David N. Bowman

Low-Spin versus High-Spin Ground State in Pseudo-Octahedral Iron Complexes

Pseudo-octahedral complexes of iron find applications as switches in molecular electronic devices, materials for data storage, and, more recently, as candidates for dye-sensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells. Iron, as a first row transition metal, provides a weak ligand-field splitting in an octahedral environment. This results in the presence of low-lying (5)T excited states that, depending on the identity of iron ligands, can become the ground state of the complex. The small energy difference between the low-spin, (1)A, and high-spin, (5)T, states presents a challenge for accurate prediction of their ground state using density functional theory. In this work, we investigate the applicability of the B3LYP functional to the ground state determination of first row transition metal complexes, focusing mainly on Fe(II) polypyridine complexes with ligands of varying ligand field strength. It has been shown previously that B3LYP artificially favors the (5)T state as the ground state of Fe(II) complexes, and the error in the energy differences between the (1)A and (5)T states is systematic for a set of structurally related complexes. We demonstrate that structurally related complexes can be defined as pseudo-octahedral complexes that undergo similar distortion in the metal-ligand coordination environment between the high-spin and low-spin states. The systematic behavior of complexes with similar distortion can be exploited, and the ground state of an arbitrary Fe(II) complex can be determined by comparing the calculated energy differences between the singlet and quintet electronic states of a complex to the energy differences of structurally related complexes with a known, experimentally determined ground state.

Electron injection from copper diimine sensitizers into TiO2: Structural effects and their implications for solar energy conversion devices

Copper(I) diimine complexes have emerged as low cost replacements for ruthenium complexes as light sensitizers and electron donors, but their shorter metal-to-ligand-charge-transfer (MLCT) states lifetimes and lability of transient Cu(II) species impede their intended functions. Two carboxylated Cu(I) bis-2,9-diphenylphenanthroline (dpp) complexes [Cu(I)(dpp-O(CH2CH2O)5)(dpp-(COOH)2)](+) and [Cu(I)(dpp-O(CH2CH2O)5)(dpp-(Φ-COOH)2)](+) (Φ = tolyl) with different linker lengths were synthesized in which the MLCT-state solvent quenching pathways are effectively blocked, the lifetime of the singlet MLCT state is prolonged, and the transient Cu(II) ligands are stabilized. Aiming at understanding the mechanisms of structural influence to the interfacial charge transfer in the dye-sensitized solar cell mimics, electronic and geometric structures as well as dynamics for the MLCT state of these complexes and their hybrid with TiO2 nanoparticles were investigated using optical transient spectroscopy, X-ray transient absorption spectroscopy, time-dependent density functional theory, and quantum dynamics simulations. The combined results show that these complexes exhibit strong absorption throughout the visible spectrum due to the severely flattened ground state, and a long-lived charge-separated Cu(II) has been achieved via ultrafast electron injection (<300 fs) from the (1)MLCT state into TiO2 nanoparticles. The results also indicate that the TiO2-phen distance in these systems does not have significant effect on the efficiency of the interfacial electron-transfer process. The mechanisms for electron transfer in these systems are discussed and used to develop new strategies in optimizing copper(I) diimine complexes in solar energy conversion devices.

Cyclometalated Fe(II) Complexes as Sensitizers in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) often utilize transition metal-based chromophores for light absorption and semiconductor sensitization. Ru(II)-based dyes are among the most commonly used sensitizers in DSSCs. As ruthenium is both expensive and rare, complexes based on cheaper and more abundant iron could serve as a good alternative. In this study, we investigate Fe(II)-bis(terpyridine) and its cyclometalated analogues, in which pyridine ligands are systematically replaced by aryl groups, as potential photosensitizers in DSSCs. We employ density functional theory at the B3LYP/6-31G*,SDD level to obtain the ground state electronic structure of these complexes. Quantum dynamics simulations are utilized to study interfacial electron transfer between the Fe(II) photosensitizers and a titanium dioxide semiconductor. We find that cyclometalation stabilizes the singlet ground state of these complexes by 8-19 kcal/mol but reduces the electron density on the carboxylic acid attached to the aryl ring. The results suggest that cyclometalation provides a feasible route to increasing the efficiency of Fe(II) photosensitizers but that care should be taken in choosing the substitution position for the semiconductor anchoring group.