Iridium(III) complexes with sulfonyl and fluorine substituents: synthesis, stereochemistry and effect of functionalisation on their photophysical properties.

The synthesis and photophysical and electrochemical characterisation of new heteroleptic iridium complexes with electron-withdrawing sulfonyl groups and fluorine atoms bound to phenylpyridine ligands are reported. The emission energy of these materials strongly depends on the position of the sulfonyl groups and on the number of fluorine substituents. A 90 nm wide tuning range of photoluminescence from the blue-green (lambda(em)=468 nm) of iridium(III)bis[2-(4'-benzylsulfonyl)phenylpyridinato-N,C2'][3-(pentafluorophenyl)-pyridin-2-yl-1,2,4-triazolate] to the orange (lambda(em)=558 nm) of iridium(III)bis[2-(3'-benzylsulfonyl)phenylpyridinato-N,C2'](2,4-decanedionate) has been achieved. Emission quantum yields ranging from 47 to 71% have also been found for degassed solutions of the complexes, and a surprisingly high value of 16% was recorded for iridium(III)bis[2-(5'-benzylsulfonyl-3',6'-difluoro)phenylpyridinato-N,C2'](2,4-decanedionate) in air-equilibrated dichloromethane. A unusual stereochemistry of the benzylsulfonyl-substituted dimer and heteroleptic complexes has been detected by (1)H NMR spectroscopy, and is characterised by the mutual cis disposition of the pyridyl nitrogen atoms of the phenylpyridine ligands, which differs from the most common trans arrangement reported in the literature.

Enantiopure, supramolecular helices containing three-dimensional tetranuclear lanthanide(III) arrays: synthesis, structure, properties, and solvent-driven trinuclear/tetranuclear interconversion.

The enantiomerically pure pinene-bipyridine-based receptor, (-) or (+) L(-), diastereoselectively self-assembles in dry acetonitrile in the presence of Ln(III) ions (Ln = La, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, and Tb) to give a C3-symmetrical, pyramidal architecture with the general formula [Ln4(L)9(mu3-OH)](ClO4)2) (abbreviated as tetra-Ln4L9). Three metal centers shape the base: an equilateral triangle surrounded by two sets of helically wrapping ligands with opposite configurations. This part of the structure is very similar to the species [Ln3(L)6(mu3-OH)(H2O)3](ClO4)2) (recently reported by us and abbreviated as tris-LnL2) formed by the ligand and the Ln(III) ions when the reactions are performed in methanol. The tetranuclear structure is completed by a capping, helical unit LnL3 whose chirality is also predetermined by the chirality of the ligand. A complete characterization of these isostructural, chiral compounds was performed in solid state (X-ray, IR) and in solution (ES-MS, NMR, CD, UV-vis and emission spectroscopies). The sign and the intensity of the CD bands in the region of the pi pi* transitions of the bipyridine (absolute Delta epsilon values at 327 nm are about 280 M(-1) x cm(-1)) are highly influenced by the helicity of the capping fragment LnL3. The photophysical properties (lifetime, quantum yield) of the visible (Eu and Tb complexes) and NIR (Nd complex) emitters indicate a good energy transfer between the ligands and the metal centers. The two related superstructures tetra-Ln4L9 and tris-LnL2 can be interconverted in acetonitrile, the switching process depending on the amount of water present in the solvent, the size of the Ln(III) ion, and the concentration. The weak chiral recognition capabilities of the self-assembly leading to the formation of tetra-Ln4L9 either by direct synthesis from a racemic mixture of the ligand and Ln(III) ions or by the conversion of a tris-Ln[(+/-)-L]2 racemate were likewise demonstrated.

Coordination-driven face-directed self-assembly of trigonal prisms. Face-based conformational chirality.

The coordination-driven self-assembly of four different trigonal prisms from 3 equiv of one of four different tetrapyridyl star connectors and 6 equiv of a platinum linker dication in nitromethane is presented. This face-directed approach affords high yields without template assistance. The prisms have been characterized by multinuclear and DOSY NMR and dual ESI-FT-ICR mass spectrometry. The use of a conformationally chiral star connector leads to a conformationally chiral prism when connector arm ends attached to a vertex have a strongly correlated twist sense and chirality is communicated across polyhedral faces, edges, and vertices. Molecular mechanics results suggest that in the smallest prism 3d collective effects dominate and the all-P and all-M conformers are strongly favored. NMR data prove that the two edges of the pyridine rings in the triflate salts of 3a-3d are distinct. An Eyring plot of rates obtained from line-shape analysis and 1-D EXCHSY NMR yields an activation enthalpy DeltaH(double dagger) of approximately 12 kcal/mol and activation entropy DeltaS(double dagger) of approximately -15 cal/mol x K for the edge interconversion process, compatible with pyridine rotation around the Pt-N bond. For 3c, this behavior is observed only up to approximately 318 K. At higher temperatures, the Eyring plot is again linear but follows a very different straight line, with a DeltaH(double dagger) of approximately 35 kcal/mol and DeltaS(double dagger) of approximately 60 cal/mol x K. This highly unusual result is further investigated and discussed in the following companion paper.

Sensitized near-infrared emission from ytterbium(III) via direct energy transfer from iridium(III) in a heterometallic neutral complex.

A tetrametallic iridium-ytterbium complex has been synthesised that shows sensitized near-infrared emission (lambda(max) = 976 nm) upon excitation of the iridium unit in the visible region (400 nm) due to efficient energy transfer from the iridium units to the Yb(III) ion. The iridium phosphorescence is quenched nearly quantitatively while the ytterbium ion emits brightly in the NIR.

Blue-emitting iridium complexes with substituted 1,2,4-triazole ligands: synthesis, photophysics, and devices.

Neutral heteroleptic mononuclear iridium(III) complexes with (2,4-difluoro)phenylpyridine and different pyridine-1,2,4-triazole ligands were synthesized and fully characterized. We investigated the effects of substituents in the 5-position of the triazole ring on the photophysical and electrochemical behavior. Increasing the electron-withdrawing capabilities generally leads to a lowering of the HOMO level with a consequent slight widening of the HOMO-LUMO gap and a blue shift in emission. The complexes reported exhibit high emission quantum yields and long luminescent lifetimes, typical of iridium(III) complexes, and most of them show reversible redox processes in solution. Also, many of the complexes reported here have been obtained as single crystals suitable for X-ray crystallography. Two of the complexes were further tested as phosphorescent dyes in OLED devices and showed high external quantum efficiencies (~7%) and color points better than the "standard" for blue iridium(III) bis[(4,6-difluorophenyl)pyridinato-N,C2']picolinate (FIrpic). We also report the full electrochemical investigation of FIrpic in different solvents.

Lanthanide class of a trinuclear enantiopure helical architecture containing chiral ligands: synthesis, structure, and properties.

The pinene-bipyridine carboxylic derivatives (+)- and (-)-HL, designed to form configurationally stable lanthanide complexes, proved their effectiveness as chiral building blocks for the synthesis of lanthanide-containing superstructures. Indeed a self-assembly process takes place with complete diastereoselectivity between the enantiomerically pure ligand L(-) and Ln(III) ions (La, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er), thus leading to the quantitative formation of a trinuclear supramolecular architecture with the general formula [Ln(3)(L)(6)(mu(3)-OH)(H(2)O)(3)](ClO(4))(2) (abbreviated as tris(Ln[L](2))). This class of C(3)-symmetrical compounds was structurally characterized in the solid state and solution. Electrospray (ES) mass spectrometric and (1)H NMR spectroscopic analyses indicated that the trinuclear species are maintained in solution (CH(2)Cl(2)) and are stable in the investigated concentration range (10(-2)-10(-6) m). The photophysical properties of the ligand HL and its tris(Ln[L](2)) complexes were studied at room temperature and 77 K, thus demonstrating that the metal-centered luminescence is well sensitized both for the visible and near-IR emitters. The chiroptical properties of tris(Ln[L](2)) complexes were investigated by means of circular dichroism (CD) and circularly polarized luminescence (CPL). A high CD activity is displayed in the region of pi-pi* transitions of bipyridine. CPL spectra of tris(Eu[(+)-L](2)) and tris(Tb[(+)-L](2)) present large dissymmetry factors g(em) for the sensitive transitions of Eu(III) ((5)D(0)-->(7)F(1), g(em)=-0.088) and Tb(III) ((5)D(4)-->(7)F(5), g(em)=-0.0806). The self-recognition capabilities of the system were tested in the presence of artificial enantiomeric mixtures of the ligand. (1)H NMR spectra identical to those of the enantiomerically pure complexes and investigations by CD spectroscopic analysis reveal an almost complete chiral self-recognition in the self-assembly process, thus leading to mixtures of homochiral trinuclear structures.