Synthetic control of spectroscopic and photophysical properties of triarylborane derivatives having peripheral electron-donating groups.

The spectroscopic and photophysical properties of triarylborane derivatives were controlled by the nature of the triarylborane core (trixylyl- or trianthrylborane) and peripheral electron-donating groups (N,N-diphenylamino or 9H-carbazolyl groups). The triarylborane derivatives with and without the electron-donating groups showed intramolecular charge-transfer absorption/fluorescence transitions between the π orbital of the aryl group (π(aryl)) and the vacant p orbital on the boron atom (p(B), π(aryl)-p(B) CT), and the fluorescence color was tunable from blue to red by the combination of peripheral electron-donating groups and a triarylborane core. Detailed electrochemical, spectroscopic, and photophysical studies of the derivatives, including solvent dependences of the spectroscopic and photophysical properties, demonstrated that the HOMO and LUMO of each derivative were determined primarily by the nature of the peripheral electron-donating group and the triarylborane core, respectively. The effects of solvent polarity on the fluorescence quantum yield and lifetime of the derivatives were also tunable by the choice of the triarylborane core.