ConspectusLigand-sensitized, luminescent lanthanide(III) complexes are of considerable importance because their unique photophysical properties (microsecond to millisecond lifetimes, characteristic and narrow emission bands, and large Stokes shifts) make them well suited as labels in fluorescencebased bioassays. The long-lived emission of lanthanide(III) cations can be temporally resolved from scattered light and background fluorescence to vastly enhance measurement sensitivity. One challenge in this field is the design of sensitizing ligands that provide highly emissive complexes with sufficient stability and aqueous solubility for practical applications.In this Account, we give an overview of some of the general properties of the trivalent lanthanides and follow with a summary of advances made in our laboratory in the development of highly luminescent Tb(III) and Eu(III) complexes for applications in biotechnology. A focus of our research has been the optimization of these compounds as potential commercial agents for use in Homogeneous Time-Resolved Fluorescence (HTRF) technology. Our approach involves developing high-stability octadentate Tb(III) and Eu(III) complexes that rely on all-oxygen donor atoms and using multi-chromophore chelates to increase molar absorptivity; earlier examples utilized a single pendant chromophore (that is, a single "antenna").Ligands based on 2-hydroxyisophthalamide (IAM) provide exceptionally emissive Tb(III) complexes with quantum yield values up to ∼60% that are stable at the nanomolar concentrations required for commercial assays. Through synthetic modification of the IAM chromophore and timedependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations, we have developed a method to predict absorption and emission properties of these chromophores as a tool to guide ligand design. Additionally, we have investigated chiral IAM ligands that yield Tb(III) complexes possessing both high quantum yield values and strong circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) activity.To efficiently sensitize Eu(III) emission, we have used the 1-hydroxypyridin-2-one (1,2-HOPO) chelate to create remarkable ligands that combine excellent photophysical properties and exceptional aqueous stabilities. A more complete understanding of this chromophore has been achieved by combining low-temperature phosphorescence measurements with the same TD-DFT approach used with the IAM system. Eu(III) complexes with strong CPL activity have also been obtained with chiral 1,2-HOPO ligands. We have also undertaken the kinetic analysis of radiative and non-radiative decay pathways for a series of Eu(III) complexes; the importance of the metal ion symmetry on the ensuing photophysical properties is clear. Lastly, we describe a Tb(III)-IAM compound-now carried through to commercial availability-that offers improved performance in the common HTRF platform and has the potential to vastly improve sensitivity. IntroductionThe 'rare earths' consist of elements Z=21 (Sc), Z=39 (Y), and Z=57-71 (La-Lu). 1 Despite this classification,...

Integration in a soft material of all molecular components necessary to generate storable fuels is an interesting target in supramolecular chemistry. The concept is inspired by the internal structure of photosynthetic organelles such as plant chloroplasts which co-localize molecules involved in light absorption, charge transport, and catalysis to create chemical bonds with light energy. We report here on the light-driven production of hydrogen inside a hydrogel scaffold built by the supramolecular self-assembly of a perylene monoimide amphiphile. The charged ribbons formed can electrostatically attract a nickel-based catalyst, and electrolyte screening promotes gelation. We found the emergent phenomenon that screening by the catalyst or the electrolytes led to two-dimensional crystallization of the chromophore assemblies and enhanced the electronic coupling among the molecules. Photocatalytic production of hydrogen is observed in the three-dimensional environment of the hydrogel scaffold and the material is easily placed on surfaces or in the pores of solid supports. The development of soft materials that integrate all necessary molecular components to generate storable fuels in the presence of sunlight is an unexplored area of chemistry with potential impact in renewable energy. Such systems could have advantages over the use of large volumes of liquids, dispersions of expensive or toxic inorganic particles, or complex devices. The use of such soft materials with integrated functions and high water content is bioinspired by the internal structure of chloroplasts in plants. These photosynthetic organelles have evolved to co-localize within stacked lipid bilayers in their stroma the protein machinery which integrates light-absorption, charge transport, and the catalytic functions necessary to convert light energy into chemical bonds1,2. Efforts to emulate natural photosynthetic systems over the past several decades have concentrated on the development of efficient catalysts for water oxidation and proton reduction3-7. In other recent work, catalysts have been coupled to light absorbing CdSe quantum dots8, Si microrods9, and organic dyes10,11 to create artificial photosynthetic systems. Also functional devices capable of performing water-splitting and fuel-generating reactions using earth-abundant resources have been demonstrated12. The development of bionspired soft materials that can be shaped into forms and integrate light-harvesting, charge transport, and catalytic functions to produce solar fuels is an obvious gap. This gap can be addressed through self-assembly strategies for materials in which a bottom-up approach fine tunes all functional aspects of a catalytic system13. Organic systems may have shorter lifetimes than their inorganic counterparts, but could have their own niche in sustainable energy given their soft matter nature and low energy requirements for production. We report here on a strategy to create supramolecular hydrogels that integrate both light-absorbing chromophores and catalysts into a m...

The new air-stable and moisture-insensitive Ir catalysts for efficient transfer hydrogenation of ketones contain a chelating bis(N-heterocyclic carbene) ligand. Most other hydrogen transfer catalysts show activity Rh > Ir, but we find Ir > Rh for these cases. Tuning of the ligand wingtip substituents, R, can greatly increase catalyst activity (R = neopentyl) or selectivity (R = isopropyl). Reactivity studies and isotopic labeling are consistent with a monohydride mechanism for the hydrogen transfer.

ABSTRACT:A series of highly luminescent Tb(III) complexes of para-substituted 2-hydroxyisophthalamide ligands (5LI-IAM-X) has been prepared (X = H, CH 3 , (C=O)NHCH 3 , SO 3 -, NO 2 , OCH 3 , F, Cl, Br) to probe the effect of substituting the isophthalamide ring on ligand and Tb(III) emission in order to establish a method for predicting the effects of chromophore modification on Tb(III) luminescence. The energies of the ligand singlet and triplet excited states are found to increase linearly with the -withdrawing ability of the substituent. The experimental results are supported by 2 time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations performed on model systems, which predict ligand singlet and triplet energies within ~5% of the experimental values. The quantum yield () values of the Tb(III) complex increases with the triplet energy of the ligand, which is in part due to the decreased non-radiative deactivation caused by thermal repopulation of the triplet. Together, the experimental and theoretical results serve as a predictive tool that can be used to guide the synthesis of ligands used to sensitize lanthanide luminescence.