Aggregation-Induced Emission Enhancement from Disilane-Bridged Donor–Acceptor–Donor Luminogens Based on the Triarylamine Functionality

Six novel donor-acceptor-donor organic dyes containing a Si-Si moiety based on triarylamine functionalities as donor units were prepared by Pd-catalyzed arylation of hydrosilanes. Their photophysical, electrochemical, and structural properties were studied in detail. Most of the compounds showed attractive photoluminescence (PL) and electrochemical properties both in solution and in the solid state because of intramolecular charge transfer (ICT), suggesting these compounds could be useful for electroluminescence (EL) applications. The aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE) characteristics of 1 and 3 were examined in mixed water/THF solutions. The fluorescence intensity in THF/water was stronger in the solution with the highest ratio of water because of the suppression of molecular vibration and rotation in the aggregated state. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction of 4 showed that the reduction of intermolecular π-π interaction led to intense emission in the solid state and restricted intramolecular rotation of the donor and acceptor moieties, thereby indicating that the intense emission in the solid state is due to AIEE. An electroluminescence device employing 1 as an emitter exhibited an external quantum efficiency of up to 0.65% with green light emission. The emission comes solely from 1 because the EL spectrum is identical to that of the PL of 1. The observed luminescence was sufficiently bright for application in practical devices. Theoretical calculations and electrochemical measurements were carried out to aid in understanding the optical and electrochemical properties of these molecules.