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• Four-coordinate N -heterocyclic carbene (NHC) Cu(I) complexes having the pyridyl-imidazolylidene ligand are synthesized and characterized. • The photophysical properties of the resulting complexes is investigated. • Complexes show yellow-green emission in 543–555 nm region with the higher photoluminescence efficiency. • DFT and TDDFT calculations are taken to support the differences of the photophysical properties. The synthesis, characterization and photophysical properties of a series of the four-coordinate N -heterocyclic carbene (NHC) copper(I) complexes are reported. These NHC-Cu(I) complexes contain two bidentate ligands, the R -substituted pyridyl-imidazolylidene-type ligand and diphosphine ligand bis [(2-diphenylphosphino)phenyl] ether (POP). The photophysical properties of these complexes can be adjusted depending on the nature of substituents at 4-position of the phenyl ring in the NHC ligand. The metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) absorption band can be observed for all complexes at 348–362 nm, and the emission wavelengths can be fine-tuned to cover the spectral range of 543–555 nm with the higher photoluminescence efficiency of up to 66.2% in the solid state. Density functional theory (DFT) and time dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations were employed to support potophysical properties of the NHC-Cu(I) complexes. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Four-coordinate N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) Cu(I) complexes bearing different diphosphine ligands are synthesized and characterized. • The photophysical properties of the resulting complexes is investigated. • Complexes show yellow-green emission in 525–555 nm region with the phosphorescent origin. • The differences of the photophysical properties were rationalized by DFT and TDDFT calculations. Here, we report a series of the four-coordinate N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) copper(I) complexes having the same bidenate NHC ligand and different bisphosphine (P^P) ligands, [Cu(CNbenPy-benzIm)(Naphphos)]PF 6 (P1), [Cu(CNbenPy-benzIm)(cyc-xantphos)]PF 6 (P2), and [Cu(CNbenPy-benzIm)(xantphos)]PF 6 (P3), (CNbenPy-benzIm = 3-(3-cyanobenzyl)-1-(5-phenylpyridin-2-yl)-1 H -imidazolylidene; BINAP = 2,2′-bis(diphenylphosphino)-1,1′-binaphthalene; cyc-xantphos = (9,9-dimethyl-9 H -xanthene-4,5-diyl)bis(dicyclohexylphosphine), xantphos = 9,9-dimethyl-9 H -xanthene-4,5-diyl)bis(diphenylphosphine)). P1 exhibits the metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) absorption band at 366 nm with high molar extinction coefficient of 2.44 × 104 M−1 cm−1, while P2 and P3 show a blue-shift of the MLCT absorption band at 336–341 nm with the molar extinction coefficients of 0.82–1.16 × 104 M−1 cm−1, which are just a little lower than that of P1. The emission wavelengths of all NHC-Cu(I) complexes can be fine-tuned to cover the spectral range of 525–555 nm with the phosphorescent origin in PMMA films. P1 has the lowest photoluminescence efficiency of 5.50% with the red-shifted emission wavelength at 555 nm and the emission lifetime of 237 μs, whereas P3 show the highest photoluminescence efficiency of 39.5% with the blue-shifted emission wavelength at 525 nm and the emission lifetime of 64.4 μs. The differences for photophysical properties of NHC-Cu(I) complexes were rationalized using density functional theory (DFT) and time dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three four-coordinate N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) copper(I) complexes, [Cu(Ph-BenIm-Py)(POP)]PF 6 ( 1 ), [Cu(Naph-BenIm-Py)(POP)]PF 6 ( 2 ), and [Cu(Anthr-BenIm-Py)(POP)]PF 6 ( 3 ) (Ph-BenIm-Py = 3-benzyl-1-(pyridin-2-yl)-1 H -benzimidazolylidene, Naph-BenIm-Py = 3-(naphthalen-2-yl-1-(pyridin-2-yl)-1 H - benzimidazolylidene, Anthr-BenIm-Py = 3-(anthracen-9-yl)-1-(pyridin-2-yl)-1 H -benzimidazolylidene, and POP = bis[2-diphenylphosphino]-phenyl)ether) have been synthesized and characterized. The different aryl substituents (phenyl, naphthyl, and anthracyl groups) were introduced into NHC ligands and the corresponding photophysical properties of the complexes were systematically investigated. The absorption spectra of all NHC Cu(I) complexes show a characteristic feature of metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) in the lower-energy region. Complex 1 exhibited good photoluminescence (PL) properties companying with the high quantum yields and long excited-state lifetimes, whereas 2 and 3 with naphthyl and anthracyl groups show the low PL efficiency caused by the strong π-π stacking interactions. Density functional theory (DFT) and time dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations were employed to rationalize the photophysical properties of the NHC Cu(I) complexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]