A series of emissive Cu(I) cationic complexes with 3-(2-pyridyl)-5-phenyl-pyrazole and various phosphines: dppbz (1), Xantphos (2), DPEPhos (3), PPh3 (4), and BINAP (5) were designed and characterized. Complexes obtained exhibit bright yellow-green emission (ca. 520-650 nm) in the solid state with a wide range of QYs (1-78%) and lifetimes (19-119 µs) at 298 K. The photoluminescence efficiency dramatically depends on the phosphine ligand type. The theoretical calculations of buried volumes and excited states explained the emission behavior for 1-5 as well as their lifetimes. The bulky and rigid phosphines promote emission efficiency through the stabilization of singlet and triplet excited states.
Keywords: TD-DFT; copper(I); photoluminescence; pyrazolate; pyrazole-pyridine; volume buried.