Patent Application
20130264554
The present invention relates to organic electroluminescent devices, which are sometimes otherwise referred to as organic light emitting diodes (OLED). Organic electroluminescent devices emit light on the application of an electric field to one layer or multiple layers of an organic compound (organic material layer). The present invention also relates to organic compounds suitable for use in such devices.
An organic electroluminescent device is generally comprised of a pair of electrodes forming an anode and a cathode, and one layer or multiple layers comprising a hole injection layer, emission layer (with either fluorescent or phosphorescent material) and electron transporting layer. Into the organic layer(s), holes and electrons are injected from the anode and the cathode, respectively, thus resulting in excitons within the emission material. When the excitons transition to ground state, the organic luminescence device emits light.
According to the first study by Eastman Kodak Co. (“Appl. Phys. Lett”, vol. 51, pp. 913 (1987), an organic electroluminescent device which comprised a layer of an aluminium quinolinol complex (as electron transporting and luminescent material) and a layer of a triphenylamine derivative (as a hole transporting material) resulted in luminescence of about 1,000 cd/m2 under an application of a voltage of 10 V. Examples of related U.S. patents include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,539,507; 4,720,432 and 4,885,211.
Further studies by Baldo et al. revealed a promising OLED using phosphorescent material as dopant. The quantum yield of the phosphorescent OLED was significantly improved (U.S. Pat. No. 6,830,828).
In addition to the above-mentioned OLED, polymer organic electroluminescent device (PLED) using a conjugated polymer material has been reported by a group from Cambridge University (Nature, vol. 347, pp. 539- (1990), U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,247,190; 5,514,878 and 5,672,678).
PLED has an advantage in terms of device fabrication as a printing methodology may be adopted for soluble polymer materials.
Although in the past twenty years OLED and PLED have shown significant progress to in their performance, there still remain problems that need to be solved.
For instance, organic electroluminescent devices described above still show insufficient performance in terms of durability when used for a long time. The performance of organic electroluminescent devices can be further improved by studying new materials such as hole injection materials, hole transporting materials, host materials, emission materials and some others. Additionally, improvement of the device fabrication process is required.
An important consideration to improving organic electroluminescent device performance is to further decrease the driving current within the device in order to enhance device lifetimes. For example, some materials that address this concern have been proposed (U.S. Pat. No. 6,436,559, JP 3571977, JP 3614405). Despite these advances in organic electroluminescent devices' using such materials, further improvements regarding stability and the performance are still required.
A present invention provides improvements to the problems encountered in organic electroluminescent devices as mentioned above, or provides a useful alternative.
Specific embodiments may provide an organic electroluminescent device with high efficiency and longer life time.
Specific embodiments may also provide a stable device which has reduced current leakage at low current range.
According to the invention, there is provided an organic electroluminescent device comprising:
wherein:
R1 to R2, are the same or different and are each independently selected from the group consisting of: substituted or unsubstituted aryl group or substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group.
R3 is selected from the group consisting of: substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group or cyano group.
When n=1; R1 or R2 is a substituted or unsubstituted thiophene group.
When n=2; R2=nothing.
One embodiment of the above invention, R1 is a thiophene group. In this embodiment, the invention provides a device, wherein the compound is of formula (1a):
R2 is selected from the group consisting of: substituted or unsubstituted aryl group or a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group.
R3 is selected from the group consisting of: substituted or unsubstituted aryl group or a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group or a hydrogen atom
R4 to R6 are the same or different, and are each independently selected from the is group consisting of hydrogen atom, halogen atom, nitro group, ketone group, amide group, cyano group, carboxylate group, sulfonate group, substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group and substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group, or are pairs of substituents in which R4 and R5, or R5 and R6 together form a substituted or unsubstituted cyclic group.
In another embodiment of the above invention, the R2 group of formula (1) is a thiophene group. In this embodiment, the invention provides a device, wherein the compound is of formula (1b):
R1 is selected from the group consisting of: substituted or unsubstituted aryl group or a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group.
R3 is selected from the group consisting of: substituted or unsubstituted aryl group or a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group or a hydrogen atom.
R4 to R6 are the same or different, and are each independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen atom, halogen atom, nitro group, ketone group, amide group, cyano group, carboxylate group, sulfonate group, substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group and substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group, or pairs of substituents in which R4 and R5, or R5 and R6 together form a substituted or unsubstituted cyclic group.
In a further embodiment of the above invention, the R2 group of formula (1) is an imidazole group. In this embodiment the invention provides a device, wherein the compound is of formula (1c):
R1 is selected from the group consisting of: substituted or unsubstituted aryl group or a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group.
R3 is selected from the group consisting of: substituted or unsubstituted aryl group or a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group.
In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a compound for use in an electroluminescent device represented by the following formula (1)
wherein:
R1 to R2, are the same or different and are each independently selected from the group consisting of: substituted or unsubstituted aryl group or substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group.
R3 is selected from the group consisting of: substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group or cyano group.
When n=1; R1 or R2 is a substituted or unsubstituted thiophene group. When n=2; R2=nothing.
In one embodiment of the above invention, the R1 group of formula (1) is a thiophene group. In this embodiment, the invention provides a compound for use in an electroluminescent device of formula (1a):
R2 is selected from the group consisting of: substituted or unsubstituted aryl group or a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group.
R3 is selected from the group consisting of: substituted or unsubstituted aryl group or a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group or a hydrogen atom
R4 to R6 are the same or different, and are each independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen atom, halogen atom, nitro group, ketone group, amide group, cyano group, carboxylate group, sulfonate group, substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group and substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group, or are pairs of substituents in which R4 and R5, or R5 and R6 together form a substituted or unsubstituted cyclic group.
Another embodiment of the above invention, the R2 group of formula (1) is a thiophene group. In this embodiment, the invention provides a compound for use in an electroluminescent device of formula (1b):
R1 is selected from the group consisting of: substituted or unsubstituted aryl group or a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group.
R3 is selected from the group consisting of: substituted or unsubstituted aryl group or a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group or a hydrogen atom.
R4 to R6 are the same or different, and are each independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen atom, halogen atom, nitro group, ketone group, amide group, cyano group, carboxylate group, sulfonate group, substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group and substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group, or pairs of substituents in which R4 and R5, or R5 and R6 together form a substituted or unsubstituted cyclic group.
A further embodiment of the above invention, R2 is an imidazole group. In this embodiment the invention provides a compound for use in an electroluminescent device of formula (1c):
R1 is selected from the group consisting of: substituted or unsubstituted aryl group or a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group.
R3 is selected from the group consisting of: substituted or unsubstituted aryl group or a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group.
In a further aspect the invention provides for use of the compound represented by formulae (1), (1a), (1b), (1c) above in an electroluminescent device.
In a preferred form of the above embodiments, R3 is selected from the group of a hydrogen atom, a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted monocyclic or polycyclic aromatic compound with 2 or more sites for attachment and a substituted or unsubstituted monoheterocyclic or polyheterocyclic compound with 2 or more sites for attachment.
When R1 to R3 is an aryl group, it may be monocyclic or polycyclic.
As mentioned above, R1 to R6 may be each independently selected from substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic groups. The heterocyclic groups may be polyheterocyclic.
Table 1 is a summary of device properties based on two selected materials 53 and 5, and one commercial material (NPD) for the reference purpose.
The organic electroluminescent device according to the present invention is composed of organic compounds layer(s) aligned between an anode and a cathode.
The organic layer(s) may be constituted by:
The term “compound” is used in its broadest sense to refer to any chemical substance of formula (1), and includes polymers, monomers and the like. It will be understood that some forms of the compound of formula (1) are polymer forms.
The compounds of formula (1) have an imidazole ring structure. R1 to R2, are the same or different and are each independently selected from the group consisting of: substituted or unsubstituted aryl group or substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group.
R3 is selected from the group consisting of: substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group or cyano group.
When n=1; R1 or R2 is a substituted or unsubstituted thiophene group.
When n=2; R2=nothing.
Specific embodiments of the compounds of the invention will have a melting point greater than 100° C. and a glass transition temperature greater than 100° C. It is also expected that the band gap for the compounds will be between 2.5 to 3.5 eV.
The term “aryl” is well understood in the art of chemistry, and is used to refer to any aromatic substituent. The aromatic substituent preferably contains one or more rings, such as from one to four fused aromatic rings, and between 5 and 50 ring atoms. Aromatic substituents contain a set of covalently-bound atoms with: a delocalized conjugated π system, most commonly an arrangement of alternating single and double bonds; a coplanar structure, with all the contributing atoms in the same plane; atoms of the system arranged in one or more rings, and an even number of π delocalized electrons, but not a multiple of 4 π electrons (thus 4n+2 π electrons, where n=0 or a positive integer).
Any aromatic groups conforming to this rule are within the definition of aryl. The aryl group may be carbocyclic (i.e. contain carbon and hydrogen only) or may be heteroaromatic (i.e. contain carbon, hydrogen, and at least one heteroatom). The aryl group may be monocyclic such as a phenyl, or a polycyclic aryl group such as naphthyl or anthryl. Examples of aryl groups include a phenyl group, biphenyl group, terphenyl group, naphthyl group, anthryl group, pyrenyl group, etc.
The term “heterocyclic”, and similarly “heterocyclic group” or “heterocyclic ring” is well understood in the art of organic chemistry, and is used to refer to any cyclic groups containing one or more rings, such as between one and four rings, and between 5 to 50 (preferably 5 to 20) ring atoms, of which at least one atom is a heteroatom. The heteroatoms may be selected from one or more of O, N, S and Si. The heterocyclic group for the formula (1) may be a 5 or 6 membered heterocyclic ring comprising carbon atoms with one or more of any of the following atoms: nitrogen, oxygen, sulphur and silicon, such as pyrrolyl, thienyl, pyridyl or pyridazinyl. The heterocyclic group may comprise a single heterocyclic ring, or more than one linked or fused rings, with at least one ring containing a heteroatom. One subclass of heterocyclic groups are the heteroaromatic (or heteroaryl) groups, which are aromatic groups containing one or more heteroatoms selected from one or more of O, N and S. Such heteroaromatic groups also fall within the definition of aryl group. Some specific examples for heterocyclic groups are pyrrole, triazole, imidazole, pyrazole, 1,2,5-oxathiazole, isoxazole, oxazole, furan, pyran, pyrone, thiazole, isothiazole, pyrrolidine, pyrroline, imidazolidine, pyrazolidine. Other examples include moieties of benzimidazole, thiophene, benzothiophene, oxadiazoline, indoline, carbazole, pyridine, quinoline, isoquinoline, benzoquinone, pyrazoline, imidazolidine, piperidine, etc
The heterocyclic group may be monocyclic or polycyclic. According to some embodiments, the heterocyclic group is polycyclic. An example of a polycyclic heterocyclic group within this class is carbazole.
In formula (1), R3 may be an alkyl group, which may be unsubstituted, or substituted by a suitable substituent. The alkyl group for the formula (1) may be a linear or branched alkyl group or cyclic alkyl group, comprising of between (and including) 1 and 20 carbon atoms. Examples of linear alkyl groups include methyl, propyl or decyl, and examples of branched alkyl groups include iso-butyl, tert-butyl or 3-methyl-hexyl. Examples of cyclic alkyl groups include mono cyclohexyl and fused alkyl cyclic ring systems.
In formula (1), the aryl or alkyl or heterocyclic group may additionally have one or more substituents selected from any suitable substituents known in the art. Suitable substituents may be selected from the group consisting of: halogen atom, nitro group, ketone group, amide group, cyano group, carboxylate group, sulfonate group, alkoxy group, aryloxy group, amino group, alkylamino group, arylamino group, another aryl, alkyl or heterocyclic group, in which each of the aryl, alkyl or heterocyclic groups may be further substituted by one or more further substituents. Thus, the further substituents on the aryl, alkyl or heterocyclic group substituents may be selected from one or more of a halogen atom, nitro group, ketone group, amide group, cyano group, carboxylate group, sulfonate group, alkoxy group, aryloxy group, amino group, alkylamino group and arylamino group.
The substituents may be linked to the aryl, alkyl or heterocyclic group directly by one atom or fused by more than one atom or via a heteroatom such as nitrogen, oxygen, sulphur and silicon. In some cases the substituent may be linked by two or more points of attachment, as in the case of a divalent alkyl group, or an ethylenedioxy group (i.e. —O—CH2CH2—O—).
The term “halogen” or halo refers to fluorine, chlorine, bromine, etc. Nitro refers to —NO2. Ketone refers to compounds containing the group —C(═O)-alkyl or —C(═O)-aryl, where alkyl and aryl are as defined previously. Acetyl (—C(═O)—CH3 is one specific example.
The term amide refers to substituents containing the group —C(O)NR′R″, wherein R and R″ are selected from H, alkyl, aryl or alkyl-aryl groups, which have been defined previously. The term “imide” refers to substituents containing the group —C(O)NR′C(O)R″, wherein R and R″ are selected from H, alkyl, aryl or alkyl-aryl groups. The term “imine” refers to substituents containing the group —C(═NR′)R″, wherein R and R″ are selected from H, alkyl, aryl or alkyl-aryl groups. The term “amidine” refers to substituents containing the group —C(═NR′)NR″R″, wherein R′, R″ and R− are selected from H, alkyl, aryl or alkyl-aryl groups.
Cyano refers to —C≡N. Hydroxyl refers to —OH. Carboxylate refers to the carboxylate anion —CO2R—, and encompasses carboxylic acids, esters and salts thereof. Sulfonate group refers to sulfonic acids, esters and salts thereof. Alkoxy refers to the group —O-alkyl, where alkyl is as defined previously. Aryloxy refers to the group —O-aryl, where aryl is as defined previously.
The term “amino” refers to the amino group —NH2. The term alkylamino refers to secondary and tertiary alkylamino groups containing one or two alkyl groups on the nitrogen atom. Examples of an “alkylamino group” include dimethylamino group, diethylamino group, dihexylamino group, etc. The term arylamino refers to secondary and tertiary arylamino groups containing one or two aryl groups on the nitrogen atom. Examples of an “arylamino group” include a diphenylamino group, ditolylamino group, isopropyldiphenylamino group, t-butyldiphenylamino group, diisopropyldiphenylamino group, di-t-butyldiphenylamino group, dinaphthylamino group, naphthylphenylamino group, etc.
In formula (1), one or more of R1 to R3 may be a cyano group. Cyano refers to —C≡N.
In formula (1a), the R1 of formula (1) is a thiophene group. The term “thiophene” is well understood in the art of organic chemistry. A thiophene group is a 5 member unsaturated heterocyclic ring including a sulphur atom in the ring.
R2 is selected from the group consisting of: substituted or unsubstituted aryl group or a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group.
R3 is selected from the group consisting of: substituted or unsubstituted aryl group or a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group or a hydrogen atom
R4 to R6 are the same or different, and are each independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen atom, halogen atom, nitro group, ketone group, amide group, cyano group, carboxylate group, sulfonate group, substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group and substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group, or are pairs of substituents in which R4 and R5, or R5 and R6 together form a substituted or unsubstituted cyclic group.
The terms aryl group, heterocyclic group, alkyl group, hydrogen atom, halogen atom, nitro group, ketone group, amide group, cyano group, carboxylate group, sulfonate group have been defined above in the context of Formula (1), and those definitions apply equally here.
The optional substituents on the alkyl, aryl and heterocyclic groups are the same as those described above for formula (1), and include halogen atom, nitro group, ketone group, amide group, cyano group, carboxylate group, sulfonate group, alkoxy group, aryloxy group, amino group, alkylamino group, arylamino group, a monomer or polymer chain and another aryl, alkyl or heterocyclic group, in which each of the aryl, alkyl or heterocyclic groups may be further substituted by one or more further substituents. Again, the further substituents on the aryl, alkyl or heterocyclic group substituents may be selected from one or more of a halogen atom, nitro group, ketone group, amide group, cyano group, carboxylate group, sulfonate group, alkoxy group, aryloxy group, amino group, alkylamino group and arylamino group.
The substituents may be linked to the aryl, alkyl or heterocyclic group directly by one atom or fused by more than one atom or via a heteroatom. In some cases the substituent may be linked by two or more points of attachment, as in the case of a divalent alkyl group, or an ethylenedioxy group (i.e. —O—CH2CH2—O—).
In another embodiment, pairs of substituents R4 and R5, or R5 and R6 together form a substituted or unsubstituted cyclic group, The term “cyclic group” is used in its broadest sense to refer to cyclic rings and linked or fused ring systems, which may be carbocyclic or heterocyclic, and may be aliphatic, aromatic, saturated or unsaturated. The ring may be carbocyclic groups (in which all of the ring atoms are carbon atoms, such as cyclohexyl), heterocyclic groups (as described previously), and aromatic or aryl groups (which may be carbon-based aromatic groups or heteroaromatic groups). The cyclic group may contain a single ring, or up to 3 linked or fused rings.
In formula (1b), R2 of formula (1) is a thiophene group.
R1 is selected from the group consisting of: substituted or unsubstituted aryl group or a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group.
R3 is selected from the group consisting of: substituted or unsubstituted aryl group or a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group or a hydrogen atom.
R4 to R6 are the same or different, and are each independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen atom, halogen atom, nitro group, ketone group, amide group, cyano group, carboxylate group, sulfonate group, substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group and substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group, or pairs of substituents in which R4 and R5, or R5 and R6 together form a substituted or unsubstituted cyclic group.
The terms aryl group, heterocyclic group, alkyl group, hydrogen atom, halogen atom, nitro group, ketone group, amide group, cyano group, carboxylate group, sulfonate group have been defined above in the context of Formula (1), and those definitions apply equally here.
The optional substituents on the alkyl, aryl and heterocyclic groups are the same as those described above for formula (1), and include halogen atom, nitro group, ketone group, amide group, cyano group, carboxylate group, sulfonate group, alkoxy group, aryloxy group, amino group, alkylamino group, arylamino group, a monomer or polymer chain and another aryl, alkyl or heterocyclic group, in which each of the aryl, alkyl or heterocyclic groups may be further substituted by one or more further substituents. Again, the further substituents on the aryl, alkyl or heterocyclic group substituents may be selected from one or more of a halogen atom, nitro group, ketone group, amide group, cyano group, carboxylate group, sulfonate group, alkoxy group, aryloxy group, amino group, alkylamino group and arylamino group.
The substituents may be linked to the aryl, alkyl or heterocyclic group directly by one atom or fused by more than one atom or via a heteroatom. In some cases the substituent may be linked by two or more points of attachment, as in the case of a divalent alkyl group, or an ethylenedioxy group (i.e. —O—CH2CH2—O—).
In another embodiment, pairs of substituents R4 and R5, or R5 and R6 together form a substituted or unsubstituted cyclic group, The term “cyclic group” is used in its broadest sense to refer to cyclic rings and linked or fused ring systems, which may be carbocyclic or heterocyclic, and may be aliphatic, aromatic, saturated or unsaturated. The ring may be carbocyclic groups (in which all of the ring atoms are carbon atoms, such as cyclohexyl), heterocyclic groups (as described previously), and aromatic or aryl groups (which may be carbon-based aromatic groups or heteroaromatic groups). The cyclic group may contain a single ring, or up to 3 linked or fused rings.
In formula (1c), the R2 group in formula (1) is an imidazole group:
R1 is selected from the group consisting of: substituted or unsubstituted aryl group or a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group.
R3 is selected from the group consisting of: substituted or unsubstituted aryl group or a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group or a hydrogen atom.
The optional substituents on the alkyl, aryl and heterocyclic groups are the same as those described above for formula (1), and include halogen atom, nitro group, ketone group, amide group, cyano group, carboxylate group, sulfonate group, alkoxy group, aryloxy group, amino group, alkylamino group, arylamino group, a monomer or polymer chain and another aryl, alkyl or heterocyclic group, in which each of the aryl, alkyl or heterocyclic groups may be further substituted by one or more further substituents. Again, the further substituents on the aryl, alkyl or heterocyclic group substituents may be selected from one or more of a halogen atom, nitro group, ketone group, amide group, cyano group, carboxylate group, sulfonate group, alkoxy group, aryloxy group, amino group, alkylamino group and arylamino group.
The substituents may be linked to the aryl, alkyl or heterocyclic group directly by one atom or fused by more than one atom or via a heteroatom. In some cases the substituent may be linked by two or more points of attachment, as in the case of a divalent alkyl group, or an ethylenedioxy group (i.e. —O—CH2CH2—O—).
The terms aryl group, heterocyclic group, alkyl group, hydrogen atom, halogen atom, nitro group, ketone group, amide group, cyano group, carboxylate group, sulfonate group have been defined above in the context of Formula (1), and those definitions apply equally here.
Specific examples of the compound represented as formula (1) may include example compounds No. (2) to (62) shown below but are, however, not restricted to those compounds.
As described above, the organic layer(s) may be constituted by:
In the organic luminescence device of the present application, the organic compound layer comprising the above-mentioned compound of the formula (1) may be formed separately, or together, with the other layers (if any other layers are present) between the pair of electrodes (cathode and anode). Suitable formation techniques include vacuum deposition or solution process.
The thickness of the organic compound layer may be preferably less than at most 10 μm, more preferably less than 0.5 μm, even more preferably 0.001-0.5 μm.
Specific embodiments of the invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying figures, which illustrate a range of possible arrangements for the device of the present invention. It will be understood that these embodiments are provided by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
The electroluminescent device of embodiments of the present application may have a single layer structure comprised of only compound as defined by formula (1) as shown in
More specifically,
In
Referring to
In the embodiment of
In
The organic layer structures in the devices shown in
For example, the hole transporting layer may be altered to comprise a hole injection layer (deposited on the anode) and hole transporting layer (deposited on the hole injection layer).
More specific embodiments of the device structure other than those of
In the embodiments described above, more preferable device structures are (1), (2), (3), (7) and (8), although this is not a restriction. According to some embodiments, the compound of the formula (1) may be formed as a hole injection layer or a hole generation layer. In this case, the hole injection layer or the hole generation layer has a thickness of 1 nm to 1 μm, more preferably 1-50 nm. According to some embodiments, there is provided the use of the compound of formula (1) as a hole injection material, or a hole generation material, as a hole injection layer or a hole generation layer, or as a dopant in a hole transporting layer.
In some embodiments, the compound of the formula (1) may be used in combination with a hole transporting compound (or material), an electron transporting compound and/or an emission compound, examples of which may include the following.
As a material for the anode (e.g. 2 in
As a material for the cathode (e.g. 4 in
The insulating layer may be deposited adjacent to either electrode to avoid current leakage as mentioned in embodiments (3) to (8). As the insulating material, it is preferred to use an inorganic compound, examples of which may include aluminium oxide, lithium fluoride, lithium oxide, caesium oxide, magnesium oxide, magnesium fluoride, calcium oxide, calcium fluoride, aluminium nitride, titanium oxide, silicon oxide, silicon nitride, boron nitride, vanadium oxide.
The substrate (e.g., 1 shown in
The devices of the present application can be provided in the form of a stacked organic electroluminescent (EL) device. The present application also extends to electronic devices comprising the organic electroluminescent device of the present invention, including displays and light sources.
The present invention will be described below in detail with preparation examples and the device examples, but the present invention is not intended to be restricted to these examples.
A mixture of 4-iodo-1-trityl-1H-imidazole (7.95 g, 18.2 mmol), 5-methylthiophene-2-boronic acid pinacol ester (4.90 g, 21.9 mmol), Na2CO3 (7.66 g, 73.0 mmol) in H2O (20 mL) and dioxane (100 mL) was degassed (N2 bubbling). Pd(PPh3)4 (500 mg) was added and the mixture was heated to reflux for 4 h. The mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature and concentrated. The mixture was diluted with CH2Cl2 and H2O and the organic phase was separated. The aqueous phase was re-extracted (CH2Cl2) and the combined organics were washed (saturated aqueous NaCl), dried (MgSO4), filtered and concentrated to give a solid residue. The residue was purified by flash chromatography (EtOAc/CH2Cl2/hexanes 4:50:50 then 6:50:50 then 8:50:50) to give 4-(5-methylthiophen-2-yl)-1-trityl-1H-imidazole (6.15 g, 83%) as a colourless solid. 1H NMR (CDCl3, 400 MHz) δ2.46 (d, J=0.9 Hz, 3H), 6.62-6.65 (m, 1H), 6.94 (d, J=1.4 Hz, 1H), 6.99 (d, J=3.5 Hz, 1H), 7.15-7.21 (m, 6H), 7.31-7.37 (m, 9H), 7.41 (d, J=1.4 Hz, 1H); 13C NMR (CDCl3, 100 MHz) δ15.3, 75.5, 116.1, 121.7, 125.5, 128.1, 128.1, 129.8, 135.6, 136.4, 137.8, 138.9, 142.2; HRMS (EI) m/z 406.1496 C27H22N2S [M]+. requires 406.1498.
A mixture of 4-(5-methylthiophen-2-yl)-1-trityl-1H-imidazole (2.20 g, 5.42 mmol) in THF (100 mL) was cooled to −78° C. nBuLi mL of a 1.6 M solution in hexanes, 6.2 mmol) was added dropwise (˜2 min) and the pale yellow solution was allowed to warm to −50° C. (over ˜1 h) and then re-cooled to −78° C. I2 (2.74 g, 10.4 mmol) was added and the mixture was allowed to warm to room temperature (over ˜4 h) and stirred overnight. Saturated aqueous NH4Cl (2 mL) was added and the mixture was concentrated to ˜10 mL. The mixture was diluted with EtOAc, H2O, saturated aqueous Na2S2O3 and the organic phase was separated. The aqueous phase was re-extracted (EtOAc) and the combined organics were washed (saturated aqueous NaCl), dried (MgSO4), filtered and concentrated to give a residue. The residue was purified by flash chromatography (EtOAc/hexanes 5:95 then 15:85) to give 2-iodo-4-(5-methylthiophen-2-yl)-1-trityl-1H-imidazole 2 (1.72 g, 60%) as a colourless solid. 1H NMR (CDCl3, 400 MHz) δ2.45 (s, 3H), 6.60-6.64 (m, 1H), 6.94 (s, 1H), 6.99 (d, J=3.5 Hz, 1H), 7.19-7.39 (m, 15H); 13C NMR (CDCl3, 100 MHz) δ15.3, 90.6, 120.4, 122.3, 125.5, 125.6, 127.2, 128.1, 130.8, 134.2, 138.1, 138.2, 141.4, 146.8; HRMS (EI) m/z 532.0459 C27H21N2IS [M]+. requires 532.0465.
A mixture of 2-iodo-4-(5-methylthiophen-2-yl)-1-trityl-1H-imidazole 2 (2.57 g, 4.83 mmol) and AcOH (3 mL) in MeOH (120 mL) was heated under reflux (2 h). The mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature and then concentrated to give a residue. The residue was taken up in toluene and concentrated to five a residue. The residue was diluted with CH2Cl2, H2O, saturated aqueous NaHCO3 and the organic phase was separated. The aqueous phase was re-extracted (CH2Cl2) and the combined organics were washed (saturated aqueous NaCl), dried (MgSO4), filtered and concentrated to give a residue. The residue was purified by flash chromatography (EtOAc/hexanes 15:85 then 30:70 then 40:60) to give 2-iodo-4-(5-methylthiophen-2-yl)-1H-imidazole 3 (1.2 g, 86%) as a colourless solid. 1H NMR (CDCl3, 400 MHz) □ 2.48 (d, J=1.0 Hz, 3H), 6.65-6.68 (m, 1H), 7.03 (d, J=3.5 Hz 1H), 7.14 (s, 1H).
A portion of 2-iodo-4-(5-methylthiophen-2-yl)-1H-imidazole 3 (940 mg, 3.25 mmol), thiophene-2,5-diboronic acid (250 mg, 1.46 mmol), Na2CO3 (780 mg, 7.40 mmol) in H2O (5 mL) and DMF (40 mL) was degassed (N2 bubbling). Pd(PPh3)4 (85 mg) was added and the mixture was heated to reflux for 3 h. The mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature and concentrated. The mixture was diluted with EtOAc and H2O and the organic phase was separated. The aqueous phase was re-extracted (EtOAc) and the combined organics were washed (saturated aqueous NaCl), dried (MgSO4), filtered and concentrated to give a residue. The residue was purified by flash chromatography (EtOAc/hexanes 35:65 then 50:50 then 75:25) to give 2,5-bis(4-(5-methylthiophen-2-yl)-1H-imidazol-2-yl)thiophene 4 (1.65 g, 27%) as a pale brown solid. 1H NMR [(CD3)2SO, 400 MHz] δ2.44 (s, 6H), 6.75 (s, 2H), 7.11 (d, J=3.0 Hz, 2H), 7.51 (br s, 4H), 12.65-12.85 (br s, 2H); HRMS (EI) m/z 408.0539 C20H16N4S3 [M]+. requires 408.0532.
To 4-(5)-iodoimidazole (12.1 g, 67.7 mmol) in THF (220 mL) at 0° C. was added (in portions, over 5 min) NaH (2.77 g of a 60% dispersion in mineral oil, 69.0 mmol). The mixture was stirred at 0° C. (15 min) and then at room temperature (20 min). The mixture was re-cooled to 0° C. and MeI (4.49 mL, 72.0 mmol) was added and the mixture was stirred (10 min) and then at room temperature (1 h). H2O (5 mL) was cautiously added and the mixture was concentrated (˜10 mL). The mixture was diluted with CH2Cl2 and H2O and the organic phase was separated. The aqueous phase was re-extracted (CH2Cl2) and the combined organics were washed (saturated aqueous NaCl), dried (MgSO4), filtered and concentrated to give a residue. The residue was taken up in DMF (100 mL) and a few drops of MeI was added. This mixture was heated to 75° C. (14 h).H2O (3 mL) was added and the mixture was concentrated to give a residue (12.9 g). To this residue (12.9 g) was added 5-methylthiophene-2-boronic acid pinacol ester (16.1 g, 72.0 mmol), Na2CO3 (20.8 g, 0.198 mol) in H2O (50 mL) and DMF (200 mL) and the mixture was degassed (N2 bubbling). Pd(PPh3)4 (1.0 g) was added and the mixture was heated to reflux for 3 h.
The mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature and concentrated. The mixture was diluted with CH2Cl2 and H2O and the organic phase was separated. The aqueous phase was re-extracted (CH2Cl2) and the combined organics were washed (saturated aqueous NaCl), dried (MgSO4), filtered and concentrated to give a residue. The residue was purified by flash chromatography (EtOAc/hexanes 40:50 then 50:50 then 60:40 then 70:30) to give 1-methyl-4-(5-methylthiophen-2-yl)-1H-imidazole 5 (4.23 g, 38%) as a colourless solid. 1H NMR (CDCl3, 400 MHz) δ2.45 (s, 3H), 3.64 (s, 3H), 6.62-6.656 (m, 1H), 6.97 (s, 1H), 7.02 (d, J=3.5 Hz, 1H), 7.40 (s, 1H); HRMS (EI) m/z 178.0556 C9H10N2S [M]+. requires 178.0559.
A mixture of 1-methyl-4-(5-methylthiophen-2-yl)-1H-imidazole 5 (2.36 g, 13.3 mmol) in THF (0.100 mL) was cooled −78° C. nBuLi (9.53 mL of a 1.6 M solution in hexanes, 15.2 mmol) was added dropwise (˜2 min) and the pale yellow solution was allowed to warm to 40° C. (over ˜1 h) and then re-cooled to −78° C. I2 (2.74 g, 10.4 mmol) was added and the mixture was allowed to warm to room temperature (over ˜2 h) and stirred overnight. Saturated aqueous NH4Cl (2 mL) was added and the mixture was concentrated to ˜10 mL. The mixture was diluted with CH2Cl2. H2O, saturated aqueous Na2S2O3 and the organic phase was separated. The aqueous phase was re-extracted (CH2Cl2) and the combined organics were washed (saturated aqueous NaCl), dried (MgSO4), filtered and concentrated to give a residue. The residue was purified by flash chromatography (EtOAc/hexanes 10:90 then 15:85 then 25:75) to give 2-iodo-1-methyl-4-(5-methylthiophen-2-yl)-1H-imidazole 6 (3.37 g, 84%) as a colourless solid. 1H NMR (CDCl3, 400 MHz) δ2.46 (d, J=0.8 Hz, 3H), 3.59 (s, 3H), 6.62-6.66 (m, 1H), 7.04 (d, J=3.5 Hz, 1H), 7.11 (s, 1H); 13C NMR (CDCl3, 100 MHz) δ15.3, 36.8, 91.0, 118.7, 122.2, 125.5, 134.3, 138.1, 140.5; HRMS (EI) m/z 303.9533 C9H9N21S [M]+. requires 303.9526.
A mixture of 2-iodo-1-methyl-4-(5-methylthiophen-2-yl)-1H-imidazole 6 (1.31 g, 4.31 mmol), 5-methylthiophene-2-boronic acid pinacol ester (1.35 g, 6.03 mmol), Na2CO3 (1.80 g, 17.2 mmol) in H2O (10 mL) and DMF (40 mL) was degassed (N2 bubbling). Pd(PPh3)4 (125 mg) was added and the mixture was heated to reflux for 5 h. The mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature and concentrated. The mixture was diluted with EtOAc and H2O and the organic phase was separated. The aqueous phase was re-extracted (EtOAc) and the combined organics were washed (saturated aqueous NaCl), dried (MgSO4), filtered and concentrated to give a residue. The residue was purified by flash chromatography (EtOAc/hexanes 10:90 then 15:85 then 20:80) to give 1-methyl-2,4-bis(5-methylthiophen-2-yl)-1H-imidazole 7 (930 mg, 79%) as a colourless solid. A portion of this material was further purified by, firstly, recrystallisation (EtOAc/hexanes) and, secondly, by sublimation (130° C., 10−6 mBar): m.p. 138-140° C. 1H NMR (CDCl3, 400 MHz) δ2.48 (d, J=0.7 Hz, 3H), 2.51 (d, J=0.7 Hz, 3H), 3.76 (s, 3H), 6.64-6.67 (m, 1H), 6.73-6.77 (m, 1H), 7.00 (s, 1H), 7.10 (d, J=3.4 Hz, 1H), 7.14 (d, J=3.4 Hz, 1H); 13C NMR (CDCl3, 100 MHz) δ15.2, 15.3, 34.5, 117.0, 122.1, 125.5, 125.6, 126.7, 136.3, 137.7, 141.5, 142.4; HRMS (EI) m/z 274.0589 C14H14N2S2 [M]+. requires 274.0593.
A mixture of 2-iodo-1-methyl-4-(5-methylthiophen-2-yl)-1H-imidazole 6 (1.78 g, 5.86 mmol), 1,10-phenanthroline (1.11 g, 6.16 mmol) and Cs2CO3 (4.01 g, 12.3 mmol) in DMF (12 mL) was degassed (N2 bubbling). CuI (1.17 g, 6.16 mmol), was added and the mixture was heated to 105° C. for 40 h and then allowed to cool to room temperature. The mixture was filtered through Celite washing with EtOAc and the combined filtrate and washings were concentrated. The residue was taken up in CH2Cl2 and H2O and the organic phase was separated. The aqueous phase was re-extracted (CH2Cl2) and the combined organics were washed (saturated aqueous NaCl), dried (MgSO4), filtered and concentrated to give a residue. The residue was purified by flash chromatography (EtOAc/CH2Cl2 0:100 then 2:98 then 4:96) to give 1,1′-dimethyl-4,4′-bis(5-methylthiophen-2-yl)-1H,1′H-2,2′-biimidazole 8 (501 mg, 48%) as a colourless solid. A portion of this material was further purified by sublimation (180° C., 10−6 mBar): m.p. 220-228° C. (DSC) 1H NMR (CDCl3, 400 MHz) δ2.49 (d, J=0.8 Hz, 6H), 4.09 (s, 6H), 6.66-6.69 (m, 2H), 7.07 (s, 2H), 7.08 (d, J=3.4 Hz, 2H); 13C NMR (CDCl3, 100 MHz) δ15.3, 35.6, 117.4, 121.7, 125.6, 135.4, 135.9, 137.8, 137.9; HRMS (EI) m/z 354.0963 C18H18N4S2 [M]+. requires 354.0967.
A mixture of 2-iodo-1-methyl-4-(5-methylthiophen-2-yl)-1H-imidazole 6 (1.26 g, 4.16 mmol), (9,9-dimethyl-9H-fluoren-2-yl)boronic acid (1.19 g, 5.00 mmol), Na2CO3 (2.20 g, 20.8 mmol) in H2O (10 mL) and DMF (40 mL) was degassed (N2 bubbling). Pd(PPh3)4 (120 mg, 0.10 mmol) was added and the mixture was heated to reflux for 2 h. The mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature and concentrated. The mixture was filtered through Celite washing with CH2Cl2 and the combined filtrate and washings were concentrated. The residue was taken up in CH2Cl2 and H2O and the organic phase was separated. The aqueous phase was re-extracted (CH2Cl2) and the combined organics were washed (saturated aqueous NaCl), dried (MgSO4), filtered and concentrated to give a residue. The residue was purified by flash chromatography (EtOAc/hexanes 5:95 then 10:90 then 12:88) to give 2-(9,9-dimethyl-9H-fluoren-2-yl)-1-methyl-4-(5-methylthiophen-2-yl)-1H-imidazole 9 (1.19 g, 76%) as a colourless solid. A portion of this material was further purified by, firstly, recrystallisation (EtOAc/hexanes) and, secondly, by sublimation (180° C., 10−6 mBar): m.p. 188-191° C. (DSC)1H NMR (CDCl3, 400 MHz) δ1.53 (s, 6H), 2.50 (d, J=0.6 Hz, 3H), 3.76 (s, 3H), 6.68-6.71 (m, 1H), 7.11 (s, 1H), 7.13-7.19 (m, 1H), 7.32-7.40 (m, 2H), 7.43-7.49 (m, 1H), 7.58 (dd, J 1.4, 8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.73-7.81 (m, 3H); 13C NMR (CDCl3, 100 MHz) δ15.3, 27.1, 34.6, 47.0, 117.1, 119.8, 120.3, 122.1, 122.7, 123.6, 125.6, 127.0, 127.7, 137.8, 138.5, 139.9, 148.3, 153.9, 154.0; HRMS (EI) m/z 370.1490 C24H22N2S [M]+. requires 370.1498.
A mixture of 3-(2-iodo-4-(5-methylthiophen-2-yl)-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-9-methyl-9H-carbazole 10 (920 g, 2.0 mmol), 5-methylthiophene-2-boronic acid pinacol ester (880 mg, 3.9 mmol), Na2CO3 (1.03 g, 9.81 mmol) in H2O (5 mL) and DMF (20 mL) was degassed (N2 bubbling). Pd(PPh3)4 (60 mg) was added and the mixture was heated to reflux for 8 h. The mixture was allowed to cool to room temperature and concentrated. The residue was washed with H2O (3 times) and EtOAc (1 time). The solid material was transferred to a soxlet apparatus and the material extracted with EtOAc. The organic extract was concentrated to ˜10 mL and the solid material was collected and recrystallised (EtOAc) to give 3-(2,4-bis(5-methylthiophen-2-yl)-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-9-methyl-9H-carbazole 11 (1.19 g, 76%) as colourless crystals. A portion of this material was further purified by sublimation (220° C., 10−6 mBar): m.p. 248-255° C. (DSC)1H NMR (CDCl3, 400 MHz) δ 2.33 (s, 3H), 2.51 (d, J=0.6 Hz, 3H), 3.94 (s, 3H), 6.48 (br s, 1H), 6.72 (d, J=2.5 Hz, 1H), 7.22 (s, 1H), 7.30 (t, 7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.43 (dd, J 2.0, 8.6 Hz, 1H), 7.49 (d, 8.5 Hz, 2H), 7.57 (dt, J 1.0, 7.6 Hz, 1H), 8.08 (d, 7.7 Hz, 1H), 8.10 (d, J=1.8 Hz, 1H); 13C NMR (CDCl3, 100 MHz) δ 15.1, 15.4, 109.0, 109.2, 117.9, 119.2, 119.8, 120.8, 122.2, 123.3, 124.5, 125.9, 126.1, 126.9, 141.1, 141.8, 142.6; HRMS (EI) m/z 439.1163 C24H22N2S [M]+. requires 439.1171.
Device properties based on two selected materials 53 and 5, and one commercial material (NPD) for the reference purpose. A summary of the demonstrated, light emitting devices is shown in Table 1.
The device was manufactured as below;
Device A; Structure: 145 nm ITO (anode)/40 nm PEDOT: PSS (hole-injection layer)/30 nm Material 53 (hole-transport layer)/30 nm Alq3 (emission layer)/1 nm LiF (electron transporting layer)/100 nm Al (cathode); in accordance with
PEDOT: PSS layer was spin coated as a hole injection layer on top of pre-cleaned ITO substrate in the air. After baking at 150° C. for 15 minutes, substrates are then transferred to a vacuum chamber for thermal deposition of the rest of layers, including the hole-transport layer, emission layer and the cathode, under a vacuum pressure of 1×10−5 Pa. An encapsulation process with another cover glass was employed with a desiccant inside the device and sealed by the uv cured epoxy to avoid the contact with oxygen and moisture.
Device B; Device B was fabricated using compound 5 instead of compound 53 under the same conditions as for Device A.
Device C; Device C was fabricated using compound NPD instead of compound 53 under the same conditions as for Device A.
The device performance data is shown in Table 1. Light emitting devices showed a current efficiency of 0.4 cd/A at a current density of 25.0 mA/cm2 and a brightness of 100 cd/m2 for material 53. OLEDs showed a maximum current efficiency of 2.1 cd/A is at a current density of 5.1 mA/cm2 and a brightness of 100 cd/m2 for material 5. For NPD material, OLEDs showed a maximum current efficiency of 1.8 cd/A at a current density of 5.6 mA/cm2 and a brightness of 100 cd/m2 for material NPD. The colour is green and the CIE coordinate is (0.34, 0.54), (0.33, 0.56), and (0.34, 0.55) respectively.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010904715 | Oct 2010 | AU | national |
| 2011903758 | Sep 2011 | AU | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/AU2011/001344 | 10/21/2011 | WO | 00 | 4/22/2013 |
