Design of efficient molecular organic light-emitting diodes by a high-throughput virtual screening and experimental approach.

Virtual screening is becoming a ground-breaking tool for molecular discovery due to the exponential growth of available computer time and constant improvement of simulation and machine learning techniques. We report an integrated organic functional material design process that incorporates theoretical insight, quantum chemistry, cheminformatics, machine learning, industrial expertise, organic synthesis, molecular characterization, device fabrication and optoelectronic testing. After exploring a search space of 1.6 million molecules and screening over 400,000 of them using time-dependent density functional theory, we identified thousands of promising novel organic light-emitting diode molecules across the visible spectrum. Our team collaboratively selected the best candidates from this set. The experimentally determined external quantum efficiencies for these synthesized candidates were as large as 22%.

A kinetic and thermochemical database for organic sulfur and oxygen compounds.

Potential energy surfaces and reaction kinetics were calculated for 40 reactions involving sulfur and oxygen. This includes 11 H2O addition, 8 H2S addition, 11 hydrogen abstraction, 7 beta scission, and 3 elementary tautomerization reactions, which are potentially relevant in the combustion and desulfurization of sulfur compounds found in various fuel sources. Geometry optimizations and frequencies were calculated for reactants and transition states using B3LYP/CBSB7, and potential energies were calculated using CBS-QB3 and CCSD(T)-F12a/VTZ-F12. Rate coefficients were calculated using conventional transition state theory, with corrections for internal rotations and tunneling. Additionally, thermochemical parameters were calculated for each of the compounds involved in these reactions. With few exceptions, rate parameters calculated using the two potential energy methods agreed reasonably, with calculated activation energies differing by less than 5 kJ mol(-1). The computed rate coefficients and thermochemical parameters are expected to be useful for kinetic modeling.

New pathways for formation of acids and carbonyl products in low-temperature oxidation: the Korcek decomposition of γ-ketohydroperoxides.

We present new reaction pathways relevant to low-temperature oxidation in gaseous and condensed phases. The new pathways originate from γ-ketohydroperoxides (KHP), which are well-known products in low-temperature oxidation and are assumed to react only via homolytic O-O dissociation in existing kinetic models. Our ab initio calculations identify new exothermic reactions of KHP forming a cyclic peroxide isomer, which decomposes via novel concerted reactions into carbonyl and carboxylic acid products. Geometries and frequencies of all stationary points are obtained using the M06-2X/MG3S DFT model chemistry, and energies are refined using RCCSD(T)-F12a/cc-pVTZ-F12 single-point calculations. Thermal rate coefficients are computed using variational transition-state theory (VTST) calculations with multidimensional tunneling contributions based on small-curvature tunneling (SCT). These are combined with multistructural partition functions (Q(MS-T)) to obtain direct dynamics multipath (MP-VTST/SCT) gas-phase rate coefficients. For comparison with liquid-phase measurements, solvent effects are included using continuum dielectric solvation models. The predicted rate coefficients are found to be in excellent agreement with experiment when due consideration is made for acid-catalyzed isomerization. This work provides theoretical confirmation of the 30-year-old hypothesis of Korcek and co-workers that KHPs are precursors to carboxylic acid formation, resolving an open problem in the kinetics of liquid-phase autoxidation. The significance of the new pathways in atmospheric chemistry, low-temperature combustion, and oxidation of biological lipids are discussed.

Accurate coupled cluster calculations of the reaction barrier heights of two CH3* + CH4 reactions.

We have computed barrier heights of 71.8 +/- 2.0 and 216.4 +/- 2.0 kJ mol(-1) for the reactions CH4 + CH3* --> CH3* + CH4 and CH4 + CH3* --> H* + C2H6, respectively, using explicitly correlated coupled cluster theory with singles and doubles combined with standard coupled cluster theory with up to connected quadruple excitations. Transition-state theory has been used to compute the respective reaction rate constants in the temperature interval of 250-1500 K. The computed rates for the reaction to ethane are orders of magnitude slower than those used in the mechanism of Norinaga and Deutschmann (Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2007, 46, 3547.) for the modeling of the chemical vapor deposition of pyrolytic carbon.

Accurate benchmark calculation of the reaction barrier height for hydrogen abstraction by the hydroperoxyl radical from methane. Implications for C(n)H(2n+2) where n = 2 --> 4.

The CH4 + HO2(*) reaction is studied by using explicitly correlated coupled-cluster theory with singles and doubles (CCSD-R12) in a large 19s14p8d6f4g3h basis (9s6p4d3f for H) to approach the basis-set limit at the coupled-cluster singles-doubles level. A correction for connected triple excitations is obtained from the conventional CCSD(T) coupled-cluster approach in the correlation-consistent quintuple-zeta basis (cc-pV5Z). The highly accurate results for the methane reaction are used to calibrate the calculations of the hydroperoxyl-radical hydrogen abstraction from other alkanes. For the alkanes C(n)H(2n+2) with n = 2 --> 4, the reactions are investigated at the CCSD(T) level in the correlation-consistent triple-zeta (cc-pVTZ) basis. The results are adjusted to the benchmark methane reaction and compared with those from other approaches that are commonly used in the field such as CBS-QB3, CBS-APNO, and density functional theory. Rate constants are computed in the framework of transition state theory, and the results are compared with previous values available.

Automatic Chemical Design Using a Data-Driven Continuous Representation of Molecules.

We report a method to convert discrete representations of molecules to and from a multidimensional continuous representation. This model allows us to generate new molecules for efficient exploration and optimization through open-ended spaces of chemical compounds. A deep neural network was trained on hundreds of thousands of existing chemical structures to construct three coupled functions: an encoder, a decoder, and a predictor. The encoder converts the discrete representation of a molecule into a real-valued continuous vector, and the decoder converts these continuous vectors back to discrete molecular representations. The predictor estimates chemical properties from the latent continuous vector representation of the molecule. Continuous representations of molecules allow us to automatically generate novel chemical structures by performing simple operations in the latent space, such as decoding random vectors, perturbing known chemical structures, or interpolating between molecules. Continuous representations also allow the use of powerful gradient-based optimization to efficiently guide the search for optimized functional compounds. We demonstrate our method in the domain of drug-like molecules and also in a set of molecules with fewer that nine heavy atoms.

An Alternative Host Material for Long-Lifespan Blue Organic Light-Emitting Diodes Using Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence.

It has been challenging to find stable blue organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) that rely on thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF). Lack of stable host materials well-fitted to the TADF emitters is one of the critical reasons. The most popular host for blue TADF, bis[2-(diphenylphosphino)phenyl] ether oxide (DPEPO), leads to unrealistically high maximum external quantum efficiency. DPEPO is however an unstable material and has a poor charge transporting ability, which in turn induces an intrinsic short OLED operating lifespan. Here, an alternative host material is introduced which educes the potential efficiency and device lifespan of given TADF emitters with the appropriateness of replacing the most popular host material, DPEPO, in developing blue TADF emitters. It simultaneously provides much longer device lifespan and higher external quantum efficiency at a practical brightness due to its high material stability and electron-transport-type character well-fitted for hole-transport-type TADF emitters.

Density Functional Theory Study of the Formation of Naphthalene and Phenanthrene from Reactions of Phenyl with Vinyl- and Phenylacetylene.

Reaction pathways for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon growth from reactions of either vinyl- or phenylacetylene with a phenyl radical are proposed and investigated using density functional theory (DFT). B3LYP/TZVP calculations are performed to obtain structures of minima and saddle points as well as kinetic data, supplemented with BMK/TZVP single-point energy calculations. The pathways include a cis-trans isomerization via a radicalic four-membered ring intermediate, which has so far not been considered in the literature. The DFT approach is validated against coupled-cluster calculations of a model system representing this intermediate. The coupled-cluster calculations include single and double excitations as well as perturbative corrections for connected triples and are performed in a correlation-consistent cc-pVTZ basis.