Synthesis of Phenylpyridine Iridium(III) Complexes with N-Heterocyclic Carbene as Ancillary Ligands

In this study, [Ir(2,4-F2ppy)2(2-(1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)pyridine>)]PF6 (C1), [Ir(2,4-F2ppy)2(2-(2-(4-dimethylbenzyl)-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)pyridine)]PF6 (C2) and [Ir(2,4-F2ppy)2(2(2-hexyl-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)pyridine)]PF6 (C3) complexes were successfully synthesised by refluxing the mixture of dichloro-bridged iridium(III) dimer, [Ir(2,4-F2ppy)2(μ-Cl)]2 and corresponding triazolium salt containing N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) as ancillary ligands. 1H NMR of all complexes display well-resolved signals between 10.00-5.00 ppm assign to proton at the aromatic region for penylpyridine and pyridyltriazole. Spectra of C2 and C3 also display signals at aliphatic region (singlets) between 0.80-1.50 ppm that proved the presence of methylbenzyl and hexyl substituent on the pyridyltriazole ring. In addition, IR analysis reported the presence of C=C and C=N stretching of pyridine at range 1570-1470cm−1 and C-H stretching of aromatic pyridine at 2990-3080cm−1. Besides, UV-Vis absorption data showed that the low-energy metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) band in C2 (364 nm) is significantly blue-shifted compared to C1 (375 nm) and C3 (381 nm). Overall, this study reported the synthesis and spectroscopic study of phenylpyridine Ir(III) complexes with various types of pyridyltriazole (NHC ancillary ligands).