Synthesis, electrochemical and spectroscopic properties of pendant hydroquinone- and quinone-substituted polypyridyl ruthenium(II) complexes

RK, Pillegowda M, Periyasamy G, Suchetan PA, Butcher RJ, Foro S, Nagaraju G. Synthesis, crystal structures, photophysical, electrochemical studies, DFT and TD-DFT calculations and Hirshfeld analysis of new 2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine ligands with pendant 4′-(trimethoxyphenyl) groups and their homoleptic ruthenium complexes

[Ru(L1)₂](PF₆)₂ (1) and [Ru(L2)₂](PF₆)₂ (2): X-ray structures, CH⋯F/O, OH⋯F/N, CH⋯O/π, π⋯π interactions, absorption and emission spectra, DFT/TD-DFT, Hirshfeld analysis.

Electron donor-acceptor dyads and triads based on tris(bipyridine)ruthenium(II) and benzoquinone: synthesis, characterization, and photoinduced electron transfer reactions

Two electron donor-acceptor triads based on a benzoquinone acceptor linked to a light absorbing [Ru(bpy)(3)](2+) complex have been synthesized. In triad 6 (denoted Ru(II)-BQ-Co(III)), a [Co(bpy)(3)](3+) complex, a potential secondary acceptor, was linked to the quinone. In the other triad, 8 (denoted PTZ-Ru(II)-BQ), a phenothiazine donor was linked to the ruthenium moiety. The corresponding dyads Ru(II)-BQ (4) and PTZ-Ru(II) (9) were prepared for comparison. Upon light excitation in the visible band of the ruthenium moiety, electron transfer to the quinone occurred with a rate constant k(f) = 5 x 10(9) s(-)(1) (tau(f) = 200 ps) in all the quinone containing complexes. Recombination to the ground state followed, with a rate constant k(b) approximately 4.5 x 10(8) s(-)(1) (tau(b) approximately 2.2 ns), for both Ru(II)-BQ and Ru(II)-BQ-Co(III) with no indication of a charge shift to generate the reduced Co(II) moiety. In the PTZ-Ru(II)-BQ triad, however, the initial charge separation was followed by a rapid (k > 5 x 10(9) s(-)(1)) electron transfer from the phenothiazine moiety to give the fairly long-lived PTZ(*)(+)-Ru(II)-BQ(*)(-) state (tau = 80 ns) in unusually high yield for a [Ru(bpy)(3)](2+)-based triad (> 90%), that lies at DeltaG degrees = 1.32 eV relative to the ground state. Unfortunately, this triad turned out to be rather photolabile. Interestingly, coupling between the oxidized PTZ(*)(+) and the BQ(*)(-) moieties seemed to occur. This discouraged further extension to incorporate more redox active units. Finally, in the dyad PTZ-Ru(II) a reversible, near isoergonic electron transfer was observed on excitation. Thus, a quasiequilibrium was established with an observed time constant of 7 ns, with ca. 82% of the population in the PTZ-Ru(II) state and 18% in the PTZ(*)(+)-Ru(II)(bpy(*)(-)) state. These states decayed in parallel with an observed lifetime of 90 ns. The initial electron transfer to form the PTZ(*)(+)-Ru(II)(bpy(*)(-)) state was thus faster than what would have been inferred from the Ru(II) emission decay (tau = 90 ns). This result suggests that reports for related PTZ-Ru(II) and PTZ-Ru(II)-acceptor complexes in the literature might need to be reconsidered.

Electron donor-acceptor dyads based on ruthenium(II) bipyridine and terpyridine complexes bound to naphthalenediimide

Two series of photosensitizer-electron acceptor complexes have been synthesized and fully characterized: ruthenium(II) tris(bipyridine) ([Ru(II)(bpy)(2)(bpy-X-NDI)], where X = -CH(2)-, tolylene, or phenylene, bpy is 2,2'-bipyridine, and NDI is naphthalenediimide) and ruthenium(II) bis(terpyridine) ([Ru(II)(Y-tpy)(tpy-X-NDI)], where Y = H or tolyl and X = tolylene or phenylene, and tpy = 2,2':6',2' '-terpyridine). The complexes have been studied by cyclic and differential pulse voltammetry and by steady state and time-resolved absorption and emission techniques. Rates for forward and backward electron transfer have been investigated, following photoexcitation of the ruthenium(II) polypyridine moiety. The terpyridine complexes were only marginally affected by the linked diimide unit, and no electron transfer was observed. In the bipyridine complexes we achieved efficient charge separation. For the complexes containing a phenyl link between the ruthenium(II) and diimide moieties, our results suggest a biphasic forward electron-transfer reaction, in which 20% of the charge-separated state was formed via population of the naphthalenediimide triplet state.

A New Electron-Transfer Donor for Photoinduced Electron Transfer in Polypyridyl Molecular Assemblies

A synthetic procedure has been devised for the preparation of the reductive quencher ligand 4-methyl-4'-(N-methyl-p-tolylaminomethyl)-2,2'-bipyridine (dmb-tol), which contains toluidine covalently bound to 2,2'-bipyridine. When bound to Re(I) in [Re(I)(dmb-tol)(CO)(3)Cl], laser flash Re(I) --> dmb metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) excitation at 355 nm in CH(3)CN at 298 +/- 2 K is followed by efficient, rapid (<5 ns) appearance of a transient with an absorption feature at 470 nm. The transient spectrum is consistent with formation of the redox-separated state, [Re(I)(dmb(-)-tol(+))(CO)(3)Cl], which returns to the ground state by back electron transfer with k(ET) = (1.05 +/- 0.01) x 10(7) s(-)(1) (tau = 95 +/- 1 ns) at 298 +/- 2 K. Rapid, efficient quenching is also observed in the Ru(II) complex [Ru(4,4'-(C(O)NEt(2))(2)bpy)(2)(dmb-tol)](2+). Based on transient absorption measurements, a rapid equilibrium appears to exist between the initial metal-to-ligand charge-transfer excited state and the redox-separated state, which lies at higher energy. Decay to the ground state is dominated by back electron transfer within the redox-separated state which occurs with k > 4 x 10(8) s(-)(1) at 298 +/- 2 K.