Correction: Electron transfer rate modulation in a compact Re(i) donor-acceptor complex.

Correction for 'Electron transfer rate modulation in a compact Re(i) donor-acceptor complex' by Yuankai Yue et al., Dalton Trans., 2015, 44, 8609-8616.

Band-selective ballistic energy transport in alkane oligomers: toward controlling the transport speed.

Intramolecular transport of vibrational energy in two series of oligomers featuring alkane chains of various length was studied by relaxation-assisted two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy. The transport was initiated by exciting various end-group modes (tags) such as different modes of the azido (ν(N≡N) and ν(N═N)), carboxylic acid (ν(C═O)), and succinimide ester (νas(C═O)) with short mid-IR laser pulses. It is shown that the transport via alkane chains is ballistic and the transport speed is dependent on the type of the tag mode that initiates the transport. The transport speed of 8.0 Å/ps was observed when initiated by either ν(C═O) or νas(C═O). When initiated by ν(N≡N) and ν(N═N), the transport speed of 14.4 ± 2 and 11 ± 4 Å/ps was observed. Analysis of the vibrational relaxation channels of different tags, combined with the results for the group velocity evaluation, permits identification of the chain bands predominantly contributing to the transport for different cases of the transport initiation. For the transport initiated by ν(N≡N) the CH2 twisting and wagging chain bands were identified as the major energy transport channels. For the transport initiated by ν(C═O), the C-C stretching and CH2 rocking chain bands served as major energy transporters. The transport initiated by ν(N═N) results in direct formation of the wave packet within the CH2 twisting and wagging chain bands. These developments can aid in designing molecular systems featuring faster and more controllable energy transport in molecules.

Electron transfer rate modulation in a compact Re(I) donor-acceptor complex.

Formation of the charge transfer state with the rate constant of (10 ps)(-1) has recently been reported for the complex fac-[Re(I)(CO)3(DCEB)(3DMABN)] (ReEBA); where 3DMABN is 3-dimethylaminobenzonitrile, serving as an electron donor, and DCEB is 4,4'-(dicarboxyethyl)-2,2-bipyridine, serving as an electron acceptor (Y. Yue et al., J. Phys. Chem. A, 118, 10407). 3-Pulse UV-pump - IR-pump - IR-probe spectroscopy is used in this work to study how the charge separation reaction in ReEBA to form a ligand to ligand charge transfer state (LLCT) can be modulated by vibrational excitation of various modes of the complex. While no significant rate modulation was found when the cyano group stretching mode of the 3DMABN donor was excited, a sizable effect was found when the ring stretching mode of the DCEB acceptor was excited. The accumulation of the charge separated state (LLCT state) in the 3-pulse experiment was observed as a sharp excited-state vibrational peak of the symmetric stretch of the three facial carbonyl groups, νSS(CO). Modeling indicates that the rate of charge separation is increased by ca. 28% when vibrational excitation is present. The vibronic coupling signal of the bpy ring mode and νSS(CO) as well as the energy transport dynamics from bpy to carbonyl contributed to the 3-pulse signal and was studied as well using the 3-pulse method. Energy transport between the same modes in the ground electronic state was measured by relaxation-assisted two-dimensional infrared (RA 2DIR) spectroscopy. The energy transport times of 4 ± 0.7 and 5 ± 1.5 ps were found for the ground and excited electronic states.

Fully automated dual-frequency three-pulse-echo 2DIR spectrometer accessing spectral range from 800 to 4000 wavenumbers.

A novel dual-frequency two-dimensional infrared instrument is designed and built that permits three-pulse heterodyned echo measurements of any cross-peak within a spectral range from 800 to 4000 cm(-1) to be performed in a fully automated fashion. The superior sensitivity of the instrument is achieved by a combination of spectral interferometry, phase cycling, and closed-loop phase stabilization accurate to ~70 as. The anharmonicity of smaller than 10(-4) cm(-1) was recorded for strong carbonyl stretching modes using 800 laser shot accumulations. The novel design of the phase stabilization scheme permits tuning polarizations of the mid-infrared (m-IR) pulses, thus supporting measurements of the angles between vibrational transition dipoles. The automatic frequency tuning is achieved by implementing beam direction stabilization schemes for each m-IR beam, providing better than 50 µrad beam stability, and novel scheme for setting the phase-matching geometry for the m-IR beams at the sample. The errors in the cross-peak amplitudes associated with imperfect phase matching conditions and alignment are found to be at the level of 20%. The instrument can be used by non-specialists in ultrafast spectroscopy.

Full-electron ligand-to-ligand charge transfer in a compact Re(I) complex.

Ligand-to-ligand charge transfer (LLCT) states in transition metal complexes are often characterized by fractional electron transfer due to coupling of the LLCT state with many other states via the metal. We designed and characterized a compact Re(I) complex that displays essentially full-electron charge transfer in the LLCT excited state. The complex, [Re(DCEB)(CO)3(L)](+) (DCEB = 4,4'-dicarboxyethyl-2,2'-bipyridine), referred to as ReEBA, features two redox active ligands with strong electron accepting (DCEB) and electron donating (L is 3-dimethylaminobenzonitrile (3DMABN)) properties. The lowest energy excited state formed with a ca. 10 ps time constant and was characterized as the full-electron 3DMABN → DCEB LLCT state using time-resolved infrared spectroscopy (TRIR), transient absorption spectroscopy, and DFT computations. Analysis of a range of vibrational modes helped to assign the charge transfer characteristics of the complex. The LLCT state lifetime in ReEBA shows a strong dependence on the solvent polarity and features solvent dependent frequency shifts for several vibrational reporters. The formation of a full-electron LLCT state (∼92%) was enabled by tuning the redox properties of the electron accepting ligand (DCEB) and simultaneously decoupling the redox active group of the electron donating ligand (3DMABN) from the metal center. This strategy is generally applicable for designing compact transition metal complexes that have full-electron LLCT states.

Evaluating the extent of intramolecular charge transfer in the excited states of rhenium(I) donor-acceptor complexes with time-resolved vibrational spectroscopy.

Excited states in transition-metal complexes, even in those featuring ligands with strong electron donating and accepting properties, often involve only partial charge transfer between the donor and acceptor ligands. The excited-state properties of [Re(bpy)(CO)3L](+) compounds were studied, where L is 4-dimethylaminobenzonitrile (Re4DMABN), 3-dimethylaminobenzonitrile (Re3DMABN), and benzonitrile (ReBN) using time-resolved infrared (TRIR) and electronic spectroscopy methods as well as electronic structure computations. The DMABN complexes exhibit strongly solvent-dependent luminescence; the excited state lifetime decreases from microseconds in dichloromethane to several nanoseconds in mixed MeOH:DCM (1:1) solvent. Despite the similarities in the solvent dependence of the excited state dynamics and redox properties for Re3DMABN and Re4DMABN, the nature of the lowest energy excited states formed in these two compounds is drastically different. For example, the lowest energy excited state for Re4DMABN in the mixed solvent is assigned to the (4DMABN → bpy) ligand-to-ligand charge transfer (LLCT) state featuring partial charge transfer character. An equilibrium between a 3DMABN intraligand triplet ((3)IL) and a metal-ligand-to-ligand charge transfer (MLLCT) state is found for Re3DMABN in the mixed solvent with the latter at ca. 400 cm(-1) lower energy. The origin of such a drastic difference between the states involved in Re4DMABN and Re3DMABN is attributed to a difference in the energies of polarized quinoidal resonance structures in 4DMABN and 3DMABN ligands.