A series of highly luminescent, heteroleptic copper(I) complexes has been synthesized using a modular approach based on easily accessible P^N ligands, triphenylphosphine, and copper(I) halides, allowing for an independent tuning of the emission wavelength with low synthetic efforts. The molecular structure has been investigated via X-ray analysis, confirming a dinuclear copper(I) complex consisting of a butterfly shaped metal-halide cluster and two different sets of ligands. The bidentate P^N ligand bridges the two metal centers and can be used to tune the energy of the frontier orbitals and therefore the photophysical characteristics, as confirmed by emission spectroscopy and theoretical investigations, whereas the two monodentate triphenylphosphine ligands on the periphery of the cluster core mainly influence the solubility of the complex. By using electron-rich or electron-poor heterocycles as part of the bridging ligand, emission colors can be adjusted, respectively, between yellow (581 nm) and deep blue (451 nm). These complexes have been further investigated in particular with regard to their photophysical properties in thin films and polymer matrix as well as in solution. Furthermore, the suitability of this class of materials for being applied in organic lightemitting diodes (OLEDs) has been demonstrated in a solution-processed device with a maximum current efficiency of 9 cd/A and a low turn-on voltage of 4.1 V using a representative complex as an emitting compound.

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are currently being commercialized for lighting and display applications, but more work has to be done. In addition to the ongoing optimization of materials and devices in terms of efficiency and lifetime, the substitution of processing steps involving vacuum deposition for solution processing techniques is favorable. To reach this aim, good soluble materials are required. A modular family of highly emissive PyrPHOS-copper iodide complexes featuring various ancillary phosphine ligands has been synthesized. Photoluminescence spectroscopy, TCSPC (time-correlated single photon counting), cyclic voltammetry, X-ray diffraction, and DFT calculations were performed to gain a broad understanding of the complexes. While the photophysical properties are consistent within the family, thermal stability and solubility depend on the ligands. The materials showed very high photoluminescence quantum efficiencies up to 99% in powders and 85% in thin films. Selected examples were tested in devices, confirming the suitability of heteroleptic PyrPHOS-complexes for OLEDs.

The substitution of rare metals such as iridium and platinum in light-emitting materials is a key step to enable low-cost mass-production of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Here, it is demonstrated that using a solution-processed, fully bridged dinuclear Cu(I)-complex can yield very high efficiencies. An optimized device gives a maximum external quantum efficiency of 23 ± 1% (73 ± 2 cd A(-1) ).

Strongly luminescent, neutral copper(I) complexes bearing 5-(2-pyridyl)tetrazolate and various phosphine ligands were synthesized. While the cationic copper(I) precursors 1b-4b do not exceed photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQY) of 4-46%, the neutral complexes 1a-4a show PLQYs of up to 89%.

Bridging P(^)N ligands bearing five-membered heterocyclic moieties such as tetrazoles, 1,2,4-triazoles, oxadiazoles, thiadiazoles, and oxazoles have been investigated regarding their complexation behavior with copper(I) iodide as metal salts. Different complex structures were found, depending either on the ligand itself or on the ligand-to-metal ratios used in the complexation reaction. Two different kinds of luminescent dinuclear complex structures and a kind of tetranuclear complex structure were revealed by X-ray single-crystal analyses and were further investigated for their photophysical properties. The emission maxima of these complexes are in the blue to yellow region of the visible spectrum for the dinuclear complexes and in the yellow to orange region for the tetranuclear complexes. Further investigations using density functional theory (DFT) show that the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) is located mainly on the metal halide cores, while the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) resides mostly in the ligand sphere of the complexes. The emission properties were further examined in different environments such as neat powders, neat films, PMMA matrices, or dichloromethane solutions, revealing the high potential of these complexes for their application in organic light-emitting diodes. Especially complexes with 1,2,4-triazole moieties feature emission maxima in the blue region of the visible spectrum and quantum yields up to 95% together with short decay times of about 1-4 μs and are therefore promising candidates for blue-emitting materials in OLEDs.

Polymorphism is often linked to the choice of processing solvents. Packing effects or the preference of one certain conformer as possible causes of this phenomenon are strongly dependent on solvents and especially on their polarity. Even in amorphous solids, the microstructure can be controlled by the choice of solvents. Polymorphs or amorphous solids featuring different packing densities can exhibit different properties in terms of stability or optical effects. The influence of these effects on a binuclear, strongly luminescent copper(I) complex was investigated. Many possible applications for luminescent, amorphous coordination compounds, such as organic light-emitting diodes, sensors, and organic lasers, rely on photophysical properties like quantum efficiency to be repeatable. The effect of processing solvents in this context is often underestimated, but very relevant for utilization in device manufacturing and should therefore be understood more deeply. In this work, theoretical derivations, DFT calculations, X-ray-diffraction, photoluminescence spectroscopy, and the time-dependent single-photon-counting-technique (TDSPC) were used to understand this phenomenon more deeply. The influence of five different solvents on Cu2I2(MePyrPHOS)3 was probed. This resulted in a modulation of the photoluminescence quantum yield ϕ between 0.5 and 0.9 in amorphous solid state. A new polymorph of the material with slightly reduced values for ϕ has been identified. The reduced efficiency could be correlated with a higher porosity and a reduced packing density. Dense packing reduces nonradiative decay by geometrical fixation and thus increases the quantum efficiency. The existence of similar effects on aluminum and iridium compounds has been confirmed by application of different processing solvents on Alq3 and Ir(ppy)3. These results show that a tuning of the efficiency of a emissive metal complexes by choosing a proper processing solvent is possible. If highly efficient materials for practical applications are desired, an evaluation of multiple solvents has to be considered.

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The photoluminescence quantum efficiency as well as the processing properties of a series of brightly luminescent Cu(I)-metallopolymers strongly depended on the chosen synthetic approach. A monomeric, substituted styrenic complex features a photoluminescence quantum efficiency (PLQY) of only 4%, while its metallopolymeric thin film is over one order of magnitude more efficient.