The thiazole unit can exhibit both electron-deficient and electron-rich features, which provides more possibilities for shaping the photophysical and electroluminescence (EL) properties of the Ir(III) complex emitters. Herein, a series of cyclometalated Ir(III) complexes were synthesized from the 2-phenylthiazole-type ligands bearing fluorinated benzenesulfonyl moieties. Their thermal stabilities, photophysical and electrochemical properties and EL performances were fully studied. They can emit intense orange phosphorescence with peaks ranging from 577 to 590 nm, and the phosphorescence quantum yield (Φ_p) can be up to 0.89. Interestingly, when the number of fluorine atoms on the phenyl ring of the benzenesulfonyl moiety increases, their absorption and emission maxima both show red-shift effects, which were interpreted by the related theoretical calculation results. Besides, their LUMO levels follow a decreasing trend as the fluorine atoms increase, leading to good electron injection/transporting (EI/ET) properties. Finally, their EL performances were characterized by their solution processed OLEDs, which achieve the best EL efficiencies with a maximal current efficiency (η_L) of 27.5 cd A⁻¹, a maximal power efficiency (η_p) of 17.3 lm W⁻¹ and a maximal external quantum efficiency (η_ext) of 12.3%, these results can outcompete the EL efficiencies of the reported solution processed OLEDs built by the thiazole-based Ir(III) complexes. All the concerned results should offer inspirations for Ir(III) complex functionalizations and reveal the great potential of 2-phenylthiazole ligands with fluoro-benzenesulfonyl moieties in developing high performance emitters.

中文翻译：

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氟苯磺酰基官能化的2-苯基噻唑型铱（III）络合物，用于高效溶液加工的有机发光二极管

噻唑单元可同时显示电子不足和电子富集的特征，这为塑造Ir（III）络合物发射体的光物理和电致发光（EL）特性提供了更多可能性。本文中，从带有氟化苯磺酰基部分的2-苯基噻唑型配体合成了一系列环金属化的Ir（III）配合物。对它们的热稳定性，光物理和电化学性质以及EL性能进行了充分的研究。它们能够发射强橙色磷光具有峰范围从577至590纳米，且磷光量子产率（Φ _p）可以达到0.89。有趣的是，当苯磺酰基部分的苯环上的氟原子数目增加时，它们的吸收和发射最大值都显示出红移效应，这可以通过相关的理论计算结果来解释。此外，随着氟原子的增加，其LUMO含量呈下降趋势，从而导致良好的电子注入/传输（EI / ET）性能。最后，它们的EL性能进行表征可以通过溶液加工的OLED，其实现具有最大的电流效率（最好EL效率η_大号27.5光盘的）^-1，最大功率效率（η _p 17.3流明的）W，^-1和最大外部量子效率（η_ext）为12.3％，这些结果可能会超过已报道的由噻唑基Ir（ III）配合物构建的溶液处理的OLED的EL效率。所有相关结果应为Ir（ III）复杂功能化提供启发，并揭示具有氟-苯磺酰基基团的2-苯基噻唑配体在开发高性能发射体中的巨大潜力。