A new phosphorescent heteroleptic cuprous complex with a neutral 2‐methylquinolin‐8‐ol ligand: synthesis,structure characterization,properties and TD–DFT calculations

Luminescent Cu^I complexes have emerged as promising substitutes for phosphorescent emitters based on Ir, Pt and Os due to their abundance and low cost. The title heteroleptic cuprous complex, 9,9‐dimethyl‐4,5‐bis(diphenylphosphanyl)‐9H‐xanthene‐κ²P ,P ](2‐methylquinolin‐8‐ol‐κ²N ,O )copper(I) hexafluorophosphate, Cu(C₁₀H₉NO)(C₃₉H₃₂OP₂)]PF₆, conventionally abbreviated as Cu(Xantphos)(8‐HOXQ)]PF₆, where Xantphos is the chelating diphosphine ligand 9,9‐dimethyl‐4,5‐bis(diphenylphosphanyl)‐9H‐xanthene and 8‐HOXQ is the N ,O‐chelating ligand 2‐methylquinolin‐8‐ol that remains protonated at the hydroxy O atom, is described. In this complex, the asymmetric unit consists of a hexafluorophosphate anion and a whole mononuclear cation, where the Cu^I atom is coordinated by two P atoms from the Xantphos ligand and by the N and O atoms from the 8‐HOXQ ligand, giving rise to a tetrahedral CuP₂NO coordination geometry. The electronic absorption and photoluminescence properties of this complex have been studied on as‐synthesized samples, whose purity had been determined by powder X‐ray diffraction. In the detailed TD–DFT (time‐dependent density functional theory) studies, the yellow emission appears to be derived from the inter‐ligand charge transfer and metal‐to‐ligand charge transfer (M +L ′)→LCT excited state (LCT is ligand charge transfer).