Structures and photophysical properties of copper(I) complexes bearing 1,10-phenanthroline and 1,3-bis(diphenylphosphino)propane

In this work, five [Cu(dppp)(phen)]X complexes (X=BF4 ( 1 ), SO3CF3 ( 2 ), NO3 ( 3 ), SCN ( 4 ), I ( 5 )) have been synthesized from 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) and 1,3-bis(diphenylphosphino)propane (dppp) ligands, which show strong phosphorescence between 560–600 nm in the solid state at room temperature. Complexes 1 – 5 show a broad solid state emission in the green region of the spectrum. As commendable emitter, complex 5 exhibits extraordinary quantum yield ( Φ p) as high as 18% with lifetime ( τ p) of 10.1–11.2 μs at room temperature. Time-dependent density functional theory calculation (TD-DFT) was performed on complexes 1 ~ 5 to rationalize their experimental absorption and emission spectra. Complex 2 displays a favorable π - π stacking and can be simplified as two-dimensional topology.