Synthesis, Characterization, and Electron-Transfer Properties of Ferrocene-BODIPY-Fullerene Near-Infrared-Absorbing Triads: Are Catecholopyrrolidine-Linked Fullerenes a Good Architecture to Facilitate Electron-Transfer?

A series of covalent ferrocene-BODIPY-fullerene triads with the ferrocene groups conjugated to the BODIPY π-system and the fullerene acceptor linked at the boron hub by a common catecholpyrrolidine bridge were prepared and characterized by 1D and 2D NMR, UV/Vis, steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy, high-resolution mass spectrometry, and, for one of the derivatives, X-ray crystallography. Redox processes of the new compounds were investigated by electrochemical (CV and DPV) methods and spectroelectrochemistry. DFT calculations indicate that the HOMO in all triads was delocalized between ferrocene and BODIPY π-system, the LUMO was always fullerene-centered, and the catechol-centered occupied orbital was close in energy to the HOMO. TDDFT calculations were indicative of the low-energy, low-intensity charge-transfer bands originated from the ferrocene-BODIPY core to fullerene excitation, which explained the similarity of the UV/Vis spectra of the ferrocene-BODIPY dyads and ferrocene-BODIPY-fullerene triads. Photophysical properties of the new triads as well as reference BODIPY-fullerene and ferrocene-BODIPY dyads were investigated by pump-probe spectroscopy in the UV/Vis and NIR spectral regions following selective excitation of the BODIPY-based antenna. Initial charge transfer from the ferrocene to the BODIPY core was shown to outcompete sub-100 fs deactivation of the excited state mediated by the catechol bridge. However, no subsequent electron transfer to the fullerene acceptor was observed. The initial charge separated state relaxes by recombination with a time constant of 150-380 ps.

Tuning Up an Electronic Structure of the Subphthalocyanine Derivatives toward Electron-Transfer Process in Noncovalent Complexes with C60 and C70 Fullerenes: Experimental and Theoretical Studies.

Noncovalent π-π interactions between chloroboron subphthalocyanine (1), 2,3-subnaphthalocyanine (3), 1,4,8,11,15,18-(hexathiophenyl)subphthalocyanine (4), or 4-tert-butylphenoxyboron subphthalocyanine (2) with C60 and C70 fullerenes were studied by UV-vis and steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy, as well as mass (APCI, ESI, and CSI) spectrometry. Mass spectrometry experiments were suggestive of relatively weak interaction energies between compounds 1-4 and fullerenes. The formation of a new weak charge-transfer band in the NIR region was observed in solution only for subphthalocyanine 4 when titrated with C60 and C70 fullerenes. Molecular structures of the subphthalocyanines 2 and 4 as well as cocrystallite of 4 with C60 fullerene (4···C60) were studied using X-ray crystallography. One of the C60 fullerenes in the crystal structure of 4···C60 was found in the concave region between two subphthalocyanine cores, while the other three fullerenes are aligned above individual isoindole fragments of the aromatic subphthalocyanine. The excited-state dynamics in noncovalent assemblies were studied by transient absorption spectroscopy. The time-resolved photophysics data suggest that only electron-rich subphthalocyanine 4 can facilitate an electron-transfer to C60 or C70 fullerenes, while no electron-transfer from the photoexcited receptors 1-3 to fullerenes was observed in UV-vis and transient spectroscopy experiments. DFT calculations using the CAM-B3LYP exchange-correlation functional and the 6-31+G(d) basis set allowed an estimation of interaction energies for the noncovalent 1:1 and 1:2 (fullerene:subphthalocyanine) complexes. Theoretical data suggest that the weak (∼3.5-10.5 kcal/mol) van der Waals-type interaction energies tend to increase with an increase of the electron density at the subphthalocyanine core with compound 4 being the best platform for noncovalent interactions with fullerenes. DFT calculations also indicate that 1:2 (fullerene:subphthalocyanine) noncovalent complexes are more stable than the corresponding 1:1 assemblies.