Phosphorescence studies of a series of facial homoleptic cyclometalated iridium(III) complexes have been carried out. The complexes studied have the general structure Ir(III)(C-N)(3), where (C-N) is a monoanionic cyclometalating ligand: 2-(5-methylthiophen-2-yl)pyridinato, 2-(thiophen-2-yl)-5-trifluoromethylpyridinato, 2,5-di(thiophen-2-yl)pyridinato, 2,5-di(5-methylthiophen-2-yl)pyridinato, 2-(benzo[b]thiophen-2-yl)pyridinato, 2-(9,9-dimethyl-9H-fluoren-2-yl)pyridinato, 1-phenylisoquinolinato, 1-(thiophen-2-yl)isoquinolinato, or 1-(9,9-dimethyl-9H-fluoren-2-yl)isoquinolinato. Luminescence properties of all the complexes at 298 K in toluene are as follows: quantum yields of phosphorescence Phi(p) = 0.08-0.29, emission peaks lambda(max) = 558-652 nm, and emission lifetimes tau = 0.74-4.7 micros. Bathochromic shifts of the Ir(thpy)(3) family [the complexes with 2-(thiophen-2-yl)pyridine derivatives] are observed by introducing appropriate substituents, e.g., methyl, trifluoromethyl, or thiophen-2-yl. However, Phi(p) of the red emissive complexes (lambda(max) > 600 nm) becomes small, caused by a significant decrease of the radiative rate constant, k(r). In contrast, the complexes with the 1-arylisoquinoline ligands are found to have marked red shifts of lambda(max) and very high Phi(p) (0.19-0.26). These complexes are found to possess dominantly (3)MLCT (metal-to-ligand charge transfer) excited states and have k(r) values approximately 1 order of magnitude larger than those of the Ir(thpy)(3) family. An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) device that uses Ir(1-phenylisoquinolinato)(3) as a phosphorescent dopant produces very high efficiency (external quantum efficiency eta(ex) = 10.3% and power efficiency 8.0 lm/W at 100 cd/m(2)) and pure-red emission with 1931 CIE (Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage) chromaticity coordinates (x = 0.68, y = 0.32).

This study reports substituent effects of iridium complexes with 1-phenylisoquinoline ligands. The emission spectra and phosphorescence quantum yields of the complexes differ from that of tris(1-phenylisoquinolinato-C2,N)iridium(iii)(Irpiq) depending on the substituents. The maximum emission peak, quantum yield and lifetime of those complexes ranged from 598-635 nm, 0.17-0.32 and 1.07-2.34 micros, respectively. This indicates the nature of the substituents has a significant influence on the kinetics of the excited-state decay. The substituents attached to phenyl ring have an influence on a stability of the HOMO. Furthermore, those substituents have effect on the contribution to a mixing between 3pi-pi* and (3)MLCT for the lowest excited states. Some of the complexes display the larger quantum yield than Irpiq, which has the quantum yield of 0.22. The organic light emitting diode (OLED) device based on tris [1-(4-fluoro-5-methylphenyl)isoquinolinato-C2,N]iridium(iii)(Ir4F5Mpiq) yielded high external quantum efficiency of 15.5% and a power efficiency of 12.4 lm W(-1) at a luminance of 218 cd m(-2). An emission color of the device was close to an NTSC specification with CIE chromaticity characteristics of (0.66, 0.34).

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We studied red emissive materials of Ir-complex. We demonstrate high efficiency red OLED devices employing phosphorescent dopant. Ir(piq) 3 [Iridium(III)tris(1-phenyl-isoquinolinato-N,C 2 )] shows maximum emission peak of 623nm and excellent Q.Y with 0.66 compared to Ir(ppy) 3 as a unit. Efficiency of the EL device is 8.0 lm/ W, 9.3 cd/A at 100cd/m 2 , 6.3 lm/W, 8.4 cd/A at 300cd/m 2 . CIE-coordinate is (0.68,0.33) and it meets NTSC specification.