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Transient absorption three-beam pump-push-probe experiments demonstrate that cyclodextrin-encapsulation of conjugated polymer chains prevents interchain effects, such as energy migration and charge hopping. In the unencapsulated polymer, transient population of high-lying singlet states leads to interchain ionization, generating long-lived charge-separated species. Supramolecular encapsulation prevents this process; with high-lying singlets undergoing on-chain ionization, followed by very rapid charge recombination. Threading is an efficient way to control charge recombination and to obtain a material suitable for photonic applications, where the push effect can be implemented for all-optical ultrafast switching. © 2009 The American Physical Society.

Electron transfer over long distances is important for many future applications in molecular electronics and solar energy harvesting. In these contexts, it is of great interest to find molecular systems that are able to efficiently mediate electrons in a controlled manner over nanometer distances, that is, structures that function as molecular wires. Here we investigate a series of butadiyne-linked porphyrin oligomers with ferrocene and fullerene (C-60) terminals separated by one, two, or four porphyrin units (P-n, n = 1, 2, or 4). When the porphyrin oligomer bridges are photoexcited, long-range charge separated states are formed through a series of electron-transfer steps and the rates of photoinduced charge separation and charge recombination in these systems were elucidated using time-resolved absorption and emission measurements. The rates of long-range charge recombination, through these conjugated porphyrin oligomers, are remarkably fast (k(CR2) = 15 - 1.3 x 10(8) s(-1)) and exhibit very weak distance dependence, particularly comparing the systems with n = 2 and n = 4. The observation that the porphyrin tetramer mediates fast long-range charge transfer, over 65 angstrom, is significant for the application of these structures as molecular wires.

Hydrophilic polyanionic conjugated polyrotaxanes are readily synthesized in water by Suzuki coupling, but their high polarity and ionic nature limit the potential applications of these materials. Here, we demonstrate three methods for transforming these polar polyelectrolytes into nonpolar lipophilic insulated molecular wires. A water-soluble polyfluorene-alt-biphenylene β-cyclodextrin (CD) polyrotaxane was converted into nonpolar derivatives by methylation of the carboxylic acid groups with diazomethane and conversion of the hydroxyl groups of the CDs to benzyl ethers, trihexylsilyl ethers, benzoyl esters, and butanoate esters to yield polyrotaxanes that are soluble in organic solvents such as chloroform and cyclohexane. Elemental analysis, NMR spectroscopy, and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) data support the proposed structures of the organic-soluble polyrotaxanes. The extents of reaction of the polyrotaxane CD hydroxyl groups were 55% for trihexylsilyl chloride/ imidazole; 81% for benzyl chloride/sodium hydride; 72% for benzoyl chloride/pyridine/4- dimethylaminopyridine; and 98% butanoic anhydride/pyridine/4- dimethylaminopyridine. Alkylation, silylation, and esterification increase the bulk of the encapsulating sheath, preventing interstrand aggregation, increasing the photoluminescence efficiency in the solid state and simplifying the time-resolved fluorescence decay. The organic-soluble polyrotaxanes were processed into polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs) from solution in nonpolar organic solvents, thereby excluding ionic impurities from the active layer. © 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA.

The operation of a supramolecular interaction between conjugated macromolecular polyelectrolytes and the ion-transporting polymer PEO at the single molecule level and in bulk solid films was investigated. The polyelectrolytic properties of insulated molecular wires (IMW) along with lithium carboxylate and sulfonate substituents were used for the formation of supramolecular complexes with polymers featuring ion-coordination properties. It was observed that the interaction increases the photoluminescence(PL) and electroluminescence(EL) efficiencies of light emitting polyelectrolytes. The results show that the external quantum efficiency increases by a factor of 200, reaching 0.40%.

A systematic investigation is reported into the influence of the counter cations on the optical, electrical and electroluminescent properties of polyelectrolytic conjugated polymers and of their cyclodextrin-threaded rotaxanes. We compare conjugated polyelectrolytes with sulfonated side groups where the anionic charge is balanced by Li+, K+, Cs +, tetramethylammonium (Me4N+) and cryptate-encapsulated potassium (K+ at [2.2.2]). Narrowing (for the unthreaded analogues) and a slight red-shift of the absorption spectra (for the rotaxanes) are found upon exchange of Li+ for larger cations, together with a blue-shift and an efficiency enhancement of the luminescence. These effects are similar in nature to those induced by rotaxination, and are therefore assigned to a marked reduction of intermolecular interactions between the conjugated cores. Exchange of Li+ for K+, Cs +, or Me4N+ results in a higher electroluminescence external quantum efficiency (EQE) for both polyrotaxanes and unthreaded polymers. For polyrotaxane-based devices the EQE increased approximately 7 times upon substitution of Li+ with Cs+ or Me4N+, thereby demonstrating the importance of the selection of the counter-cations for optimizing the performance of polyelectrolytic conjugated polymers in light-emitting devices. © 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA.

An astonishing assortment of structures have been described as "insulated molecular wires" (IMWs), thus illustrating the diversity of approaches to molecular-scale insulation. These systems demonstrate the scope of encapsulation in the molecular engineering of optoelectronic materials and organic semiconductors. This Review surveys the synthesis and structural characterization of IMWs, and highlights emerging structure-property relationships to determine how insulation can enhance the behavior of a molecular wire. We focus mainly on three IMW architectures: polyrotaxanes, polymer-wrapped pi systems, and dendronized polymers, and compare the properties of these systems with those of conjugated polymers threaded through mesoporous frameworks and zeolites. Encapsulation of molecular wires can enhance properties as diverse as luminescence, electrical transport, and chemical stability, which points to applications in electroluminescent displays, sensors, and the photochemical generation of hydrogen.

High efficiency, solution-processed electroluminescent devices are realized using two new red-light-emitting phosphorescent dendrimers (see Figure). By modulating the dendrimer architecture (changing the structure of the luminescent core), tuning of the emission spectra is demonstrated. Processability in organic solvents is achieved by incorporating the red-emitting cores into dendrimers with suitable surface groups and dendrons.

Four generations of conjugated dendrimers that contain 1,3,5-tris(distyrylbenzenyl)benzene cores, stilbene dendrons, and t-butyl surface groups have been synthesized. The dendrimers were synthesized by coupling benzylphosphonate-focused dendrons with 1,3,5-tris(4-formylstilbenyl)benzene to give the dendrimers in yields in the range 60-82 %. We have probed the optoelectronic properties of the dendrimers by electrochemistry, photoluminescence, and in light-emitting device structures. we have found that the degree of aggregation is strongly generation dependent. We compared the properties of these benzene-centered dendrimers with an equivalent family of dendrimers that differs only in having a nitrogen atom as the central unit. We found that the aggregation of dendrimers was strongly dependent on the degree of delocalization across the central unit. the dendrimers with the benzene central unit, which have three localized distyrylbenzene chromophores, were found to aggregate more strongly in the solid state that those with nitrogen as the central unit. In the latter case the electroactive component is comprised of all three distyrylbenzene units and the nitrogen atom.

We have synthesised a new family of dendrimers with stilbene dendrons attached to a porphyrin core via a stilbene unit and compared their properties with a family of dendrimers with the same core and dendrons but with the dendrons attached via a phenyl unit. The oxidation and reduction half potentials of the two dendrimer families were found to be the same and independent of generation indicating that the dendrons were not creating a micro-environment for the core. However, the rate of heterogeneous electron transfer was found to be strongly dependent on link type and generation. The photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of the dendrimers was also found to be strongly dependent on the method of attachment of the core. In solution the dendrimers with the stilbene link between core and dendrons had PLQYs 1.5 times higher than their phenyl counterparts but in the solid state the trend was reversed with the phenyl linked dendrimers generally having a higher PLQY. The difference in properties has been assigned to the comparative openness of the dendrimer architectures and the effect of the dendrons on the shape of the porphyrin core.

An efficient strategy has been developed for the preparation of four generations of electroluminescent dendrimers that contain tris(distyrylbenzenyl)amine cores, stilbene dendrons, and tert-butyl surface groups. The synthesis involved coupling of benzylphosphonate focused dendrons with tris(4'-formylstilbenyl)amine to give the dendrimers in yields ranging from 63 to 86%. The dendrimers were found to be monodisperse by gel-permeation chromatography. The zeroeth generation dendrimer underwent two chemically reversible oxidations while for the higher generations only one chemically reversible oxidation was observed. On reduction, the dendrimers were found to aggregate with the level of aggregation dependent on the switching potential. The four dendrimer generations were investigated by means of optical spectroscopy. Time-resolved luminescence of the dendrimers in solution showed that the excited state of each of the generations had a monoexponential decay with a lifetime of 1.8 ns. The photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of the dendrimers in solution was independent of generation and was found to be in the region of 0.62. This suggests that the origin of the luminescence is the same for all dendrimer generations. In thin films, time-resolved luminescence of the zeroeth dendrimer generation revealed a long-lived luminescence component in the red part of the spectrum with a lifetime of 7.5 ns. This emission component could not be found in the first, second, and third generation dendrimers, where the long-lived luminescence had a lifetime of 1.5-3 ns at all detection wavelengths. Furthermore, the PLQY of the dendrimer films was found to be dependent on generation and significantly lower than the solution PLQYs. The dendrimer film PLQY increased with generation from 5% for the zereoth generation to 12% for the third generation. The differences observed in the time-resolved luminescence and PLQY of the dendrimers in the solid state arise from the fact that intermolecular interactions between the emissive cores of the dendrimers are considerably stronger in the zeroeth generation than in higher generations. The intermolecular interactions result in an aggregate, which we ascribe to an excited-state species, such as an excimer.

We present a novel platinum porphyrin based phosphorescent dendrimer for use as a triplet harvesting dopant in organic light-emitting diodes. Two types of dendritic host materials are used. Through the choice of a common branching architecture around the emissive chromophore unit of both guest and host materials, we are able to achieve excellent miscibility. The relative contribution of guest to host emission is found to depend strongly on the energy level offsets of the two blend materials, indicating strong trapping processes. Under pulsed operation, we observe a striking dependence of the emission spectrum on pulse period, independent of the host material used. This spectral modification is attributed to the quenching of triplet excitations at high excitation densities. We find excellent agreement between our measured data and a model based on bimolecular recombination.

Conjugated dendrimers are ideal materials to study the structure-property relationships in conjugated molecules. We have developed a family of dendrimers that contain t-butyl surface groups, stilbene dendrons, and luminescent cores. For porphyrin and tris(distyrylbenzenyl) amine cored dendrimers cyclic voltammetry (CV) showed that the redox processes occurred at the core. Combining the results from the CV experiments with the device characteristics it was determined that for the dendrimers the cores were held further away from each other with increasing generation. For the amine cored dendrimers it was found that the hole mobility decreased with generation, which is consistent with the cores being further apart. We also found for the amine cored dendrimers that the decrease in hole mobility was matched with increase in device efficiency. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Here, it is demonstrated that energy transfer in a blend of semiconducting polymers can be strongly reduced by non-covalent encapsulation of one constituent, ensured by threading of the conjugated strands into functionalized cyclodextrins. Such macrocycles control the minimum intermolecular distance of chromophores with similar alignment, at the nanoscale, and therefore the relevant energy transfer rates, thus enabling fabrication of white-light-emitting diodes (CIE coordinates: x = 0.282, y = 0.336). In particular, white electroluminescence in a binary blend of a blueemitting, organic-soluble rotaxane based on a polyfluorene derivative and the green-emitting poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-alt-benzotrtiadiazote (F8BT) is achieved. Morphological and structural analyses by atomic force microscopy, fluorescence mapping, μ-Raman, and fluorescence lifetime microscopy are used to complement optical and electroluminescence characterization, and to enable a deeper insight into the properties of the novel blend. © 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA.

Effective nanoscale control of intermolecular interactions in conjugated polymers is needed for the optimal development and exploitation of the latter in low-cost, large-area consumer electronics items, such as light-emitting and photovoltaic diodes, or transistors. Here we report our investigations on insulated molecular wires constituted by conjugated polymers threaded into cyclodextrin rings. Until now, there has been no detailed quantitative understanding of the role of progressive cyclodextrin encapsulation (quantifiable by the so-called "threading ratio", TR, or number of cyclodextrins per repeat unit) in tailoring the photophysics of the conjugated polymeric wires. We combine spectroscopic, electrical and surface analysis techniques to elucidate how the TR of cyclodextrin-threaded molecular wires controls formation of interchain species and related physical properties (0 < TR

A donor-acceptor system is presented in which the electron-transfer rates can be sensitively controlled by means of excitation wavelength and temperature. The electron donor is a butadiyne-linked zinc porphyrin dimer that is connected to a C(60) electron acceptor. The broad distribution of conformations allowed by the butadiyne linker makes it possible to selectively excite perpendicular or planar donor conformers and thereby prepare separate initial states with driving forces for electron transfer that differ by almost 0.2 eV. This, as well as significant differences in electronic coupling, leads to distinctly different rate constants for electron transfer, which in consequence can be controlled by changing excitation wavelength. By extending the system with a secondary donor (ferrocene), a second, long-range charge-separated state can be formed. This system has been used to test the influence of conformational heterogeneity on electron transfer mediated by the porphyrin dimer in the ground state. It was found that if the dimer is forced to a planar conformation by means of a bidentate ligand, the charge recombination rate increased by an order of magnitude relative to the unconstrained system. This illustrates how control of conformation of a molecular wire can affect its behaviour.

beta,meso,beta-Fused porphyrin oligomers have many attractive photophysical features such as strong absorption in the near-IR at wavelengths greater than 1000 nm, and high two-photon cross sections. However their ultrafast S(1)-S(0) deactivation (k(d) > 10(11) s(-1)) limits potential applications. We have synthesised a deuterated fused porphyrin dimer to test whether deuteration influences the rate of non-radiative deactivation. An efficient synthetic strategy was developed, starting with deuteration of dipyrromethane. Deuteration of the zinc porphyrin dimer does not affect its fluorescence quantum yield in CD(2)Cl(2)(Phi(fD)/Phi(fH)= 1.00 +/- 0.05). This implies that the ultrafast non-radiative deactivation is not simply a consequence of the small S(1)-S(0) energy gap. Comparison with other conjugated porphyrin oligomers confirms that the deactivation rate in the edge-fused oligomers is faster than would be expected from the energy gap law. This result indicates that it should be possible to create near-IR dyes with similar S(1)-S(0) energy gaps to the beta,meso,beta-fused porphyrin oligomers but with slower rates of S(1)-S(0) decay.

We have investigated the effect of interchain interactions on the ultrafast depolarization of the photoluminescence from solid films of a conjugated polymer. Accurate control was exercised over the interchain separation by threading of the conjugated chains with insulating macrocycles or complexation with an inert host polymer. Our measurements indicate that excitation into the higher electronic states of a chain aggregate is followed by a fast (

[structure: see text] A vinylene-linked porphyrin dimer, with no substituents at the beta-positions, has been synthesized by CuI/CsF promoted Stille coupling. In the crystal structure of this dimer, the C(2)H(2) bridge is twisted by 45 degrees relative to the plane of the porphyrins. The absorption, emission spectra, and electrochemistry reveal substantial porphyrin-porphyrin pi-conjugation. The triplet excited-state absorption spectrum of this dimer makes it suitable for reverse saturable absorption at 710-900 nm.

A simple way of tuning the emission color in solution processed phosphorescent organic light emitting diodes is demonstrated. For each color a single emissive spin-coated layer consisting of a blend of three materials, a fac-tris(2-phenylpyridyl)iridium (III) cored dendrimer (Ir–G1) as the green emitter, a heteroleptic [bis(2‐phenylpyridyl)‐2‐(2′‐benzo[4,5‐α]thienyl)pyridyl]iridium (III) cored dendrimer [Ir(ppy)2btp] as the red emitter, and 4,4′-bis(N-carbazolyl) biphenyl (CBP) as the host was employed. By adjusting the relative amount of green and red dendrimers in the blends, the color of the light emission was tuned from green to red. High efficiency two layer devices were achieved by evaporating a layer of electron transporting 1,3,5-tris(2-N-phenylbenzimidazolyl)benzene (TPBI) on top of the spin-coated emissive layer. A brightness of 100cd∕m2 was achieved at drive voltages in the range 5.3–7.3 V. The peak external efficiencies at this brightness ranged from 31cd∕A(18lm∕W) to 7cd∕A(4lm∕W).

Conjugated dendrimers provide an excellent molecular architecture for tuning material properties for organic light emitting diodes. Here we demonstrate a modular approach allowing highly efficient fluorescent and phosphorescent emissive chromophores to be used to make red, green and blue solution-processed light emitting diodes. The choice of a common dendritic architecture ensures good solubility and film forming properties irrespective of the choice of core unit. In addition, this architecture allows blending of dendrimers with different cores without phase separation. We show that blending provides a simple but powerful way of tuning the colour of dendrimer LEDs from deep blue to blue-green, and from green to red with little impact on the device properties.

We present gain and lasing results from a polyrotaxane consisting of a conjugated polymer (polyfluorene-alt-biphenylene) threaded through sugar macrocycles (Β -cyclodextrin). Encapsulation suppresses interchain charge separation, leading to lasing emission not observed in the unthreaded polymer, and enlargement of the stimulated emission in threaded polymer is observed. We demonstrate all-optical switching distributed feedback laser. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.

Conjugated dendrimers are of interest as novel materials for light-emitting diodes. They consist of a luminescent chromophore at the core with highly branched conjugated dendron sidegroups. In these materials, light emission occurs from the core and is independent of generation. The dendron branching controls the separation between the chromophores. We present here a family of conjugated dendrimers and investigate the effect of dendron branching on light emission and charge transport. We apply a number of transport measurement techniques to thin films of a conjugated dendrimer in a light-emitting diode configuration to determine the effect of chromophore spacing on charge transport. We find that the mobility is reduced by two orders of magnitude as the size of the molecule doubles with increased branching or dendrimer generation. The degree of branching allows a unique control of mobility by molecular structure. An increase in chromophore separation also results in a reduction of intermolecular interactions, which reduces the red emission tail in film photoluminescence. We find that the steady-state charge transport is well described by a simple device model incorporating the effect of generation, and use the materials to shed light on the interpretation of transient electroluminescence data. We demonstrate the significance of the ability to tune the mobility in bilayer devices, where a more balanced charge transport can be achieved.

Dendrimers can be used as the emissive layer in organic light-emitting diodes. We have synthesised conjugated dendrimers containing meta-linked stilbene dendrons and luminescent porphyrin or triarylamine cores. The HOMO energy levels of the amine-cored dendrimers were studied by cyclic voltammetry and modelling of device characteristics. Both techniques showed that charge was injected directly into the core and importantly that the energy levels did not change with dendrimer generation.

The crystal structure of a cyanine dye rotaxane shows that the cyclodextrin is tightly threaded round the polymethine bridge of the dye; encapsulation dramatically increases the kinetic chemical stability of the radicals formed on oxidation and reduction of the dye, making it possible to observe the rotaxane radical dication by ESR and UV-vis-NIR spectroscopy.

Highly luminescent inclusion complexes consisting of poly(para-phenylene) (PPP) or poly(4,4'-diphenylene-vinylene) (PDV) in the helical cavity of amylose have been synthesised, structurally characterised by nuclear Overhauser spectroscopy and used to fabricate electroluminescent light-emitting diodes.

A study is presented on how encapsulation of conjugated polymer chains affects the motion of photoexcitations and the formation of interchain aggregates in solid films. It is shown that threading of a poly(diphenylene vinylene) backbone inside insulating cyclodextrins (rotaxination) and/or complexation of the chains with poly(ethylene oxide) are effective means of preventing the diffusion of excitons to nonradiative defect sites. Ultrafast time-resolved photoluminescence data reveal that excitation transfer between encapsulated chains is still possible and, for the case of rotaxination, is likely to be facilitated through close packing of end groups belonging to adjacent chains. © 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Three aspects of recent dendrimer research are reported. It is shown that highly efficient sky blue phosphorescent devices can be made (external efficiency 10.4%, 11 lm/W at 100 Cd/m), that blending dendrimers provides a simple way of colour tuning, and finally that luminescence quenching by exciton-exciton annihilation in dendrimer films is weak and can be controlled by the dendrimer generation. These results suggest that dendrimers are very attractive solution processible materials for OLEDs.

We report methodology for the preparation of symmetric and asymmetric solution processable phosphorescent dendrimers that are comprised of 2-ethylhexyloxy surface groups, biphenyl based dendrons, and iridium(III) complex cores. The symmetric dendrimer has three dendritic 2-benzo[b]thiophene-2′-ylpyridyl (BTP) ligands with the dendritic ligands responsible for red emission. The asymmetric dendrimer has two dendritic 2-phenylpyridyl ligands and one unsubstituted BTP ligand. Iridium(III) complexes comprised of 2-phenylpyridyl ligands are normally associated with green emission whereas those containing BTP ligands emit red light. Red emission is observed from the asymmetric dendrimer demonstrating that emission occurs primarily from the metal-to-ligand charge transfer state associated with the ligand with the lowest HOMO–LUMO energy gap. The photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs) of the symmetric and asymmetric dendrimers were strongly dependent on the dendrimer structure. In solution the PLQYs of the asymmetric and symmetric dendrimers were 47 ± 5% and 29 ± 3% respectively. The photoluminescence lifetime of the emissive state of both dendrimers in solution was 7.3 ± 0.1 µs. In the solid state the comparative PLQYs were reversed with the symmetric dendrimer having a PLQY of 10 ± 1% and the asymmetric dendrimer a PLQY of 7 ± 1%. The comparatively larger decrease in PLQY for the asymmetric dendrimer in the solid state is attributed to increased core–core interactions. The intermolecular interactions are greater in the asymmetric dendrimer because there is no dendron on the BTP ligand. Electrochemical analysis shows that charge is injected directly into the cores of the dendrimers.