Radical Cation Probes for Photoinduced Intramolecular Electron Transfer in Metal−Organic Complexes

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.

Photooxidation of Diimine Dithiolate Platinium(II) Complexes Induced by Charge Transfer to Diimine Excitation

A photochemical and photophysical investigation was carried out on (tbubpy)Pt(II)(dpdt) and (tbubpy)Pt(II)(edt) (1 and 2, respectively, where tbubpy = 4,4'-di-tert-butyl-2,2'-bipyridine, dpdt = meso-1,2-diphenyl-1,2-ethanedithiolate and edt = 1,2-ethanedithiolate). Luminescence and transient absorption studies reveal that these complexes feature a lowest excited state with Pt(S)(2) --> tbubpy charge transfer to diimine character. Both complexes are photostable in deoxygenated solution; however, photolysis into the visible charge transfer band in air-saturated solution induces moderately efficient photooxidation. Photooxidation of 1 produces the dehydrogenation product (tbubpy)Pt(II)(1,2-diphenyl-1,2-ethenedithiolate) (4). By contrast, photooxidation of 2 produces S-oxygenated complexes in which one or both thiolate ligands are converted to sulfinate (-SO(2)R) ligands. Mechanistic photochemical studies and transient absorption spectroscopy reveal that photooxidation occurs by (1) energy transfer from the charge transfer to diimine excited state of 1 to (3)O(2) to produce (1)O(2) and (2) reaction between (1)O(2) and the ground state 1. Kinetic data indicates that excited state 1 produces (1)O(2) efficiently and that reaction between ground state 1 and (1)O(2) occurs with k approximately 3 x 10(8) M(-)(1) s(-)(1).

Ion-Pair Charge Transfer Photochemistry in Rhenium(I) Borate Salts

The photophysics and photochemistry of the salt [(bpy)Re(CO)(3)(py)(+)][BzBPh(3)(-)] (ReBo, where bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine, py = pyridine, Bz = C(6)H(5)CH(2) and Ph = C(6)H(5)) has been investigated in THF and CH(3)CN solutions. UV-visible absorption and steady-state emission spectroscopy indicates that in THF ReBo exists primairly as an ion-pair. A weak absorption band is observed for the salt in THF solution that is assigned to an optical ion-pair charge transfer transition. Stern-Volmer emission quenching studies indicate that BzBPh(3)(-) quenches the luminescent dpi (Re) --> pi (bpy) metal-to-ligand charge transfer excited state of the (bpy)Re(CO)(3)(py)(+) chromophore. The quenching is attributed to electron transfer from the benzylborate anion to the photoexcited Re(I) complex, (bpy(-)(*))Re(II)(CO)(3)(py)(+) + BzBPh(3)(-) --> (bpy(-)(*))Re(I)(CO)(3)(py) + BzBPh(3)(*). Laser flash photolysis studies reveal that electron transfer quenching leads to irreversible reduction of the Re(I) cation to (bpy(-)(*))Re(I)(CO)(3)(py). Photoinduced electron transfer is irreversible owing to rapid C-B bond fragmentation in the benzylboranyl radical, PhCH(2)BPh(3)(*) --> PhCH(2)(*) + BPh(3)(*). Quantitative laser flash photolysis experiments show that the quantum efficiency for production of the reduced complex (bpy(-)(*))Re(I)(CO)(3)(py) is unity, suggesting that C-B bond fragmentation in the benzylboranyl radical occurs more rapidly than return electron transfer within the geminate radical pair that is formed by photoinduced electron transfer.