3-(4-Methyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-5-(trifluoromethyl)aniline (CAS number 641571-11-1), as an arylimidazole derivative, has multiple functional groups including aniline, methyl and imidazole which are readily available for further functionalization.
This building block can typically be used for the synthesis of homoleptic imidazole-type iridium (Ir) triplet emitters as a blue phosphorescent emitter in OLED. The iridium organometallic complex is formed by coordinating the imidazole and the aryl group to the iridium metal center. The trifluoromethyl group, with strong electron withdrawing effect, increases the energy gap between the highest occupied molecular orbital and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO-LUMO), hence enabling blue shift in the photoluminescent emission.
3-(4-Methyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-5-(trifluoromethyl)aniline is also used in conjunction with other building block ligands, i.e. pyridylpyrazoles for adjusting the light-emitting colors of the active layer emitters.