Formylated chloro-bridged iridium(III) dimers as OLED materials: opening up new possibilities

In this study, a series of four formyl-substituted chloro-bridged iridium(III) dimers were prepared. Their absorption, photophysical and electrochemical properties were studied in dichloromethane solution. It was found that as the formyl content increased on the cyclometalating ligands, emission unexpectedly became brighter. Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) were fabricated using each of these iridium dimers as the emitter. The OLED fabricated using the brightest of the series, 2b, as the dopant afforded a decent external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 2.6%. This suggests that chloro-bridged iridium dimers are potential candidates as solid-state emitters.