AUTHOR=Keshri Sudhir K. , Liu Guanting , Yasuda Takuma TITLE=Ultrafast spin-flip exciton conversion and narrowband sky-blue luminescence in a fused polycyclic selenaborin emitter JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2024 YEAR=2024 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2024.1375552 DOI=10.3389/fchem.2024.1375552 ISSN=2296-2646 ABSTRACT=Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials with high photoluminescence quantum yields and fast reverse intersystem crossing (RISC) capabilities are highly desirable for applications in high-efficiency organic light-emitting diodes. Herein, we report the synthesis as well as structural and photophysical properties of 5,9-diselena-13b-boranaphtho[3,2,1-de]anthracene (SeBSe) as a narrowband-emissive TADF material. The incorporation of two selenium atoms into the boron-fused pentacyclic π-core results in a small singlet-triplet energy gap (ΔEST) and thereby significant TADF properties. Moreover, theoretical calculations revealed a noticeable spin-orbit coupling enhancement between the singlet and triplet manifolds in SeBSe by virtue of the heavy-atom effect of selenium atoms. Consequently, SeBSe allows ultrafast spin-flip RISC with the rate constant surpassing 10 8 s -1 , which far exceeds the corresponding fluorescence radiative decay rate (~10 6 s -1 ), enabling an ideal singlet-triplet superimposed excited state.