Highly efficient green phosphorescent OLEDs based on a novel iridium complexElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. CCDC 871471. For ESI and crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic format see DOI: 10.1039/c2tc00052k

A new iridium(iii) complex Ir(tfmppy)2(tfmtpip) (1, tfmppy = 4-trifluoromethylphenyl-pyridine, tfmtpip = tetra(4-trifluoromethylphenyl)imidodiphosphinate) was synthesized and applied in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The devices with the structures of ITO/TAPC (1,1-bis[4-[N,N-di(p-tolyl)amino]phenyl]cyclohexane, 40 nm)/1(xwt%): mCP (N,N′-dicarbazolyl- 3,5-benzene, 20 nm)/TmPyPB (1,3,5-tri(m-pyrid-3-yl-phenyl)benzene, 40 nm)/LiF (1 nm)/Al (100 nm) exhibited a maximum power efficiency (ηp,max) of 113.23 lm W−1and a maximum current efficiency (ηc,max) of 115.39 cd A−1(0.01342 mA cm2) at the doping level of 5 wt%, which is among the best performances for Ir(iii) complex based OLEDs in the green-light-emitting region. Compared with our former work, the excellent device efficiencies are due to the use of TmPyPB as the electron-transporting/hole-blocking layer which has a relatively higher electron mobility than that of TPBi (2,2′,2′′-(1,3,5-benzinetriyl)-tris(1-phenyl-1-H-benzimidazole)) and the introduction of the –CF3moiety to the Ir(iii) complex, which can increase the electron mobility of the complex. The device performances proved that the complex has potential applications as an efficient green emitter in OLEDs.