Development of mechanochemical synthesis of highly luminescent Cu(I) coordination compounds

Abstract

Luminescent Cu(I) complexes have recently attracted considerable attention because of their interesting photophysical properties including high emission quantum yield and tunable emission color. Moreover, due to the low cost and abundance of Cu resource, these complexes show great potential for industrial application as alternative materials to the luminescent noble metal Ru(II), Ir(III), and Pt(II) complexes. However, the stability of Cu(I) complexes, especially in solution, is generally lower than that of noble metal complexes. Thus, the development of alternative techniques to the traditional solution reactions is strongly required for the preparation of thin-film light emitting devices based on Cu(I) luminophores. In this paper, mechanochemical synthesis of luminescent Cu(I) complexes is reviewed, because this technique is recently found to be applicable for the preparation of various Cu(I) luminescent materials.