Interligand Electron Transfer in Heteroleptic Ruthenium(II) Complexes Occurs on Multiple Time Scales

The time-dependent localization of the metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) excited states of ruthenium­(II) complexes containing 2,2′-bipyridine (bpy) and 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) ligands was studied by femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. Time-resolved anisotropy measurements indicate that the excited state hops randomly among the three ligands of each complex by subpicosecond interligand electron transfer (ILET). Although the bpy- and phen-localized ³MLCT states have similar energies and steady-state emission spectra, pronounced differences in their excited-state absorption spectra make it possible to observe changes in excited state populations using magic angle transient absorption measurements. Analysis of the magic angle signals shows that the excited electron is equally likely to be found on any of the three ligands approximately 1 ps after excitation, but this statistical distribution subsequently evolves to a Boltzmann distribution with a time constant of approximately 10 ps. The apparent contradiction between ultrafast ILET revealed by time-dependent anisotropy measurements and the slower ILET seen in magic angle measurements on the tens of picoseconds time scale is explained by a model in which the underlying rates depend dynamically on excess vibrational energy. The insight that ILET can occur over multiple time scales reconciles contradictory literature observations and may lead to improved photosensitizer performance

Site-Directed Coordination Chemistry with P22 Virus-like Particles

Protein cage nanoparticles (PCNs) are attractive platforms for developing functional nanomaterials using biomimetic approaches for functionalization and cargo encapsulation. Many strategies have been employed to direct the loading of molecular cargos inside a wide range of PCN architectures. Here we demonstrate the exploitation of a metal-ligand coordination bond with respect to the direct packing of guest molecules on the interior interface of a virus-like PCN derived from Salmonella typhimurium bacteriophage P22. The incorporation of these guest species was assessed using mass spectrometry, multiangle laser light scattering, and analytical ultracentrifugation. In addition to small-molecule encapsulation, this approach was also effective for the directed synthesis of a large macromolecular coordination polymer packed inside of the P22 capsid and initiated on the interior surface. A wide range of metals and ligands with different thermodynamic affinities and kinetic stabilities are potentially available for this approach, highlighting the potential for metal-ligand coordination chemistry to direct the site-specific incorporation of cargo molecules for a variety of applications.close