Gold(i)-containing light-emitting molecules with an inverted singlet-triplet gap.

Delayed fluorescence from molecules with an inverted singlet-triplet gap (DFIST) is the consequence of the unusual reverse order of the lowest excited singlet (S 1 ) and triplet (T 1 ) states of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters. Heptazine (1,3,4,6,7,9,9 b -heptaazaphenalene) derivatives have an inverted singlet-triplet gap thanks to the combination of multiple resonance (MR) effects and a significant double excitation character. Here, we study computationally the effect of gold(i) metalation and coordination on the optical properties of heptazine (molecule 4) and the phosphine-functionalized 2,5,8-tris(dimethylphosphino)heptazine derivatives (molecules 1-3). Ab initio calculations at the approximate second-order coupled cluster (CC2) and extended multiconfigurational quasi degenerate perturbation theory at the second order (XMC-QDPT2) levels show that molecules 1-4 have an inverted singlet-triplet gap due to the alternating spatial localization of the electron and hole of the exciton in the heptazine core. A non-vanishing one-electron spin-orbit coupling operator matrix element between T 1 and and a fast S 1 ← T 1 intersystem crossing rate constant ( k ISC ) calculated at the XMC-QDPT2(12,12) level of theory for molecule 4 suggest that this new family of complexes may be the first organometallic DFIST emitters reported.