A Hybrid BN-Doped Nanographene with Narrow Emission Bandwidths for OLEDs

Abstract
We describe synthesis of BN-doped nanographene containing five phenylene units, boron and nitrogen atoms with alternating ortho-disposition, as well as direct B−N connections. Resulting BN doped nanographene exhibits blue fluorescence at 441 nm with an extraordinarily narrow fluorescence peak with a full width at half maximum (FWHM)=10–11 nm. Crystallography reveals supramolecular organization of this compound in the crystal phase. Initial organic light emitting device (OLED) data suggest that the presence of a directly connected B−N isostere can lead to devices with sufficiently long lifetime as well as narrow emission electro-luminescence peaks necessary for OLED applications. Graphical Abstract available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202404078 Computational screening, synthesis and characterization identified BN-containing candidate 1 as a promising narrow bandwidth chromophore. BN doped nanographene exhibits blue fluorescence at 441 nm with an extraordinarily narrow fluorescence peak with full width at half maximum (FWHM)=10–11 nm that outperforms narrow bandwidths of the incumbent references. Utility of the compound for long lifetime narrow bandwidth OLEDs has also been demonstrated
Description
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: V. V. Diev, Y. Zou, D. Kondakov, G. P. A. Yap, Chem. Eur. J. 2025, 31, e202404078. https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202404078, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202404078. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited. © 2025 Wiley-VCH GmbH. This article will be embargoed until 01/29/2026.
Keywords
organic light-emitting diodes, narrow emission bandwidth, polycycles, B, N-compounds, stacking interactions
Citation
V. V. Diev, Y. Zou, D. Kondakov, G. P. A. Yap, Chem. Eur. J. 2025, 31, e202404078. https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202404078