Combined Electrochemistry and Spectroscopy of Complexes and Supramolecules containing Bipyridyl and Other Azabiphenyl Building Blocks

A group of azabiphenyl complexes and supramolecules, and their reduced and oxidized forms when possible, were characterized by cyclic voltammetry and electronic absorption spectroscopy. The oxidized and reduced species, if sufficiently stable, were further generated electrochemically inside a specially designed quartz cell with optically transparent electrode, so that the spectra of the electrochemically generated species could be taken in situ. Assignments were proposed for both parent and product electronic spectra. Species investigated included a range of Ru(II) and Pt(II) complexes, as well as catenanes and their comparents. Using the localized electronic model, the electrochemical reduction can be in most cases assigned as azabiphenyl-based, and the oxidation as transition metal-based. This is consistent with the fact that the azabiphenyl compounds have a low lying π* orbital. The electronic absorption spectra of the compounds under study are mainly composed of π —> π* bands with, in some cases, charge transfer bands also