Environmental sensitivity of Ru(II) complexes: the role of the accessory ligands.

A suite of Ru(II) complexes in which one ligand is pH responsive and the other two are varied in an effort to achieve improved photophysics has been synthesized and their potential as pH reporters assessed. The more general purpose of the study was to examine the role of the accessory ligands in heteroleptic reporter complexes and the degree to which such ligands can affect the performance of luminescent reporters. For this suite of complexes, judicious choice of the accessory ligand can alter both the pK(a)* and the dynamic range of response.

On the causes of altered photophysics of luminescent metal complexes embedded in polymer hosts.

A suite of luminescent Re(I) complexes has been prepared whose emissive properties are responsive to the probe's local environment. These complexes were embedded in a series of chemically similar polymers whose room temperature rigidity varied over a significant range. It is shown that the degree of local rigidity experienced by the embedded complexes significantly alters the observed emission in terms of both spectra and lifetime.

Synthesis, Characterization, and Photochemical/Photophysical Properties of Ruthenium(II) Complexes with Hexadentate Bipyridine and Phenanthroline Ligands.

Three hexadentate, podand-type, polypyridyl ligands, (5-bpy-2C)(3)Bz, (4-bpy-2C-Ph)(3)Et, and (4-phen-2C-Ph)(3)Et, and their Ru(II) and Fe(II) complexes have been prepared. Reaction of these ligands with Fe(II) produces only the monometallic hemicage species, while monometallic, bimetallic, and polymetallic Ru(II) complexes are formed. These species are separable by column chromatography, and NMR and ESI mass spectrometry demonstrate that with each ligand the first band to elute corresponds to the monometallic species, [RuL](2+).