The Development of Phenanthroimidazole Derivatives in Blue-Emitting Organic Electroluminescence

The intense interest in phenanthroimidazole (PI)-based blue-emitting materials stems from their attractive potential bipolar properties and excellent fluorescence efficiency. Molecular design of PI emitters and comprehensive studies of their photophysical properties and chemical structures are of great significance for developing high performance deep-blue emitters. In this review, an overview of the recent studies on PI-based blue emitters for applications in organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) is presented. Firstly, we give a brief summary of the basic properties of PI derivatives. Development of PI derivatives, with donor-π-acceptor (D-π-A) and non-D-π-A structures, and their recent applications for OLEDs will be then reviewed.