Recent developments in benzothiazole-based iridium(III) complexes for application in OLEDs as electrophosphorescent emitters

Iridium (III) [Ir(III)] complexes have been widely applied in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) as phosphorescent emissive materials due to the high quantum efficiency, good thermal stability, short lifetime and flexible color adjustment. Except well-known Ir(III)-based red, green and blue phosphorescent complexes, the benzothiazole-based yellow Ir(III) complexes play a pivotal role for realizing full-color OLEDs as well as high-quality white OLEDs. In this review, recent developments of benzothiazole-based Ir(III) complexes as phosphorescent emitters in OLEDs have been systematically summarized and discussed, which mostly focus on the molecular design tactics, structure-property relationship and electroluminescent performances of the benzothiazole-based Ir(III) complexes in OLEDs.