Electrochemical Strategy for Proton Relay Installation Enhances the Activity of a Hydrogen Evolution Electrocatalyst.

A new method to install a proton relay that enhances the reactivity near an active catalytic site for H2 production is reported, afforded by the electrochemical reduction and protonation of one of the ligands in the paddlewheel Rh2(II,II) hydrogen evolution complex, cis-[Rh2(DPhF)2(bncn)2]2+ (Rh-bncn; DPhF = N,N'-diphenylformamidinate, bncn = benzo[c]cinnoline). An electrochemical reversible prewave is observed for Rh-bncn at potentials more positive than the first bncn-centered reduction couple in the presence of strong acids, observed at -0.72 V vs Fc+/0 (Fc = ferrocene) in the cyclic voltammograms (CVs) in DMF (0.1 M TBAPF6). The origin of this prewave is shown to arise from a precatalytic transformation that originates from a concerted proton-electron transfer (CPET) event occurring at one of the bridging bncn ligands. Through electrochemical analysis, CV simulations, and electronic structure calculations, a reaction mechanism is elucidated. In this system, the electrochemically formed N-H bond on the reduced bncn ligand serves as a proton relay in the H2 formation reaction through a cooperative interligand pathway involving one of the bridging DPhF ligands after a second reduction step, accessible at approximately -1.15 V vs Fc+/0. Since calculations show that hydrogen evolution takes place at the bridging ligands and does not involve the dirhodium core, it is predicted that more abundant metal centers can be incorporated into this ligand scaffold, leading to new candidates for electrocatalytic hydrogen reduction. As such, this work delineates a new design strategy to incorporate proton relays in molecular bimetallic hydrogen evolution electrocatalysts to achieve higher efficiency.

Synthetic Strategies for Trapping the Elusive trans-Dirhodium(II,II) Formamidinate Isomer: Effects of Cis versus Trans Geometry on the Photophysical Properties.

The cis- and trans-dirhodium(II,II) complexes cis-[Rh2(µ-DTolF)2(µ-np)(MeCN)4][BF4]2 (1; DTolF = N,N'-di-p-tolylformamidinate and np = 1,8-naphthyridine), cis- and trans-[Rh2(µ-DTolF)2(µ-qxnp)(MeCN)3][BF4]2 [2 and 3, respectively, where qxnp = 2-(1,8-naphthyridin-2-yl)quinoxaline], and trans-[Rh2(µ-DTolF)2(µ-qxnp)2][BF4]2 (4) were synthesized and characterized. A new synthetic methodology was developed that consists of the sequential addition of π-accepting axially blocking ligands to favor formation of the first example of a bis-substituted formamidinate-bearing trans product. Isolation of the intermediates 2 and 3 provides insight into the mechanistic requirements for obtaining 4 and the cis analogue, cis-[Rh2(µ-DTolF)2(µ-qxnp)2][BF4]2 (5). Density functional theory calculations provide support for the synthetic mechanism and proposed intermediates. The metal/ligand-to-ligand charge-transfer (ML-LCT) absorption maximum of the trans complex 4 at 832 nm is red-shifted by 1173 cm-1 and exhibits shorter lifetimes of the 1ML-LCT and 3ML-LCT excited states, 3 ps and 0.40 ns, respectively, compared to those of the cis analogue 5. The shorter excited-state lifetimes of 4 are attributed to the longer Rh-Rh bond of 2.4942(8) Å relative to that in 5, 2.4498(2) Å. A longer metal-metal bond reflects a decreased overlap of the Rh atoms, which leads to more accessible metal-centered excited states for radiationless deactivation. The 3ML-LCT excited states of 4 and 5 undergo reversible bimolecular charge transfer with the electron donor p-phenylenediamine when irradiated with low-energy light. These results indicate that trans isomers are a source of unexplored tunability for potential p-type semiconductor applications and, given their distinct geometric arrangement, constitute useful building blocks for supramolecular architectures with potentially interesting photophysical properties.

Tunable Rh2(II,II) Light Absorbers as Excited-State Electron Donors and Acceptors Accessible with Red/Near-Infrared Irradiation.

A series of dirhodium(II,II) paddlewheeel complexes of the type cis-[Rh2(µ-DTolF)2(µ-L)2][BF4]2, where DTolF = N,N'-di( p-tolyl)formamidinate and L = 1,8-naphthyridine (np), 2-(pyridin-2-yl)-1,8-naphthyridine (pynp), 2-(quinolin-2-yl)-1,8-naphthyridine (qnnp), and 2-(1,8-naphthyridin-2-yl)quinoxaline (qxnp), were synthesized and characterized. These molecules feature new tridentate ligands that concomitantly bridge the dirhodium core and cap the axial positions. The complexes absorb light strongly throughout the ultraviolet/visible range and into the near-infrared region and exhibit relatively long-lived triplet excited-state lifetimes. Both the singlet and triplet excited states exhibit metal/ligand-to-ligand charge transfer (ML-LCT) in nature as determined by transient absorption spectroscopy and spectroelectrochemistry measurements. When irradiated with low-energy light, these black dyes are capable of undergoing reversible bimolecular electron transfer both to the electron acceptor methyl viologen and from the electron donor p-phenylenediamine. Photoinduced charge transfer in the latter was inaccessible with previous Rh2(II,II) complexes. These results underscore the fact that the excited state of this class of molecules can be readily tuned for electron-transfer reactions upon simple synthetic modification and highlight their potential as excellent candidates for p- and n-type semiconductor applications and for improved harvesting of low-energy light to drive useful photochemical reactions.

New Rh2(II,II) Complexes for Solar Energy Applications: Panchromatic Absorption and Excited-State Reactivity.

The new heteroleptic paddlewheel complexes cis-[Rh2(µ-form)2(µ-np)2][BF4]2, where form = p-ditolylformamidinate (DTolF) or p-difluorobenzylformamidinate (F-form) and np = 1,8-napthyridyine, and cis-Rh2(µ-form)2(µ-npCOO)2 (npCOO- = 1,8-naphthyridine-2-carboxylate), were synthesized and characterized. The complexes absorb strongly throughout the ultraviolet (λmax = 300 nm, ε = 20 300 M-1 cm-1) and visible regions (λmax = 640 nm ε = 3500 M-1 cm-1), making them potentially useful new dyes with panchromatic light absorption for solar energy conversion applications. Ultrafast and nanosecond transient absorption and time-resolved infrared spectroscopies were used to characterize the identity and dynamics of the excited states, where singlet and triplet Rh2/form-to-naphthyridine, metal/ligand-to-ligand charge-transfer (ML-LCT) excited states were observed in all four complexes. The npCOO- complexes exhibit red-shifted absorption profiles extending into the near-IR and undergo photoinitiated electron transfer to generate reduced methyl viologen, a species that persists in the presence of a sacrificial donor. The energy of the triplet excited state of each complex was estimated from energy-transfer quenching experiments using a series of organic triplet donors (E(3ππ*) from 1.83 to 0.78 eV). The singlet reduction (+0.6 V vs Ag/AgCl) potentials, and singlet and triplet oxidation potentials (-1.1 and -0.5 V vs Ag/AgCl, respectively) were determined. Based on the excited-state lifetimes and redox properties, these complexes represent a new class of light absorbers with potential application as dyes for charge injection into semiconductor solar cells and in sensitizer-catalyst assemblies for photocatalysis that operate with irradiation from the ultraviolet to ∼800 nm.

Unsymmetrical dirhodium single molecule photocatalysts for H2 production with low energy light.

New axially blocked unsymmetrical dirhodium complexes photocatalyze the production of H2 under red light irradiation with a turnover number (TON) of 23 ± 3 in the presence of acid and a sacrificial donor. The presence of multiple metal/ligand-to-ligand charge transfer transitions improves their absorption of light into the near-IR.

The Influence of Some Axial Ligands on Ruthenium-Phthalocyanine Complexes: Chemical, Photochemical, and Photobiological Properties.

This work presents a new procedure to synthesize ruthenium-phthalocyanine complexes and uses diverse spectroscopic techniques to characterize trans-[RuCl(Pc)DMSO] (I) (Pc = phthalocyanine) and trans-[Ru(Pc)(4-ampy)2] (II) (4-ampy = 4-aminopyridine). The triplet excited-state lifetimes of (I) measured by nanosecond transient absorption showed that two processes occurred, one around 15 ns and the other around 3.8 µs. Axial ligands seemed to affect the singlet oxygen quantum yield. Yields of 0.62 and 0.14 were achieved for (I) and (II), respectively. The lower value obtained for (II) probably resulted from secondary reactions of singlet oxygen in the presence of the ruthenium complex. We also investigate how axial ligands in the ruthenium-phthalocyanine complexes affect their photo-bioactivity in B16F10 murine melanoma cells. In the case of (I) at 1 µmol/L, photosensitization with 5.95 J/cm2 provided B16F10 cell viability of 6%, showing that (I) was more active than (II) at the same concentration. Furthermore, (II) was detected intracellularly in B16F10 cell extracts. The behavior of the evaluated ruthenium-phthalocyanine complexes point to the potential use of (I) as a metal-based drug in clinical therapy. Changes in axial ligands can modulate the photosensitizer activity of the ruthenium phthalocyanine complexes.

Syntheses and electronic, electrochemical, and theoretical studies of a series of µ-oxo-triruthenium carboxylates bearing orthometalated phenazines.

This work reports a series of five-acetate triruthenium clusters [Ru3O(OAc)5(L)(py)2]PF6, where L = dppn (benzo[i]dipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]phenazine, 1); dppz (dipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]phenazine, 2); CH3-dppz (7-methyldipyrido [3,2-a:2',3'-c] phenazine, 3); Cl-dppz (7-chlorodipyrido [3,2-a:2',3'-c] phenazine, 4); and phen (1,10-phenanthroline, 5). The EPR spectra collected at 10 K displayed one isotropic signal without a hyperfine structure and with g values of ∼2.0, which showed that the five-acetate triruthenium clusters are paramagnetic, and that their electronic delocalization resembled the electronic delocalization of the parent hexa-acetate complexes. 1H NMR analysis showed that the orthometalated phenazines lowered the symmetry of the compounds significantly. Inductive effects from the carbanion and ring current effects outweighed the effect of paramagnetic anisotropy and dominated the spectra. This resulted in a lack of typical correlations with ligand parameters such as pKa that are observed for the parent hexa-acetate compounds. DFT calculations allowed for a discussion of those parameters in terms of the optimized geometry of compound 2. Natural bond orbital (NBO) results, in turn, aided the rationalization of the orthometalation reaction. The intra-cluster transitions (IC) at ∼690 nm consistently shifted to higher energies, and the redox pair [Ru3O]0/+1 also shifted to more positive E1/2 values. Again, the shifts were small and produced poor correlations with phenazine basicity. Overall, the substitution of one acetate bridge caused poor π-interactions between the delocalized [Ru3O] unit and the phenazine electron cloud. fsTA experiments, performed for the first time for such systems, showed that an 2IC excited state decayed very fast on the picosecond timescale.

Electron injection into titanium dioxide by panchromatic dirhodium photosensitizers with low energy red light.

Two new Rh2(ii,ii) dyes were synthesized and anchored to TiO2 for charge injection upon irradiation. The 1ML-LCT (metal/ligand-to-ligand charge transfer) excited state is populated upon excitation, which decays to the corresponding 3ML-LCT state. Ultrafast electron injection into TiO2 from the Rh2(ii,ii) dyes was achieved with low energy, red light excitation.

New Ru(ii) complex for dual photochemotherapy: release of cathepsin K inhibitor and 1O2 production.

A new complex, [Ru(tpy)(dppn)(Cbz-Leu-NHCH2CN)]2+ (1, tpy = 2,2':6',2''-terpyridine, dppn = benzo[i]dipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]phenazine) was synthesized and its photochemical properties were investigated. This complex undergoes photorelease of the Cbz-Leu-NHCH2CN ligand, a known cathepsin K inhibitor, with a quantum yield, Φ450, of 0.0012(4) in water (λirr = 450 nm). In addition, 1 sensitizes the production of singlet oxygen upon visible light irradiation with quantum yield, ΦΔ, of 0.64(3) in CH3OH. The photophysical properties of 1 were compared with those of [Ru(tpy)(bpy)(Cbz-Leu-NHCH2CN)]2+ (2, bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine), [Ru(tpy)(dppn)(CH3CN)]2+ (3), and [Ru(tpy)(bpy)(CH3CN)]2+ (4) to evaluate the effect of the release of the Cbz-Leu-NHCH2CN inhibitor relative to the CH3CN ligand, as well as the role of dppn as the bidentate ligand for 1O2 production instead of bpy. Nanosecond transient absorption spectroscopy confirms the formation of the long-lived dppn-centered 3ππ* state in 1 and 3 with a maximum at ∼540 nm and τ ∼20 µs in deaerated acetonitrile. Complexes 1 and 3 are able to cause photoinduced damage to DNA (λirr ≥ 395 nm), whereas 2 and 4 do not photocleave DNA under similar experimental conditions. These results suggest that 1 is a promising agent for dual activity, both releasing a drug and producing singlet oxygen, and is poised to exhibit enhanced biological activity in phototochemotherapy upon irradiation with visible light.