Site-Selective Orbital Interactions in an Ultrathin Iron-Carbene Photosensitizer Film

We present the first experimental study of the frontier orbitals in an ultrathin film of the novel hexa-carbene photosensitizer [Fe(btz)3]3+, where btz is 3,3′-dimethyl-1,1′-bis(p-tolyl)-4,4′-bis(1,2,3-triazol-5-ylidene). Resonant photoelectron spectroscopy (RPES) was used to probe the electronic structure of films where the molecular and oxidative integrities had been confirmed with optical and X-ray spectroscopies. In combination with density functional theory calculations, RPES measurements provided direct and site-selective information about localization and interactions of occupied and unoccupied molecular orbitals. Fe 2p, N 1s, and C 1s measurements selectively probed the metal, carbene, and side-group contributions revealing strong metal–ligand orbital mixing of the frontier orbitals. This helps explain the remarkable photophysical properties of iron-carbenes in terms of unconventional electronic structure properties and favorable metal–ligand bonding interactions—important for the continued development of these type of complexes toward light-harvesting and light-emitting applications.