Effect of Substituents with the Different Electron-Donating Abilities on Optoelectronic Properties of Bipolar Thioxanthone Derivatives

[Image: see text] The synthesis and optoelectronic properties of four simple-structure thioxanthone derivatives employing thioxanthone as an acceptor unit, coupled with moieties having very different electron-donating abilities such as phenoxazine, 3,6-di-tert-butylcarbazole, 3,7-di-tert-butylphenothiazine, or 2,7-di-tert-butyl-9,9-dimethylacridane, are reported. The compounds form molecular glasses with glass transition temperatures reaching 116 °C. Ionization potentials of the compounds estimated by photoelectron emission method range from 5.42 to 5.74 eV. Thioxanthone derivatives containing 3,6-tert-butylcarbazole or 2,7-di-tert-butyl-9,9-dimethylacridane moieties with weak electron-donating strengths were characterized by bipolar charge transport with relatively close hole and electron mobility values of 6.8 × 10(–5)/2.4 × 10(–5) and 3.1 × 10(–5)/4.6 × 10(–6) cm(2)/(V s) recorded at 3.6 × 10(5) V/cm. The other compounds demonstrated hole-transporting properties. The films of thioxanthones containing phenoxazine or 2,7-di-tert-butyl-9,9-dimethylacridane moieties showed efficient thermally activated delayed fluorescence with a photoluminescence quantum yield of up to 50% due to the solid-state luminescence enhancement. Organic-light-emitting diodes containing the synthesized compounds as emitters showed very different external quantum efficiencies (0.9–10.3%) and blue, sky blue, green, or yellow electroluminescence colors, thus reflecting the effects of donor substituents.