Highly phosphorescent blue-light-emitting anionic iridium complexes (C
4H
9)
4N[Ir(2-phenylpyridine)
2(CN)
2] (
1), (C
4H
9)
4N[Ir(2-phenyl-4-dime
thylaminopyridine)
2(CN)
2] (
2), (C
4H
9)
4N[Ir(2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-pyridine)
2(CN)
2] (
3), (C
4H
9)
4N[Ir(2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-4-dime
thylaminopyridine)
2(CN)
2] (
4), and (C
4H
9)
4N[Ir(2-(3,5-difluorophenyl)-4-dime
thylaminopyridine)
2(CN)
2] (
5) were syn
thesized and characterized using NMR, UV-vis absorption, and emission spectroscopy andelectrochemical me
thods. In
these complexes color and quantum yield tuning aspects are demonstrated by modulating
the ligands wi
th substituting donor and acceptor groups on bo
th the pyridine and phenyl moieties of 2-phenylpyridine.Complexes
1-
5 display intense photoluminescence maxima in
the blue region of
the visible spectrum and exhibitvery high phosphorescence quantum yields, in
the range of 50-80%, wi
th excited-state lifetimes of 1-4
s inacetonitrile solution at 298 K. DFT and time dependent-DFT calculations were performed on
the ground and excitedstates of
the investigated complexes to provide insight into
the structural, electronic, and optical properties of
thesesystems.