An inconvenient influence of iridium(III) isomer on OLED efficiency.

The recently reported heteroleptic cyclometallated iridium(III) complex [Ir(2-phenylpyridine)(2)(2-carboxy-4-dimethylaminopyridine)] N984 and its isomer N984b have been studied more in detail. While photo- and electrochemical properties are very similar, DFT/TDDFT calculations show that the two isomers have different HOMO orbital characteristics. As a consequence, solution processed OLEDs made using a mixture of N984 and isomer N984b similar to vacuum processed devices show that the isomer has a dramatic detrimental effect on the performances of the device. In addition, commonly used thermogravimetric analysis is not suitable for showing the isomerization process. The isomer could impact pe…