Fluoride Complexes of Cyclometalated Iridium(III)

Many electroluminescent devices rely on cyclometalated iridium(III). Their advancement depends on access to reactive starting materials because of the inertness of Ir(III). Notably, fluoride complexes of bis(cyclometalated) Ir(III) are scarce. Syntheses of bridged and terminal fluorides are reported here. New compounds are luminescent and thermally reactive; they are characterized by ground-state and optical methods. Crystal structures were determined for one bridging and one terminal fluoride complex. The terminal fluoride shows intramolecular hydrogen bonding to an adjacent 3,5-dimethylpyrazole ligand; a lesser interaction may occur between F and a nearby aromatic CH bond. Terminal fluoride complexes react with carbon-, silicon-, and sulfur-based electrophiles. The new complexes phosphoresce with microsecond lifetimes at 77 and 298 K. Density-functional theory calculations indicate triplet states with little contribution from fluoride. The compounds herein are versatile phosphors having the ground-state reactivity of late transition metal fluorides.