Red-Colored Circularly Polarized Luminescence from a Benzo-Fused BODIPY-BINOL Complex

Red emission with sharp bandwidth and high quantum yield is a desired characteristic for organic chromophores in optoelectronic, spintronic, and biomedical applications. Here, we observe circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) with these characteristics from a benzo-fused BODIPY-BINOL complex (1). Using time-resolved optical spectroscopy, electrochemistry, and density functional theory calculations, we showed that the emissive excited state of 1 does not have a charge-transfer (CT) character, unlike that of the regular BODIPY counterpart (2). The rigidity and the lack of CT character make this class of molecules an appealing platform for CPL-active molecules in the red spectral region, with ample room for improvement in the dissymmetry factor and brightness.