3.1 Geometry optimization in S0, S1, and T1 states
The important inter-ring bond lengths and distortion angles of 1–8 in S0, S1, and T1 states are given in Table SII in Supporting Information. From Table SII one can find that there are no significant changes on the bond lengths of acceptors DBNA fragments for 1–8 in S0 states. The main bond lengths alteration appeared on the bonds those connect the acceptor DBNA and different donor fragments (The atom numbering of the designed molecules see Fig. SI in Supporting Information). The inter-ring distances A–D of 1–8 are 1.417, 1.416, 1.423, 1.423, 1.419, 1.422, 1.420, and 1.421 Å, respectively. It has also been noted that 1–8 possess large distortion angles between their A and D units in the S0 owing to their large steric hindrance. The smallest distortion angles values of 1–8 are 93.4˚, 101.6˚, 80.0˚, 85.5˚, 78.9˚, 78.0˚, 89.3˚, and 79.9˚, respectively. The large distortion angles values are favorable for the disrupting the electronic communication between D and A fragments. In the S1 state, the bond lengths of B1–C6, B1–C7, C5–C19, C8–C25, C10–C11, C17–C18, C23–C24 for 1–8 are shortened compared to those in the S0 states, respectively. Meanwhile, the bond lengths of B1–C2 for 1, 2, 5, and 6, C2–C3 and C2–C10 for 3, 4, and 8, C3–C13 for 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, and 8 are decreased compared to those in the S0 states, respectively. Other bond lengths of DBNA fragments for the designed molecules in S1 states are enlarged with respect to those in the S0 states, respectively. Furthermore, the distortion angles between their A and D fragments are more close to 90˚ in the S1 state as compared to those in the S0 states for 1–8. As a consequence, the steric separation of the FMO is taken place easily. Moreover, the differences in the distortion angles between S0 and S1 for 1–8 are small. Accordingly, the non-radiative decay from S1 to S0 can be subdued efficiently [61, 62]. At the same time, the results displayed in Table SII in Supporting Information reveal that the inter-ring bond lengths and distortion angles in T1 states are similar to those in S1 states for 1–8, respectively. It is expected that up-conversion from triplet to singlet exciton might be more efficiently.
3.2 Frontier molecular orbital level and band gaps
With the aim to explore the optical and electronic properties, it is important to examine the character of FMOs. The electronic density contours of HOMO and LUMO in S0 states are depicted in Fig. 2. At the same time, we also investigated the percentage of electronic distribution on the FMOs and the overlap value (ρ) between D and A fragments on HOMOs and LUMOs, as displayed in Table 1. In the S0 state, both the HOMOs and LUMOs of 1–8 possessed exhibited π orbital features, as visualized in Fig. 2. The results displayed in Table 1 reveal that the HOMOs of 1–8 are predominantly distributed on the D fragments, whereas the LUMOs mainly localized on A fragments. The contributions of D fragments for HOMOs are larger than 96.9%, whereas the corresponding contributions of A fragments are smaller than 3.1%, respectively. For the LUMOs, the contributions of A fragments in 1–8 are larger than 95.9%, while the corresponding contributions are smaller than 4.1%. Accordingly, the HOMOs to LUMOs transitions have a strong charge transfer character. Especially, the overlap ρ values for HOMOs are in the range of 0.013–0.020, while the corresponding ρ values for LUMOs are 0.021–0.027. It also confirms that the strong charge transfer nature and exhibits a small electron exchange energy, which led to a ΔEST values.
Table 2 collected the EHOMO, ELUMO, Eg, the percentage of electronic distribution on the FMOs, and the overlap value (ρ) between D and A fragments on HOMOs and LUMOs of the investigated molecules in the S1 states. The distribution patterns and energy levels of the HOMOs and LUMOs of 1–8 in the S1 state are shown in Fig. 3. Inspection of Fig. 3 reveals clearly that HOMOs and LUMOs are also separated efficiently in the S1 state as those in S0 states for the designed molecules [63, 64]. The HOMOs and LUMOs are mostly located on the D and A fragments, respectively. The results displayed in Table 2 show that the contributions of D fragments for HOMOs are larger than 97.9%, whereas the contributions of A fragments for the LUMOs are larger than 97.3%. Remarkably, the HOMOs to LUMOs transitions possess stronger charge transfer feature than that in S0 states. Furthermore, it can be noted that the ρ values for HOMOs and LUMOs are in the ranges of 0.009–0.014 and 0.019–0.028, respectively. It indicates that D and A fragments are separated efficiently in the S1 state, which is beneficial for the TADF properties. The EHOMO values are in the order of 5 > 3 > 1 > 6 > 4 > 8 > 2 > 7 while the ELUMO values are in the sequence of 5 > 6 > 8 > 1 > 3 > 7 > 4 > 2. It is noted that both HOMOs and LUMOs values of 2, 4, and 7 are decreased compared with those of 1, 3, and 6, respectively. It indicates that the “CH”/N substitution can decrease the FMOs energy levels. The HOMOs and LUMOs values of 8 are lower than those of 6, respectively. It implies that the enhancement of the electron donating ability of the donors results in lower FMOs energy levels. The Eg values are in the order of 8 > 6 > 7 > 2 > 1 > 3 > 4 > 5. It can be found that the Eg values of 3–5 decrease, whereas the Eg values of 2, 6–8 increases compared with that of 1. Therefore, one can anticipate that red shift emissions for 3–5 and blue shift emissions for 2, 6–8 could be observed compared with that for 1. As mentioned above, one can conclude that the introduction of different end-capper D fragments can tune effectively the FMOs energy levels for the designed molecules. In addition, we also investigated the character of FMOs in T1 states. (Fig. SII). As expect, the electronic density contours of HOMOs and LUMOs in T1 states are similar to those in S1 states, respectively. It is facilitate for the RISC process from T1 to S1 states.
Table 1
The HOMO and LUMO Contributions (%) and the overlap between D and A fragments on HOMOs and LUMOs (ρ) of 1–8 in S0 states at the PBEPBE/6-31G(d,p) level.
Species | HOMO | | LUMO |
Aa | Db | ρ | | A | D | ρ |
1 | 2.5 | 97.5 | 0.017 | | 96.9 | 3.1 | 0.024 |
2 | 3.1 | 96.9 | 0.020 | | 95.9 | 4.1 | 0.023 |
3 | 1.8 | 98.2 | 0.014 | | 96.6 | 3.4 | 0.021 |
4 | 1.6 | 98.4 | 0.013 | | 96.5 | 3.5 | 0.022 |
5 | 1.7 | 98.3 | 0.013 | | 97.2 | 2.8 | 0.026 |
6 | 2.5 | 97.5 | 0.018 | | 97.2 | 2.8 | 0.027 |
7 | 2.6 | 97.4 | 0.017 | | 97.2 | 2.8 | 0.026 |
8 | 2.6 | 97.4 | 0.020 | | 97.1 | 2.9 | 0.023 |
a A: boronate-thioester 5,9-dioxa-13b-boranaphtho[3 ,2,1-de]anthracene (DBNA) fragments. b D: different polycyclic aromatics fragments. |
Table 2
The FMOs energies EHOMO and ELUMO, HOMO–LUMO gaps Eg (all in eV), HOMOs and LUMOs contributions (%) and the overlap (ρ) between D and A fragments on HOMOs and LUMOs of 1–8 in S1 states.
Species | HOMO | | LUMO | Eg |
EHOMO | Aa | Db | ρ | | ELUMO | A | D | ρ |
1 | -5.193 | 1.8 | 98.2 | 0.013 | | -2.082 | 97.3 | 2.7 | 0.022 | 3.111 |
2 | -5.745 | 1.8 | 98.2 | 0.014 | | -2.591 | 97.3 | 2.7 | 0.019 | 3.154 |
3 | -5.139 | 1.4 | 98.6 | 0.009 | | -2.100 | 97.0 | 3.0 | 0.025 | 3.040 |
4 | -5.609 | 1.3 | 98.7 | 0.009 | | -2.588 | 96.9 | 3.1 | 0.024 | 3.020 |
5 | -4.557 | 1.4 | 98.6 | 0.010 | | -1.858 | 97.3 | 2.7 | 0.025 | 2.699 |
6 | -5.480 | 2.1 | 97.9 | 0.012 | | -1.895 | 97.3 | 2.7 | 0.028 | 3.585 |
7 | -5.921 | 2.1 | 97.9 | 0.013 | | -2.345 | 97.3 | 2.7 | 0.026 | 3.576 |
8 | -5.620 | 2.2 | 97.9 | 0.013 | | -1.915 | 97.3 | 2.7 | 0.025 | 3.706 |
a A: boronate-thioester 5,9-dioxa-13b-boranaphtho[3 ,2,1-de]anthracene (DBNA) fragments. b D: different polycyclic aromatics fragments. |
(Insert Table 1)
(Insert Table 2)
(Insert Fig. 2)
(Insert Fig. 3)
3.3 Singlet-triplet energy gap
The calculated singlet and triplet vertical excitation energy (ES1 and ET1) and ΔEST of 1–8 are listed in Table 3. It is worth noting that smaller ΔEST is favorable for RISC process from the T1 to S1 states [11, 12]. The results displayed in Table 3 show that the calculated ES1 values of 1–8 decreases in the order of 8 > 6 > 7 > 2 > 1 > 3 > 4 > 5, which is consistent with the order of Eg values in S1 states (see Table 2). However, the calculated ET1 values of 1–8 are in the sequence of 6 > 7 > 8 > 2 > 1 > 4 > 3 > 5. Obviously, the designed molecules exhibit small ΔEST values (0.0070–0.1891 eV). Molecules 5 and 8 own the smallest and largest ΔEST values among the designed molecules, respectively. The predicted ΔEST values of 1–8 are lower than 0.3 eV [10]. Therefore, the efficient RISC process may take place because of their small ΔEST values for the designed molecules. The predicted ΔEST values is in the sequence 8 (0.1891) > 3 (0.0904) > 4 (0.0651) > 7 (0.0456) > 6 (0.0267) > 2 (0.0088) > 1 (0.0086) > 5 (0.0070). It is noted that the ΔEST values of 2, 4, and 7 are close to those of 1, 3, and 6, respectively. It indicates that the “CH”/N substitution does not significantly affect the ΔEST values compared with the parent molecules. As mentioned above, the HOMOs to LUMOs transitions have a strong charge transfer character in S1 state. The contributions of D and A fragments for HOMOs and LUMOs are larger than 97.9% and 97.3%, respectively. Furthermore, the ρ values for HOMOs and LUMOs are in the ranges of 0.009–0.014 and 0.019–0.028, respectively. It indicates that D and A fragments are separated efficiently in the S1 state, which is beneficial for the TADF properties. Additionally, the distortion angles between their A and D fragments are more close to 90˚ in the S1 state as compared to those in the S0 states. Therefore, the steric separation of the HOMOs and LUMOs is taken place easily. The designed molecules may exhibit high RISC rate constant (kRISC) because a small ΔEST value is beneficial for the high kRISC value. As a consequence, the designed molecules exhibit TADF property.
Table 3
Calculated vertical excitation energy of S1 and T1 (ES1 and ET1) and singlet-triplet energy gap (ΔEST) of 1–8 at the TD-PBEPBE/6-31G(d,p) level (in eV).
Species | ES1 | ET1 | ΔEST |
1 | 2.2586 | 2.2518 | 0.0086 |
2 | 2.3019 | 2.2981 | 0.0088 |
3 | 2.2018 | 1.9776 | 0.0904 |
4 | 2.1866 | 1.9783 | 0.0651 |
5 | 1.8803 | 1.8744 | 0.0070 |
6 | 2.7011 | 2.6455 | 0.0267 |
7 | 2.7004 | 2.6327 | 0.0456 |
8 | 2.7724 | 2.4605 | 0.1891 |
(Insert Table 3)
3.4 Photophysical properties
As mentioned above, the designed molecules exhibit TADF property, thus, the predicted fluorescence emissions are the delayed fluorescence emissions. Table 4 collected the wavelength of delayed fluorescence emission (λTADF), phosphorrescence emission (λph), absorption (λabs), and Stokes shift of the designed molecules. From Table 4, one can be noted that the λabs values of the designed molecules have hypsochromic shifts compared with that of molecule 1, respectively, except that the corresponding value of 5 shows bathochromic shift compared with that of molecule 1. As shown in Fig. 3, the delayed fluorescent band for the designed molecules can be assigned to the LUMOs → HOMOs transitions, which corresponds to π-π* transitions. Meanwhile, as expect, the tendency of the singlet vertical excitation energy (ES1) is consistent with the order of Eg values in S1 states (see Table 1). It can be noted that the λTADF values of 1–8 are in the sequence of 5 > 4 > 3 > 1 > 2 > 7 > 6 > 8, which is similar to the corresponding reverse order of their Eg and ES1 values. The results displayed in Table 4 show that the λTADF values of 2 and 6–8 exhibit hypsochromic shifts, 10, 90, 88, and 102 nm compared with that of 1, respectively. On the contrary, the λTADF values of 3–5 have bathochromic shifts, 14, 18, and 110 nm compared with that of 1, respectively. It is interesting to note that 3–5 display more significant Stokes shifts (141, 102, and 130 nm). Molecules 3 and 4 exhibit turquoise emissions and molecule 5 shows red emission with small ΔEST values. On the other hand, molecules 1, 2, and 6–8 have small Stokes shifts 75, 76, 60, 38, and 54 nm, respectively. Additionally, molecules 6 and 7 possess bright blue emissions, whereas 1, 2, and 8 exhibit bright green, green, and dark blue emissions, respectively. Therefore, one can conclude that the introduction of different end-capper fragments as electron donors can tune the delayed fluorescence emission color effectively. Our results suggest that the designed molecules can serve as promising TADF materials for OLEDs. We also calculated the λph values of the designed molecules. Comparing the λph values with the λTADF values, one can find that the λph values are similar to the λTADF values, which should favourable for achieving the TADF feature.
Table 4
Calculated absorption (λabs), delayed fluorescence emission (λTADF), phosphorescence emission (λph) wavelengths, and Stokes shifts (all in nm) of 1–8 at the TD-PBEPBE/6-31G (d,p) level.
Species | λabs | λTADF | λph | Stokes shift |
1 | 474 | 549 | 551 | 75 |
2 | 463 | 539 | 540 | 76 |
3 | 422 | 563 | 627 | 141 |
4 | 465 | 567 | 627 | 102 |
5 | 529 | 659 | 662 | 130 |
6 | 399 | 459 | 469 | 60 |
7 | 423 | 461 | 471 | 38 |
8 | 393 | 447 | 504 | 54 |
(Insert Table 4)