Broadband spectra with fluorescence and phosphorescence dual emission from bichromophoric platinum metallomesogens containing a 6,12-dihydro-indeno[1,2-b]fluorene linkage

Two binuclear platinum metallomesogens possessing a 6,12-dihydro-indeno[1,2-b]fluorene bridge, FJ-1 and FJ-2, have been synthesised and characterised by H-1 and C-13 NMR, TOF-MS and elemental analysis. Their thermal properties were studied by polarised optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. Upon photoexcitation in solution, both complexes exhibited dual fluorescence ((1)pi-pi*)/phosphorescence ((3)pi-pi*) emission covering most of the visible spectrum (from about 460 nm to 750 nm). This uncommon behaviour has been further investigated by time-resolved optical spectroscopy, including nanosecond time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopy, and further insights were obtained by means of density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT). An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) using FJ-1 was prepared. Importantly the two emission bands are retained in electroluminescence. This result suggests that controlling spin-orbit coupling to obtain dual emission can provide an effective way of achieving broadband emission based on a single molecule.