Photochemistry of P,N-bidentate rhenium(i) tricarbonyl complexes: reactive species generation and potential application for antibacterial photodynamic therapy.

In this work, we describe the photoisomerization of facial rhenium(i) tricarbonyl complexes bearing P,N-bidentate pyridyl/phosphine ligands with different chelating rings and anions: RePNBr, RePNTfO, and RePNNBr, which are triggered under irradiation at 365 nm in solutions. The apparent photodegradation rate constants ( ) depend on the coordinating ability of the solvent, being lowest in acetonitrile. The value increases as the temperature rises, suggesting a reactive IL excited state thermally populated from the MLCT excited state involved.