Triplet MLCT photosensitization of the ring-closing reaction of diarylethenes by design and synthesis of a photochromic rhenium(I) complex of a diarylethene-containing 1,10-phenanthroline ligand.

Synthesis of the diarylethene-containing ligand L1 based on Suzuki cross-coupling reaction between thienyl boronic acid and the dibromophenanthroline ligand is reported. On coordination to the rhenium(I) tricarbonyl complex system, the photochromism of L1 could be photosensitized and consequently extended from intraligand excitation at lambda< or =340 nm in the free ligand to metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) excitation at lambda< or =480 nm in the complex. The photochromic reactions were studied by (1)H NMR, UV/Vis, and steady-state emission spectroscopy. Photosensitization was further probed by ultrafast transient absorption and time-resolved emission spectroscopy. The results provided direct evidence that the formation of the closed form by the MLCT-sensitized photochromic process was derived from the (3)MLCT excited state. This supports the photosensitization mechanism, which involves an intramolecular energy-transfer process from the (3)MLCT to the (3)IL(L1) state that initiated the ring-closure reaction. The photophysical and electrochemical properties of the complex were also investigated.