A new class of thermally activated delayed fluorescent donor–acceptor–donor–acceptor (D–A–D–A) π-conjugated macrocycle comprised of two U-shaped electron-acceptors (dibenzo­[a,j]­phenazine) and two electron-donors (N,N′-diphenyl-p-phenyelendiamine) has been rationally designed and successfully synthesized. The macrocyclic compound displayed polymorphs-dependent conformations and emission properties. Comparative studies on physicochemical properties of the macrocycle with a linear surrogate have revealed significant effects of the structural cyclization of the D–A-repeating unit, including more efficient thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF). Furthermore, an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) device fabricated with the macrocycle compound as the emitter has achieved a high external quantum efficiency (EQE) up to 11.6%, far exceeding the theoretical maximum (5%) of conventional fluorescent emitters and that with linear analogue (6.9%).

The molecular machinery of life is founded on chiral building blocks, but no experimental technique is currently available to distinguish or monitor chiral systems in live cell bio-imaging studies. Luminescent chiral molecules encode a unique optical fingerprint within emitted circularly polarized light (CPL) carrying information about the molecular environment, conformation, and binding state. Here, we present a CPL Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope (CPL-LSCM) capable of simultaneous chiroptical contrast based live-cell imaging of endogenous and engineered CPL-active cellular probes. Further, we demonstrate that CPL-active probes can be activated using two-photon excitation, with complete CPL spectrum recovery. The combination of these two milestone results empowers the multidisciplinary imaging community, allowing the study of chiral interactions on a sub-cellular level in a new (chiral) light.

New thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) blue emitter molecules based on the known donor−acceptor−donor (D−A−D)type TADF molecule, 2,7-bis(9,9-dimethylacridin-10-yl)-9,9-dimethylthioxanthene-S,S-dioxide (DDMA-TXO2), are reported. The motivation for the present investigation is via the use of rational molecular design, based on DDMA-TXO2, to elevate the organic light emitting diode (OLED) performance and obtain deeper blue color coordinates. To achieve this goal, the strength of the donor (D) unit and acceptor (A) units have been tuned with methyl substituents. The methyl functionality on the acceptor was also expected to modulate the D−A torsion angle in order to obtain a blue shift in the electroluminescence. The effect of regioisomeric structures has also been investigated. Herein, we report the photophysical, electrochemical, and single-crystal X-ray crystallography data to assist with the successful OLED design. The methyl substituents on the DDMA-TXO2 framework have profound effects on the photophysics and color coordinates of the emitters. The weak electron-donating methyl groups alter the redox properties of the D and A units and consequently affect the singlet and triplet levels but not the energy gap (ΔE ST ). By systematically manipulating all of the aforementioned factors, devices have been obtained with acceptor-substituted III with a maximum external quantum efficiency of 22.6% and Commission Internationale de l'E ́clairage coordinates of (0.15, 0.18) at 1000 cd m −2 .

A simplified state model and associated rate equations are used to extract the reverse intersystem crossing and other key rate constants from transient photoluminescence measurements of two high performance thermally activated delayed fluorescence materials. The values of the reverse intersystem crossing rate constant are in close agreement with established methods, but do not require a priori assumption of exponential decay kinetics, nor any additional steady state measurements. The model is also applied to measurements at different temperatures and found to reproduce previously reported thermal activation energies for the thermally activated delayed fluorescence process. Transient absorption measurements provide independent confirmation that triplet decay channels (neglected here) have no adverse effect on the fitting.

Seemingly not, but for unexpected reasons. Combining the triplet harvesting properties of TADF materials with the fast emission rates and colour purity of fluorescent emitters is attractive for developing high...