A salicylidene derivative, N,N′-bis(salicylidene)-(2-(3′,4′-diaminophenyl)benzothiazole) (BTS), reactive in the Excited State Intramolecular Proton Transfer (ESIPT) process, was synthesized and its photophysical properties were evaluated, presenting an emission covering the entire range of the visible spectrum. Due to its broad emission band, BTS was successfully tested as an active layer in solution-processed organic light-emitting diodes with white-light emission. These diodes were prepared using solution-based protocols with the dye solubilized in a poly(9-vinylcarbazole) matrix. Different guest : host (polymer : BTS) molar ratios were used to optimize the diode performance. The optimized architecture rendered the best so far all-solution-processed ESIPT OLED with a luminance of 34 cd m⁻² at 13.5 V with CIE coordinates 0.31, 0.40.

A simple and efficient procedure for the synthesis of a new class of selenoesters 4a and 4b was developed. Polarized-light optical microscopy (POM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and X-ray diffraction showed that the selenoester 4a with a shorter alkyl chain displayed a wide nematic range (ΔT = 110.7 °C), while 4b with a longer alkyl chain possesses a rich phase polymorphism: Cr → SmI → SmC → N → I mesophase sequence during heating cycle and I → N → SmC → SmI → SmX → Cr transition on cooling. For 4b, a large temperature range (135.7 °C) from crystal to isotropic phase can be observed. In addition, UV-Vis, steady-state fluorescence emission and excitation spectra in solution were also applied in order to characterize their photophysical behaviour. Compounds 4a and 4b are fluorescent in the blue region and present a Stokes shift at around 80 nm and 39 nm in dichloromethane and dioxane, respectively.