Synthesis and properties of new luminescent hole transporting materials of triarylamine with dehydroabietic acid methyl ester moieties

A series of triarylamines based on dehydroabietic acid methyl ester moieties (6a–h) were synthesized for possible application as hole transporting materials for organic electroluminescent devices. The target compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR, NMR, and mass spectrometry. Their optical, electrochemical, and thermal properties were investigated using UV–vis, PL spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry (CV), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), respectively. CV measurements show that the compounds present suitable HOMO values (in a range of −4.63 to −5.11 eV) for hole injection, which is confirmed by theoretical calculations. All compounds were thermally stable. Organic light-emitting diode devices having 6f, 6g, and 6h as a hole transporting layer showed better performance of maximum brightness, turn-on voltage, and maximum luminous efficiency than a comparable device NPB. These compounds could be excellent candidates for applications in OLED devices.