John Mohanraj, Meera Mohankumar, Iwona Nierengarten, Michel Holler, Béatrice Delavaux-Nicot, Alix Sournia-Saquet, Jean-François Nierengarten, Nicola Armaroli, Filippo Monti, Enrico Leoni, Leoni, E., Mohanraj, J., Holler, M., Mohankumar, M., Nierengarten, I., Monti, F., Sournia-Saquet, A., Delavaux-Nicot, B., Jean-Francois, Nierengarten, Armaroli, N., Leoni, Enrico, Mohanraj, John, Holler, Michel, Mohankumar, Meera, Nierengarten, Iwona, Monti, Filippo, Sournia-Saquet, Alix, Delavaux-Nicot, Béatrice, Jean-Francois Nierengarten, null, Armaroli, Nicola, Istituto per la Sintesi Organica e la Fotoreattività (ISOF-CNR), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Laboratoire de chimie moléculaire (LCM), Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de chimie de coordination (LCC), Institut National Polytechnique (Toulouse) (Toulouse INP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut de Chimie de Toulouse (ICT-FR 2599), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), and Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut de Chimie du CNRS (INC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
The electronic and structural properties of ten heteroleptic [Cu(NN)(PP)]+ complexes have been investigated. NN indicates 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) or 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (Bphen); each of these ligands is combined with five PP bis-phosphine chelators, i.e., bis(diphenylphosphino)methane (dppm), 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane (dppe), 1,3-bis(diphenylphosphino)propane (dppp), 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)benzene (dppb), and bis[(2-diphenylphosphino)phenyl] ether (POP). All complexes are mononuclear, apart from those based on dppm, which are dinuclear. Experimental data - also taken from the literature and including electrochemical properties, X-ray crystal structures, UV-vis absorption spectra in CH2Cl2, luminescence spectra and lifetimes in solution, in PMMA, and as powders - have been rationalized with the support of density functional theory calculations. Temperature dependent studies (78-358 K) have been performed for selected complexes to assess thermally activated delayed fluorescence. The main findings are (i) dependence of the ground-state geometry on the crystallization conditions, with the same complex often yielding different crystal structures; (ii) simple model compounds with imposed C2v symmetry ([Cu(phen)(PX3)2]+ X = H or CH3) are capable of modeling structural parameters as a function of the P-Cu-P bite angle, which plays a key role in dictating the overall structure of [Cu(NN)(PP)]+ complexes; (iii) as the P-Cu-P angle increases, the energy of the metal-to-ligand charge transfer absorption bands linearly increases; (iv) the former correlation does not hold for emission spectra, which are red-shifted for the weaker luminophores; (v) the larger the number of intramolecular π-interactions within the complex in the ground state, the higher the luminescence quantum yield, underpinning a geometry locking effect that limits the structural flattening of the excited state. This work provides a general framework to rationalize the structure-property relationships of [Cu(NN)(PP)]+, a class of compounds of increasing relevance for electroluminescent devices, photoredox catalysis, and solar-to-fuels conversion, which so far have been investigated in an unsystematic fashion, eluding a comprehensive understanding. © Copyright 2018 American Chemical Society.