Aggregation-Induced Emission Leading to White Light Emission in Diphenylbenzofulvene Derivatives

The search for a unique molecular system able to efficiently emit in the total visible range of the electromagnetic spectra, i. e., white light emission (WLE), is a topic of intense research. We here show that aggregates formed by diphenylbenzofulvene (DPBF) derivatives are from two to four orders of magnitude more emissive than their monomers. From a simple strategy, involving structural modification of a DPBF propelled shape core, a close match with the pure white light emission coordinates is obtained with a combination of two derivatives in films, with featured solid-state emission, without involvement of D-A groups or energy transfer processes.