title: Ground and excited state electronic interactions in a bis(phenanthroline) copper(I) complex sandwiched between two fullerene subunits.
abstract: A new fullerene-substituted phenanthroline ligand has been obtained by reaction of a phenanthroline derivative bearing a 1,3-phenylenebis(methylene)-tethered bis-malonate with C(60) in a double Bingel cyclopropanation. The relative position of the two cyclopropane rings in the resulting bis-methanofullerene derivatives has been determined on the basis of the molecular symmetry (C(s)()) deduced from the (1)H and (13)C NMR spectra. The corresponding Cu(I) complex F-Cu-F has been prepared in good yields by treatment of the ligand with Cu(CH(3)CN)(4)BF(4). In the resulting multicomponent system, both C(60) moieties are in a tangential orientation relative to their bridging phenyl ring, and the central bis(phenanthroline)Cu(I) core is sandwiched between the two carbon spheres. The electrochemical properties of F-Cu-F suggest the existence of ground-state electronic interactions in this multicomponent array based on the mutual effects exerted by the fullerene units to the bis(2,9-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline)Cu(I) complex and vice versa. Close vicinity and electronic interactions between the inorganic core and the peripheral fullerene units are also suggested by increased electronic absorption around 430 nm. The distance between the two moieties is estimated to be 4.3 A by molecular modeling studies. The excited-state properties of F-Cu-F have also been investigated. Photoinduced electron transfer from the central chromophore to the external fullerene units occurs but, surprisingly, only following population of the excited states of the central inorganic unit and not of the external carbon spheres. This is mainly attributed to kinetic factors related to the different nature of the two types of excited states involved, namely charge transfer (excitation on the metal-complexed moiety) vs a localized state (excitation on the fullerene units).
authors.affiliation: Groupe de Chimie des Fullerènes et des Systèmes Conjugués, Ecole Européenne de Chimie, Polymères et Matériaux (ECPM), Université Louis Pasteur et CNRS, UMR 7504 (IPCMS), 25 Rue Becquerel, 67087 Strasbourg Cedex 2, France.
authors.forename: Yannick
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Rio
authors.forename: Gérald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Enderlin
authors.forename: Cyril
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bourgogne
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Nierengarten
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Gisselbrecht
authors.forename: Maurice
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Accorsi
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Armaroli