Nine
new phosphorus-coordinated iridium(III) complexes of the form
[Ir(C∧N)2(P∧P)]PF6, [Ir(F-piq)2(xantphos)]PF6 (1), [Ir(F-piq)2(binap)]PF6 (2),
[Ir(F-piq)2(dppp)]PF6 (3), [Ir(Me-piq)2(xantphos)]PF6 (4), [Ir(Me-piq)2(binap)]PF6 (5), [Ir(Me-piq)2(dppp)]PF6 (6), [Ir(CF3O-piq)2(xantphos)]PF6 (7), [Ir(CF3O-piq)2(binap)]PF6 (8), and [Ir(CF3O-piq)2(dppp)]PF6 (9) (F-piq
= 1-(4-fluorophenyl)isoquinoline, Me-piq = 1-(p-tolyl)isoquinoline,
CF3O-piq = 1-(4-(trifluoromethoxy)phenyl)isoquinoline,
xantphos = 9,9-dimethyl-4,5-bis(diphenylphosphino)xanthene, binap
= 2,2′-bis(diphenylphosphino)-1,1′-binaphthyl, dppp
= 1,3-bis(diphenylphosphanyl)propane), have been synthesized and fully
characterized. The crystal structures of 1, 7, and 9 have been determined by X-ray analysis. The
most representative molecular orbital energy-level diagrams and the
lowest energy electronic transitions of 1–9 have been calculated with density functional theory (DFT)
and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT). All of the complexes are orange-red
emissive with quantum efficiencies of 3.2–24.4% and lifetimes
of 1.77–3.19 μs in degassed CH2Cl2 solution at room temperature. These research results reveal that
the Me-piq C∧N ligand and xantphos P∧P ligand are beneficial for a red shift of absorption and emission
wavelength. Complex 4 has better charge transfer ability,
which probably promises its use as a red-phosphorescent material.