Dimesitylboryl-functionalized fluorene derivatives: Promising luminophors with good electron-transporting ability for deep blue organic light-emitting diodes

•Two dimesitylboryl-functionalized fluorene derivatives are synthesized.•They show efficient photoluminescence and good electron-transporting ability.•Electroluminescent devices radiating deep blue light are fabricated based on them.

Two dimesitylboryl-functionalized fluorene derivatives are synthesized and characterized. They show deep blue fluorescence in both solution and film states, with narrow spectral profiles and excellent solid-state emission efficiencies up to 94%. Due to the presence of the boron atoms, both luminophors possess low-lying LUMO energy levels as revealed by theoretical calculation. They can function as both light emitter and electron transporter in organic light-emitting diodes. A device fabricated from one of the new luminophors radiates deep blue light with a maximum emission at 432 nm (CIE = 0.179, 0.128), and affords a maximum luminance of 10,320 cd m−2, and a peak efficiency of 3.4 cd A−1.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide