Patent Description:
An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) is a self-luminous device without a backlight and has the advantages of a fast response speed, low energy consumption, high luminescence efficiency, a high contrast, a simple manufacturing process, mass production and the like. Light-emitting materials used in early devices are mainly organic micromolecular fluorescent materials. The spin-statistics quantum theory shows that in theory, a fluorescent material has an internal quantum efficiency of only <NUM>%. In <NUM>, Professor Forrest of Princeton University discovered the electrophosphorescence phenomenon of metal organic complex molecule materials at room temperature. The strong spin-orbit coupling of heavy metal atoms can effectively promote the intersystem crossing of electrons from a singlet state to a triplet state. Therefore, an OLED device can make full use of all singlet and triplet excitons generated through electricity excitation so that the light-emitting material can achieve an internal quantum efficiency of <NUM>% in theory (<NPL>).

Phosphorescent materials of cyclometalated platinum (II) complexes studied in the early stage are mostly organic metal molecules containing bidentate and tridentate ligands. The organic metal molecules have low rigidity. The bidentate ligand is easy to twist and vibrate, resulting in low phosphorescence quantum efficiency (<NPL>). Cyclometalated platinum (II) complexes containing tridentate ligands have reduced electrochemical stability, photochemical stability and thermal stability since molecules each require a second ligand (such as Cl-, a phenoxy anion, an alkyne anion, carbine, etc.). Therefore, the phosphorescent materials of cyclometalated platinum (II) complexes containing bidentate and tridentate ligands are not conducive to the preparation of stable and efficient OLED devices, especially difficult to meet the requirement for commercializing phosphorescent materials. Therefore, how to design and develop stable and efficient phosphorescent materials is still the key content in the field of OLEDs. Several tetradentate platinum complexes for OLED applications are described in<NPL> or <CIT>.

An object of embodiments of the present disclosure is to provide a tetradentate cyclometalated platinum (II) complex based on oxygen atom linkage and containing phenyl acridine and an application thereof, so as to improve the molecular stability of an existing phosphorescent material. The molecules of the complex can emit light strongly, have good stability, and can be used as light-emitting materials in OLED devices.

To achieve the preceding object, the present disclosure provides the technical solutions described below.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a tetradentate cyclometalated platinum (II) complex based on oxygen atom linkage and containing phenyl acridine, where the tetradentate cyclometalated platinum (II) complex has a structure of general formula (I):
<CHM>
wherein, R<NUM>, R<NUM>, R<NUM>, R<NUM> and R<NUM> each independently represent a mono-substitution, a di-substitution, a tri-substitution, a tetra-substitution or a non-substitution, and R<NUM>, R<NUM>, R<NUM>, R<NUM> and R<NUM> are each independently hydrogen, deuterium, alkyl, aryl, cycloalkyl, heterocyclyl, heteroaryl or a combination thereof; and two or more adjacent ones of R<NUM>, R<NUM>, R<NUM>, R<NUM> and R<NUM> are each independently or selectively linked to form a fused ring.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides an organic light-emitting element including a light-emitting layer containing the tetradentate cyclometalated platinum (II) complex according to the first aspect on a substrate.

According to the preceding technical solutions, the complex uses a tetradentate ligand, has high rigidity, and can improve the light stability of a light-emitting material. Moreover, the molecules of the complex can emit light strongly and thus can be used as the light-emitting materials in the OLED devices.

To illustrate the technical solutions in embodiments of the present disclosure more clearly, the accompanying drawings used in the embodiments are briefly described below.

A compound of the present disclosure may contain an "optionally substituted" moiety. Generally, the term "substituted" (regardless of whether there exists the term "optionally" preceding the term "substituted" or not) means that one or more hydrogens of the indicated moiety are replaced with suitable substituents. Unless otherwise specified, an "optionally substituted" group may have a suitable substituent at any substitutable position of the group, and when more than one substituent selected from specified groups are present at more than one position of any given structure, the substituents at these positions may be the same or different. A substituent combination contemplated by the present disclosure preferably includes those forming a stable or chemically feasible compound. In certain aspects, unless the contrary is clearly indicated, it is also included that each substituent may be further optionally substituted (that is, further substituted or unsubstituted).

The structure of the compound may be represented by the following formula:
<CHM>.

The formula is construed as being equivalent to the following formula:
<CHM>
wherein m is generally an integer. That is, (Ra)m is construed as representing five independent substituents Ra(<NUM>), Ra(<NUM>), Ra(<NUM>), Ra(<NUM>) and Ra(<NUM>).

A method for preparing a new compound is provided in the following examples, but the preparation of such compounds is not limited to the method. In the technical field, since the compound as claimed in this patent is easy to modify and prepare, the compound may be prepared by the methods listed below or other methods. The temperature, catalyst, concentration, reactants and reaction process may all be varied, so as to prepare the compound using different reactants and selecting different conditions.

The <NUM>H NMR (<NUM>) spectrum is measured on an ANANCE III (<NUM>) nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer. Unless otherwise specified, DMSO-d<NUM> or CDCl<NUM> that contains <NUM>% TMS is used as a solvent for nuclear magnetic resonance. If the <NUM>H NMR spectrum is measured with CDCl<NUM> as the solvent, TMS (δ = <NUM> ppm) is used as an internal standard. When DMSO-d<NUM> is used as the solvent, TMS (δ = <NUM> ppm) or a residual DMSO peak (δ = <NUM> ppm) or a residual water peak (δ = <NUM> ppm) is used as the internal standard. For the <NUM>C NMR spectrum, CDCl<NUM> (δ = <NUM> ppm) or DMSO-d<NUM> (δ = <NUM> ppm) is used as the internal standard. In <NUM>H NMR spectral data, s = singlet; d = doublet; t = triplet; q = quartet; p = quintet; m = multiplet; br = broad.

Synthesis example of a tetradentate cyclometalated platinum (II) complex based on oxygen atom linkage and containing phenyl acridine.

The complex may be prepared with reference to the following synthesis method:
<CHM>.

It is to be understood that the product of the preceding synthesis method is not limited, R<NUM>, R<NUM>, R<NUM>, R<NUM> and R<NUM> each independently represent a mono-substitution, a di-substitution, a tri-substitution, a tetra-substitution or a non-substitution, and R<NUM>, R<NUM>, R<NUM>, R<NUM> and R<NUM> are each independently hydrogen, deuterium, alkyl, aryl, cycloalkyl, heterocyclyl, heteroaryl or a combination thereof; and two or more adjacent ones of R<NUM>, R<NUM>, R<NUM>, R<NUM> and R<NUM> are each independently or selectively linked to form a fused ring. A feeding sequence and specific reaction conditions are not limited, such as the temperature, the type and consumption of a solvent, the type and consumption of a catalyst, the type and consumption of a ligand, the type and consumption of a base and the consumption of a reaction substrate. Those skilled in the art can easily make reasonable extensions from the examples in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Other groups are defined as in general formula (I).

Example <NUM>: A platinum complex Pt1 may be synthesized according to the following route:
<CHM>
<CHM>.

Synthesis of Intermediate 1a: <NUM>-bromo-<NUM>,<NUM>-dimethyl-<NUM>,<NUM>-dihydroacridine (<NUM>, <NUM> mmol, <NUM> equiv), <NUM>-bromopyridine (<NUM>, <NUM> mmol, <NUM> equiv), cuprous iodide (<NUM>, <NUM> mmol, <NUM> equiv), lithium t-butoxide (<NUM>, <NUM> mmol, <NUM> equiv) and <NUM>-methylimidazole (<NUM>, <NUM> mmol, <NUM> equiv) were sequentially added into a dry three-necked flask with a magnetic stirring rotor, and then the flask was purged with nitrogen three times, and added with toluene (<NUM>) under nitrogen protection. The mixture was stirred and reacted in an oil bath of <NUM> for <NUM>, cooled to room temperature, and distilled under reduced pressure to remove the solvents. The obtained crude product was separated and purified through silica gel column chromatography (eluents: petroleum ether/ethyl acetate = <NUM>:<NUM>-<NUM>:<NUM>) to obtain Product 1e as a white solid (<NUM>, yield: <NUM>%). <NUM>H NMR (<NUM>, CDCl<NUM>): δ <NUM> (s, <NUM>), <NUM> (dd, J = <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), <NUM> (d, J = <NUM>, <NUM>), <NUM> (td, J = <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM> (m, <NUM>), <NUM> (dd, J = <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM> (m, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM> (m, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM> (m, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM> (m, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM> (m, <NUM>).

Synthesis of Intermediate 1b: The m-bromophenol (<NUM>, <NUM> mmol, <NUM> equiv), <NUM>-bromopyridine (<NUM>, <NUM> mmol, <NUM> equiv), cuprous iodide (<NUM>, <NUM> mmol, <NUM> equiv), picolinic acid (<NUM>, <NUM> mmol, <NUM> equiv) and potassium phosphate (<NUM>, <NUM> mmol, <NUM> equiv) were sequentially added into a dry three-necked flask with a magnetic stirring rotor, and then the flask was purged with nitrogen three times, and added with dimethyl sulfoxide (<NUM>) under nitrogen protection. The mixture was stirred and reacted in an oil bath of <NUM> for <NUM>, cooled to room temperature, filtered with Celite, extracted with ethyl acetate, and washed with a solution of sodium carbonate. The organic layer was washed twice with water, the aqueous layer was extracted twice with ethyl acetate, and the organic phases were combined, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, filtered, and distilled under reduced pressure to remove the solvents. The obtained crude product was separated and purified through silica gel column chromatography (eluents: petroleum ether/ethyl acetate = <NUM>:<NUM>-<NUM>:<NUM>) to obtain Product 1b as a white solid (<NUM>, yield: <NUM>%). <NUM>H NMR (<NUM>, CDCl<NUM>): δ <NUM> (d, J = <NUM>, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM> (m, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM> (m, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM> (m, <NUM>), <NUM> (ddd, J = <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>).

Synthesis of Intermediate 1c: Intermediate 1b (<NUM>, <NUM> mmol, <NUM> equiv), bis(pinacolato)diboron (<NUM>, <NUM> mmol, <NUM> equiv), [<NUM>,<NUM>'-bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene]palladium dichloride (<NUM>, <NUM> mmol, <NUM> equiv) and potassium acetate (<NUM>, <NUM> mmol, <NUM> equiv) were sequentially added into a dry three-necked flask with a magnetic stirring rotor, and then the flask was purged with nitrogen three times, and added with dimethyl sulfoxide (<NUM>) under nitrogen protection. The mixture was stirred and reacted in an oil bath of <NUM> for <NUM>, cooled to room temperature, and extracted with ethyl acetate. The organic layer was washed twice with water, the aqueous layer was extracted twice with ethyl acetate, and the organic phases were combined, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate, filtered, and distilled under reduced pressure to remove the solvents. The obtained crude product was separated and purified through silica gel column chromatography (eluents: petroleum ether/ethyl acetate = <NUM>:<NUM>-<NUM>:<NUM>) to obtain Product 1c as a white solid (<NUM>, yield: <NUM>%). <NUM>H NMR (<NUM>, CDCl<NUM>): δ <NUM> (s, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM> (m, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM> (m, <NUM>), <NUM> (ddd, J = <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), <NUM> (t, J = <NUM>, <NUM>), <NUM> (dd, J=<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM> (m, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM> (m, <NUM>), <NUM> (ddd, J = <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>).

Synthesis of Ligand <NUM>: Intermediate 1a (<NUM>, <NUM> mmol, <NUM> equiv), Intermediate 1c (<NUM>, <NUM> mmol, <NUM> equiv), tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium (<NUM>, <NUM> mmol, <NUM> equiv) and potassium carbonate (<NUM>, <NUM> mmol, <NUM> equiv) were sequentially added into a dry three-necked flask with a magnetic stirring rotor, and then the flask was purged with nitrogen three times, and added with toluene (<NUM>), ethanol (<NUM>) and water (<NUM>) under nitrogen protection. The mixture was stirred and reacted in an oil bath of <NUM> for <NUM>, cooled to room temperature, and distilled under reduced pressure to remove the solvents. The obtained crude product was separated and purified through silica gel column chromatography (eluents: petroleum ether/ethyl acetate = <NUM>:<NUM>-<NUM>:<NUM>) to obtain the product Ligand <NUM> as a white solid (<NUM>, yield: <NUM>%). <NUM>H NMR (<NUM>, CDCl<NUM>): δ <NUM> (s, <NUM>), <NUM> (dd, J= <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), <NUM> (dt, J= <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), <NUM> (d, J = <NUM>, <NUM>), <NUM> (m, <NUM>), <NUM> (m, <NUM>), <NUM> (td, J= <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM> (m, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM> (m, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM> (m, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM> (m, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM> (dt, J = <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM>(t, J = <NUM>, <NUM>), <NUM> (dd, J = <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), <NUM> (d, J = <NUM>, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM> (m, <NUM>), <NUM> (ddd, J = <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), <NUM> (ddd, J = <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM> (m, <NUM>).

Synthesis of Pt1: An intermediate Ligand <NUM> (<NUM>, <NUM> mmol, <NUM> equiv) and platinum dichloride (<NUM>, <NUM> mmol, <NUM> equiv) were sequentially added into a dry three-necked flask with a magnetic stirring rotor, and then the flask was purged with nitrogen three times, and added with benzonitrile (<NUM>) under nitrogen protection. The mixture was stirred and reacted in a heating mantle of <NUM> for <NUM>, cooled to room temperature, added with potassium t-butoxide (<NUM>, <NUM> mmol, <NUM> equiv) and tetrahydrofuran (<NUM>) under nitrogen protection, warmed to <NUM>, and reacted for <NUM>. The mixture was cooled to room temperature and distilled under reduced pressure to remove the solvents. The obtained crude product was separated and purified through silica gel column chromatography (eluents: petroleum ether/dichloromethane = <NUM>:<NUM>-<NUM>:<NUM>) to obtain Product Pt1 as a yellow solid (<NUM>, yield: <NUM>%). <NUM>H NMR (<NUM>, DMSO-d<NUM>): δ <NUM> (s, <NUM>), δ1. <NUM> (s, <NUM>), <NUM> (dd, J= <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM>(m, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM> (m, <NUM>), <NUM> (td, J = <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM> (m, <NUM>), <NUM> (dd, J= <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM>(m, <NUM>), <NUM> (d, J= <NUM>, <NUM>), <NUM> (d, J= <NUM>, <NUM>), <NUM> (dd, J= <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>),<NUM>-<NUM> (m, <NUM>), <NUM>-<NUM> (m, <NUM>), <NUM>(dd, J = <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>), <NUM> (dd, J = <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>).

A photophysical analysis was performed on the complex prepared in the preceding example of the present disclosure below.

Photophysical analysis: An emission spectrum and an excited state lifetime were tested on a HORIBA FL3-<NUM> spectrometer. Test conditions: The <NUM>-methyltetrahydrofuran solid solution of the light-emitting material was used for testing the emission spectrum and the excited state lifetime at a low temperature; the dichloromethane solution of the light-emitting material was used for testing the emission spectrum and the excited state lifetime at room temperature; and a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) film was doped with a sample at a concentration of <NUM>%.

The data on the photophysical properties of the tetradentate platinum complex Pt1 as a phosphorescent material is shown in Table <NUM> below.

Four points can be seen from the data in Table <NUM>. Firstly, the emission wavelength of the platinum complex Pt1 as the phosphorescent luminescent material is within a green light range in various environments, which is a very good green light-emitting material. Second, the platinum complex Pt1 as the phosphorescent material has a very short excited state lifetime (τ) and has an excited state lifetime of shorter than or equal to <NUM> especially in the dichloromethane solution or the PMMA film at room temperature, and a short excited state lifetime is conducive to increasing a response speed of an OLED device using the platinum complex Pt1 as the light-emitting material and improving phosphorescence efficiency, which is beneficial for a use in the device. Thirdly, the quantum efficiency in the dichloromethane solution is <NUM>%, indicating that the metal platinum complex emits light strongly. Fourthly, the maximum emission wavelength (λmax) of the platinum complex Pt1 as the phosphorescent material shifts slightly under different environments and conditions. It can also be seen from <FIG> that the platinum complex Pt1 as the phosphorescent material has a very small λmax shift in the diagram illustrating the comparison of emission spectra obtained in <NUM>-methyltetrahydrofuran at a low temperature (<NUM>), dichloromethane at room temperature and PMMA at room temperature, indicating that such materials have very high color stability of emitted light.

The structure of the platinum complex Pt1 was verified by the high resolution and hydrogen spectrum of the molecule.

To investigate the stability of the developed material, the light stability of a polystyrene film doped with <NUM> wt% Pt1 was tested, where an excitation light source was ultraviolet light at <NUM> and a light intensity was <NUM> W/m<NUM>. The data on its light stability is shown in <FIG>. Moreover, Pt1 was compared with cyclometalated platinum (II) complexes Pt(bp-<NUM>), Pt(bp-<NUM>), Pt(bp-<NUM>) and Pt(bp-<NUM>) which were reported in the literature (<NPL>. ) and whose structures are shown below. Pt(bp-<NUM>), Pt(bp-<NUM>), Pt(bp-<NUM>) and Pt(bp-<NUM>) were tested under the same conditions as Pt1 for their light stability data. <CHM>
<CHM>.

As can be seen from <FIG>, the (Pt1 : polystyrene) film having <NUM>% the phosphorescent material has excellent light stability under excitation of ultraviolet light at <NUM> (with a light intensity of <NUM> W/m<NUM>) and it takes <NUM> minutes for the intensity to decay by <NUM>%.

It can be seen from the comparison between <FIG> and <FIG> that under the same conditions, Pt1 decays by <NUM>% after <NUM> hours, Pt(bp-<NUM>) decays by about <NUM>% after <NUM> hours, and Pt(bp-<NUM>), Pt(bp-<NUM>) and Pt(bp-<NUM>) decay by about <NUM>% to <NUM>% after <NUM> hours in the light stability test. It can be seen that Pt1 based on oxygen atom linkage, which is developed in the present application, has much higher light stability than the tetradentate metal Pt (II) complexes based on nitrogen atom linkage in the preceding literature.

An application of the tetradentate cyclometalated platinum (II) complex phosphorescent light-emitting material of the present disclosure as a light-emitting layer of an organic electroluminescent device. In an organic light-emitting element, carriers are injected into the light-emitting material from positive and negative electrodes so that the light-emitting material is in an excited state and emits light. The complex of the present disclosure represented by general formula (I) may be applied as the phosphorescent material to an excellent organic light-emitting element such as an organic photoluminescent element or an organic electroluminescent element. The organic photoluminescent element has a structure in which at least a light-emitting layer is formed on a substrate. In addition, the organic electroluminescent element has a structure in which at least an anode, a cathode and an organic layer between the anode and the cathode are formed. The organic layer includes at least the light-emitting layer and may be composed of only the light-emitting layer or may have one or more organic layers in addition to the light-emitting layer. As such other organic layers, a hole transport layer, a hole injection layer, an electron blocking layer, a hole blocking layer, an electron injection layer, an electron transport layer, an exciton blocking layer and the like may be listed. The hole transport layer may also be a hole injection and transport layer having a hole injection function, and the electron transport layer may also be an electron injection and transport layer having an electron injection function. The structural diagram of a specific organic light-emitting element is shown in <FIG>. In <FIG>, there are <NUM> layers from bottom to top, which represent the substrate, the anode, the hole injection layer, the hole transport layer, the light-emitting layer, the electron transport layer and the cathode in sequence, where the light-emitting layer is a mixed layer in which a guest material doped into a host material.

The compound shown in Example <NUM> was applied as the phosphorescent material to an OLED device whose structure was expressed as follows:
ITO/HATCN (<NUM>)/TAPC (<NUM>)/CBP: the compound shown in Example <NUM> (<NUM>-<NUM> wt. %, <NUM>)/Bepp<NUM> (<NUM>)/Li<NUM>CO<NUM>:Bepp<NUM> (<NUM>%, <NUM>)/Li<NUM>CO<NUM> (<NUM>)/Al(<NUM>).

ITO is a transparent anode, HATCN is the hole injection layer, TCTA is the hole transport layer, CBP is the host material, the compound shown in Example <NUM> (<NUM>-<NUM> wt. % is a doping concentration, <NUM> is a thickness of the light-emitting layer) is the guest material, Bepp<NUM> is the electron transport layer, Li<NUM>CO<NUM> is the electron injection layer, and Al is the cathode. Numbers with nanometer (nm) unit in parentheses are the thicknesses of the films.

It is to be noted that the structure is an application example of the light-emitting material of the present disclosure and not to limit the specific structure of the OLED device using the light-emitting material of the present disclosure, and the phosphorescent material is not limited to the compound shown in Example <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A tetradentate cyclometalated platinum (II) complex based on oxygen atom linkage and containing phenyl acridine, wherein the tetradentate cyclometalated platinum (II) complex has a structure of general formula (I):
<CHM>
wherein R<NUM>, R<NUM>, R<NUM>, R<NUM> and R<NUM> each independently represent a mono-substitution, a di-substitution, a tri-substitution, a tetra-substitution or a non-substitution, and R<NUM>, R<NUM>, R<NUM>, R<NUM> and R<NUM> are each independently hydrogen, deuterium, alkyl, aryl, cycloalkyl, heterocyclyl, heteroaryl or a combination thereof; and two or more adjacent ones of R<NUM>, R<NUM>, R<NUM>, R<NUM> and R<NUM> are each independently or selectively linked to form a fused ring.