Synthesis and monolayer spreading behaviour of surface-active compounds containing electron- and hole-transporting groups. 2. Carbazole derivatives

The synthesis of several new surface-active carbazole derivatives is described. These compounds are intended to have applications as hole-transporting materials in thin-film devices assembled by the Langmuir–Blodgett technique. All of the carbazole-containing surfactants gave stable monolayers at the air–water interface with cross sections of 0.35–0.42 nm2/molecule, characteristic of the carbazole ring system oriented perpendicular to the surface with its long axis parallel to the surface. Conditions for Langmuir–Blodgett deposition of multilayers on titanium-coated polyester film were explored. Further characterization of the carbazole derivatives by cyclic voltammetry and fluorescence decay measurements is also described. Keywords: monolayers, Langmuir–Blodgett films, carbazole, surfactants.