Two novel oligomers based on fluorene and pyridine: Correlation between the structures and optoelectronic properties

To investigate the fine optoelectronic difference of the target oligomers with or without peripheral fluorene moieties, two dumbbell‐shaped oligomers ( F0 and F1 ) were designed and convergently prepared via Suzuki coupling reaction. The molecular structures of the oligomers were fully characterized by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and MALDI‐TOF mass spectra, respectively. The absorption, photoluminescent behavior, and energy band gaps of the oligomers were examined through UV–vis, photoluminescent spectra and cyclic voltammetry. The experimental results demonstrate that the absorption and photoluminescent properties are little affected by molecular architecture, while the absolute photoluminescence quantum efficiency of films and energy band gaps derived from cyclic voltammetry in solution are strongly correlated with the molecular frameworks. The observed energy band gaps of oligomers are further validated by the different molecular orbital contours of the HOMO energy levels from theoretical calculations. Preliminary electroluminescent investigations for F1 have also been conducted and discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 1548–1558, 2008     

Lattice-dynamical calculations for fluorene,carbazole, dibenzofuran and dibenzothiophen

For crystalline fluorene, carbazole, dibenzofuran and dibenzothiophen several properties have been calculated using semi-empirical atom-atom potentials Calculated geometrical parameters, Raman-active lattice frequencies, enthalpies of sublimation and crystallographic temperature factors agree with observed values. However, except for dibenzothiophen, infrared-active lattice frequencies are not consistent with any potential so far tried     

Synthesis and photophysical properties of tetrafluorophenyl-modified carbazole oligomers

A series of tetrafluorophenyl-modified oligo(3,6-carbazole ethynylene)s (CfCzCf, CfCz2Cf, CfCz3Cf, (CfCz)2Cf, and Cf2CzCf2) were synthesized by a Pd/Cu-catalyzed Sonogashira coupling reaction and fully characterized. Their photophysical and electronic properties as well as their thermal stabilities were investigated. It is noteworthy that these tetrafluorophenyl modified compounds showed relative thermal stabilities and low-lying HOMO levels ranging from −5.54 to −5.60 eV, which might be the promising candidates for hole-transporting materials in OLEDs.     

Photophysical processes of a fluorene derivative containing carbazole unit

The photoluminescence properties of 9,9-bis[4'-(9'-carbazovinylene)phenyl]fluorene (F-CZV) formed by Heck reaction of 9,9-bis(4'-iodophenyl)fluorene (F-IP) and N-vinylcarbazole have been carefully studied. The results show that the compound emits blue light and the dimolecular excimer is formed with gradual increase in concentration of F-CZV. The results also indicate the interaction between F-CZV and electron donors (N,N-dimethylaniline) or electron acceptors (dimethylterephthalate, fullerene carbon nanotubes) can be efficiently generated where the processes follow the Stern-Volmer equation. Moreover, when dimethylterephthalate (DMTP) or carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is gradually added into the solution of F-CZV, the emission intensities of fluorescence are unusually increased. But when concentration of dimethylterephthalate or carbon nanotubes beyond a certain scope, the emission intensities of fluorescence are gradually decreased.     

Monodisperse fluorene oligomers exhibiting strong dipolar coupling interactions

Well-defined fluorene oligomers (n = 1 to 6) were prepared step by step using Suzuki and Yamamoto couplings, while absorption and photoluminescence properties evidenced very large dipolar coupling interactions between fluorene moieties.     

Photodegradation of polyfluorene and fluorene oligomers with alkyl and aromatic disubstitutions

The stability of fluorene-based compounds and polymers, especially at the bridged C-9 position under photoirradiation and thermal treatment, has claimed wide attention. We report the electronic, vibrational, and MALDI-TOF mass spectral combined studies for the fluorene oligomers with alkyl and aromatic substitutions under UV-light irradiation. The low-energy emission and the formation of ketonic defects after degradation highly depend on the proportion of alkyl substitution. The oligomer with fully aromatic substitution shows good stability, but when the proportion of alkyl substitution increases, their photostability rapidly decreases. The mass spectra show not only the mass of the fluorenone-fluorene trimer but also another new degradation product with a large mass (pristine oligomer plus 14) from alkyl oxidation, which testify to the assistance of alkyl side chain during degradation. We propose that the degradation of fluorene is a radical chain process propagated by alkyl side chains, and then the different stability between alkyl and aromatic substitution can be well explained.     

Novel, yellow-emitting anthracene/fluorene oligomers: synthesis and characterization

A novel series of highly soluble and strongly yellow fluorescent with well-controlled, alternative anthracene, and fluorene units were successfully synthesized by a Pd/Cu-catalyzed Sonogashira coupling reaction and characterized. Their thermal stabilities, electrochemical behaviors, and photophysical properties were investigated. These oligomers might be used as models to study structure-property relationship for their corresponding polymers and applied in optoelectronics devices as materials themselves.     

Synthesis and characterization of deep blue emitters from starburst carbazole/fluorene compounds

A series of well-defined, highly fluorescent starburst compounds with a carbazole core and oligo(2,7-fluorene ethynylene) arms have been synthesized by Sonogashira coupling reaction and fully characterized. These conjugated compounds exhibit good solubility, high thermal stability, and excellent fluorescence quantum yields (up to 0.99). The incorporation of carbazole core interrupted the main-chain conjugation and resulted in blue-shifted absorption and emission. Moreover, deep blue light has been approached from organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) adopting these compounds as emitting layer.     

Novel carbazole/fluorene hybrids: host materials for blue phosphorescent OLEDs

[reaction: see text] A series of carbazole/fluorene (CBZm-Fn) hybrids were effectively synthesized through Friedel-Crafts-type substitution of the carbazole rings. These compounds were thermally and morphologically stable host materials for OLED applications. Efficient blue phosphorescent OLEDs were obtained when employing CBZ1-F2 as the host and FIrpic as the guest.     

Theoretical studies on the electronic and optical properties of two new alternating fluorene/carbazole copolymers

Poly(fluorene)-type materials are widely used in polymer-based emitting devices. During operation there appears, however, an additional emission peak at around 2.3 eV, leading to both a color instability and reduced efficiency. The incorporation of the carbazole units has been proven to efficiently suppress the keto defect emission. In this contribution, we apply quantum-chemical techniques to investigate two series of alternating fluorene/carbazole oligomers and copolymers poly[2,7-(N-(2-methyl)-carbazole)-co-alt-2,7-m(9,9-dimethylfluorene)], namely, PFmCz (m = 1,2) and gain a detailed understanding of the influence of carbazole units on the electronic and optical properties of fluorene derivatives. The electronic properties of the neutral molecules, HOMO-LUMO gaps (Delta(H-L)), in addition to the positive and negative ions, are studied using B3LYP functional. The lowest excitation energies (E(g)s) and the maximal absorption wavelength lambda(abs) of PFmCz (m = 1,2) are studied, employing the time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT). The properties of the two copolymers, such as Delta(H-L), E(g), IPs, and EAs were obtained by extrapolating those of the oligomers to the inverse chain length equal to zero (1/n = 0). The outcomes showed that the carbazole unit is a good electron-donating moiety for electronic materials, and the incorporation of carbazole into the polyfluorene (PF) backbone resulted in a broadened energy gap and a blue shift of both the absorption and photoluminescence emission peaks. Most importantly, the HOMO energies of PF1Cz and PF2Cz are both a higher average (0.4 eV) than polyfluorene (PF), which directly results in the decreasing of IPs of about 0.2 eV more than PF, indicating that the carbazole units have significantly improved the hole injection properties of the copolymers. In addition, the energy gap tends to broaden and the absorption and emission peaks are gradually blue-shifted to shorter wavelengths with an increase in the carbazole content in the copolymers. This is due to the interruption of the longer conjugation length of the backbone in the (F1Cz)(n) series.     

Bis-amidopyrrolyl receptors based on anthracene and carbazole

A new set of diamide receptors containing anthracene and carbazole bridging subunits and either pyrrole or phenyl substituents were synthesised. The four systems produced in this way were shown to bind representative anions in DMSO-d ₆ solution and in the solid state. A higher relative affinity for two test oxoanions, namely dihydrogen phosphate and benzoate, over chloride anion was seen in solution, with the anions in question being studied in the form of their respective tetrabutylammonium salts. However, the specifics of the anion recognition process were seen to depend on structure, with the pyrrole-containing systems displaying higher relative affinities than their corresponding phenyl-containing congeners, and the carbazole receptors proving more effective than the anthracene analogues. Such observations provide support for the notion that both the carbazole NH and the pyrrolic NH protons play an important role in stabilising the receptor-bound anions in solution. Structural analyses of several anion complexes of the diamidopyrrole carbazole receptor reveal that this is not necessarily the case in the solid state; specifically, the pyrrole NH protons are seen to interact with the amide oxygen of another molecule. The net result is an extended one-dimensional coordination polymer.     

Polypyromellitimides based on carbazole and substituted carbazoles

Polypyromellitimides have been synthesized from carbazole and N-benzylcarbazole by a two-step procedure involving ring-opening polyaddition with pyromellitic dianhydride and subsequent thermal cyclodehydration. The physicochemical, thermal and dielectric properties of the polymers have been studied. The various N-substituents, such as N-methyl and N-benzyl groups of the carbazole moieties, exert some influence on the overall thermal and dielectric properties of the polyimides. The influence has been rationalized in terms of gross structural characteristics.     

Synthesis and characterization of fluorene and carbazole dithienosilole derivatives for potential applications in organic light-emitting diodes

Several fluorene or carbazole-based dithienosiloles (DTSs) have been synthesized and their thermal, photophysical, and electrochemical properties have been systematically investigated. These compounds show high thermal stability with glass transition temperature above 110 °C as well as decomposition temperatures at ∼400 °C. Intense green emission is observed in the spectral region of 500-510 nm for all compounds (Φ_PL=0.31-0.80), that is, attributed to both the 5,5′-substituents of the DTS ring and DTS-based π-π^∗ transition. Based on the emission spectra at 77 K, the triplet energy for these compounds was calculated to be within 2.1-2.2 eV, indicating that they may be used as host materials for red emitters in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). All compounds exhibit reversible oxidation and possess low-lying LUMO energies, owing to the conjugated fluorene/carbazole substituents on the DTS. This along with the high thermal/electrochemical stabilities and high fluorescent quantum efficiencies makes the new DTSs compounds promising candidates for use in OLEDs as emitters, host and electron-transporting materials.     

Preparation,characterization and analysis of novel polyimides with anthracene,carbazole and fluorene pendent architecture

Two series of new organosoluble and thermally stable polyimides containing anthracene, and fluorene pendants were prepared by a two-step solution polycondensation reaction of new synthesized diamines with commercially available dianhydrides. All intermediates and polymers were fully characterized by FTIR, NMR, and elemental analysis and their properties including solubility and thermal stability were studied. All the resulting polymers were amorphous with inherent viscosities ranged from 0.61 to 0.84 dL/g and were readily soluble in many organic solvents.     

Challenges in distinguishing superexchange and hopping mechanisms of intramolecular charge transfer through fluorene oligomers

The temperature dependence of intramolecular charge separation in a series of donor-bridge-acceptor molecules having phenothiazine (PTZ) donors, 2,7-oligofluorene FL(n) (n = 1-4) bridges, and perylene-3,4:9,10-bis(dicarboximide) (PDI) acceptors was studied. Photoexcitation of PDI to its lowest excited singlet state results in oxidation of PTZ via the FL(n) bridge. In toluene, the temperature dependence of the charge separation rate constants for PTZ-FL(n)-PDI, (n = 1-4) is relatively weak and is successfully described by the semiclassical Marcus equation. The activation energies for charge separation suggest that bridge charge carrier injection is not the rate limiting step. The difficulty of using temperature and length dependence to differentiate hopping and superexchange is discussed, with difficulties in the latter topic explored via an extension of a kinetic model proposed by Bixon and Jortner.     

A carbazole based polypyromellitimide

A polypyromellitimide has been synthesized from carbazole and pyromellitic dianhydride by a two-step procedure involving ring-opening polyaddition under various conditions and subsequent thermo-cyclodehydration. The structure of the polypyromellitimide has been elucidated by elemental analysis and i.r. and NMR spectrometry. Some thermal and electrical properties of the polymer have also been studied.     

Theoretical studies of symmetric five-membered heterocycle derivatives of carbazole and fluorene: precursors of conducting polymers

Structures, electron ionization and excitation energies, and electron density distribution are studied for carbazole and fluorene derivatives substituted symmetrically by thiophene, ethylenodioxythiophene, furane, or pyrrole. The calculated properties of the molecules directly or indirectly mimic molecular parameters that are important for the design of processes of polymerization or for modeling the final polymer. The studies have been focused on the variation in the properties as a function of the chemical composition of the central fragment and the external rings. The calculated properties of consecutive oligomers indicate their fast convergence to values characterizing polymers.     

Nonvolatile rewritable memory effects in graphene oxide functionalized by conjugated polymer containing fluorene and carbazole units

A new polymer, poly[{9,9-di(triphenylamine)fluorene}(9,9-dihexylfluorene)(4-aminophenylcarbazole)] (PFCz) was synthesized and used in a reaction with graphene oxide (GO) containing surface-bonded acyl chloride moieties to give a soluble GO-based polymer material GO-PFCz. A bistable electrical switching effect was observed in an electronic device in which the GO-PFCz film was sandwiched between indium-tin oxide (ITO) and Al electrodes. This device exhibited two accessible conductivity states, that is, a low-conductivity (OFF) state and a high-conductivity (ON) state, and can be switched to the ON state under a negative electrical sweep; it can also be reset to the initial OFF state by a reverse (positive) electrical sweep. The ON state is nonvolatile and can withstand a constant voltage stress of -1 V for 3 h and 10(8) read cycles at -1 V under ambient conditions. The nonvolatile nature of the ON state and the ability to write, read, and erase the electrical states, fulfill the functionality of a rewritable memory. The mechanism associated with the memory effects was elucidated from molecular simulation results and in-situ photoluminescence spectra of the GO-PFCz film under different electrical biases.