Strategies to Design Efficient Donor-Acceptor (D-A) Type Emitting Molecules: Molecular Symmetry and Electron Accepting Ability of D-A Type Molecules

We synthesized 2-(10-methyl-10H-phenothiazin-3-yl)-5-phenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole (MPPO) and 5,5-(10-methyl-10H-phenothiazin-3,7-diyl)-bis-(2-phenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole) (DPPO). MPPO has both electron-donating and electron-accepting substituents with asymmetric molecular geometry. By incorporating one extra electron-accepting group into MPPO, we created a symmetric molecule, which is DPPO. The optical and electrochemical properties of these compounds were measured. The lowest un-occupied molecular orbital (LUMO) level of DPPO was lower than that of MPPO. The excited-state dipole moment of DPPO, with symmetric geometry, was calculated to be 4.1 Debye, whereas MPPO, with asymmetric geometry, had a value of 7.0 Debye. The charge-carrier mobility of both compounds was similar. We fabricated non-doped organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) using D-A type molecules as an emitting layer. The current efficiency of the DPPO-based device was 7.8 cd/A, and the external quantum efficiency was 2.4% at 100 cd/m2, demonstrating significantly improved performance compared to the MPPO-based device. The photophysical and electroluminescence (EL) characteristics of the two D-A type molecules showed that molecular symmetry, as well as the lowered LUMO level of DPPO, played critical roles in the enhancement of EL performance.