The nature and dynamics of the lowest excited states of
fac-[Re
I(L)(CO)
3(phen)]
+ and
fac-[Re
I(L)(CO)
3(5-NO
2-phen)]
+ [L = Cl
-, 4-ethyl-pyridine (4-Etpy), imidazole (imH); phen = 1,10-phenanthroline] have been investigatedby picosecond visible and IR transient absorption spectroscopy in aqueous (L = imH), acetonitrile (L = 4-Etpy,imH), and MeOH (L = imH) solutions. The phen complexes have long-lived Re
I ![](/images/entities/rarr.gif)
phen
3MLCT excited states,characterized by CO stretching frequencies that are upshifted relative to their ground-state values and by widelysplit IR bands due to the out-of-phase A'(2) and A' '
![](/images/gifchars/nu.gif)
(CO) vibrations. The lowest excited states of the 5-NO
2-phencomplexes also have
3MLCT character; the larger upward
![](/images/gifchars/nu.gif)
(CO) shifts accord with much more extensive chargetransfer from the Re
I(CO)
3 unit to 5-NO
2-phen in these states. Transient visible absorption spectra indicate that theexcited electron is delocalized over the 5-NO
2-phen ligand, which acquires radical anionic character. Similarly,involvement of the -NO
2 group in the Franck-Condon MLCT transition is manifested by the presence of an enhanced
![](/images/gifchars/nu.gif)
(NO
2) band in the preresonance Raman spectrum of [Re
I(4-Etpy)(CO)
3(5-NO
2-phen)]
+. The Re
I ![](/images/entities/rarr.gif)
5-NO
2-phen
3MLCT excited states are very short-lived: 7.6, 170, and 43 ps for L = Cl
-, 4-Etpy, and imH, respectively, inCH
3CN solutions. The
3MLCT excited state of [Re
I(imH)(CO)
3(5-NO
2-phen)]
+ is even shorter-lived in MeOH (15 ps)and H
2O (1.3 ps). In addition to
3MLCT, excitation of [Re
I(imH)(CO)
3(5-NO
2-phen)]
+ populates a
3LLCT (imH
![](/images/entities/rarr.gif)
5-NO
2-phen) excited state. Most of the
3LLCT population decays to the ground state (time constants of 19 (H
2O),50 (MeOH), and 72 ps (CH
3CN)); in a small fraction, however, deprotonation of the imH
+ ligand occurs, producinga long-lived species, [Re
I(im
![](/images/entities/bull.gif)
)(CO)
3(5-NO
2-phen)
-]
+.