Regioisomeric Effect on the Excited-State Fate Leading to Room-Temperature Phosphorescence or Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence in a Dibenzophenazine-Cored Donor–Acceptor–Donor System
Exploring design principle for switching thermally activated dealyed fluorescecne (TADF) and room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) is a fundamentally imporant research in developing triplet-mediated photofunctional organic materials. Herein systematic studies on the regioisomeric and substituents effects in a twisted donor–acceptor–donor (D–A–D) scaffold (A = dibenzo[a,j]phenazine; D = dihydrophenazasiline) on the fate of the excited state have been performed. The study revealed that the regiosiomerism clearly affects the emission behavior of the D–A–D compounds. Distinct difference in TADF, dual TADF & RTP, and dual RTP were observed, depending on the host used. Furthermore, OLED organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) fabricated with the developed emitters achieved high external quantum yields for RTP-based OLEDS up to 7.4%.