revealed structure-activity/selectivity correlations are exceptional yet are entirely rationalised by the mechanistic underpinning supported by theoretical calculations of studied model systems. This work lays a foundation and mechanistic blueprint for future metal/nitroxide systems exploration.

A New Look at Molecular and Electronic Structure of Homoleptic Diiron(II,II) Complexes with N,N-Bidentate Ligands: Combined Experimental and Theoretical Study.

Paddlewheel-type binuclear complexes featuring metal-metal bonding have been the subject of widespread interest due to fundamental concern in their electronic structures and potential applications. Here, we explore the molecular and electronic structures of diiron(II,II) complexes with N,N'-diarylformamidinate ligands. While a paddlewheel-type diiron(II,II) complex with N,N'-diphenylformamidinate ligands (DPhF) exhibits the centrosymmetric [Fe2 (µ-DPhF)4 ] structure, a minor alteration in the ligand system, i. e., switching from phenyl to p-tolyl N-substituted formamidinate ligand (DTolF), resulted in the isolation of an unprecedented non-centrosymmetric [Fe(µ-DTolF)3 Fe(κ2 -DTolF)] complex. Both complexes were characterized using single-crystal X-ray diffraction, magnetic measurements, 57 Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, and cyclic voltammetry along with high-level ab-initio calculations. The results provide a new view on a range of factors controlling the ground-state electronic configuration and structural diversity of homoleptic diiron(II,II) complexes. Model calculations determined that the Mayer bond orders for Fe-Fe interactions are significantly lower than 1 and equal to 0.15 and 0.28 for [Fe2 (µ-DPhF)4 ] and [Fe(µ-DTolF)3 Fe(κ2 -DTolF)], respectively.

Simulation and analysis of the relaxation dynamics of a photochromic furylfulgide.

Furylfulgides, a class of photochromic organic compounds, show a complex system of photoinduced reactions. In the present study, the excited-state dynamics of the Eα and Eß isomers of a representative furylfulgide is modelled with the use of nonadiabatic molecular dynamics simulations. Moreover, a pattern recognition algorithm is employed in order to automatically identify relaxation pathways, and to quantify the photoproduct distributions. The simulation results indicate that, despite differing only in the orientation of the furyl group, the two isomers show markedly different photochemical behaviour. The predominant Eα isomer undergoes photocyclisation with a quantum yield (QY) of 0.27 ± 0.10. For this isomer, the undesired E → Z photoisomerisation around the central double bond represents a minor side reaction, with a QY of 0.09 ± 0.07. In contrast, the minority Eß isomer, which is incapable of photocyclisation, undergoes efficient E → Z photoisomerisation, with a QY as high as 0.56 ± 0.14. The relaxation kinetics and the photoproduct distributions are interpreted in the light of the available experimental data.

Modular Nitrogen-Doped Concave Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons for High-Performance Organic Light-Emitting Diodes with Tunable Emission Mechanisms.

Although bowl-shaped N-pyrrolic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can achieve excellent electron-donating ability, their application for optoelectronics is hampered by typically low photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs). To address this issue, we report the synthesis and characterization of a series of curved and fully conjugated nitrogen-doped PAHs. Through structural modifications to the electron-accepting moiety, we are able to switch the mechanism of luminescence between thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) and room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP), and to tune the overall PLQY in the range from 9 % to 86 %. As a proof of concept, we constructed solid-state organic light-emitting diode (OLED) devices, which has not been explored to date in the context of concave N-doped systems being TADF/RTP emitters. The best-performing dye, possessing a peripheral trifluoromethyl group adjacent to the phenazine acceptor, exhibits yellow to orange emission with a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 12 %, which is the highest EQE in a curved D-A embedded N-PAH to date.

NMR Crystallography Enhanced by Quantum Chemical Calculations and Liquid State NMR Spectroscopy for the Investigation of Se-NHC Adducts*.

N-heterocyclic carbene ligands (NHC) are widely utilized in catalysis and material science. They are characterized by their steric and electronic properties. Steric properties are usually quantified on the basis of their static structure, which can be determined by X-ray diffraction. The electronic properties are estimated in the liquid state; for example, via the 77 Se liquid state NMR of Se-NHC adducts. We demonstrate that 77 Se NMR crystallography can contribute to the characterization of the structural and electronic properties of NHC in solid and liquid states. Selected Se-NHC adducts are investigated via 77 Se solid state NMR and X-ray crystallography, supported by quantum chemical calculations. This investigation reveals a correlation between the molecular structure of adducts and NMR parameters, including not only isotropic chemical shifts but also the other chemical shift tensor components. Afterwards, the liquid state 77 Se NMR data is presented and interpreted in terms of the quantum chemistry modelling. The discrepancy between the structural and electronic properties, and in particular the π-accepting abilities of adducts in the solid and liquid states is discussed. Finally, the 13 C isotropic chemical shift from the liquid state NMR and the 13 C tensor components are also discussed, and compared with their 77 Se counterparts. 77 Se NMR crystallography can deliver valuable information about NHC ligands, and together with liquid state 77 Se NMR can provide an in-depth outlook on the properties of NHC ligands.

Simulation and Analysis of the Transient Absorption Spectrum of 4-(N,N-Dimethylamino)benzonitrile (DMABN) in Acetonitrile.

4-(N,N-Dimethylamino)benzonitrile (DMABN) is a well-known model compound for dual fluorescence-in sufficiently polar solvents, it exhibits two distinct fluorescence emission bands. The interpretation of its transient absorption (TA) spectrum in the visible range is the subject of a long-standing controversy. In the present study, we resolve this issue by calculating the TA spectrum on the basis of nonadiabatic molecular dynamics simulations. An unambiguous assignment of spectral signals to specific excited-state structures is achieved by breaking down the calculated spectrum into contributions from twisted and nontwisted molecular geometries. In particular, the much-discussed excited-state absorption band near 1.7 eV (ca. 700 nm) is attributed to the near-planar locally excited (LE) minimum on the S1 state. On the technical side, our study demonstrates that the second-order approximate coupled cluster singles and doubles (CC2) method can be used successfully to calculate the TA spectra of moderately large organic molecules, provided that the system in question does not approach a crossing between the lowest excited state and the singlet ground state within the time frame of the simulation.

Theoretical Study of the Photoisomerization Mechanism of All-Trans-Retinyl Acetate.

The compound 9-cis-retinyl acetate (9-cis-RAc) is a precursor to 9-cis-retinal, which has potential application in the treatment of some hereditary diseases of the retina. An attractive synthetic route to 9-cis-RAc is based on the photoisomerization reaction of the readily available all-trans-RAc. In the present study, we examine the mechanism of the photoisomerization reaction with the use of state-of-the-art electronic structure calculations for two polyenic model compounds: tEtEt-octatetraene and tEtEtEc-2,6-dimethyl-1,3,5,7,9-decapentaene. The occurrence of photoisomerization is attributed to a chain-kinking mechanism, whereby a series of S1/S0 conical intersections associated with kinking deformations at different positions along the polyenic chain mediate internal conversion to the S0 state, and subsequent isomerization around one of the double bonds. Two other possible photoisomerization mechanisms are taken into account, but they are rejected as incompatible with simulation results and/or the available spectroscopic data.

HAB79: A new molecular dataset for benchmarking DFT and DFTB electronic couplings against high-level ab initio calculations.

A new molecular dataset called HAB79 is introduced to provide ab initio reference values for electronic couplings (transfer integrals) and to benchmark density functional theory (DFT) and density functional tight-binding (DFTB) calculations. The HAB79 dataset is composed of 79 planar heterocyclic polyaromatic hydrocarbon molecules frequently encountered in organic (opto)electronics, arranged to 921 structurally diverse dimer configurations. We show that CASSCF/NEVPT2 with a minimal active space provides a robust reference method that can be applied to the relatively large molecules of the dataset. Electronic couplings are largest for cofacial dimers, in particular, sulfur-containing polyaromatic hydrocarbons, with values in excess of 0.5 eV, followed by parallel displaced cofacial dimers. V-shaped dimer motifs, often encountered in the herringbone layers of organic crystals, exhibit medium-sized couplings, whereas T-shaped dimers have the lowest couplings. DFT values obtained from the projector operator-based diabatization (POD) method are initially benchmarked against the smaller databases HAB11 (HAB7-) and found to systematically improve when climbing Jacob's ladder, giving mean relative unsigned errors (MRUEs) of 27.7% (26.3%) for the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) functional BLYP, 20.7% (15.8%) for hybrid functional B3LYP, and 5.2% (7.5%) for the long-range corrected hybrid functional omega-B97X. Cost-effective POD in combination with a GGA functional and very efficient DFTB calculations on the dimers of the HAB79 database give a good linear correlation with the CASSCF/NEVPT2 reference data, which, after scaling with a multiplicative constant, gives reasonably small MRUEs of 17.9% and 40.1%, respectively, bearing in mind that couplings in HAB79 vary over 4 orders of magnitude. The ab initio reference data reported here are expected to be useful for benchmarking other DFT or semi-empirical approaches for electronic coupling calculations.

Interaction of light with a non-covalent zinc porphyrin-graphene oxide nanohybrid.

The present study explores the influence of graphene oxide (GO) on deactivation pathways of the excited states of zinc 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-(hydroxyphenyl))porphyrin (ZnTPPH). The interaction of light with free ZnTPPH molecules and with ZnTPPH molecules adsorbed on graphene oxide sheets was probed via UV-vis spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, femtosecond pump-probe technique and nanosecond flash photolysis. Formation of the ground-state ZnTPPH-GO complex in solution was monitored by the red-shift of the porphyrin Soret absorption band. It was found that Stern-Volmer fluorescence quenching can be described in terms of two different quenching regimes depending on the GO concentration. In addition, our comprehensive analysis of the steady-state and time-resolved emission experiments led to the conclusion that the observed quenching was entirely attributable to a static mechanism. Laser flash photolysis showed that the triplet lifetime of the ZnTPPH increased in the presence of GO from 174 µs to 292 µs, which is related to the decrease in the rate constant of a radiationless decay mechanism involving rotation of the peripheral hydroxyphenyl rings of the porphyrin. Femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy demonstrated the presence of a fast photoinduced electron transfer from the singlet excited state of ZnTPPH to the GO sheets, as indicated by the formation of a porphyrin radical cation. Quantum chemical calculations were used to gain deeper insights into the nature of the electronically excited states in the free ZnTPPH as well as in the ZnTPPH-GO complex.

Z-isomerization of retinoids through combination of monochromatic photoisomerization and metal catalysis.

Catalytic Z-isomerization of retinoids to their thermodynamically less stable Z-isomer remains a challenge. In this report, we present a photochemical approach for the catalytic Z-isomerization of retinoids using monochromatic wavelength UV irradiation treatment. We have developed a straightforward approach for the synthesis of Z-retinoids in high yield, overcoming common obstacles normally associated with their synthesis. Calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) have allowed us to correlate the experimentally observed Z-isomer distribution of retinoids with the energies of chemically important intermediates, which include ground- and excited-state potential energy surfaces. We also demonstrate the application of the current method by synthesizing gram-scale quantities of 9-cis-retinyl acetate 9Z-a. Operational simplicity and gram-scale ability make this chemistry a very practical solution to the problem of Z-isomer retinoid synthesis.

Electronic couplings for molecular charge transfer: benchmarking CDFT, FODFT and FODFTB against high-level ab initio calculations. II.

A new database (HAB7-) of electronic coupling matrix elements (Hab) for electron transfer in seven medium-sized negatively charged π-conjugated organic dimers is introduced. Reference data are obtained with spin-component scaled approximate coupled cluster method (SCS-CC2) and large basis sets. Assessed DFT-based approaches include constrained density functional theory (CDFT), fragment-orbital DFT (FODFT), self-consistent charge density functional tight-binding (FODFTB) and the recently described analytic overlap method (AOM). This complements the previously reported HAB11 database where only cationic dimers were considered. The CDFT method in combination with a functional based on PBE and including 50% of exact exchange (HFX) was found to provide best estimates, with a mean relative unsigned error (MRUE) of 8.2%. CDFT couplings systematically increase with decreasing fraction of HFX as a consequence of increasing delocalisation of the SOMO orbital. The FODFT method is found to be very robust underestimating electronic couplings by 28%. The FODFTB and AOM methods, although orders of magnitude more efficient in terms of computational effort than the DFT approaches, perform well with reasonably small errors of 54% and 29%, respectively, translating in errors in the non-adiabatic electron transfer rate of a factor of 2.4 and 1.7, respectively. We discuss carefully various sources of errors and the scope and limitations of all assessed methods taking into account the results obtained for both HAB7- and HAB11 databases.

Electronic couplings for molecular charge transfer: benchmarking CDFT, FODFT, and FODFTB against high-level ab initio calculations.

We introduce a database (HAB11) of electronic coupling matrix elements (H(ab)) for electron transfer in 11 π-conjugated organic homo-dimer cations. High-level ab inito calculations at the multireference configuration interaction MRCI+Q level of theory, n-electron valence state perturbation theory NEVPT2, and (spin-component scaled) approximate coupled cluster model (SCS)-CC2 are reported for this database to assess the performance of three DFT methods of decreasing computational cost, including constrained density functional theory (CDFT), fragment-orbital DFT (FODFT), and self-consistent charge density functional tight-binding (FODFTB). We find that the CDFT approach in combination with a modified PBE functional containing 50% Hartree-Fock exchange gives best results for absolute H(ab) values (mean relative unsigned error = 5.3%) and exponential distance decay constants ß (4.3%). CDFT in combination with pure PBE overestimates couplings by 38.7% due to a too diffuse excess charge distribution, whereas the economic FODFT and highly cost-effective FODFTB methods underestimate couplings by 37.6% and 42.4%, respectively, due to neglect of interaction between donor and acceptor. The errors are systematic, however, and can be significantly reduced by applying a uniform scaling factor for each method. Applications to dimers outside the database, specifically rotated thiophene dimers and larger acenes up to pentacene, suggests that the same scaling procedure significantly improves the FODFT and FODFTB results for larger π-conjugated systems relevant to organic semiconductors and DNA.

Aerobic damage to [FeFe]-hydrogenases: activation barriers for the chemical attachment of O2.

[FeFe]-hydrogenases are the best natural hydrogen-producing enzymes but their biotechnological exploitation is hampered by their extreme oxygen sensitivity. The free energy profile for the chemical attachment of O2 to the enzyme active site was investigated by using a range-separated density functional re-parametrized to reproduce high-level ab initio data. An activation free-energy barrier of 13 kcal mol(-1) was obtained for chemical bond formation between the di-iron active site and O2, a value in good agreement with experimental inactivation rates. The oxygen binding can be viewed as an inner-sphere electron-transfer process that is strongly influenced by Coulombic interactions with the proximal cubane cluster and the protein environment. The implications of these results for future mutation studies with the aim of increasing the oxygen tolerance of this enzyme are discussed.

An unprecedented roll-off ratio in high-performing red TADF OLED emitters featuring 2,3-indole-annulated naphthalene imide and auxiliary donors.

The capability of organic emitters to harvest triplet excitons via a thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) process has opened a new era in organic optoelectronics. Nevertheless, low brightness, and consequently an insufficient roll-off ratio, constitutes a bottleneck for their practical applications in the domain of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). To address this formidable challenge, we developed a new design of desymmetrized naphthalimide (NMI) featuring an annulated indole with a set of auxiliary donors on its periphery. Their perpendicular arrangement led to minimized HOMO-LUMO overlap, resulting in a low energy gap (ΔE ST = 0.05-0.015 eV) and efficient TADF emission with a photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) ranging from 82.8% to 95.3%. Notably, the entire set of dyes (NMI-Ind-TBCBz, NMI-Ind-DMAc, NMI-Ind-PXZ, and NMI-Ind-PTZ) was utilized to fabricate TADF OLED devices, exhibiting yellow to red electroluminescence. Among them, red-emissive NMI-Ind-PTZ, containing phenothiazine as an electron-rich component, revealed predominant performance with a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 23.6%, accompanied by a persistent luminance of 38 000 cd m-2. This results in a unique roll-off ratio (EQE10 000 = 21.6%), delineating a straightforward path for their commercial use in lighting and display technologies.

Regioisomerism vs Conformation: Impact of Molecular Design on the Emission Pathway in Organic Light-Emitting Device Emitters.

Despite the design and proposal of several new structural motifs as thermally activated delayed fluorescent (TADF) emitters for organic light-emitting device (OLED) applications, the nature of their interaction with the host matrix in the emissive layer of the device and their influence on observed photophysical outputs remain unclear. To address this issue, we present, for the first time, the use of up to four regioisomers bearing a donor-acceptor-donor electronic structure based on the desymmetrized naphthalene benzimidazole scaffold, equipped with various electron-donating units and possessing distinguished conformational lability. Quantum chemical calculations allow us to identify the most favorable conformations adopted by the electron-rich groups across the entire pool of regioisomers. These conformations were then compared with conformational changes caused by the interaction of the emitter with the Zeonex and 4,4'-bis(N-carbazolyl)-1,1'-biphenyl (CBP) matrices, and the correlation with observed photophysics was monitored by UV-vis absorption and steady-state photoluminescence spectra, combined with time-resolved spectroscopic techniques. Importantly, a CBP matrix was found to have a significant impact on the conformational change of regioisomers, leading to unique TADF emission mechanisms that encompass dual emission and inversion of the singlet-triplet excited-state energies and result in the enhancement of TADF efficiency. As a proof of concept, regioisomers with optimal donor positions were utilized to fabricate an OLED, revealing, with the best-performing dye, an external quantum emission of 11.6%, accompanied by remarkable luminance (28,000 cd/m2). These observations lay the groundwork for a better understanding of the role of the host matrix. In the long term, this new knowledge can lead to predicting the influence of the host matrix and adopting the structure of the emitter in a way that allows the development of highly efficient and efficient OLEDs.

MP2-Based Correction Scheme to Approach the Limit of a Complete Pair Natural Orbitals Space in DLPNO-CCSD(T) Calculations.

The domain-based local pair natural orbital (PNO) coupled-cluster DLPNO-CCSD(T) method has been proven to provide accurate single-point energies at a fraction of the cost of canonical CCSD(T) calculations. However, the desired "chemical accuracy" can only be obtained with a large PNO space and extended basis set. We present a simple yet accurate and efficient correction scheme based on a perturbative approach. Here, in addition to DLPNO-CCSD(T) energy, one calculates DLPNO-MP2 correlation energy with the same settings as in the preceding coupled-cluster calculation. In the next step, the canonical MP2 correlation energy is obtained in the same orbital basis. This can be efficiently performed for essentially all molecule sizes accessible with the DLPNO-CCSD(T) method. By taking the difference between the canonical MP2 and DLPNO-MP2 energies, we obtain a correction term that can be added to the DLPNO-CCSD(T) correlation energy. This way, one can obtain the total correlation energy close to the limit of the complete PNO space (cPNO). The presented approach allows us to significantly increase the accuracy of the DLPNO-CCSD(T) method for both closed- and open-shell systems. The latter are known to be especially challenging for locally correlated methods. Unlike the previously developed PNO extrapolation procedure by Altun, Neese, and Bistoni ( J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2020, 16, 6142-6149), this strategy allows us to get the DLPNO-CCSD(T) correlation energy at the cPNO limit in a cost-efficient way, resulting in a minimal overall increase in calculation time as compared to the uncorrected method.

V-shaped donor-acceptor organic emitters. A new approach towards efficient TADF OLED devices.

We report the synthesis and characterization of a series of donor-acceptor TADF emitters with a new architecture, where the donor moiety and the dibenzazepine-based acceptor moiety are separated by a phenylene linker in a V-shaped spatial arrangement. Such spatial separation and electronic decoupling between the donor and the acceptor moieties leads to low singlet-triplet energy gaps and favors efficient exciton up-conversion.

Facile Functionalization of Ambipolar, Nitrogen-Doped PAHs toward Highly Efficient TADF OLED Emitters.

Despite promising optoelectronic features of N-doped polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), their use as functional materials remains underdeveloped due to their limited post-functionalization. Facing this challenge, a novel design of N-doped PAHs with D-A-D electronic structure for thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters was performed. Implementing a set of auxiliary donors at the meta position of the protruding phenyl ring of quinoxaline triggers an increase in the charge-transfer property simultaneously decreasing the delayed fluorescence lifetime. This, in turn, contributes to a narrow (0.04-0.28 eV) singlet-triplet exchange energy split (ΔEST) and promotes a reverse intersystem crossing transition that is pivotal for an efficient TADF process. Boosting the electron-donating ability of our N-PAH scaffold leads to excellent photoluminescence quantum yield that was found in a solid-state matrix up to 96% (for phenoxazine-substituted derivatives, under air) with yellow or orange-red emission, depending on the specific compound. Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) utilizing six, (D-A)-D, N-PAH emitters demonstrate a significant throughput with a maximum external quantum efficiency of 21.9% which is accompanied by remarkable luminance values which were found for all investigated devices in the range of 20,000-30,100 cd/m2 which is the highest reported to date for N-doped PAHs investigated in the OLED domain.