Single-Molecule White-Light-Emitting Starburst Donor-Acceptor Triphenylamine Derivatives and Their Application as Ratiometric Luminescent Molecular Thermometers

White-light emission (WLE) from a single molecule is a highly desirable alternative to a complex mixture of complementary colour emitters, which suffers from poor stability and reproducibility for potential use in organic electronic devices and lighting applications. We report single-molecule WLE both in solution and thin films by judiciously controlled pi-electron delocalisation between the triarylamine subchromophoric units. Triphenylamine (TPA) forms the central core, and the phenyl rings are substituted with the electron-deficient acceptor 3-ethylrhodanine (Rh) and electron-rich donors triphenylamine or carbazole. The enforced biphenyl configuration of the TPA core and the other donors renders the pi-conjugation across the entire chromophore poor, thus the individual subchromophoric units retain their individual emission characteristics, which cover all three primary colour emissions, that is, red, green and blue (RGB). TPA-Rh units exhibit broad fluorescence in the green-red region originating from the local excited (LE) state and intramolecular charge transfer state (ICT), strongly influenced by the solvent, water, and temperature. Different fluorescence parameters, including spectral maxima, ratiometric changes in ICT emission at the expense of blue emission from terminal donor units, and changes in lifetime, have a linear relationship with temperature between 180-330 K, thus the molecules can function as a multiparameter luminescent molecular thermometer. A temperature coefficient of 0.19 K-1 in ratiometric fluorescence changes along with a spectral shift of 0.3 nm K-1 and their workability over the wide temperature makes these molecules promising materials for potential applications. At lower temperatures, individual subchromophoric properties subside because of the reduced dihedral angle of biphenyl, and fluorescence from the whole molecule becomes dominant.