Carbonyl‐containing derivatives show enduring vitality in the field of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials; they can realize high device efficiency by using both singlet and triplet excitons for electroluminescence. Recently, a system based on fused ketone/amine exhibited huge potential for constructing multi‐resonance TADF (MR‐TADF) emitters, which exhibit higher narrow‐band emission than conventional TADF emitters with twisted donor‐acceptor (D‐A) structure. Herein, we summarize current research progress in both traditional and MR‐type ketone derivatives with TADF characteristics for introducing the molecular design strategy of maintaining high device efficiency while keeping narrow‐band emission profile. We hope this review can inspire the emergence of more high‐performance narrow‐band materials.

Conformational engineering is essential to further reinforce the luminescent properties of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials featuring through-space charge transfer (TSCT) characteristics. Herein, two TSCT-TADF emitters (8MeDM-B and 8FDM-B) with the methyl and fluorine moieties substituted at the C8 site of the rigid spiro-fluorene bridge is reported. Derivation of the C8 site is first proposed to control the molecular configuration with the ability to indirectly tune the intramolecular interaction between donor and acceptor groups. As a result, 8MeDM-B and 8FDM-B both present small singlet-triplet energy gaps, fast reverse intersystem crossing rates, and high photoluminescence quantum yields. Interestingly, the smaller fluorine atom not the bigger methyl group exhibits more evident electrostatic repulsive force onto the central donor and thus rectifies the central spiro structure. Consequently, the high external quantum efficiency values of 28.8% and 31.7% for 8MeDM-B and 8FDM-B-based electroluminescence devices are achieved, respectively. This study offers a measure for enhancing TSCT-TADF emitters without directly modifying the donor or acceptor.

The employment of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters is one of the most promising ways to realize the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of over 25% for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). In addition, the TADF emitter based on oxygen-bridged boron (BO) fragment can maintain blue emission with high color purity. Herein, we constructed two blue TADF emitters, 3TBO and 5TBO, for OLEDs application. Both emitters consist of three donors linked at the oxygen-bridged boron acceptor. OLED devices based on 3TBO and 5TBO exhibited both high excellent device efficiency and high color purity with a maximum EQE; full-width at half-maximum (FWHM); and CIE coordinates of 17.3%, 47 nm, (0.120, 0.294), and 26.2%, 57 nm, (0.125, 0.275), respectively.

Organic charge transfer (CT) cocrystals open a new door for the exploitation of low-dimensional near-infrared (NIR) emitters by a convenient self-assembly approach. However, research about the fabrication of sheet-like NIR-emitting microstructures that are significant for structural construction and integrated application is limited by the unidirectional molecular packing mode. Herein, via regulation of the biaxial intermolecular CT interaction, single-crystalline microsheets with remarkable NIR emission from 720 to 960 nm were synthesized via the solution self-assembly process of dithieno[3,2-b:2′,3′-d]thiophene and 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane. The expected sheet-like structure is conducive to achieving a two-dimensional (2D) optical waveguide with an ultralow optical loss rate of 0.250 dB/μm at 860 nm. More significantly, these asprepared organic microsheets with tunable thicknesses (h) from 100 to 1100 nm exhibit thickness-dependent NIR optical transportation performance. These findings could pave the way to a new class of low-dimensional NIR emitters for 2D photonics at telecom wavelengths.

Red through-space charge transfer thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TSCT TADF) materials named SAF36DCPP and SAF27DCPP with sandwiched structures were synthesized. Single crystals indicated that the intramolecular C−H•••π interactions play a vital role in rigidifying the sandwiched structure, which results in a fluorescence yield of 63% for SAF36DCPP compared to 40% for SAF27DCPP. Organic light-emitting diodes with SAF36DCPP as the emitter realized a maximum external quantum efficiency of 16.12%.