Synthesis and luminescent properties and theoretical investigation on electronic structure of nitrile-based 2-pyridone molecules

3-Cyano-4,6-dimethyl-2-pyridone and 3-cyano-4-methyl-6-phenyl-2-pyridone were synthesized effectively by the reaction of readily available 1,3-diketone and malononitrile directly and in good yield. Upon photoexcitation, 3-cyano-4-methyl-6-phenyl-2-pyridone in ethanol shows strong blue emission. The ground- and excited-state geometries, charge distributions, and excitation energies of 2-pyridone derivatives were evaluated by ab initio calculations. Organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) made using 3-cyano-4-methyl-6-phenyl-2-pyridone as dopant showed blue light emission with a maximum electroluminescence (EL) emission at around 456 nm.