U.S.-Australia Cooperative Research on Chromophore-Quencher Complexes for Studies in Photochemical Redox Splitting

该奖项支持北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校的Thomas Meyer博士和澳大利亚汤斯维尔詹姆斯库克大学的Richard Keene博士之间的合作研究。该项目将扩展美国国家科学基金会（nsf）支持的研究项目，其中对钌和铼的发色团-猝灭剂（C-Q）配合物的研究旨在促进对光致电子转移过程的基本理解。例如，在一个钌配合物中，光激发到金属到配体电荷转移（MLCT）状态导致通过分子内电子转移的还原猝灭。研究表明，钌和铼配合物的MLCT激发态可以成功地用于光化学诱导的电子和能量反应的研究。这项美国-澳大利亚合作项目的主要目标是制备钌并对其进行光物理研究，其中电子转移供体和受体以化学方式附着在MLCT发色团上。为了推进这一领域的研究，将设计新的配体，其中可以实现电子转移的空间控制，以最大限度地提高形成效率和氧化还原分离态的寿命。该项目代表了Keene小组（配体修饰的合成方法）和Meyer小组（光物理研究）之间的出色合作。这是建立新的光化学电子传递体系，发现新的能量和电子传递过程的重要基础工作。

This award supports cooperative research between Dr. Thomas Meyer of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Dr. Richard Keene at James Cook University, Townsville, Australia. This project will extend and broaden an NSF-supported research program in which the study of chromophore-quencher (C-Q) complexes of ruthenium and rhenium is intended to advance basic understanding of photoinduced electron-transfer processes. For example, it was shown that optical excitation to a metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) state in one ruthenium complex led to reductive quenching via intramolecular electron transfer. The study showed that MLCT excited states of ruthenium and rhenium complexes could be used successfully in the study of photochemically induced electron and energy reactions. The major objective of this U.S.-Australian cooperative project is the preparation and photophysical study of ruthenium in which electron transfer donors and acceptors are chemically attached to MLCT chromophores. To advance this area of study, new ligands will be designed in which spatial control of electron transfer can be achieved in order to maximize the efficiencies of formation and the lifetime of redox separated states. The project represents excellent collaboration between the Keene group (synthetic methodology for ligand modification) and the Meyer group (photophysical studies). This is important fundamental work in establishing new photochemical electron transfer systems and discovering new processes of energy and electron transfer.