A Novel trans‐1‐(9‐Anthryl)‐2‐phenylethene Derivative Containing a Phenanthroimidazole Unit for Application in Organic Light‐Emitting Diodes

Aryl‐substituted phenanthroimidazoles (PIs) have attracted tremendous attention in the field of organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs), because they are simple to synthesize and have excellent thermal properties, high photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs), and bipolar properties. Herein, a novel blue–green emitting material, (E)‐2‐{4′‐[2‐(anthracen‐9‐yl)vinyl]‐[1,1′‐biphenyl]‐4‐yl}‐1‐phenyl‐1H‐phenanthro[9,10‐d]imidazole (APE‐PPI), containing a t‐APE [1‐(9‐anthryl)‐2‐phenylethene] core and a PI moiety was designed and synthesized. Owing to the PI skeleton, APE‐PPI possesses high thermal stability and a high PLQY, and the compound exhibits bipolar transporting characteristics, which were identified by single‐carrier devices. Nondoped blue–green OLEDs with APE‐PPI as the emitting layer show emission at λ=508 nm, a full width at half maximum of 82 nm, a maximum brightness of 9042 cd m−2, a maximum current efficiency of 2.14 cd A−1, and Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.26, 0.55). Furthermore, a white OLED (WOLED) was fabricated by employing APE‐PPI as the blue–green emitting layer and 4‐(dicyanomethylene)‐2‐tert‐butyl‐6‐(1,1,7,7‐tetramethyljulolidin‐4‐yl‐vinyl)‐4H‐pyran (DCJTB) doped in tris‐(8‐hydroxyquinolinato)aluminum (Alq3) as the red–green emitting layer. This WOLED exhibited a maximum brightness of 10029 cd m−2, a maximum current efficiency of 16.05 cd A−1, CIE coordinates of (0.47, 0.47), and a color rendering index (CRI) of 85. The high performance of APE‐PPI‐based devices suggests that the t‐APE and PI combination can potentially be used to synthesize efficient electroluminescent materials for WOLEDs. Out of the blue: APE‐PPI is a blue–green‐emitting material possessing high thermal stability, high fluorescence quantum yields, and bipolar characteristics. Nondoped blue–green OLEDs using APE‐PPI as an emitting layer show a maximum brightness of 9042 cd m−2, a maximum current efficiency of 2.14 cd A−1, and CIE coordinates of (0.26, 0.55). Furthermore, a white OLED is also fabricated by employing APE‐PPI as an emitting layer.