Synthesis and characterization of iridium complexes bearing substituted 2,2'-bipyridyl and 2-pyridylphenyl ligands for photoluminescence.

The reaction of [Ir(ppy)2(micro-Cl)]2 (ppy = 2-pyridiylphenyl) with a substituted bpy ligand (5-bromo-2,2'-bipyridiyl, 5,5'-dibromo-2,2'-bipyridiyl, 5-ethynyl-2,2'-bipyridiyl) affords [Ir(ppy)2R-(bpy)-R'](CIO4) (R = H, R' = Br (1); R = R, R' = Br (2); R = H, R' = ethynyl (3)) in high yield. The structural, physical, and electrochemical properties of the iridium complexes 1, 2, and 3 were characterized by elemental analysis, NMR and optical spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and X-ray structural analysis.