Coaxing solid-state phosphorescence from tellurophenes

The synthesis of the first examples of tellurophenes exhibiting phosphorescence in the solid state and under ambient conditions (room temperature and in air) is reported. Each of these main-group-element-based emitters feature pinacolboronates (BPin) as ring-appended side groups. The nature of the luminescence observed was also investigated using computational methods. Light at the end of the tunnel: By incorporating pinacolboronate side groups, the first examples of tellurophenes that are phosphorescent in the solid state were isolated. These tellurophenes readily form phosphorescent films from solution, making them amenable to device fabrication methods.