Single-crystal structure, photophysical characteristics and electroluminescent properties of bis(2-(4-trifluoromethyl-2-hydroxyphenyl)benzothiazolate)zinc

In this paper, a zinc (II) complex of Zn2(4-tfmBTZ)4 (4-tfmBTZ=2-(4-trifluoromethyl-2-hydroxyphenyl)benzothiazolate) was reported. Via combination of experimental and theoretical approaches, its molecular structure, photophysical characteristics, electronic structure and electroluminescent properties were investigated. The results indicate that Zn2(4-tfmBTZ)4 exists as five-coordinate geometric structure and two zinc atoms are bridged by oxygen atoms. The intense absorption band was located at 404 nm, which mainly originate from the transition HOMO−1 to LUMO+2. The blue-light emission was observed in tetrahydrofuran solution and thin film. White-light emission with four emission peaks was observed with CIE coordinate of (0.29, 0.33) and a higher CRI of 85.1 by fabricating bilayer device using Zn2(4-tfmBTZ)4 as electron-transport and NPB as hole-transport material.