Electrogenerated Chemiluminescence of Cationic Triangulene Dyes: Crucial Influence of the Core Heteroatoms

Trianguleniums are fascinating conjugated hexacyclic cations that exhibit interesting electronic and optical properties. Herein, the electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) emission of this family of fluorescent dyes is reported for the first time. Redox behavior and fluorescence properties of eight cationic triangulene luminophores with different heteroatom patterns in the core structure and various pending substituents were examined to rationalize the ECL. Clearly, the more electron-rich the carbocation, the more efficient the corresponding ECL; two very distinct classes of triangulenes can be drawn from these studies by using an ECL wall sufficiency formalism.