Bis-(benzene-thiol-ato)(2,2'-biquinoline)zinc(II).

The title compound, [Zn(C(6)H(5)S)(2)(C(18)H(12)N(2))], was prepared as a model for future complexes that will be incorporated into light-harvesting arrays. The Zn(II) atom lies on a twofold rotation axis and the ligands are arranged tetra-hedrally around this atom. The benzene-thiol-ate ligand and the biquinoline ligand are nearly perpendicular to one another, making a dihedral angle of 84.09 (5)°. The biquinoline ligand is nearly planar, with a maximum deviation of 0.055 (3) Šfrom the mean plane of the ring system. In the crystal, the mol-ecules pack in a manner such that the biquinoline ligands are parallel to one another, with a π-π inter-action [interplanar distance = 3.38 (1) Å] with the neighboring biquinoline ligand.

Solvent dependence of intramolecular electron transfer in a helical oligoproline assembly.

The helical oligoproline assembly CH3-CO-Pro-Pro-Pro-Pra(Ptzpn)-Pro-Pro-Pra(RuIIb2m2+ -Pro-Pro-Pra(Anq)-Pro-Pro-Pro-NH2, having a spatially ordered array of functional sites protruding from the proline backbone, has been prepared. The 13-residue assembly formed a linear array containing a phenothiazine electron donor, a tris(bipyridine)ruthenium(II) chromophore, and an anthraquinone electron acceptor with the proline II secondary structure as shown by circular dichroism measurements. Following RuII --> b2m metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) excitation at 457 nm, electron-transfer quenching occurs, ultimately to give a redox-separated (RS) state containing a phenothiazine (PTZ) radical cation at the Pra(Ptzpn) site and an anthraquinone (ANQ) radical anion at the Pra(Anq) site. The redox-separated state was formed with 33-96% efficiency depending on the solvent, and the transient stored energy varied from -1.46 to -1.71 eV at 22 +/- 2 degrees C. The dominant quenching mechanism is PTZ reductive quenching of the initial RuIII(b2m*-) MLCT excited state which is followed by m*- --> ANQ electron transfer to give the RS state. Back electron transfer is highly exergonic and occurs in the inverted region. The rate constant for back electron transfer is solvent dependent and varies from 5.2 x 10(6) to 7.7 x 10(6) s-1 at 22 +/- 2 degrees C. It is concluded that back electron transfer occurs by direct ANQ*- --> PTZ*+ electron transfer. Based on independently evaluated kinetic parameters, the electron-transfer matrix element is HDA approximately 0.13 cm-1.

Synthesis and characterization of bis(di-2-pyridylmethanamine)ruthenium(II).

The complex Ru(dipa)(2)(2+) (dipa = di-2-pyridylmethanamine) has been prepared, yielding approximately a statistical ratio of the meso and rac isomers. The electronic spectra of both isomers show pyridyl pi --> pi transitions in the UV region and MLCT bands in the visible region. The solvent dependence of the spectra provides evidence of hydrogen bond formation between the solvent and the NH(2) site on the ligand. The electrochemical properties of the two isomers are identical; each undergoes a reversible one-electron oxidation in acetonitrile (E(1/2) = 0.933 V vs Ag/AgCl) and in aqueous solution below pH 3 (E(1/2) = 0.786 V vs Ag/AgCl). In aqueous solution above pH 3, one-electron oxidation of the ruthenium center is followed by deprotonation of the ligand NH(2) site yielding a reactive amidoruthenium(III) species. The ruthenium-bound dipa ligand possesses structural constraints that prevent the usual oxidative dehydrogenation reaction, which would yield exclusively the corresponding imine. Instead the amidoruthenium(III) intermediate finds alternative reaction routes leading to multiple products.

A New Electron-Transfer Donor for Photoinduced Electron Transfer in Polypyridyl Molecular Assemblies.

A synthetic procedure has been devised for the preparation of the reductive quencher ligand 4-methyl-4'-(N-methyl-p-tolylaminomethyl)-2,2'-bipyridine (dmb-tol), which contains toluidine covalently bound to 2,2'-bipyridine. When bound to Re(I) in [Re(I)(dmb-tol)(CO)(3)Cl], laser flash Re(I) --> dmb metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) excitation at 355 nm in CH(3)CN at 298 +/- 2 K is followed by efficient, rapid (<5 ns) appearance of a transient with an absorption feature at 470 nm. The transient spectrum is consistent with formation of the redox-separated state, [Re(I)(dmb(-)-tol(+))(CO)(3)Cl], which returns to the ground state by back electron transfer with k(ET) = (1.05 +/- 0.01) x 10(7) s(-)(1) (tau = 95 +/- 1 ns) at 298 +/- 2 K. Rapid, efficient quenching is also observed in the Ru(II) complex [Ru(4,4'-(C(O)NEt(2))(2)bpy)(2)(dmb-tol)](2+). Based on transient absorption measurements, a rapid equilibrium appears to exist between the initial metal-to-ligand charge-transfer excited state and the redox-separated state, which lies at higher energy. Decay to the ground state is dominated by back electron transfer within the redox-separated state which occurs with k > 4 x 10(8) s(-)(1) at 298 +/- 2 K.

Excited-State Electron Transfer in a Chromophore-Quencher Complex. Spectroscopic Identification of a Redox-Separated State.

In the chromophore-quencher complex fac-[Re(Aqphen)(CO)(3)(py-PTZ)](+) (Aqphen is 12,17-dihydronaphtho[2,3-h]dipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]-phenazine-12,17-dione; py-PTZ is 10-(4-picolyl)phenothiazine), Aqphen is a dppz derivative, containing a pendant quinone acceptor at the terminus of a rigid ligand framework. This introduces a third, low-lying, ligand-based pi acceptor level localized largely on the quinone fragment. Laser flash excitation of fac-[Re(Aqphen)(CO)(3)(py-PTZ)](+) (354.7 nm; in 1,2-dichloroethane) results in the appearance of a relatively long-lived transient that decays with tau(298K) = 300 ns (k = 3.3 x 10(6) s(-)(1)). Application of transient absorption, time-resolved resonance Raman, and time-resolved infrared spectroscopies proves that this transient is the redox-separated state fac-[Re(I)(Aqphen(*)(-)())(CO)(3)(py-PTZ(*)(+)())](+) in which the excited electron is localized largely on the quinone portion of the Aqphen ligand.