IP Library Granted Patent US 12,552,818
Granted Patent B2
US 12,552,818 · App. 17/785,601 · Granted Feb 17, 2026

Polycyclic compounds for organic electroluminescent devices

Inventors: Philipp Stoessel (Darmstadt, DE); Amel Mekic (Buchs, CH)
Assignee: Merck Patent GmbH
C07F5/027C09K11/06H10K85/6572H10K85/6574H10K85/658C09K2211/1018H10K50/11H10K2101/20
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,552,818
App. No.
17/785,601
Granted
Feb 17, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

The invention relates to compounds which are suitable for use in electronic devices, and to electronic devices, in particular organic electroluminescent devices, containing said compounds.

Claims (52)

1 . A compound comprising at least one structure of the formula (I):

where the symbols and indices used are as follows:

Z is N, P, B, Al, P(═O), P(═S) or Ga;

Y 1 , Y 2 , Y 3 is a bond, N(Ar), N(R), P(Ar), P(R), P(═O)Ar, P(═O)R, P(═S)Ar, P(═S)R, B(Ar), B(R), Al(Ar), Al(R), Ga(Ar), Ga(R), C═O, C(R) 2 , Si(R) 2 , C═NR, C═NAr, C═C(R) 2 , O, S, Se, S═O, or SO 2 ;

p 2 , p 3 are the same or different and are 0 or 1;

X is N, CR, or C if a Y 1 , Y 2 or Y 3 group binds thereto, with the proviso that not more than two of the X groups in one cycle are N;

R is the same or different at each instance and is H, D, OH, F, Cl, Br, I, CN, NO 2 , N(Ar) 2 , N(R 1 ) 2 , C(═O)N(Ar) 2 , C(═O)N(R 1 ) 2 , C(Ar) 3 , C(R 1 ) 3 , Si(Ar) 3 , Si(R 1 ) 3 , B(Ar) 2 , B(R 1 ) 2 , C(═O)Ar, C(═O)R 1 , P(═O)(Ar) 2 , P(═O)(R 1 ) 2 , P(Ar) 2 , P(R 1 ) 2 , S(═O)Ar, S(═O)R 1 , S(═O) 2 Ar, S(═O) 2 R 1 , OSO 2 Ar, OSO 2 R 1 , a straight-chain alkyl, alkoxy or thioalkoxy group having 1 to 40 carbon atoms or an alkenyl or alkynyl group having 2 to 40 carbon atoms or a branched or cyclic alkyl, alkoxy or thioalkoxy group having 3 to 20 carbon atoms, where the alkyl, alkoxy, thioalkoxy, alkenyl or alkynyl group may in each case be substituted by one or more R 1 radicals, where one or more nonadjacent CH 2 groups may be replaced by R 1 C═CR 1 , C≡C, Si(R 1 ) 2 , C═O, C═S, C═Se, C═NR 1 , —C(═O)O—, —C(═O)NR 1 —, NR 1 , P(═O)(R 1 ), —O—, —S—, SO or SO 2 , or an aromatic or heteroaromatic ring system which has 5 to 60 aromatic ring atoms and may be substituted in each case by one or more R 1 radicals, or an aryloxy or heteroaryloxy group which has 5 to 60 aromatic ring atoms and may be substituted by one or more R 1 radicals; at the same time, two R radicals may also together form a ring system;

Ar is the same or different at each instance and is an aromatic or heteroaromatic ring system which has 5 to 60 aromatic ring atoms and may be substituted by one or more R 1 radicals; at the same time, it is possible for two Ar radicals bonded to the same carbon atom, silicon atom, nitrogen atom, phosphorus atom or boron atom also to be joined together via a bridge by a single bond or a bridge selected from B(R 1 ), C(R 1 ) 2 , Si(R 1 ) 2 , C═O, C═NR 1 , C═C(R 1 ) 2 , O, S, S═O, SO 2 , N(R 1 ), P(R 1 ) and P(═O)R 1 ;

R 1 is the same or different at each instance and is H, D, F, Cl, Br, I, CN, NO 2 , N(Ar′) 2 , N(R 2 ) 2 , C(═O)Ar′, C(═O)R 2 , P(═O)(Ar′) 2 , P(Ar′) 2 , B(Ar′) 2 , B(R 2 ) 2 , C(Ar′) 3 , C(R 2 ) 3 , Si(Ar′) 3 , Si(R 2 ) 3 , a straight-chain alkyl, alkoxy or thioalkoxy group having 1 to 40 carbon atoms or a branched or cyclic alkyl, alkoxy or thioalkoxy group having 3 to 40 carbon atoms or an alkenyl group having 2 to 40 carbon atoms, each of which may be substituted by one or more R 2 radicals, where one or more nonadjacent CH 2 groups may be replaced by —R 2 C═CR 2 —, —C≡C—, Si(R 2 ) 2 , C═O, C═S, C═Se, C═NR 2 , —C(═O)O—, —C(═O)NR 2 —, NR 2 , P(═O)(R 2 ), —O—, —S—, SO or SO 2 and where one or more hydrogen atoms may be replaced by D, F, Cl, Br, I, CN or NO 2 , or an aromatic or heteroaromatic ring system which has 5 to 60 aromatic ring atoms, each of which may be substituted by one or more R 2 radicals, or an aryloxy or heteroaryloxy group which has 5 to 60 aromatic ring atoms and may be substituted by one or more R 2 radicals, or an aralkyl or heteroaralkyl group which has 5 to 60 aromatic ring atoms and may be substituted by one or more R 2 radicals, or a combination of these systems; at the same time, two or more R 1 radicals together may form a ring system; at the same time, one or more R 1 radicals may form a ring system with a further part of the compound;

Ar′ is the same or different at each instance and is an aromatic or heteroaromatic ring system which has 5 to 30 aromatic ring atoms and may be substituted by one or more R 2 radicals; at the same time, it is possible for two Ar′ radicals bonded to the same carbon atom, silicon atom, nitrogen atom, phosphorus atom or boron atom also to be joined together via a bridge by a single bond or a bridge selected from B(R 2 ), C(R 2 ) 2 , Si(R 2 ) 2 , C—O, C—NR 2 , C—C(R 2 ) 2 , O, S, S═O, SO 2 , N(R 2 ), P(R 2 ) and P(═O)R 2 ;

R 2 is the same or different at each instance and is selected from the group consisting of H, D, F, CN, an aliphatic hydrocarbyl radical having 1 to 20 carbon atoms or an aromatic or heteroaromatic ring system which has 5 to 30 aromatic ring atoms and in which one or more hydrogen atoms may be replaced by D, F, Cl, Br, I or CN and which may be substituted by one or more alkyl groups each having 1 to 4 carbon atoms; at the same time, two or more substituents R 2 together may form a ring system;

with the proviso that

if Z is selected from N and P, at least one of the Y 1 , Y 2 , Y 3 groups is P(═O)Ar, P(═O)R, B(Ar), B(R), Al(Ar), Al(R), Ga(Ar), Ga(R), C═O, S═O or SO 2 , or

if Z is selected from B, Al, P(═O), P(═S) and Ga, at least one of the Y 1 , Y 2 , Y 3 groups is N(Ar), N(R), P(Ar), P(R), O, S or Se;

characterized in that at least two R radicals form a fused ring together with the further groups to which the two R radicals bind, where the two R radicals form at least one structure of the formulae (RA-1) to (RA-12):

where R 1 has the definition set out above, the dotted bonds represent the sites of attachment to the atoms of the groups to which the two R radicals bind, and the further symbols have the following definition:

Y 4 is the same or different at each instance and is C(R 1 ) 2 , (R 1 ) 2 C—C(R 1 ) 2 , (R 1 )C═C(R 1 ), NR 1 , NAr, O or S;

R a is the same or different at each instance and is F, a straight-chain alkyl, alkoxy or thioalkoxy group having 1 to 40 carbon atoms or an alkenyl or alkynyl group having 2 to 40 carbon atoms or a branched or cyclic alkyl, alkoxy or thioalkoxy group having 3 to 20 carbon atoms, where the alkyl, alkoxy, thioalkoxy, alkenyl or alkynyl group may be substituted in each case by one or more R 2 radicals, where one or more nonadjacent CH 2 groups may be replaced by R 2 C═CR 2 , C≡C, Si(R 2 ) 2 , C═O, C═S, C═Se, C═NR 2 , —C(═O)O—, —C(═O)NR 2 —, NR 2 , P(═O)(R 1 ), —O—, —S—, SO or SO 2 , or an aromatic or heteroaromatic ring system which has 5 to 60 aromatic ring atoms and may be substituted in each case by one or more R 2 radicals, or an aryloxy or heteroaryloxy group which has 5 to 60 aromatic ring atoms and may be substituted by one or more R 2 radicals; at the same time, it is also possible for two Ra radicals together to form a ring system;

s is 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6;

t is 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8;

v is 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9.

2 . A compound as claimed in claim 1 , comprising at least one structure of the formulae (IIa), (IIb), (IIc) and (IId):

where p 2 , p 3 , Y 1 , Y 2 , Y 3 , X, Z, and R have the definitions given in claim 1 , the index m is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4, and the index n is 0, 1, 2 or 3.

3 . A compound as claimed in claim 1 , comprising at least one structure of the formulae (IIIa), (IIIb) and (IIIc):

where Y 1 , Y 2 , Y 3 , X, Z, and R have the definitions given in claim 1 , the index 1 is 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, the index m is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4, and the index n is 0, 1, 2 or 3.

4 . A compound as claimed in claim 1 , characterized in that the at least two R radicals that form structures of the formulae (RA-1) to (RA-12) and form a condensed ring are R radicals from adjacent X groups.

5 . A compound as claimed in claim 1 , characterized in that at least two R radicals form a fused ring together with the further groups to which the two R radicals bind, where the two R radicals form at least one of the structures of the formulae (RA-1a) to (RA-4f):

where the symbols R a and R 1 and the indices s and t have the definition given in claim 1 , and the index m is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4.

6 . A compound as claimed in claim 1 , comprising at least one structure of the formulae (IVa) to (IVu):

where Y 1 , Y 2 , Y 3 , X, Z, and R have the definitions given in claim 1 , the symbol o represents the sites of attachment of at least one of the structures (RA-1) to (RA-12), the index 1 is 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, the index m is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4, the index n is 0, 1, 2 or 3, the index j is 0, 1 or 2, and the index k is 0 or 1.

7 . A compound as claimed in claim 1 , comprising at least one structure of the formulae (IVa-1) to (IVb-4):

where the indices s and v and the symbols Y 1 , Y 2 , Y 3 , Y 4 , X, Z, R, Ra and R 1 have the definitions given in claim 1 , the index n is 0, 1, 2 or 3, and the index k is 0 or 1.

8 . A compound as claimed in claim 1 , that at least two R radicals form a fused ring together with the further groups to which the two R radicals bind, where the two R radicals form of the structures of the formula (RB):

where R 1 has the definition set out in claim 1 , the index m is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4, and Y 5 is C(R 1 ) 2 , NR 1 , NAr, O or S.

9 . A compound as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the compounds have at least two fused rings, wherein at least one fused ring is formed by structures of the formulae (RA-1) to (RA-12) and a further ring is formed by structures of the formulae (RA-1) to (RA-12) or (RB), comprising at least one structure of the formulae (Va) to (Vz):

where Y 1 , Y 2 , Y 3 , X, Z, and R have the definitions given in claim 1 , the symbol o represents the sites of attachment of at least one structure of the formulae (RA-1) to (RA-12) or a structure of the formula (RB), the index 1 is 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, the index m is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4, the index n is 0, 1, 2 or 3, the index j is 0, 1 or 2, and the index k is 0 or 1.

10 . A compound as claimed in claim 1 , comprising at least one structure of the formulae (IVe-1) to (Ivh-4):

where the indices s and v, Y 1 , Y 2 , Y 4 , X, Z, R, R a and R 1 have the definitions given in claim 1 , the index m is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4, the index n is 0, 1, 2 or 3, the index j is 0, 1 or 2, and the index k is 0 or 1.

11 . A compound as claimed in claim 1 , comprising at least one structure of the formulae (Va-1) to (Va-18):

where the indices s and v, Y 1 , Y 2 , Y 3 , Y 4 , Y 5 , X, Z, R, R a and R 1 have the definitions given in claim 1 , the index m is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4, the index n is 0, 1, 2 or 3, and the index k is 0 or 1.

12 . A compound as claimed in claim 1 , characterized in that, in the formulae (I), the sum total of the indices p 2 and p 3 is 2 and at least one of the Y 1 , Y 2 , Y 3 groups is a bond, at least one of the Y 1 , Y 2 , Y 3 group(s) is B(Ar) or B(R) and Z is N.

13 . A compound as claimed in claim 1 , characterized in that, in the formulae (I), the sum total of the indices p 2 and p 3 is 2 and at least two of the Y 1 , Y 2 , Y 3 groups are B(Ar) or B(R) and Z is N.

14 . A compound as claimed in claim 1 , characterized in that, in the formulae (I), the sum total of the indices p 2 and p 3 is 2 and at least one of the Y 1 , Y 2 , Y 3 groups is a bond, at least one of the Y 1 , Y 2 , Y 3 groups is N(Ar) or N(R) and Z is B.

15 . A compound as claimed in claim 1 , characterized in that, in the formulae (I), the sum total of the indices p 2 and p 3 is 2 and at least two of the Y 1 , Y 2 , Y 3 groups are N(Ar) or N(R) and Z is B.

16 . A compound as claimed in claim 1 , characterized in that, in the formulae (I), the sum total of the indices p 2 and p 3 is 1 or the index p 2 is 1 and at least one of the Y 1 , Y 2 , Y 3 groups is B(Ar) or B(R) and Z is N.

17 . A compound as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that, in the formulae (I), the sum total of the indices p 2 and p 3 is 1 or the index p 2 is 1 and at least one of the Y 1 , Y 2 , Y 3 groups is N(Ar) or N(R) and Z is B.

18 . An oligomer, polymer or dendrimer containing one or more compounds as claimed in claim 1 , wherein, rather than a hydrogen atom or a substituent, there are one or more bonds of the compounds to the polymer, oligomer or dendrimer.

19 . A formulation comprising at least one compound as claimed in claim 1 and at least one further compound.

20 . A composition comprising at least one compound as claimed in claim 1 and at least one further compound selected from the group consisting of fluorescent emitters, phosphorescent emitters, emitters that exhibit TADF, host materials, electron transport materials, electron injection materials, hole conductor materials, hole injection materials, electron blocker materials and hole blocker materials.

21 . A process for preparing a compound as claimed in claim 1 , characterized in that a base skeleton having a Z group or a precursor of the Z group is synthesized, and at least one of the Y 1 , Y 2 , Y 3 groups is introduced by means of a nucleophilic aromatic substitution reaction or a coupling reaction.

22 . An electronic device comprising the compound as claimed in claim 1 .

23 . An electronic device comprising at least one compound as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the electronic device is an electroluminescent device.

Assignments (4)
NUNC PRO TUNC ASSIGNMENT Recorded Feb 10, 2026
From: MERCK PATENT GMBH
To: UDC IRELAND LIMITED
Reel/Frame 073741/0249 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 20, 2025
From: STOESSEL, PHILIPP; MEKIC, AMEL
To: MERCK KGAA
Reel/Frame 071464/0969 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 20, 2025
From: MERCK KGAA
To: MERCK PERFORMANCE MATERIALS GERMANY GMBH
Reel/Frame 071465/0043 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 20, 2025
From: MERCK PERFORMANCE MATERIALS GERMANY GMBH
To: MERCK PATENT GMBH
Reel/Frame 071465/0164 →
Priority Claims (1)
EP 19217948 · Dec 19, 2019 · regional
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20230104248A1 · Apr 6, 2023
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