Properties and applications of hydrogen-bond rich iridium (III) complexes
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Date
2025-08
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University of New Brunswick
Abstract
Iridium (III) complexes are used for a wide variety of applications owing to their thermal stability, tuneable electronic properties and strong photoluminescent character. Iridium (III) complexes can be structurally altered to change the wavelengths of light they absorb and emit making them desirable for organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) and photocatalysis. The structural is altered through changing the ligands in the first sphere of coordination surrounding the iridium metal centre. In this thesis we introduce a wide range of iridium (III) complexes all incorporating a ligand with an incorporated hydrogen-bonding array capable of strong non-covalent interactions. These strong noncovalent interactions provide opportunity for modulation of opto-electronic properties through the second sphere of coordination which allows us to further tune these complexes to specific applications.
Herein we demonstrate the design and synthesis of a large new series of hydrogen-bonding iridium (III) complexes along with a thorough analysis of each new reported complex’s opto-electronic properties through spectroscopic and computational techniques. In addition, the new series of hydrogen-bond rich iridium (III) complexes were tested against two main applications: tuneable emissive materials and photoredox catalysis. We found that the complex’s dynamic properties with and without hydrogen-bonding compliments demonstrated potential in both applications. Finally, a rudimentary computational screening technique was incorporated to the synthesis of new iridium materials providing improved targeting of new iridium (III) complexes for their optoelectronic properties.