Photoinduced behaviour of N,N-bidentate manganese(I) and rhenium(I) tricarbonyl complexes for singlet oxygen generation and CO release.

The combined action of singlet oxygen (1O2) and photoinduced carbon monoxide (CO) released by tricarbonyl metal complexes is a promising synergic treatment against multi-resistant bacterial infections. In this work, we explore the use of a polydentate ligand (bpm = 2,2-bipyrimidine) that offers the opportunity to accommodate two metal centers exhibiting both singlet oxygen generation and carbon monoxide releasing properties in a single molecule. A series of monometallic ([(bpm)M(CO)3Br]; M = Mn, Re) and homo or hetero bimetallic ([Br(CO)3M(bpm)M'(CO)3Br]; M = Mn, Re) compounds were synthesized in moderate to good yields by modulating the metal precursor or the stoichiometry, also the syn:anti isomers ratio for the bimetallic complexes was dependent on the experimental conditions used. DFT modelling shows the anti-isomer is more stable than the syn-isomer by less than 8 kJ mol-1, which is consistent with those experimentally observed in terms of majority product and the effect of experimental conditions over the anti-syn ratio. The HOMO-LUMO gap is lower for the mono and bimetallic rhenium(I) compounds compared to the values for the manganese(I) analogues, while the heterometallic complex shows intermediate values for the anti-isomer. The photophysical characterization shows typical absorption and emission bands with MLCT character. In addition, CO-release and 1O2 generation quantum yields were evaluated for the monometallic Mnbpm and Rebpm homologues and compared with values obtained for the homo- and hetero-bimetallic complexes. Interestingly the replacement of a Mn(CO)3Br moiety in MnbpmMn by a Re(CO)3Br one makes the heterometallic MnbpmRe molecule a molecular oxygen sensitizer and partially retaining its carbon monoxide releasing ability.

Crystal structures and Hirshfeld surface analysis of [κ2-P,N-{(C6H5)2(C5H5N)P}Re(CO)3Br]·2CHCl3 and the product of its reaction with piperidine, [P-{(C6H5)2(C5H5N)P}(C5H11N)Re(CO)3Br].

The coordination of the ligands with respect to the central atom in the complex bromido-tricarbon-yl[diphen-yl(pyridin-2-yl)phosphane-κ2 N,P]rhenium(I) chloro-form disolvate, [ReBr(C17H14NP)(CO)3]·2CHCl3 or [κ2-P,N-{(C6H5)2(C5H5N)P}Re(CO)3Br]·2CHCl3, (I·2CHCl3), is best described as a distorted octa-hedron with three carbonyls in a facial conformation, a bromide atom, and a biting P,N-di-phenyl-pyridyl-phosphine ligand. Hirshfeld surface analysis shows that C-Cl⋯H inter-actions contribute 26%, the distance of these inter-actions are between 2.895 and 3.213 Å. The reaction between I and piperidine (C5H11N) at 313 K in di-chloro-methane leads to the partial decoord-ination of the pyridyl-phosphine ligand, whose pyridyl group is replaced by a piperidine mol-ecule, and the complex bromido-tricarbon-yl[diphen-yl(pyridin-2-yl)phosphane-κP](piperidine-κN)rhenium(I), [ReBr(C5H11N)(C17H14NP)(CO)3] or [P-{(C6H5)2(C5H5N)P}(C5H11N)Re(CO)3Br] (II). The mol-ecule has an intra-molecular N-H⋯N hydrogen bond between the non-coordinated pyridyl nitro-gen atom and the amine hydrogen atom from piperidine with D⋯A = 2.992 (9) Å. Thermogravimetry shows that I·2CHCl3 losses 28% of its mass in a narrow range between 318 and 333 K, which is completely consistent with two solvating chloro-form mol-ecules very weakly bonded to I. The remaining I is stable at least to 573 K. In contrast, II seems to lose solvent and piperidine (12% of mass) between 427 and 463 K, while the additional 33% loss from this last temperature to 573 K corresponds to the release of 2-pyridyl-phosphine. The contribution to the scattering from highly disordered solvent mol-ecules in II was removed with the SQUEEZE routine [Spek (2015 ▸). Acta Cryst. C71, 9-18] in PLATON. The stated crystal data for M r, µ etc. do not take this solvent into account.