Triplet excitons in organic molecules underscore a variety of processes and technologies as a result of their long lifetime and spin multiplicity Organic phosphorescence, which originates from triplet excitons, has potential for the development of a new generation of organic optoelectronic materials and biomedical agents However, organic phosphorescence is typically only observed at cryogenic temperatures and under inert conditions in solution, which severely restricts its practical applications In the past few years, room-temperature-phosphorescent systems have been obtained based on organic aggregates Rapid advances in molecular-structure design and aggregation-behaviour modulation have enabled substantial progress, but the mechanistic picture is still not fully understood because of the high sensitivity and complexity of triplet-exciton behaviour This Review analyses key photophysical processes related to triplet excitons, including intersystem crossing, radiative and non-radiative decay, and quenching processes, to illustrate the intrinsic structure–property relationships and draw clear and integrated design principles The resulting strategies for the development of efficient and persistent room-temperature-phosphorescent systems are discussed, and newly emerged applications based on these materials are highlighted Advances in molecular-structure design and modulation of the aggregation behaviour have enabled much progress in the observation of room-temperature phosphorescence from organic aggregates This Review analyses key photophysical processes related to triplet excitons, illustrating the intrinsic structure–property relationships and identifying strategies to design efficient and persistent room-temperature-phosphorescent systems

Room-temperature phosphorescence from organic aggregates

Since the discovery of the first stable N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) in the beginning of the 1990s, these divalent carbon species have become a common and available class of compounds, which have found numerous applications in academic and industrial research. Their important role as two-electron donor ligands, especially in transition metal chemistry and catalysis, is difficult to overestimate. In the past decade, there has been tremendous research attention given to the chemistry of low-coordinate main group element compounds. Significant progress has been achieved in stabilization and isolation of such species as Lewis acid/base adducts with highly tunable NHC ligands. This has allowed investigation of numerous novel types of compounds with unique electronic structures and opened new opportunities in the rational design of novel organic catalysts and materials. This Review gives a general overview of this research, basic synthetic approaches, key features of NHC–main group element adducts, and might be...

NHCs in Main Group Chemistry.

N-Heterocyclic carbenes (NHC) are nowadays ubiquitous and indispensable in many research fields, and it is not possible to imagine modern transition metal and main group element chemistry without t...

N-Heterocyclic Carbene Adducts of Main Group Elements and Their Use as Ligands in Transition Metal Chemistry.

N‐Heterocyclic Carbene Ligands: Coordination Chemistry, Reactivity, and Applications Steṕhane Bellemin-Laponnaz*,†,‡ and Samuel Dagorne* †IPCMS (Institut de Physique et Chimie des Mateŕiaux de Strasbourg), CNRS-Universite ́ de Strasbourg, 23 rue du Loess BP 43, F-67034 Strasbourg, France ‡University of Strasbourg Institute for Advanced Study (USIAS), 5 alleé du Geńeŕal Rouvillois, F-67083 Strasbourg, France Institut de Chimie de Strasbourg, CNRS-Universite ́ de Strasbourg, 1 rue Blaise Pascal, F-67000 Strasbourg, France

Group 1 and 2 and Early Transition Metal Complexes Bearing N-Heterocyclic Carbene Ligands: Coordination Chemistry, Reactivity, and Applications

A survey of the state-of-the-art in the development of synthetic methods to incorporate p-block elements into polymers is given. The incorporation of main group elements (groups 13–16) into long chains provides access to materials with fascinating chemical and physical properties imparted by the presence of inorganic groups. Perhaps the greatest impedance to the widespread academic and commercial use of p-block element-containing macromolecules is the synthetic challenge associated with linking inorganic elements into long chains. In recent years, creative methodologies have been developed to incorporate heteroatoms into polymeric structures, with perhaps the greatest advances occurring with hybrid organic–inorganic polymers composed of boron, silicon, phosphorus and sulfur. With these developments, materials are currently being realized that possess exciting chemical, photophysical and thermal properties that are not possible for conventional organic polymers. This review focuses on highlighting the most significant recent advances whilst giving an appropriate background for the general reader. Of particular focus will be advances made over the last two decades, with emphasis on the novel synthetic methodologies employed.

Polymers and the p-block elements

Small inorganic rings in the 21st century: from fleeting intermediates to novel isolable entities.

A versatile and general synthetic route for the synthesis of conjugated main group element-based polymers, previously inaccessible by conventional means, is reported. These polymers contain five-membered chalcogenophene rings based on S, Se, and Te, and we demonstrate that optoelectronic properties can be readily tuned via controlled atom substitution chemistry. In addition, regioregular hybrid thiophene–selenophene–tellurophene and selenophene–fluorene copolymers were synthesized to provide a further illustration of the scope of the presented metallacycle transfer/cross-coupling polymerization method.

The marriage of metallacycle transfer chemistry with Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling to give main group element-containing conjugated polymers.

Previous research in our group showed that tellurophenes with pinacolboronate (BPin) units at the 2- and/or 5-positions displayed efficient phosphorescence in the solid state, both in the presence of oxygen and water. In this current study, we show that luminescence from a tellurophene is possible when various aryl-based substituents are present, thus greatly expanding the family of known (and potentially accessible) Te-based phosphors. Moreover, for the green phosphorescent perborylated tellurium heterocycle, 2,3,4,5-TeC4BPin4 (4BTe), oxygen-mediated quenching of phosphorescence is an important contributor to the lack of emission in solution (when exposed to air); thus, this system displays aggregation-enhanced emission (AEE). These discoveries should facilitate the future design of color tunable tellurium-based luminogens.

Moving Beyond Boron-Based Substituents To Achieve Phosphorescence in Tellurophenes.

119Sn Mossbauer spectroscopy was performed on a series of formal Sn(II) dichloride and dihydride adducts bound by either carbon- or phosphorus-based electron pair donors. Upon binding electron-withdrawing metal pentacarbonyl units to the tin centers in LB·SnCl2·M(CO)5 (LB = Lewis base; M = Cr or W), a significant decrease in isomer shift (IS) was noted relative to the unbound Sn(II) complexes, LB·SnCl2, consistent with removal of nonbonding s-electron density from tin upon forming Sn-M linkages (M = Cr and W). Interestingly, when the nature of the Lewis base in the series LB·SnCl2·W(CO)5 was altered, very little change in the IS values was noted, implying that the LB-Sn bonds were constructed with tin-based orbitals of large p-character (as supported by prior theoretical studies). In addition, variable temperature Mossbauer measurements were used to determine the mean displacement of the tin atoms in the solid state, a parameter that can be correlated with the degree of covalent bonding involving tin in t...

Synthesis and Mössbauer spectroscopy of formal tin(II) dichloride and dihydride species supported by Lewis acids and bases

The zirconium-mediated synthesis of a new class of air-stable spirocyclic germafluorene-germole (SGG) luminogens is reported. These species contain ring-fused germafluorene and germole units that display color-tunable fluorescence when peripheral aryl substituents are appended. Three distinct pathways are introduced for SGG modification (Stille, Suzuki-Miyaura, and zirconocene-mediated couplings), which enable the preparation of new libraries of molecular and polymeric SGG light-emitters with tunable luminescence and desirable thermal- and photo-stability.

Olena Shynkaruk

Papers

Small inorganic rings in the 21st century: from fleeting intermediates to novel isolable entities.

The marriage of metallacycle transfer chemistry with Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling to give main group element-containing conjugated polymers.

Moving Beyond Boron-Based Substituents To Achieve Phosphorescence in Tellurophenes.

Synthesis and Mössbauer spectroscopy of formal tin(II) dichloride and dihydride species supported by Lewis acids and bases

Modular Synthesis of Spirocyclic Germafluorene–Germoles: A New Family of Tunable Luminogens