Spin-orbit splitting in phosphorescent transition metal complexes is typically of the order of magnitude of 10-100 cm-1, due to the prevalent ligand-centered and charge transfer (MLCT, LMCT, LL'CT) transition types. We have discovered giant spin-orbit splitting in several Au(I)-phosphine complexes whereby the separation of microstate components of the same "triplet" spans the entire visible region such that different visible colors are emitted from such microstates, each of which with its characteristic dependence on excitation wavelength, temperature, and rise or decay time resolution. The 1,000-10,000 cm-1 order-of-magnitude microstate splitting is similar to the splitting for a monovalent atomic gold cation and, as such, is quite unprecedented among all coordination compounds. The presentation will overview the photophysical properties, ground and excited state structures, and ab initio/DFT computations that directly treat spin-orbit splitting for such complexes.

Giant spin-orbit splitting in Au(I)-phosphine complexes

252nd National Meeting (2016)

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