Hot Exciton versus Hot Exciplex TADF Mechanism – Effect of the Donor-Acceptor Functionalization Pattern on Anthracene-based Emitters

Hot exciton emitters based on 9,10-substituted anthracenes are a well-investigated class of molecules featuring thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF). TADF converts triplet excitons into singlet excitons and improves the internal quantum efficiency of electroluminescent devices to performance beyond the limit of spin-statistics of conventional emitters. In this paper, we compare different 1,8-functionalized donor/acceptor-substituted anthracenes and compare these to established 9,10-functionalized hot exciton emitters. Interestingly, our new 1,8-substituted anthracenes make use of a beneficial hot exciplex pathway, resulting in improved emission characteristics and higher photoluminescence quantum yield.