Tailoring thermally activated delayed fluorescence emitters for efficient electrochemiluminescence with tripropylamine as coreactant

Abstract

Using a unified metal-free procedure, a selection of Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence (TADF) emitters has been synthesized and characterized. Different acceptor and donor moieties have been explored in order to develop red emitting dyes with reduction potentials suitable for the application in ECL using tri-propylamine as coreactant. The most promising compound shows terephthalonitrile as the acceptor and diphenylamines as donors, and it displayed an ECL efficiency that is double the one of the standard [Ru(bpy)₃](PF₆)₂. Based on such findings, a novel water-soluble TADF emitter (Na₄[4DPASO₃TPN]) has been synthesized and characterized to enable electrochemiluminescence in an aqueous medium.