Synthesis and Characterization of Phenanthroimidazole Derivatives as Light-Emitting and Ambipolar Materials

Novel phenanthroimidazole derivatives were designed and synthesized for in electroluminescent devices. They were characterized by means of 1H, 13C NMR, FTIR. The optical, electrochemical and thermal properties were also investigated. The relationship between the chemical structure and the properties of these materials was evaluated. Due to the conversion of the substituents onto the 2-imidazole position to the phenanthroimidazole ring, these compounds exhibite efficient emission from blue to yellow-green, red shifs in absorption and photoluminescence spectra. With respect to thermal properties and the oxidation potentials, it can be turned by varying the conjugation length of compounds and the length of alkyl chains. Mostly, all four compounds have suited HOMO and LUMO values, which can be used not only hole-transporting but also electon-tansporting materials in OLEDs.