Tunable photoluminescent materials based on two phenylcarbazole-based dimers through the substituent groups

Abstract

Two phenylcarbazole-based dimers, namely, 9,9'-diphenyl-9H,9'H−3,3'-bicarbazole (1) and 9,9'-bis(4-bromophenyl)−9H,9'H−3,3'-bicarbazole (2), have been obtained through the oxidation of 9-phenylcarbazole and 9-(4’-bromophenyl) in the presence of FeCl3, respectively, which show strong photoluminescent properties with the fluorescence quantum yields of 0.2 and 0.21 based on the reference of Quinin sulfate, respectively. The maximal emission peak of compounds 1 and 2 were observed at 465 and 413nm in the solid state, respectively, revealing that the luminescent properties were tuned by the substituent group. The title compounds were characterized by FI-IR, UV–vis, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, 1H−13C NMR, mass spectra, elemental analysis (EA) and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Both compounds 1 and 2 crystallize in space group P-1, and supramolecular hydrogen bondings and stacking interactions between aromatic rings are observed. Compounds 1 and 2 display trans- and cis-formation structures, respectively. Two compounds show high thermal stabilities, in which the decomposition temperature is 414 and 363°C for 1 and 2, respectively.