Cationic Bis(cyclometalated) Ir(III) Complexes with Pyridine-Carbene Ligands. Photophysical Properties and Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production from Water.

Precursors of chelate pyridine-N-heterocyclic carbene (N^C:) ligands with methyl- or benzyl-substituted imidazolylidene fragments were synthesized. They were used to obtain 12 iridium bis-cyclometalated complexes of the type [Ir(C^N)2(N^C:)]+ (C^N = 2-(phenyl)pyridinato-C2,N, ppy, 2-(4,6-difluorophenyl)pyridinato-C2,N, dfppy). The ancillary N^C: ligands contain different structural modifications. The aim of the work was to analyze the effect that changes in the two types of ligands have on the photophysical and electrochemical properties and also on the behavior of these materials as photosensitizers. The X-ray crystal structures of five complexes were determined. The complexes emitted in the blue-green region. It was expected that the frontier orbitals and thus the photophysical and electrochemical properties would be controlled by the main C^N ligands, and it was demonstrated that the effect of the modifications in the N^C: ligand, especially the presence of a nitro group in the pyridine ring or the interruption of conjugation between the two rings, also affected these properties. The quenching with O2 and photostability studies were also performed. Density functional theory calculations were used to explain the behavior of some derivatives. The complexes and other previously reported compounds were employed as photosensitizers (PS) in preliminary studies on the production of H2 from water using [Co(bpy)3]Cl2 (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine) as catalyst and triethanolamine (TEOA) as the sacrificial reductant. The absence of quenching of the PS with TEOA allowed us to propose an oxidative quenching mechanism.