Efficient photorelease of carbon monoxide from a luminescent tricarbonyl rhenium(I) complex incorporating pyridyl-1,2,4-triazole and phosphine ligands.

Precise control over the production of carbon monoxide (CO) is essential to exploit the therapeutic potential of this molecule. The development of photoactive CO-releasing molecules (PhotoCORMs) is therefore a promising route for future clinical applications. Herein, a tricarbonyl-rhenium(i) complex (1-TPP), which incorporates a phosphine moiety as ancilliary ligand for boosting the photochemical reactivity, and a pyridyltriazole bidentate ligand with appended 2-phenylbenzoxazole moiety for the purpose of photoluminescence, was synthesized and characterized from a chemical and crystallographic point of view.