Neutral 2-phenylbenzimidazole-based iridium(III) complexes with picolinate ancillary ligand: tuning the emission properties by manipulating the substituent on the benzimidazole ring.

We report the synthesis and characterization of ten neutral bisheteroleptic iridium(III) complexes with 2-phenylbenzimidazole cyclometallating ligand and picolinate as ancillary ligand. The 2-phenylbenzimidazole has been modified by selected substituents introduced on the cyclometallating ring and/or on the benzimidazole moiety. The integrity of the complexes has been assessed by NMR spectroscopy, by high-resolution mass spectrometry and by elemental analysis. The complexes are demonstrated to be highly phosphorescent at room temperature and a luminescence study with comprehensive ab initio calculations allow us to determine the lowest emitting excited state which depends on the substituent nature and its position on the cyclometallating ligand.

Bis-Heteroleptic Cationic Iridium(III) Complexes Featuring Cyclometalating 2-Phenylbenzimidazole Ligands: A Combined Experimental and Theoretical Study.

In this report, we investigate a new family of cationic iridium(III) complexes featuring the cyclometalating ligand 2-phenylbenzimidazole and ancillary ligand 4,4'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyridine. Our benchmark complex IrL12 (L1 = 2-phenylbenzimidazole) displays emission properties similar to those of the archetypical complex 2,2'-dipyridylbis(2',4'-phenylpyridine)iridium(III) in deaerated CH3CN (Φ = 0.20, λem = 584 nm and Φ = 0.14, λem = 585 nm, respectively) but exhibits a higher photoluminescence quantum yield in deaerated CH2Cl2 (Φ = 0.32, λem = 566 nm and Φ = 0.20, λem = 595 nm, respectively) and especially a lower nonradiative constant (knr = 6.6 × 105 s-1 vs knr = 1.4 × 106 s-1, respectively). As a primary investigation, we explored the influence of the introduction of electron-donating and electron-withdrawing groups on the benzimidazole moiety and the synergetic effect of the substitution of the cyclometalating phenyl moiety at the para position with the same substituents. The emission energy displays very good correlation with the Hammett constants of the introduced substituents as well as with ΔEredox values, which allow us to ascribe the phosphorescence of these series to emanate mainly from a mixed metal/ligand to ligand charge transfer triplet excited state (3M/LLCT*). Two complexes (IrL52 and IrL82) display a switch of the lowest triplet excited state from 3M/LLCT* to ligand centered (3LC*), from the less polar CH2Cl2 to the more polar CH3CN. The observed results are supported by (TD)-DFT computations considering the vibrational contributions to the electronic transitions. Chromaticity diagrams based on the maximum emission wavelength of the recorded and simulated phosphorescence spectra demonstrate the strong promise of our complexes as emitting materials, together with the very good agreement between experimental and theoretical results.

Study of a phosphorescent cationic iridium(III) complex displaying a blue-shift in crystals.

We report the synthesis and the characterization of a new cationic iridium(III) complex featuring two 1-(p-methoxyphenyl)-5-methoxybenzimidazole cyclometallating ligands and a dimethylbipyridine ancillary ligand. The complex has been fully characterized by 1D and 2D NMR (1H, 13C, 19F and 31P), elemental analysis and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). The photoluminescence studies performed in a solution, on amorphous powder and on crystals revealed an unexpected behavior. Indeed, the emission spectra observed in both solution (CH2Cl2) and amorphous powder samples are centered at around 580 nm, whereas in crystals the emission displays a large hypsochromic shift of ∼800 cm-1 (λem = 558 nm). X-ray diffraction experiments, photophysical studies and DFT calculations allow for rationalizing the hypsochromic shift.

Molecular rare earth metal alumosilicates.

The synthesis and stabilization of molecular four-coordinated lanthanide alumosilicates was achieved by the use of a highly encumbered alumosilicate ligand LAl(OH·thf)(µ-O)Si(OH)(OtBu)2 (1, L = HC{C(Me)N(2,6-iPr2C6H3)}2). Reactions between 1 and tris-cyclopentadienyl lanthanides (LnCp3; Ln = Ce, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Y, Er) derived in the isolation of eight compounds (2-9) where the ligand is observed in three different bonding modes: adducts (2, 3), spirocyclic (4) or cyclic (5-9) coordination compounds. The observed reactivity can be related to the ionic radius of the lanthanide atom and the nature of the oxygen donor-atom from the hydroxide (Al-OH) or hydroxyl (Si-OH) moieties in 1. Compounds 2-9 present general O-Al-O-Si-O-Ln connectivities with different degrees of substitution over the -OH groups in 1 and structural features with only slight variations over the alumosilicate moiety (O-Al-O-Si-O) upon the lanthanide coordination. The spirocyclic samarium derivative presents two tetra-coordinated samarium atoms with a tetrahedral and distorted square planar geometries, respectively, as a result of a highly strained polycyclic architecture.