A triphenylamine-grafted imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline ruthenium(II) complex: acid-base and photoelectric properties.

A new heteroleptic ruthenium(II) complex of [Ru(Hipdpa)(Hdcbpy)(NCS)(2)](-).0.5H(+).0.5[N(C(4)H(9))(4)](+) Ru(Hipdpa) {where Hdcbpy = monodeprotonated 4,4'-dicarboxy-2,2'-bipyridine and Hipdpa = 4-(1H-imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthrolin-2-yl)-N,N-diphenylaniline} was synthesized and characterized by elementary analysis, standard spectroscopy techniques, and cyclic voltammetry. The ground- and excited-state acid-base properties of Ru(Hipdpa) were studied by means of UV-vis absorption spectrophotometric and spectrofluorimetric titrations in 4:1(v/v) Britton-Robinson/dimethylformamide buffer solution. The four-step separate protonation/deprotonation processes were found in the ground states, and one of which taking place near the physiological pH range. The two observable excited-state protonation/deprotonation processes were found for the Ru(Hipdpa), constituting pH-induced "off-on-off" emission switches. The performance of the complexes as photosensitizers in nanocrystalline TiO(2)-based liquid solar cells containing an electrolyte solution (0.05 M I(2), 0.5 M LiI, and 0.5 M 4-tert-butylpyridine in 50% acetonitrile and 50% propylene carbonate) was investigated and found to achieve a much improved device performance (a short-circuit photocurrent density of 18.7 mA cm(-2), an open-circuit voltage of 630 mV, and an overall conversion efficiency of 6.85%) compared to a triphenylamine-free parent complex [Ru(Hpip)(Hdcbpy)(NCS)(2)](-).[N(C(4)H(9))(4)](+)-based device {Hpip = 2-phenyl-1H-imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline} and a comparable performance to that of cis-bis(isothiocyanato)bis(2,2'-bipyridine-4,4'-dicarboxylic acid)ruthenium(II) (N3) under identical experimental conditions. A density functional theory calculation of the molecular structures and electronic properties of the complexes was also carried out in an effort to understand their effectiveness in TiO(2)-based solar cells.