Ruthenium(Ii) Tris-Bipyridine Complexes with A [60]fullerene Ligand: Synthesis and Properties

The cycloaddition of azomethine ylides and cyclopropanation reactions have been used to covalently link a 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy) derivative to [60]fullerene through a suitable spacer. Coordination of the bucky ligands to Ru(bpy)(2)Cl-2 produces molecular dyads in which the electron-acceptor characteristics of the fullerene spheroid are coupled with the well-known electron-donating properties of the ruthenium tris-bpy complex upon photoexcitation. Combining these donor-acceptor chromophores in the same molecule gives rise to interesting excited state behavior that can be conveniently studied through cyclic voltammetric, flash-photolytic and pulse-radiolytic techniques.