Spectral characterizations and photophysical properties of one-step synthesized blue fluorescent 4′-aryl substituted 2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine for OLEDs application

We have synthesized a series of 4′-aryl substituted 2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine (terpy) derivatives, namely 4′-(4-methylphenyl)-2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine (C-1), 4′-(2-furyl)-2,2′:6′2′′-terpyridine (C-2), and 4′-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)-2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine (C-3). The synthesized terpy compounds were characterized by elemental analyses, FTIR, NMR (1H and 13C), and ESI-Mass spectrometry. Photophysical, electrochemical and thermal properties of terpy compounds were systematically studied. Maximum excitation band was observed between 240 and 330 nm using UV-visible spectra, and maximum emission peaks from PL spectra were observed at 385, 405 and 440  nm for C-1, C-2 and C-3 respectively. Fluorescence lifetime (τ) of the fluorophores was found to be 0.35 and 1.55  ns at the excitation wavelength of 406  nm for C-1 and C-2 respectively, and τ value for C-3 was found to be 0.29  ns at the excitation wavelength of 468  nm. We noticed that the calculated values of HOMO energy levels were increased from 5.96 (C-1) to 6.08 (C-3) eV, which confirms that C-3 derivative is more electrons donating in nature. The calculated electrochemical band gaps were 2.95, 2.82 and 3.02  eV for C-1, C-2 and C-3 respectively. These blue fluorescent emitter derivatives can be used as an electron transport and electroluminescent material to design the blue fluorescent organic light emitting diode (OLED) applications.