Structure and electronic properties of triphenylamine-substituted indolo[3,2-b]carbazole derivatives as hole-transporting materials for organic light-emitting diodes

Versatile access to nitrogen-rich π-extended indolocarbazoles via a Pictet–Spengler approach

A bidirectional Pictet-Spengler Reaction allows easy access to nitrogen-rich aromatics with seven fused rings. Photophysical measurements and computational methods show significant differences to parent N-heteropolycycles with fewer nitrogen atoms.

High-Performance Quantum-Dot Light-Emitting Transistors Based on Vertical Organic Thin-Film Transistors

In this work, a novel vertical quantum-dot light-emitting transistor (VQLET) based on a vertical organic thin-film transistor is successfully fabricated. Benefiting from the new vertical architecture, the VQLET is able to afford an extremely high current density, which allows most of the organic thin film transistors (OTFT) even with low mobility (for instance, poly(3-hexylthiophene)) to drive a quantum-dot light-emitting diode (QLED), which was previously unavailable. Moreover, the hole injection barrier could be modulated by the additional gate electrode, which precisely optimizes the charge balance in the device, a critical issue in QLED, resulting in the precise control of current density and brightness of the VQLET. The VQLET shows a high performance with a maximum current efficiency of 37 cd/A. Furthermore, integrating OTFT and QLED into a single device, the VQLET features drastic advantages by realizing active matrix quantum-dot light-emitting diodes (AMQLEDs), which significantly reduces the number of transistors and frees the large area fraction occupied by transistors. Hence, these results indicate that the VQLET provides a new strategy for realizing a low-cost, solution-processed, high-performance OTFT-AMQLED for the flat panel display technology. Moreover, the novel design offers a unique method to exquisitely control the charge balance and maximize the efficiency the QLED.

Chemistry and Properties of Indolocarbazoles

The indolocarbazoles are an important class of nitrogen heterocycles which has evolved significantly in recent years, with numerous studies focusing on their diverse biological effects, or targeting new materials with potential applications in organic electronics. This review aims at providing a broad survey of the chemistry and properties of indolocarbazoles from an interdisciplinary point of view, with particular emphasis on practical synthetic aspects, as well as certain topics which have not been previously accounted for in detail, such as the occurrence, formation, biological activities, and metabolism of indolo[3,2- b]carbazoles. The literature of the past decade forms the basis of the text, which is further supplemented with older key references.

Synthesis of Linearly Fused Benzodipyrrole Based Organic Materials

The objective of this review is to give an overview of the synthetic methods to prepare different indolo[3,2-b]carbazoles and similar systems with a potential use in electro-optical devices such as OLEDs (organic light emitting diode), OPVs (organic photovoltaic) and OFETs (organic field effect transistor). Some further modifications to the core units and their implications for specific applications are also discussed.

A new synthetic approach to fused nine-ring systems of the indolo[3,2-b]carbazole family through double Pd-catalyzed intramolecular C–H arylation

A series of new fused 5,11-dihydroindolo[3,2-b]carbazole derivatives, having nine-ring ladder-type structure, has been synthesized by regioselective Pd-catalyzed cyclization.

Indolo[3,2-b]carbazole-based poly(arylene ethynylene)s

A novel family of indolo[3,2-b]carbazole (ICZ)-based polymers was designed and synthesized using Sonogashira cross-coupling reaction between three bisbromine indolo[3,2-b]carbazoles and 1,4-diethynylbenzene. The new polymers have an arylene ethynylene structure with ICZ moiety interconnected in the main chain by 2,8-, 3,9- or 6,12- positions. The polymers were obtained as partially soluble materials, in chlorinated, aromatic and aprotic polar solvents. The structure of the polymers was studied by spectroscopic methods such as Fourier transform infrared, proton and carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance, ultraviolet–visible and photoluminescence spectroscopies, thermogravimetry and molecular weights determined by gel permeation chromatography. Electrochemical properties were investigated by cyclic voltammetry using films cast on platinum disc working electrode. Optical and electronic properties were discussed from the viewpoint of the connection positions of ICZ units in the polymer chain.

Synthesis, photophysical and charge-transporting properties of a novel asymmetric indolo [3,2-b]carbazole derivative containing benzothiazole and diphenylamino moieties

A novel asymmetric donor-π-donor-π-acceptor compound, 2-benzothiazolyl-8-diphenylamino-5,11-dihexylindolo[3,2-b]carbazole (BDDAICZ), has been successfully synthesized by introducing a benzothiazole moiety (as an electron-acceptor) and a diphenylamino moiety (as an electron-donor) to 2-position and 8-position of indolo[3,2-b]carbazole moiety (as a skeleton and an electron-donor), and characterized by elemental analysis, (1)H NMR, (13)C NMR and MS. The thermal, electrochemical properties of BDDAICZ were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis combined with electrochemistry. The absorption and emission spectra of BDDAICZ was experimentally determined in several solvents and computed using density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). The calculated absorption and emission wavelengths are coincident with the measured data. The ionization potential (IP), the electron affinity (EA) and reorganization energy of BDDAICZ were also investigated using density functional theory (DFT). Charge-transporting properties of BDDAICZ were characterized by OLEDs devices fabricated by using it as charge-transport layers. The results show that BDDAICZ has excellent thermal stability, electrochemical stability and hole-transporting properties, indicating its potential application as a hole-transporting material in OLEDs devices.

Two novel indolo[3,2-b]carbazole derivatives containing dimesitylboron moieties: synthesis, photoluminescent and electroluminescent properties

The OLED devices fabricated using two novel indolo[3,2-b]carbazole derivatives containing dimesitylboron groups as electroluminescent materials show reasonably good performance.

Synthesis and properties of new luminescent hole transporting materials containing triphenylamine and carbazole units

Two new blue luminescent hole transporting materials (HTM) containing triphenylamine, carbazole units and olefinic linkers (TM1 and TM2) were synthesized via Wittig reaction and characterized by (1)H NMR, FT-IR, and HRMS. The compounds show good solubility in common organic solvents such as dichloromethane, chloroform, tetrahydrofuran and dimethyl formamide. Their optical, electrochemical and crystalline properties were investigated by using UV-Vis, photoluminescence (PL) spectra, cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), respectively. Quantum-chemical calculation was performed to obtain their optimized structures and the electron distribution of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels. The UV-Vis absorption and PL spectra of the two compounds in solid state were found to be similar to that when they were in dilute THF, which suggests that these compounds remain as an amorphous state in solid films. CV measurements show that the two compounds embody suitable HOMO levels (in a range of -5.28 to -5.23 eV) for hole injection, which is consistent with the calculation consequence. Two compounds possess high glass-transition temperature (T(g)) at 96.61 and 90.74 °C for TM1 and TM2, respectively, suggesting the two compounds could form stable amorphous glassy states. The experimental results show that the synthesized compounds have great potential for application in organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs).

Direct stereoselective α-arylation of unmodified enals using an organocatalytic cross-coupling-like reaction

Cross-coupling reactions typically rely on the use of transition metal catalysis. However, although achieving this process using metal-free organocatalysts is highly challenging, it could offer unique opportunities to discover novel bond-forming strategies in organic synthesis. Here we report a new amine catalysed direct stereoselective C-H α-arylation reaction of unmodified enals with bromoarenes. The power of this process, which involves an unprecedented iminium-Michael-alkylation-enamine-retro-Michael cascade sequence, has been demonstrated in the context of direct α-functionalization reactions of simple, unmodified enals with 4-bromophenols, 1-bromo-2-naphthol and 3-bromoindoles under mild reaction conditions. Notably, the process can be used for highly stereoselective syntheses of non-readily accessible E isomers, which normally require the use of transition metal-promoted cross-couplings and functionalized enals. The results of these studies significantly expand the scope of aminocatalysis.