Optical Sensing of Anions via Supramolecular Recognition with Biimidazole Complexes.

Phosphorescent metal complexes with peripheral N-H donor functionalities have attracted great attention as potential molecular sensing units for anionic species lately. In this contribution we discuss the development and potential of anion recognition and sensing features of recent examples of luminescent 2,2'-biimidazole complexes of ruthenium(II), iridium(III), osmium(II) and cobalt(III). The general dependency of photophysical features in these complexes regarding the acid-base chemistry of the peripheral N-H functionalities will be outlined as a basic requirement for optical ion recognition. Systematic strategies for the tuning and specific improvement by synthetic means will be discussed regarding recent reports. With respect to their distinct photophysical features, different transition metals are considered individually to demonstrate particular trends regarding ligand modification within the respective groups. In summary, this review elucidates the current state-of-the-art and future potential of the versatile class of 2,2'-biimidazole based sensor chromophores.

Covalent Photosensitizer-Polyoxometalate-Catalyst Dyads for Visible-Light-Driven Hydrogen Evolution.

A general concept for the covalent linkage of coordination compounds to bipyridine-functionalized polyoxometalates is presented. The new route is used to link an iridium photosensitizer to an Anderson-type hydrogen-evolution catalyst. This covalent dyad catalyzes the visible-light-driven hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and shows superior HER activity compared with the non-covalent reference. Hydrogen evolution is observed over periods >1 week. Spectroscopic, photophysical, and electrochemical analyses give initial insight into the stability, electronic structure, and reactivity of the dyad. The results demonstrate that the proposed linkage concept allows synergistic covalent interactions between functional coordination compounds and reactive molecular metal oxides.

Novel phenanthroline-diaryldiazadiene ligands with heteroditopic coordination spheres.

1,10-Phenanthroline-5,6-diaryldiazadienes are key structures for the development of novel heterodinuclear photocatalysts and for the construction of extended heterocycles of potential biological use. Herein, the first examples of this compound family are presented together with a wide range of initial reactivity studies. Synthetic strategies are presented to access the two first derivatives of the ligand and to accomplish subsequent metal coordination to the phenanthroline sphere.