Stable Blue Phosphorescence Iridium(III) Cyclometalated Complexes Prompted by Intramolecular Hydrogen Bond in Ancillary Ligand

Improvement of the stability of blue phosphorescent dopant material is one of the key factors for real application of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). In this study, we found that the intramolecular hydrogen bonding in an ancillary ligand from a heteroleptic Ir­(III) complex can play an important role in the stability of blue phosphorescence. To rationalize the role of intramolecular hydrogen bonding, a series of Ir­(III) complexes is designed and prepared: Ir­(dfppy)2­(pic-OH) (1a), Ir­(dfppy)2­(pic-OMe) (1b), Ir­(ppy)2­(pic-OH) (2a), and Ir­(ppy)2­(pic-OMe) (2b). The emission lifetime of Ir­(dfppy)2­(pic-OH) (1a) (τem = 3.19 μs) in dichloromethane solution was found to be significantly longer than that of Ir­(dfppy)2­(pic-OMe) (1b) (τem = 0.94 μs), because of a substantial difference in the nonradiative decay rate (knr = 0.28 × 105 s–1 for (1a) vs 2.99 × 105 s–1 for (1b)). These results were attributed to the intramolecular OH···OC hydrogen bond of the 3-hydroxy-picolinato ligand. Finally, device lifetime was significantly improved when 1a was used as the dopant compared to FIrpic, a well-known blue dopant. Device III (1a as dopant) achieved an operational lifetime of 34.3 h for an initial luminance of 400 nits compared to that of device IV (FIrpic as dopant), a value of 20.1 h, indicating that the intramolecular hydrogen bond in ancillary ligand is playing an important role in device stability.