1‐Methyl‐2‐(anthryl)‐imidazo[4,5‐f][1,10]‐phenanthroline: A Highly Efficient Electron‐Transport Compound and a Bright Blue‐Light Emitter for Electroluminescent Devices

A new organic blue‐light emitter 1‐methyl‐2‐(anthryl)‐imidazo[4,5‐f][1,10]‐phenanthroline ( 1 ) has been synthesized and fully characterized. The utility of compound 1 as a blue‐light emitter in electroluminescent (EL) devices has been evaluated by fabricating a series of EL devices A where compound 1 functions as an emitter. The EL spectrum of device series A has the emission maximum at 481 nm with the CIE (Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage) color coordinates 0.198 and 0.284. The maximum luminance of devices in series A is 4000 cd m^–2 and the best external quantum efficiency of device series A is 1.82 %. The utility of compound 1 as an electron injection–electron transport material has been evaluated by constructing a set of EL devices B where 1 is used as either the electron‐injection layer or the electron injection–electron transport layer. The performance of device series B is compared to the standard device in which Alq₃ (tris(8‐hydroxyquinoline) aluminum) is used as the electron injection–electron transport layer. The experimental results show that the performance of 1 as an electron injection–electron transport material is considerably better than Alq₃. The stability of device series B is comparable to that of the standard Alq₃ device. The excellent performance of 1 as an electron injection/transport material may be attributed to the strong intermolecular interactions of 1 in the solid state as revealed by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction analysis. In addition, compound 1 is a colorless material with a much larger highest occupied molecular orbital–lowest unoccupied molecular (HOMO–LUMO) gap than Alq₃, which renders it potentially useful for a wide range of applications in EL devices.