Bright white-light emission from a single organic compound in the solid state

White-light-emitting materials and devices have attracted enormous interest because of their great potential for various lighting applications. We herein describe the light-emitting properties of a series of new difunctional organic molecules of remarkably simple structure consisting of two terminal 4-pyridone push-pull subunits separated by a polymethylene chain. They were found to emit almost "pure" white light as a single organic compound in the solid state, as well as when incorporated in a polymer film. To the best of our knowledge, they are the simplest white-light-emitting organic molecules reported to date.