title: Heteroleptic diimine copper(I) complexes with large extinction coefficients: synthesis, quantum chemistry calculations and physico-chemical properties.
abstract: Using the HETPHEN approach, five new heteroleptic copper(I) complexes composed of a push-pull 4,4'-styryl-6,6'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyridine ligand and a bulky bis[(2-diphenylphosphino)phenyl]-ether (DPEphos) or a bis2,9-mesityl phenanthroline (Mes2Phen) were prepared and characterized by electronic absorption spectroscopy, electrochemistry, and TD-DFT calculations. These complexes exhibit very intense absorption bands in the visible region with extinction coefficient in the range of 5-7 × 10(4) M(-1) cm(-1). The analysis of the position, intensity and band shape indicates a strong contribution from an intra-ligand charge-transfer transition centered on the styrylbipyridine ligand along with MLCT transitions. These new complexes experimentally demonstrate that good light harvesting properties with bis-diimine copper(I) complexes are a reality if one chooses suitable ligands in the coordination sphere. This constitutes a milestone towards using bis-diimine copper(I) complexes for solar energy conversion (artificial photosynthesis and solar cells).
authors.affiliation: Université UNAM, Université de Nantes, CNRS, and Chimie ET Interdisciplinarité: Synthèse, Analyse, Modélisation (CEISAM), UMR 6230, 2, rue de la Houssinière - BP 92208, 44322 Nantes Cedex 3, France. Fabrice.Odobel@univ-nantes.fr.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sandroni
authors.forename: Megumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kayanuma
authors.forename: Mateusz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rebarz
authors.forename: Huriye
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Akdas-Kilig
authors.forename: Yann
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pellegrin
authors.forename: Errol
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Blart
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Le Bozec
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Daniel
authors.forename: Fabrice
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Odobel