ABSTRACT
This study reports an effective peripheral decoration of organic donor-acceptor diads with B(C6 F5 )3 for stabilizing electrogenerated radical ions. By employing a common p-type organic semiconductor benzothienobenzothiophene (BTBT) as the donor, tetracoordinate boron complexes showed improved solution electrochemiluminescence (ECL) intensity, reaching a 156-fold increase compared to that of the parent diad. The unprecedented Lewis-pairing-induced ECL enhancement is attributed to the multiple roles of B(C6 F5 )3 : 1)â redistributing frontier orbitals, 2)â facilitating electrochemical excitation, and 3)â restricting molecular motions. Furthermore, B(C6 F5 )3 converted the molecular arrangement of BTBT from conventional 2D herringbones into 1D π-stacks. This robust, highly ordered columnar nanostructure allowed red-shifting of the crystalline film ECL with electrochemical doping through the electronic coupling pathways of BTBT. Our approach will facilitate the development of elaborate metal-free ECL systems.