Ligand Design and Preparation, Photophysical Properties, and Device Performance of an Encapsulated-Type Pseudo-Tris(heteroleptic) Iridium(III) Emitter

The organic molecule 2-(1-phenyl-1-(pyridin-2-yl)­ethyl)-6-(3-(1-phenyl-1-(pyridin-2-yl)­ethyl)­phenyl)­pyridine (H3L) has been designed, prepared, and employed to synthesize the encapsulated-type pseudo-tris­(heteroleptic) iridium­(III) derivative Ir­(κ6-fac-C,C′,C″-fac-N,N′,N″-L). Its formation takes place as a result of the coordination of the heterocycles to the iridium center and the ortho-CH bond activation of the phenyl groups. Dimer [Ir­(μ-Cl)­(η4-COD)]2 is suitable for the preparation of this compound of class [Ir­(9h)] (9h = 9-electron donor hexadentate ligand), but Ir­(acac)3 is a more appropriate starting material. Reactions were carried out in 1-phenylethanol. In contrast to the latter, 2-ethoxyethanol promotes the metal carbonylation, inhibiting the full coordination of H3L. Complex Ir­(κ6-fac-C,C′,C″-fac-N,N′,N″-L) is a phosphorescent emitter upon photoexcitation, which has been employed to fabricate four yellow emitting devices with 1931 CIE (x:y) ∼ (0.52:0.48) and a maximum wavelength at 576 nm. These devices display luminous efficacies, external quantum efficiencies, and power efficacies at 600 cd m–2, which lie in the ranges 21.4–31.3 cd A–1, 7.8–11.3%, and 10.2–14.1 lm W1–, respectively, depending on the device configuration.