Sky Blue-Emitting Iridium(III) Complexes Bearing Nonplanar Tetradentate Chromophore and Bidentate Ancillary

Tetradentate chelates bearing tripodal arranged terpyridine and a functional pyrazole unit (i.e., L1-H and L2-H) were employed in preparation of Ir(III) complexes [Ir(L1)Cl2] (1) and [Ir(L2)Cl2] (2); subsequent chloride-to-bipyrazolate substitution gave [Ir(L1)(bipz)] (3) and [Ir(L2)(bipz)] (4). Single-crystal X-ray structural studies on 1 and 3 showed the possession of a tetradentate chelate, whereas the remaining cis-sites are occupied by either dual chlorides or the bipz chelate, respectively. Sky blue organic light-emitting diode with peak efficiencies (10.1%, 19.8 cd·A-1, and 20.4 lm·W-1) was successfully fabricated using 3 (or 4) as dopant emitter, highlighting the potential application of this class of Ir(III) phosphor.