Effect of Molecular Conformation Restriction on the Photophysical Properties of N^N Platinum(II) Bis(ethynylnaphthalimide) Complexes Showing Close-Lying 3MLCT and 3LE Excited States

Inorg Chem. 2019 Feb 4;58(3):1850-1861. doi: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.8b02558. Epub 2019 Jan 23.

Abstract

Using naphthalimide (NI), complexes (Pt-PhNI and Pt-PhMeNI) based on the N^N platinum(II) bis(phenylacetylide) coordination framework were prepared, in which there are two close-lying triplet states, i.e., the metal-to-ligand-charge-transfer (3MLCT) and the NI localized emissive state (3LE). Pt-PhNI has better electronic communication between the Pt coordination center and the NI moiety, whereas in Pt-PhMeNI, they are more isolated by orthogonal geometry. For Pt-PhMeNI, the S01MLCT and S01LE absorption bands are separated by 5655 cm-1, while they are more overlapped in Pt-PhNI. The 3MLCT → S0 and 3LE → S0 dual phosphorescence emissions were observed for both Pt-PhNI (in toluene) and Pt-PhMeNI (in benzonitrile). The molecular conformation tunes the 3MLCT/3LE state population ratio, and the orthogonal geometry makes the 3LE state in Pt-PhMeNI basically a dark state (in toluene). Switching of the relative energy levels of the 3MLCT/3LE states by variation of the solvent polarity and temperature was achieved. For Pt-PhMeNI, the energy level of 3MLCT state is higher in a polar solvent; thus, the 3MLCT emission decreases, while the phosphorescence lifetime is prolonged from 9.5 μs (in toluene) to 58 μs (in benzonitrile) because of the different equilibria with the nonemissive 3LE state. Conversely, increasing the temperature enhances the upward transition from the nonemissive 3LE state to the emissive 3MLCT state; as such, the phosphorescence of Pt-PhMeNI was intensified at higher temperature (which is unusual), and the phosphorescence lifetime decreased from 58 μs (298 K) to ca. 5 μs (348 K). The ultrafast intersystem crossing (ca. 0.5 ps) and intramolecular triplet-triplet energy transfer (3-11 ps) were studied by femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. These results are useful for an in-depth understanding of the photophysics of multichromophore transition-metal complexes and for the design of external stimuli-responsive sensing materials, for instance, temperature or microenvironment sensing materials.