Do the Intramolecular π Interactions Improve the Stability of Ionic, Pyridine-Carbene-Based Iridium(III) Complexes?

Throughout the last years one of the most intensive research topics in light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) focused on the design of blue-emitting, ionic iridium(III) complexes. To this end, the most recent strategy is the use of carbene-based ancillary ligands. Although blue LECs have been successfully fabricated, the stability has been noted as the main drawback. To overcome this problem, Zhang et al. have recently explored the use of π interactions to enhance the strength of pyridine-carbene-based complexes. The authors suggested that the use of intramolecular π–π stacking interactions by means of pendant phenyl rings to improve the stability of LECs is not as effective as in devi…