Luminescent four-coordinate N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) copper(I) complexes bearing the pyridyl-imidazolylidene ligand.

• 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]