Mean-Field Effects on the Phosphorescence of Dinuclear Re(I) Complex Polymorphs

A computational study rationalizes the different phosphorescence colors of two highly emitting crystal polymorphs of a dinuclear Re(I) complex, [Re₂(μ-Cl)₂(CO)₆(μ-4,5-(Me₃Si)₂pyridazine)]. The electrostatic interactions between the charge distributions on neighboring molecules inside the crystal are responsible for the different stabilization of the emitting triplet state because of the different molecular packing. These self-consistent effects play a major role in the phosphorescence of crystals made of polar and polarizable molecular units, offering a powerful handle to tune the luminescence wavelength in the solid state through supramolecular engineering.

Modular Assembly of Vibrationally and Electronically Coupled Rhenium Bipyridine Carbonyl Complexes on Silicon

Hybrid inorganic/organic heterointerfaces are promising systems for next-generation photocatalytic, photovoltaic, and chemical-sensing applications. Their performance relies strongly on the development of robust and reliable surface passivation and functionalization protocols with (sub)molecular control. The structure, stability, and chemistry of the semiconductor surface determine the functionality of the hybrid assembly. Generally, these modification schemes have to be laboriously developed to satisfy the specific chemical demands of the semiconductor surface. The implementation of a chemically independent, yet highly selective, standardized surface functionalization scheme, compatible with nanoelectronic device fabrication, is of utmost technological relevance. Here, we introduce a modular surface assembly (MSA) approach that allows the covalent anchoring of molecular transition-metal complexes with sub-nanometer precision on any solid material by combining atomic layer deposition (ALD) and selectively self-assembled monolayers of phosphonic acids. ALD, as an essential tool in semiconductor device fabrication, is used to grow conformal aluminum oxide activation coatings, down to sub-nanometer thicknesses, on silicon surfaces to enable a selective step-by-step layer assembly of rhenium(I) bipyridine tricarbonyl molecular complexes. The modular surface assembly of molecular complexes generates precisely structured spatial ensembles with strong intermolecular vibrational and electronic coupling, as demonstrated by infrared spectroscopy, photoluminescence, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. The structure of the MSA can be chosen to avoid electronic interactions with the semiconductor substrate to exclusively investigate the electronic interactions between the surface-immobilized molecular complexes.

Phenyl-pyta-tricarbonylrhenium(I) complexes: combining a simplified structure and steric hindrance to modulate the photoluminescence properties

Strongly luminescent tricarbonylrhenium(I) complexes are promising candidates in the field of optical materials. In this study, three new complexes bearing a 3-(2-pyridyl)-1,2,4-triazole (pyta) bidentate ligand with an appended phenyl group were obtained in very good yields owing to an optimized synthetic procedure. The first member of this series, i.e. complex 1, was compared with the previously studied complex RePBO to understand the influence of the fluorescent benzoxazole unit grafted on the phenyl ring. Then, to gauge the effect of steric hindrance on the luminescence properties, the phenyl group of complex 1 was substituted in the para position by a bulky tert-butyl group or an adamantyl moiety, affording complexes 2 and 3, respectively. The results of theoretical calculations indicated that these complexes were quite similar from an electronic point of view, as evidenced by the electrochemical study. In dichloromethane solution, under excitation in the UV range, all the complexes emitted weak phosphorescence in the red region. In the solid state, they could be excited in the blue region of the visible spectrum and they emitted strong yellow light. The photoluminescence quantum yield was markedly increased with raising the size of the substituent, passing from 0.42 for 1 to 0.59 for 3. The latter complex also exhibited clear waveguiding properties, unprecedented for rhenium complexes. From this point of view, these easy-synthesized and spectroscopically attractive complexes constitute a new generation of emitters for use in imaging applications and functional materials. However, the comparison with RePBO showed that the presence of the benzoxazole group leads to unsurpassed mechanoresponsive luminescence (MRL) properties, due to the involvement of a unique photophysical mechanism that takes place only in this type of complex.

In-Depth Study of the Electronic Properties of NIR-Emissive κ3N Terpyridine Rhenium(I) Dicarbonyl Complexes

The structure-properties relationship in a series of carbonyl rhenium(I) complexes based on substituted terpyridine ligands of general formula [Re(κ^xN-Rtpy)(CO)_yL]ⁿ⁺ is explored by both experimental and theoretical methods. In these compounds, the terpyridine ligands adopt both bidentate (κ²N) and terdentate (κ³N) coordination modes associated with three or two carbonyls, respectively. Conversion from the κ²N to the κ³N coordination mode leads to large changes in the absorption spectra and oxidation potentials due to destabilization of the HOMO level of each complex. The absorption profiles of the κ³N complexes cover the whole visible spectra with lower maxima around 700 nm, tailing out to 800 nm, while no emission is observed with Br^- as the axial ligand L. When the axial ligand is modified from the native halide to pyridine or triphenylphosphine, the lowest absorption band is blue-shifted by 60 and 90 nm, respectively. These cationic complexes are near-infrared emitters with emission maxima between 840 and 950 nm for the pyridine compounds and 780-800 nm for the triphenylphosphine compounds.

Simple thiophene-bridged D-π-A type chromophores for DSSCs: a comprehensive study of their sensitization and co-sensitization properties

Herein, we report the design and synthesis of four new thiophene-bridged D-π-A configured organic dyes T1-4 comprising different donors, π-spacers and anchoring units, as potential sensitizers and co-sensitizers for DSSCs. The current work also highlights their structural, photophysical, thermal, electrochemical, theoretical, and photoelectrochemical studies, including evaluation of their structure-property relationships. The optical results revealed that the dyes T1-4 display λabs and λemi in the range of 402-461 nm and 556-575 nm, respectively, with a bandgap in the order of 2.31-2.58 eV. Furthermore, the results showed that the dyes possess all the pre-requisites to act as sensitizers/co-sensitizers. Among the tested dyes, the device based on sensitizer T2 achieved the highest PCE compared to the other three dyes, under the standard conditions. Furthermore, their co-sensitized devices were fabricated by co-adsorbing them with the well-known Ru-based MH-12 sensitizer and interestingly the co-sensitizer T3 carrying an alkoxy group and a barbituric acid anchor displayed the highest PCE of 8.79%, which is much higher than that of MH-12 alone (8.18%). Conclusively, the study furnishes a deeper understanding of the intricacies involved in the structural modification of sensitizers/co-sensitizers in achieving an enhanced performance of the devices.