Synthesis and Coordination Chemistry of a Benzannulated Bipyridine: 6,6′-Biphenanthridine

The synthesis, characterization, and coordination chemistry of a doubly π-extended bipyridine analogue, 6,6′-biphenanthridine (biphe), is presented. The structure of the molecule has been determined in the solid state by X-ray diffraction, showing an angle of 72.6° between the phenanthridine planes. The free, uncoordinated organic molecule displays blue fluorescence in solution. It can be singly protonated with strong acids, and the protonated form displays more intense yellow emission. The effect of acid on the excited states is interpreted with the aid of TDDFT calculations. Two Ru(II) coordination complexes, tris(6,6′-biphenanthridine)ruthenium(II) dichloride, [Ru(biphe)3]Cl2, and bis(2,2′-bipyridine)(6,6′-biphenanthridine)ruthenium(II) tetraphenylborate, [Ru(bpy)2(biphe)](BPh4)2, are also reported and their structures determined in the solid state by X-ray diffraction. Both complexes display emission at 77 K that is strongly bathochromically shifted by almost 200 nm compared to that of the archetypal 3MLCT emitter [Ru(bpy)3]2+. Such a red shift is consistent with the more extended conjugation and lower-energy π* orbitals associated with the biphe ligand, lowering the energy of the 3MLCT excited state, as revealed by TDDFT calculations. The efficient non-radiative decay that is typical of such low-energy emitters renders the phosphorescence extremely weak and short-lived at ambient temperature, and rapid ligand photodissociation also competes with radiative decay, especially in the heteroleptic complex. Electrochemical analysis illustrates the effect of biphe’s stabilized vacant π* manifold, with multiple reversible reductions evident at much less negative potentials than those observed for [Ru(bpy)3]2+

Platinum(ii) complexes of benzannulated N∧N−∧O-amido ligands: bright orange phosphors with long-lived excited states

The synthesis, structural characterization and photophysical properties of a series of platinum(II) complexes of benzannulated pincer-type diarylamido ligands are described. The ligands all contain tricyclic phenanthridine (3,4-benzoquinoline) rings as donor arms, which were elaborated into N∧N−∧O-coordinating β-enaminoketonato chelates via partial condensation with acetylacetone. The proligands are easily deprotonated, and metallation can be achieved under mild conditions using simple Pt(II) salts and Ag2O as a base. The resulting Pt(II) complexes exhibit strong metal-to-ligand charge-transfer absorptions in the region of ∼450–575 nm and are phosphorescent in solution at room temperature, emitting bright orange light (λmax ∼ 600 nm) with quantum yields of up to 16% and excited-state lifetimes on the order of ∼20 μs, representing significant improvements to these photophysical properties compared with many previously reported N∧N∧O or N∧N∧N-ligated systems. Computational modelling reveals that the lowest-lying triplet state is populated efficiently thanks to strong coupling between singlet and triplet excited state manifolds, as in cyclometallated compounds of Pt(II). Substituents (CH3, tBu, or CF3) in the 2-position of the phenanthridinyl unit are found to have little influence on the optical properties, but the emission is severely quenched when a methyl substituent is introduced ortho to the coordinating nitrogen. Molecular distortions in the excited state are shown to be primarily responsible for the quenching in this complex

Yellow-Emitting, Pseudo-Octahedral Zinc Complexes of Benzannulated N^N^O Pincer-Type Ligands

A series of yellow-emitting, pseudo-octahedral Zn(II) complexes supported by monoanionic, tridentate acetylacetone-derived N^N–^O ligands incorporating phenanthridine (benzo[c]quinoline) units is presented. These species emit weakly in solution but exhibit extended millisecond luminescence lifetimes in the solid state at room temperature, and in a frozen glass at 77 K, indicative of phosphorescence from low-lying triplet excited states. Excitation spectra indicate a role for aggregation in enhancing emission in the solid state. In contrast to four-coordinate phenanthridinyl amide-supported tetradentate Zn(II) complexes which are nonemissive in fluid solution, solid-state X-ray crystallographic structures, solution IR spectroscopy, and computational analysis all indicate a delocalized character for the central deprotonated NH which tempers the amido character of the ligand. This design provides a mechanism for “turning on” long-lived luminescence from N-heterocycle/amido-supported Zn(II) coordination compounds

Exploiting synergy between ligand design and counterion interactions to boost room temperature phosphorescence from Cu(i) compounds

The structural and photophysical properties of three sets of luminescent copper complexes of the form [(P^N)2Cu]X are presented. Here, P^N represents a bidentate ligand based on phenanthridine (3,4-benzoquinoline) incorporating a phosphine unit at the 4-position, of which three examples are investigated, namely 4-(diphenylphosphino)phenanthridine (L1), 4-(diphenylphosphino)-2-methylphenanthridine (L2) and 2,6-dimethyl-4-(diphenylphosphino)phenanthridine (L3). For each P^N-coordinating ligand, the corresponding homoleptic copper(I) complex (1X, 2X, 3X) has been prepared as both the hexafluorophosphate and tetraphenylborate salt (X = PF6− or BPh4−). The identity of the counterion has a profound and unexpected impact on the emission properties of the powder samples – but only for complexes of ligands bearing methyl substituents close to the metal (3X). The synergistic effect of combining inter-ion interactions and ligand design enables emission tuning from orange to yellow, in the opposite (hypsochromic) direction compared to employing either strategy on its own. These effects can be attributed to differences in molecular packing, in particular to the combined impact of ligand structure and inter-ionic interactions on distortions in the excited state relative to the ground state. The results have been interpreted with the help of density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) calculations

Site-Selective Benzannulation of N-Heterocycles in Bidentate Ligands Leads to Blue-Shifted Emission from [(P^N)Cu]2(μ-X)2 Dimers

Benzannulated bidentate pyridine/phosphine (P^N) ligands bearing quinoline or phenanthridine (3,4-benzoquinoline) units have been prepared, along with their halide-bridged, dimeric Cu(I) complexes of the form [(P^N)Cu]2(μ-X)2. The copper complexes are phosphorescent in the orange-red region of the spectrum in the solid-state under ambient conditions. Structural characterization in solution and the solid-state reveals a flexible conformational landscape, with both diamond-like and butterfly motifs available to the Cu2X2 cores. Comparing the photophysical properties of complexes of (quinolinyl)phosphine ligands with those of π-extended (phenanthridinyl)phosphines has revealed a counterintuitive impact of site-selective benzannulation. Contrary to conventional assumptions regarding π-extension and a bathochromic shift in the lowest energy absorption maxima, a blue shift of nearly 40 nm in the emission wavelength is observed for the complexes with larger ligand π-systems, which is assigned as phosphorescence on the basis of emission energies and lifetimes. Comparison of the ground-state and triplet excited state structures optimized from DFT and TD-DFT calculations allows attribution of this effect to a greater rigidity for the benzannulated complexes resulting in a higher energy emissive triplet state, rather than significant perturbation of orbital energies. This study reveals that ligand structure can impact photophysical properties for emissive molecules by influencing their structural rigidity, in addition to their electronic structure

Donor-Acceptor Boron-Ketoiminate Complexes with Pendent N-Heterocyclic Arms: Switched-on Luminescence through N-Heterocycle Methylation

A series of intramolecular, donor-stabilized BF2 complexes supported by phenanthridinyl-decorated, β-ketoiminate chelating ligand scaffolds is described, along with their characterization by spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. In solution, the relative orientation of the pendent phenanthridinyl arm is fixed despite not coordinating to the boron center, and a well-resolved through-space interaction between a phenanthridinyl C–H and a single fluorine atom can be observed by 19F–1H NOE NMR spectroscopy. The neutral compounds are nonetheless only weakly luminescent in fluid solution, ascribed to nonradiative decay pathways enabled by rotation of the N-heterocyclic unit. Methylation of the phenanthridinyl nitrogen restricts this rotation, “switching on” comparably strong emission in solution. Modeling by density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TDDFT) indicates that the character of the lowest energy excitation changes upon methylation, with shallow calculated potential energy surfaces of the neutral complexes consistent with their lack of significant radiative decay

Deep-Red Luminescence from Platinum(II) Complexes of N^N–^N-Amido Ligands with Benzannulated N-Heterocyclic Donor Arms

A synthetic methodology for accessing narrow-band, deep-red phosphorescence from mononuclear Pt(II) complexes is presented. These charge-neutral complexes have the general structure (N^N–^N)PtCl, in which the Pt(II) centers are supported by benzannulated diarylamido ligand scaffolds bearing substituted quinolinyl and/or phenanthridinyl arms. Emission maxima ranging from 683 to 745 nm are observed, with lifetimes spanning from 850 to 4500 ns. In contrast to the corresponding proligands, benzannulation is found to counterintuitively but markedly blue-shift emission from metal complexes with differing degrees of ligand benzannulation but similar substitution patterns. This effect can be further tuned by incorporation of electron-releasing (Me, tBu) or electron-withdrawing (CF3) substituents in either the phenanthridine 2-position or quinoline 6-position. Compared with symmetric bis(quinoline) and bis(phenanthridine) architectures, “mixed” ligands incorporating one quinoline and one phenanthridine unit present a degree of charge transfer between the N-heterocyclic arms that is more pronounced in the proligands than in the Pt(II) complexes. The impact of benzannulation and ring-substitution on the structure and photophysical properties of both the proligands and their deep-red emitting Pt(II) complexes is discussed

Site-Selective Benzannulation of <i>N</i>‑Heterocycles in Bidentate Ligands Leads to Blue-Shifted Emission from [(<i>P^N</i>)Cu]₂(μ-X)₂ Dimers

Benzannulated bidentate pyridine/phosphine (<i>P^N</i>) ligands bearing quinoline or phenanthridine (3,4-benzoquinoline) units have been prepared, along with their halide-bridged, dimeric Cu­(I) complexes of the form [(<i>P^N</i>)­Cu]₂(μ-X)₂. The copper complexes are phosphorescent in the orange-red region of the spectrum in the solid-state under ambient conditions. Structural characterization in solution and the solid-state reveals a flexible conformational landscape, with both diamond-like and butterfly motifs available to the Cu₂X₂ cores. Comparing the photophysical properties of complexes of (quinolinyl)­phosphine ligands with those of π-extended (phenanthridinyl)­phosphines has revealed a counterintuitive impact of site-selective benzannulation. Contrary to conventional assumptions regarding π-extension and a bathochromic shift in the lowest energy absorption maxima, a blue shift of nearly 40 nm in the emission wavelength is observed for the complexes with larger ligand π-systems, which is assigned as phosphorescence on the basis of emission energies and lifetimes. Comparison of the ground-state and triplet excited state structures optimized from DFT and TD-DFT calculations allows attribution of this effect to a greater rigidity for the benzannulated complexes resulting in a higher energy emissive triplet state, rather than significant perturbation of orbital energies. This study reveals that ligand structure can impact photophysical properties for emissive molecules by influencing their structural rigidity, in addition to their electronic structure