Dendrimers with a Photoactive and Redox-Active [Ru(bpy)3]2+-Type Core: Photophysical Properties, Electrochemical Behavior, and Excited-State Electron-Transfer Reactions

The synthesis and properties of Iridium(iii)-cored dendrimers with carbazole peripherally functionalized β-diketonato dendrons

A simple convergent synthetic approach has been developed for the synthesis of iridium(III)-cored dendrimers with carbazole peripherally functionalized beta-diketonato dendrons. The zeroth- to third-generation green-emitting dendrimers were synthesized by reacting the corresponding beta-diketonato dendrons with iridium(III) dimer under mild conditions with good yields, respectively. This approach proved to be modular, and could be used to prepare blue-green-emitting and red-emitting dendrimers with the same beta-diketonato dendrons only by using different cyclometallating ligands. The resulting dendritic ligands and iridium(III)-cored dendrimers were well characterized. Their photoluminescent properties both in solution and in the solid state were tested. It was found that all the dendrimers retained the photophysical properties of the corresponding small analogues with high emission quantum yields (0.06-0.30). Preliminary results indicated that these dendrimers functionalized carbazole units exhibited distinct light-harvesting potential, resulting in a strong intense emission from the iridium core of the dendrimers.

Magnetic Properties of Poly(propylene imine)-Copper Dendromesogenic Complexes: An EPR Study

Copper(II) complexes formed by coordination of the Cu(II) ion with liquid-crystalline poly(propylene imine) dendrimer ligand (L) of the first (complex 1) and second (complex 2) generations with various Cu(II) contents (x = Cu/L) have been studied by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The existence of a redox-active blue complex 1 (x = 1.9) and the copper(II) nitrate electron transfer associated with the valence tautomerism are revealed for the first time in copper-based dendrimers. It has been shown that the electronic structure of the blue complex 1 (x = 1.9) is adequately described as a mixed-valence dimer containing d9- and diamagnetic d10-configurated copper ions, and an antiferromagnetically coupled NO3* radical arising on the nitrate-bridged counter ligand. The activation energy value found for the electron transfer is about 0.35 meV, which indicates a low-energy charge dynamic. The ability of the blue and green complexes 1 (x = 1.9) dissolved in isotropic solvents to orient themselves in the magnetic field was revealed by EPR spectroscopy. The degree of orientation of the molecular z axis (S(z)) of these complexes in the magnetic field differs, depending on the type of copper(II)-complexing site in the dendrimer ligand, and can reach 0.76, which is close to S(z) = 1 (completely aligned system). A combination of magnetic and orientational parameters indicates an NO4 environment of the Cu(II) ion in green complex 1 (x = 1.9), and confirms the chain structure with intermolecular Cu(II)-NO3-Cu(II) bridges between Cu(II) centres in columns.

Sensitive single-layered oxygen-sensing systems: polypyridyl ruthenium(II) complexes covalently attached or deposited as langmuir-blodgett monolayer on glass surfaces

Oxygen-sensing elements containing single-layered structures of luminescent indicators of ruthenium(II) bipyridyl complexes on glass surfaces prepared by covalent attachment and LB deposition are described. They are capable of detecting gaseous oxygen concentration by luminescence quenching of the indicator with reproducible and large quenching efficiencies that are comparable to the best quenching efficiencies obtained by other ruthenium(II) polypyridine based complexes immobilized in matrixes. The large quenching efficiencies for both films imply that the probe complexes are effectively quenched by oxygen, which is probably due to the thin single-layered structures with large surface-to-area ratio and short distance between the probe complexes and oxygen.

Polyaryl Ether Dendrimer with a 4-Phenylacetyl-5-pyrazolone-based Terbium(III) Complex as Core: Synthesis and Photopysical Properties

A series of novel dendritic beta-diketone ligands, 1-phenyl-3-[G-n]-4-phenylacetyl-5-pyrazolone (n = 0-3, G stands for polyaryl ether), were synthesized by introducing Fréchet-type dendritic branches. The corresponding Tb3+-cored dendritic complexes were characterized by X-ray crystallography, elemental analysis, ESI mass spectra, and FT-IR spectra. These dendritic complexes, prepared from aqueous solution, exhibit high stability. Interestingly, the study of photophysical properties shows that the luminescence quantum yields of the dendritic Tb-complexes increase from 0.1 to 2.26% with an increase of the dendritic generation from 0 to 3. Importantly, an "energy-reservoir effect" was observed in the dendritic system using the method based on the resonance energy transfer from these complexes to rhodamine 6G. With the increase of the dendritic generation, the metal-centered luminescence quantum yield was almost the same, and the energy transfer (phi(transfer)) from the ligand to Tb(3+) increased. Further measurements of the triplet state and oxygen quenching of these dendritic complexes verify that this enhancement of the energy transfer (phi(transfer)) is attributed to both an "antenna effect" and a "shell effect".

Characterization by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and 2D IR Correlation Spectroscopy of PAMAM Dendrimer

FT-IR and 2D correlation spectroscopy were employed to study the microstructural changes occurring during phase transitions of a liquid crystal poly(amidoamine) codendrimer (PAMAM (L1)16(L2)16) generation 3, functionalized on the terminal groups by one-chain promesogenic calamitic units (4-(4'-decyloxybenzoyloxy)salicylaldehyde (L1)) and two-chain promesogenic calamitic units (4-(3',4'-didecyloxybenzoyloxy)salicylaldehyde (L2)). Spectral modifications associated with molecular conformation rearrangements allowing for molecular shape change on going from a liquid-crystalline organization to another were found. The transition temperatures were calculated, and they are in good agreement with the DSC data. Spectral analysis gives evidence of the LC phase transitions and to an additional transition associated with the existence of conformers. Various types of hydrogen bonding have been established.

Radical cations from dipyridinium derivatives: a combined EPR and DFT study

The monoelectronic reduction of 1,1'-dimethyl-2,2'-dicyano-4,4'-bipyridinium (DCMV++) bis-methylsulphate, conducted directly in the cavity of the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrometer at room temperature and in DMSO solution, gave the signal of the corresponding radical cation (DCMV.+) whose interpretation has been carried out with the aid of density functional theory (DFT) calculations run at different levels. The model chemistries considered yielded in general hyperfine coupling constants (hfcc) in good agreement with the experimental ones, except for the methyl protons directly bonded to the pyridinium nitrogens. The use of various computational methods accounting for solvent-solute interactions did not give significant improvements with respect to the gas phase results, while the geometry optimizations performed showed that the two pyridinium rings are coplanar in the radical cation but staggered in the parent dication, although the corresponding energy barrier involved is very low.

Conversion of Intramolecular Singlet Electron Transfer at Room Temperature into Triplet Energy Transfer at 77 K: Photoisomerization in Norbornadiene- and Carbazole-Labeled Poly(aryl ether) Dendrimers

A series of Fréchet-type poly(aryl ether) dendrimers (CZ-Gn-NBD, n = 1-3) with carbazole (CZ) chromophores and a norbornadiene (NBD) group attached to the periphery and the core, respectively, were synthesized, and their photophysical and photochemical properties were investigated. Selective excitation of the carbazole units in CZ-Gn-NBD resulted in a singlet electron transfer from CZ to NBD at room temperature, and an intersystem crossing followed a triplet-triplet energy transfer from CZ to NBD in glassy 2-methyltetrahydrofuran at 77 K. Both singlet electron transfer and triplet energy transfer processes lead to the isomerization of the norbornadiene group into the quadricyclane (CZ-Gn-QC). The efficiencies and the rate constants for singlet electron transfer are approximately 88, 80, and 74% and 1.8 x 10(9), 6.1 x 10(8), and 4.0 x 10(8) s(-1) for generations 1-3, respectively. The quantum yields of the intramolecular photosensitized isomerization are measured to be approximately 0.013, 0.012, and 0.011, and the efficiencies of triplet norbornadiene formation via singlet electron transfer are approximately 0.070, 0.065, and 0.059 for generations 1-3, respectively. The light-harvesting ability of CZ-Gn-NBD increases with the generation due to an increase of the number of peripheral chromophores. In glassy 2-methyltetrahydrofuran at 77 K, the triplet-triplet energy transfer proceeds with efficiencies of approximately 0.86, 0.64, and 0.36 and rate constants of 0.96, 0.25, and 0.08 s(-1) for generations 1-3, respectively. The intramolecular singlet electron transfer and triplet energy transfer in CZ-Gn-NBD proceed mainly via a through-space mechanism involving the proximate donor (folding back conformation) and acceptor groups.

Syntheses and Luminescent Behavior of π-Extended [Ru(bpy)3]2+ Derivatives through Triple Hydrogen Bonds as an Organic-Inorganic Hybridized Material

Two new bipyridine derivative ligands with an extended π electron system and a triple hydrogen bond group, 2,4-diaminopyrimido[5,6-b]dipyrido[2,3-f:2’,3’-h]quinoxaline (DAPQ) and 2,4(1H,3H)-pyrimidinedion[5,6-b]dipyrido[2,3-f:2’3’-h]quinoxaline (PDPQ), were synthesized in order to construct high-performance Ru(II) complexes. The two Ru(II) complexes composed of dapq or pdpq and two 2,2’-bipyridine (BPY) ligands showed characteristic luminescent spectra with a peak maximum at ca. 610 nm. The octahedral Ru(II) complexes with a D-A-D (D: proton donor; A: proton acceptor) type triple hydrogen bond indicated intense luminescence in comparison with the corresponding Ru(II) complex composed of three BPY ligands. When the triple hydrogen bond was formed with a Co(III) complex with the D-A-D type hydrogen bonding group, the luminescence was quenched. This result was explained in terms of an energy transfer from an excited Ru(II) complex to the Co(III) complex.

Toward an Easy Access to Dendrimer-like Poly(ethylene oxide)s

Dendrimer-like poly(ethylene oxide)s (PEOs) were synthesized by an iterative divergent approach combining anionic polymerization of ethylene oxide from multi-hydroxylated precursors and branching reactions of PEO chain ends. Partial deprotonation of the hydroxyls (< 30%) and use of dimethyl sulfoxide as solvent proved crucial for a "controlled/living" polymerization of ethylene oxide at room temperature. These sequences of reactions allowed us to prepare a dendrimer-like PEO up to the eighth generation with a molar mass of 900 000 g mol(-1) and 384 external hydroxyl functions. All samples from generation 1 to 8 were characterized by 1H NMR spectroscopy, light scattering, and viscometry. The evolution of the intrinsic viscosity versus the generation number of these dendrimer-like PEO is similar to that of regular dendrimers.

Inhibition of the Formation and Decay of Stilbene Core Radical Cations by the Dendron during the Photoinduced Electron Transfer

Formation and decay processes of stilbene core radical cation (ST*+) during the photoinduced electron transfer have been studied for a series of stilbene bearing benzyl ether-type dendrons (D). ST*+ and the radical cation of peripheral dendron (D*+) were generated by intermolecular hole transfer from biphenyl radical cation, which was generated from photoinduced electron transfer from biphenyl to the singlet-excited 9,10-dicyanoanthracene in a mixture of acetonitrile and 1,2-dichloroethane (3:1). An intramolecular dimer radical cation of benzyl groups at the terminal of stilbene dendrimer was indicated as a hole trapping site. Subsequent hole transfer from the trapping site to the core ST generated ST*+. The shielding effects of D depending on the dendrimer generation on the growth and decay of ST*+ were observed. It was revealed for the first time that D acts as the hole trapping site and the hole conductor on the way of the exothermic hole transfer from the terminal of D to the central core ST. We also found that D inhibits the charge recombination with 9,10-dicyanoanthracene radical anion because of the steric hindrance.

Dendron-Combined Poly(4-diphenyl- aminium-1,2-phenylenevinylene): An Isolated Multiplet Molecule

[structure: see text] Poly[4-(N,N-bis(4-3,5-bis(3,5-bis(benzyloxy)benzyloxy)benzyloxyphenyl)amino)-1,2-phenylenevinylene] was prepared by the palladium-catalyzed polycondensation of the dendron-coupled bromostyrene and oxidized to yield the corresponding poly(aminium cationic radical): The dendron-combined polyradical molecule displayed both a substantial chemical stability and a multiplet state without any intermolecular interaction.