Synthesis and characterization of deep blue emitters from starburst carbazole/fluorene compounds

A series of well-defined, highly fluorescent starburst compounds with a carbazole core and oligo(2,7-fluorene ethynylene) arms have been synthesized by Sonogashira coupling reaction and fully characterized. These conjugated compounds exhibit good solubility, high thermal stability, and excellent fluorescence quantum yields (up to 0.99). The incorporation of carbazole core interrupted the main-chain conjugation and resulted in blue-shifted absorption and emission. Moreover, deep blue light has been approached from organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) adopting these compounds as emitting layer.