Nitrogen-Containing Ligands in (Sustainable) Photoactive Materials

Nitrogen-Containing Ligands in (Sustainable) Photoactive Materials

Prof. David E. Herbert
University of Manitoba – Department of Chemistry | Manitoba

Photoactive coordination complexes play an outsized role in modern photochemistry, owing primarily to their ability to absorb visible light and generate useful, long-lived excited states. Ligand design is key to efforts to control both light absorption and the properties of excited states– including their lifetimes–through manipulation of a molecule’s electronic structure, with nitrogen donors ubiquitous in contemporary chromophores.

In this presentation, two approaches to improving the photophysical properties of coordination complexes will be discussed. First, the use of site-selective benzannulation to access ligands bearing electronically accessible extended π-systems with chemically isolated imine-like C=N moieties will be introduced as a means to boosting emission from precious-metal complexes and accessing unconventional excited states in abundant element chromophores. Second, molecular architectures that allow amido donors to exert favorable influence on light absorption or temper undesirable impacts on emission will be discussed.