The effects of extended π-conjugation in bipyridyl ligands on the tunable photophysics, triplet excited state and optical limiting properties of Pt(ii) naphthalimidyl acetylide complexes

Microstructural regulation of Ir(III) complexes for enhanced photocytotoxicity in photodynamic cancer therapy

Malignant tumors continue to be the most common and remain one of the leading causes of death with increasing incidence, mortality, and burden. Traditional chemotherapeutic agents often encounter significant side effects and demonstrate lackluster efficacy. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is widely recognized as a microtrauma therapeutic method for tumor treatment technique. Ir(III) complexes are a potential photosensitizer (PS) type due to their excellent photophysical properties. Ir-1 and Ir-2, which are two novel Ir(III) complexes were synthesized and characterized using spectroscopic and electrochemical techniques, the key structural difference lies in the position of a benzene in the C^N ligand. This slight change makes Ir-2 have a better intersystem crossing (ISC) ability and thus has more excellent triplet excited state properties. So Ir-2 shows high singlet oxygen (1O2) production and photocytotoxicity with half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 40 nM, effectively inhibiting and eliminating tumors in mice while demonstrating good biosafety. This study highlights the importance of precise molecular design in developing highly efficient PSs for PDT.

Transition metal complexes with strong and long-lived excited state absorption: from molecular design to optical power limiting behavior

Transition metal complexes (TMCs) with strong and long-lived excited state absorption (ESA) usually exhibit high-performance optical power limiting (OPL) response. Several techniques, such as transmission vs. incident fluence curves and Z-scan have been widely used to assess the OPL performance of typical TMCs. The OPL performance of TMCs is highly molecular structure-dependent. Special emphasis is placed on the structure-OPL response relationships of Pt(II), Ir(III), Ru(II), and other metal complexes. This review concludes with perspectives on the current status of OPL field, as well as opportunities that lie just beyond its frontier.

Ligand-Mediated Photophysics Adjustability in Bis-tridentate Ir(III) Complexes and Their Application in Efficient Optical Limiting Materials

A family of novel bis-tridentate Ir(III) complexes (Ir1-Ir5) incorporating both functional N^∧C^∧N-type ligands (L1-L5) and N^∧N^∧C-type ligand (L0) were synthesized attentively and characterized scientifically. The crystalline structures of Ir1, Ir3 and Ir4 were resoundingly confirmed by XRD. With the aid of experimental and theoretical methods, their photophysical properties at transient and steady states were scientifically investigated. The broadband charge-transfer absorption for these aforementioned Ir(III) complexes is up to 600 nm as shown in the UV-visible absorption spectrum. The emission lifetimes of their excited states are good. Between the visible and near-infrared regions, Ir1-Ir5 possessed powerful excited-state absorption. Hence, a remarkably robust reverse saturable absorption (RSA) process can occur once the complexes are irradiated by a 532 nm laser. The RSA effect follows the descending order: Ir3 > Ir5 > Ir4 ≈ Ir1 > Ir2. To sum up, modifying electron-donating units (-OCH₃) and large π-conjugated units to the pyridyl N^∧C^∧N-type ligands is a systematic way to markedly raise the RSA effect. Therefore, these octahedral bis-tridentate Ir(III) complexes are potentially state-of-the-art optical limiting (OPL) materials.

BSA-encapsulated cyclometalated iridium complexes as nano-photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy of tumor cells

Photodynamic therapy is a promising treatment method. The development of suitable photosensitizers can improve therapeutic efficacy. Herein, we report three iridium complexes (Ir1, Ir2, and Ir3), and encapsulate them within bovine serum albumin (BSA) to form nano-photosensitizers (Ir1@BSA, Ir2@BSA, and Ir3@BSA) for photodynamic therapy (PDT) of tumor cells. In the structures of Ir(iii) complexes, we use the pyrazine heterocycle as part of the C^N ligands and explore the effect of different ligands on the ability to generate singlet oxygen (¹O₂) by changing the conjugation length of the ligand and increasing the coplanarity of the ligand. Besides, the fabricated nano-photosensitizers are beneficial to improve water dispersibility and increase cellular uptake ability. Through studying photophysical properties, ¹O₂ generation capacity, and cellular uptake performance, the results show that Ir1@BSA has the best photodynamic therapeutic effect on 4T1 tumor cells. This study provides an effective research basis for the further design of new nano-photosensitizers.

Three new iridium complexes were synthesized and fabricated with BSA to form nano-photosensitizers, which can catalyze oxygen to produce singlet oxygen to achieve photodynamic therapy of tumor cells.

Heteroleptic Ir(iii) complexes with varied π-conjugated diimine ligands: synthesis, tunable triplet states and nonlinear absorption properties

Four heteroleptic Ir(iii) complexes (Ir-1-Ir-4) with varied π-conjugated diimine ligands were synthesized. Their optical properties were investigated systematically via spectroscopic methods, in order to elucidate the influence of the extended π-conjugation on the singlet and triplet states of the molecules. All these Ir(iii) complexes exhibit ligand localized ¹π,π* transitions below 370 nm, and broad metal-to-ligand and ligand-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT/LLCT) absorption bands in the visible region. Extending the π-conjugation in diimine ligands influences the electron distribution of the triplet state. The ³π,π* dominated Ir(iii) complexes (Ir-3 and Ir-4) exhibit long-lived triplet states and low phosphorescence quantum yields, compared with the charge transfer dominated Ir(iii) complexes (Ir-1 and Ir-2). Complexes Ir-3 and Ir-4 exhibit broadband transient absorption spectra from 420 to 750 nm, between which the nonlinear absorption could be observed by virtue of reverse saturable absorption. The results of nonlinear transmission measurements using 532 nm laser pulses further elucidate that selected complexes Ir-3 and Ir-4 are promising candidates for optical limiting applications.