Coupling of metal-based light-harvesting antennas and electron-donor subunits: trinuclear ruthenium(II) complexes containing tetrathiafulvalene-substituted polypyridine ligands.

Three new tetrathiafulvalene-substituted 2,2'-bipyridine ligands, cis-bpy-TTF(1), trans-bpy-TTF(1), and cis-bpy-TTF(2) have been prepared and characterized. X-ray analysis of trans-bpy-TTF(1) is also reported. Such ligands have been used to prepare two new trinuclear Ru(II) complexes, namely, [[(bpy)(2)Ru(micro-2,3-dpp)](2)Ru(bpy-TTF(1))](PF(6))(6) (9; bpy=2,2'-bipyridine; 2,3-dpp=2,3-bis(2'-pyridyl)pyrazine) and [[(bpy)(2)Ru(micro-2,3-dpp)](2)Ru(bpy-TTF(2))](PF(6))(6) (10). These compounds can be viewed as coupled antennas and charge-separation systems, in which the multichromophoric trinuclear metal subunits act as light-harvesting antennas and the tetrathiafulvalene electron donors can induce charge separation. The absorption spectra, redox behavior, and luminescence properties (both at room temperature in acetonitrile and at 77 K in a rigid matrix of butyronitrile) of the trinuclear metal complexes have been studied. For the sake of completeness, the mononuclear compounds [(bpy)(2)Ru(bpy-TTF(1))](PF(6))(2) (7) and [(bpy)(2)Ru(bpy-TTF(2))](PF(6))(2) (8) were also synthesized and studied. The properties of the tetrathiafulvalene-containing species were compared to those of the model compounds [Ru(bpy)(2)(4,4'-Mebpy)](2+) (4,4'-Mebpy=4,4'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyridine) and [[(bpy)(2)Ru(micro-2,3-dpp)](2)Ru(bpy)](6+). The absorption spectra and redox behavior of all the new metal compounds can be interpreted by a multicomponent approach, in which specific absorption features and redox processes can be assigned to specific subunits of the structures. The luminescence properties of the complexes in rigid matrices at 77 K are very similar to those of the corresponding model compounds without TTF moieties, whereas the new species are nonluminescent, or exhibit very weak emissions relative to those of the model compounds in fluid solution at room temperature. Time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopy confirmed that the potentially luminescent MLCT states of 7-10 are significantly shorter lived than the corresponding states of the model species. Photoinduced electron-transfer processes from the TTF moieties to the (excited) MLCT chromophore(s) are held responsible for the quenching processes.

Effects of Metalation State (Free Base, Mg, Zn, Cd) on Excited-State Energy Transfer in Diarylethyne-Linked Porphyrin Dimers.

The ground- and excited-state properties of two new porphyrin dimers have been examined using static and time-resolved optical techniques. One dimer consists of a zinc porphyrin and a magnesium porphyrin (ZnMgU), and the other dimer consists of a cadmium porphyrin and a free base (Fb) porphyrin (CdFbU). In both arrays, the porphyrins are joined by a diarylethyne linker at one meso position with mesityl groups at the nonlinking meso positions. The rates of photoinduced energy transfer are faster for ZnMgU ((9 ps)(-)(1)) and CdFbU ((15 ps)(-)(1)) than found previously for ZnFbU ((24 ps)(-)(1)) and MgFbU ((31 ps)(-)(1)). Only for CdFbU does the yield of excited-state energy transfer (87%) drop below the near-quantitative (>/=99%) level, and this effect derives solely from competition with a very short inherent lifetime ( approximately 100 ps) of the photoexcited Cd porphyrin. The results further illustrate (1) the efficacy of this dimeric architecture for ultrafast excited-state energy transfer, (2) how molecular/electronic properties can be manipulated to tune photoinduced energy flow in multiporphyrin arrays, and (3) key factors impacting effective inter-porphyrin electronic communication, including porphyrin orbital tuning.