Photochemical Properties of Red-Emitting Tris(cyclometalated) Iridium(III) Complexes Having Basic and Nitro Groups and Application to pH Sensing and Photoinduced Cell Death.

Cyclometalated iridium(III) complexes, because of their photophysical properties, have the potential for use as luminescent probes for cellular imaging. We previously reported on a pH-activatable iridium complex that contains three N,N-diethylamino groups, namely, fac-Ir(deatpy)3 5, which was synthesized via a regioselective aromatic substitution reaction at the 5'-position with tolylpyridine groups of fac-Ir(tpy)3 2. It was found that 5 shows a considerable enhancement in emission intensity in the pH range from neutral to slightly acidic (pH 6.

Regioselective aromatic substitution reactions of cyclometalated Ir(III) complexes: synthesis and photochemical properties of substituted Ir(III) complexes that exhibit blue, green, and red color luminescence emission.

In this manuscript, the regioselective halogenation, nitration, formylation, and acylation of Ir(tpy)(3) and Ir(ppy)(3) (tpy = 2-(4'-tolyl)pyridine and ppy = 2-phenylpyridine) and the subsequent conversions are described. During attempted bromination of the three methyl groups in fac-Ir(tpy)(3) using N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) and benzoyl peroxide (BPO), three protons at the 5'-position (p-position with respect to the C-Ir bond) of phenyl rings in tpy units were substituted by Br, as confirmed by (1)H NMR spectra, mass spectra, and X-ray crystal structure analysis. It is suggested that such substitution reactions of Ir complexes proceed via an ionic mechanism rather than a radical mechanism.