Photochromic dithienylethene derivatives containing Ru(II) or Os(II) metal units. Sensitized photocyclization from a triplet state.

Efficient photocyclization from a low-lying triplet state is reported for a photochromic dithienylperfluorocyclopentene with Ru(bpy)3 units attached via a phenylene linker to the thiophene rings. The ring-closure reaction in the nanosecond domain is sensitized by the metal complexes. Upon photoexcitation into the lowest Ru-to-bpy 1MLCT state followed by intersystem crossing to emitting 3MLCT states, photoreactive 3IL states are populated by an efficient energy-transfer process. The involvement of these 3IL states explains the quantum yield of the photocyclization, which is independent of the excitation wavelength but decreases strongly in the presence of dioxygen. This behavior differs substantially from the photocyclization of the nonemissive dithienylperfluorocyclopentene free ligand, which occurs from the lowest 1IL state on a picosecond time scale and is insensitive to oxygen quenching. Cyclic voltammetric studies have also been performed to gain further insight into the energetics of the system. The very high photocyclization quantum yields, far above 0.5 in both cases, are ascribed to the strong steric repulsion between the bulky substituents on the dithienylperfluorocyclopentene bridge bearing the chelating bipyridine sites or the Ru(bpy)3 moieties, forcing the system to adopt nearly exclusively the reactive antiparallel conformation. In contrast, replacement of both Ru(II) centers by Os(II) completely prevents the photocyclization reaction upon light excitation into the low-lying Os-to-bpy 1MLCT state. The photoreaction can only be triggered by optical population of the higher lying 1IL excited state of the central photochromic unit, but its yield is low due to efficient energy transfer to the luminescent lowest 3MLCT state.