Synthesis and characterisation of N-1,10-phenanthrolin-5-ylalkylamides and their photosensitising heteroleptic Ru(II) complexes

In the context of our studies on ruthenium(II) complexes containing polyazaheterocyclic ligands as functionalised photosensitisers for singlet molecular oxygen generation in heterogeneous phase, we describe the synthesis and spectroscopic characterisation of different amide-functionalised N-1,10-phenanthrolin-5-ylalkylamides. These chelators are used to obtain heteroleptic [Ru(phen)2]2+ complexes, where stands for 2-iodo-N-1,10-phenanthrolin-5-ylacetamide (5-iap), 4-oxo-4-(1,10-phenanthrolin-5-ylamino)butanoic acid (5-suap), 5-oxo-5-(1,10-phenanthrolin-5-ylamino)pentanoic acid (5-glap) and tert-butyl 4-oxo-4-(1,10-phenanthrolin-5-ylamino)butylcarbamate (BOC-5-ngap). The spectroscopic data, excited state lifetimes and quenching rate constants with O2 (ca. 3.7×109 L mol−1 s−1) of these novel complexes are also reported.