The Effect of Molecular Structure on the Properties of Fluorene Derivatives for OLED Applications.

A new family of symmetrical fluorene derivatives with different types of substituents attached to the C-2 and C-7 positions of the fluorene core synthesized by the Sonogashira coupling reactions is reported. The electronic structures and the properties of the compounds investigated by means of photoelectron emission spectroscopy, UV-Vis absorption and photoluminescent spectroscopy as well as by DFT and TD-DFT theoretical calculations are discussed. It is shown that the nature of substituents influences the π-conjugation of the molecules. No intermolecular charge transfer within the investigated wavelength range is observed. The applicability of the synthesized compounds in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on exciplex emission is demonstrated. The advanced co-deposition technique with the tuned OLED architecture was applied and resulted in improved OLED parameters.