Bright Blue Phosphorescence from Cationic Bis-Cyclometalated Iridium(III) Isocyanide Complexes

We report new bis-cyclometalated cationic indium(III) complexes [((CN)-N-boolean AND)(2)Ir(CN-tert-Bu)(2)](CF3SO3) that have tert-butyl isocyanides as neutral auxiliary ligands and 2-phenylpyridine or 2-(4'-fluoropheny1)-R-pyridines (where R is 4-methoxy, 4-tert-butyl, or 5-trifluoromethyl) as (CN)-N-boolean AND ligands. The complexes are white or pale yellow solids that show irreversible reduction and oxidation processes and have a large electrochemical gap of 3.58-3.83 V. They emit blue or bluegreen phosphorescence in liquid/solid solutions from a cyclometalating-ligand-centered excited state. Their emission spectra show vibronic structure with the highest-energy luminescence peak at 440-…