Electronic structures and spectral properties of rhenium(I) tricarbonyl diimine complexes with phosphine ligands: DFT/TDDFT theoretical investigations

Photoredox matching of earth-abundant photosensitizers with hydrogen evolving catalysts by first-principles predictions

Photoredox properties of several earth-abundant light-harvesting transition metal complexes in combination with cobalt-based proton reduction catalysts have been investigated computationally to assess the fundamental viability of different photocatalytic systems of current experimental interest. Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) calculations using several GGA (BP86, BLYP), hybrid-GGA (B3LYP, B3LYP*), hybrid meta-GGA (M06, TPSSh), and range-separated hybrid (ωB97X, CAM-B3LYP) functionals were used to calculate relevant ground and excited state reduction potentials for photosensitizers, catalysts, and sacrificial electron donors. Linear energy correction factors for the DFT/TD-DFT results that provide the best agreement with available experimental reference results were determined in order to provide more accurate predictions. Among the selection of functionals, the B3LYP* and TPSSh sets of correction parameters were determined to give the best redox potentials and excited states energies, ΔEexc, with errors of ∼0.2 eV. Linear corrections for both reduction and oxidation processes significantly improve the predictions for all the redox pairs. In particular, for TPSSh and B3LYP*, the calculated errors decrease by more than 0.5 V against experimental values for catalyst reduction potentials, photosensitizer oxidation potentials, and electron donor oxidation potentials. Energy-corrected TPSSh results were finally used to predict the energetics of complete photocatalytic cycles for the light-driven activation of selected proton reduction cobalt catalysts. These predictions demonstrate the broader usefulness of the adopted approach to systematically predict full photocycle behavior for first-row transition metal photosensitizer-catalyst combinations more broadly.

Computational Design of Rhenium(I) Carbonyl Complexes for Anticancer Photodynamic Therapy

New Re(I) carbonyl complexes are proposed as candidates for photodynamic therapy after investigating the effects of the pyridocarbazole-type ligand conjugation, addition of substituents to this ligand, and replacement of one CO by phosphines in [Re(pyridocarbazole)(CO)3(pyridine)] complexes by means of the density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT. We have found, first, that increasing the conjugation in the bidentate ligand reduces the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy gap of the complex, so its absorption wavelength red-shifts. When the enlargement of this ligand is carried out by merging the electron-withdrawing 1H-pyrrole-2,5-dione heterocycle, it enhances even more the stabilization of the LUMO due to its electron-acceptor character. Second, the analysis of the shape and composition of the orbitals involved in the band of interest indicates which substituents of the bidentate ligand and which positions are optimal for reducing the HOMO-LUMO energy gap. The introduction of electron-withdrawing substituents into the pyridine ring of the pyridocarbazole ligand mainly stabilizes the LUMO, whereas the HOMO energy increases primarily when electron-donating substituents are introduced into its indole moiety. Each type of substituents results in a bathochromic shift of the lowest-lying absorption band, which is even larger if they are combined in the same complex. Finally, the removal of the π-backbonding interaction between Re and the CO trans to the monodentate pyridine when it is replaced by phosphines PMe3, 1,4-diacetyl-1,3,7-triaza-5-phosphabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane (DAPTA), and 1,4,7-triaza-9-phosphatricyclo[5.3.2.1]tridecane (CAP) causes another extra bathochromic shift due to the destabilization of the HOMO, which is low with DAPTA, moderate with PMe3, but especially large with CAP. Through the combination of the PMe3 or CAP ligands with adequate electron-withdrawing and/or electron-donating substituents at the pyridocarbazole ligand, we have found several complexes with significant absorption at the therapeutic window. In addition, according to our results on the singlet-triplet energy gap, all of them should be able to produce cytotoxic singlet oxygen.

Efficient photorelease of carbon monoxide from a luminescent tricarbonyl rhenium(I) complex incorporating pyridyl-1,2,4-triazole and phosphine ligands

Precise control over the production of carbon monoxide (CO) is essential to exploit the therapeutic potential of this molecule. The development of photoactive CO-releasing molecules (PhotoCORMs) is therefore a promising route for future clinical applications. Herein, a tricarbonyl-rhenium(i) complex (1-TPP), which incorporates a phosphine moiety as ancilliary ligand for boosting the photochemical reactivity, and a pyridyltriazole bidentate ligand with appended 2-phenylbenzoxazole moiety for the purpose of photoluminescence, was synthesized and characterized from a chemical and crystallographic point of view. Upon irradiation in the near-UV range, complex 1-TPP underwent fast photoreaction, which was monitored through changes of the UV-vis absorption and phosphorescence spectra. The photoproducts (i.e. the dicarbonyl solvento complex 2 and one CO molecule) were identified using FTIR, 1H NMR and HRMS. The results were interpreted on the basis of DFT/TD-DFT calculations. The effective photochemical release of CO associated with clear optical variations (the emitted light passed from green to orange-red) could make 1-TPP the prototype of new photochemically-active agents, potentially useful for integration in photoCORM materials.

Heteroleptic Re(CO)2+ and Re(CO)3+ complexes with α-diimines: similarities and differences in their luminescence properties

The photophysical properties of two series of phosphorescent rhenium(i) complexes, [Re(CO)₂(N^N)(tpp)₂]⁺ and [Re(CO)₃(N^N)(tpp)]⁺ with carbon monoxide (CO), triphenylphosphine (tpp) and α-diimine (N^N) ligands have been investigated in deoxygenated acetonitrile solution at room temperature and in solid methanol/ethanol 1 : 1 matrices at 77 K. The complexes display moderate to strong phosphorescence which is related to the N^N ligand modulated metal-to-ligand charge-transfer S₀ ← ³*MLCT or intraligand S₀ ← ³*LC transitions. Luminescence properties of the investigated series have been found to be very similar but some intrinsic differences between them are clearly seen. Whereas the [Re(CO)₂(N^N)(tpp)₂]⁺ series shows MLCT emission in both temperature regimes studied, the [Re(CO)₃(N^N)(tpp)]⁺ series exhibits intrinsic changes in its emission character when the measurement temperature is lowered from 298 to 77 K. In both investigated series, their emission characteristics are strongly affected by the nature of coordinated α-diimine N^N ligands. The observed trends, changes in the radiative k_r and non-radiative k_nr deactivation rate constants, have been compared with those found for the previously investigated [Re(CO)₃(N^N)(Cl)], [Re(CO)₃(N^N)(CH₃CN)]⁺, and [Re(CO)₂(N^N)(dppv)]⁺ series (dppv = cis-1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)-ethene). Similarities and differences in the spectroscopic and photophysical properties of five series of the Re(CO)₃⁺ and Re(CO)₂⁺ complexes have been analyzed in the view of results from DFT and TD-DFT computation and the emission band-shape analyses performed according to the Marcus–Jortner formalism.

We report results from comparative studies of luminescence properties of five series of α-diimine rhenium(i) complexes.

Synthesis, photophysical properties and application in organic light emitting devices of rhenium(i) carbonyls incorporating functionalized 2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridines

Photophysics of [ReCl(CO)₃(4′-R-terpy-κ²N)].