Photophysical investigation of the triplet manifold of mono- and bis-phenylethynyl-(2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine) ruthenium(II) complexes

A complete photophysical study has been carried out on an octahedral ruthenium(II) complex, incorporating two 4′-phenylethynyl-2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine ligands. Weak emission is observed from the complex in fluid solution at room temperature, but both emission yield and lifetime increase as the temperature is lowered. Luminescence is confirmed to occur exclusively from the lowest energy triplet metal-to-ligand, charge-transfer (MLCT) state, though higher-lying MLCT and metal-centered states are required to adequately model the non-radiative decay kinetics. A comparison of parameters associated with deactivation of the complex and its counterpart, where only one terpy ligand incorporates the phenylethynyl unit, indicates that only the electron-vibrational coupling element is affected. It is also revealed that the extent of electron delocalisation at the triplet level does not critically depend on the number of 4-phenylethynyl-2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine ligands in the complex.