Luminescence of ortho-Metalated Iridium Complexes Encapsulated in Zeolite Supercages by the Ship-in-a-Bottle Method

ortho-Metalated iridium(III) complexes were synthesized in the supercages of faujasite-type zeolites by a microwave-assisted ship-in-a-bottle procedure. IrIII was inserted by means of ion exchange followed by the addition of 2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)pyridine (dfppyH) or 2-phenylpyridine (ppyH), demonstrating the first example of iridiumcarbon sigma bond formation in zeolite cages. These zeolite powder samples containing IrIII complexes showed relatively high luminescence quantum yields [14.34?% for Ir(dfppy)3 and 4.76?% for Ir(ppy)3]. 2-Phenylquinoline (phqH) afforded the corresponding ortho-metalated complex that formed on the outer surface of the zeolite particles, because its large size prevented it from entering the supercages. The color of the emission from the zeolite powder samples could be tuned in a range from blue to green by the successive reaction of IrIII ions in the zeolite with the two ligands dfppyH and ppyH, leading to the formation of two individual types of complexes, Ir(dfppy)3 and Ir(ppy)3, in the supercages of the zeolite, which was confirmed by the characteristic emission spectrum of each complex.