Synchrotron XPS was used to investigate a series of chemically-synthesised, atomically-precise gold clusters Au(n)(PPh(3))(y) (n = 8, 9, 11 and 101, with y depending on cluster size) immobilized on titania nanoparticles. The gold clusters were washed with toluene at 100 °C or calcined at 200 °C to remove the organic ligand. From the position of the Au 4f(7/2) peak it is concluded that cluster size is not altered through the deposition. From the analysis of the phosphorous spectra, it can be concluded that the applied heat treatment removes the organic ligands. Washing and calcination leads to partial oxidation and partial agglomeration of the clusters. Oxidation of the clusters is most likely due to the interaction of the cluster core with the oxygen of the titania surface after removal of ligands. The position of the Au 4f(7/2) peak indicates that the size of the agglomerated clusters is still smaller than that of Au(101).

The first example of an iridium biscyclometalated complex with a C wedge N wedge C 2,6-diphenylpyridine (dppy)-type ligand, [(4'-(4-bromophenyl)-2:2',6':2' '-terpyridine)Ir(2,6-diphenyl-4-(4-tolyl)pyridine)](NO(3)) (1), has been synthesized and characterized by various techniques such as X-ray crystallography, mass spectrometry, (1)H and (13)C NMR, cyclic voltammetry, and both steady-state and time-resolved emission and absorption studies. Preliminary density functional theory calculations have also been conducted. 1 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2(1)/n. The crystallographic data are as follows: C(45)H(31)BrN(4)IrO(3).2H(2)O, a = 17.4308(4) A, b = 9.0312(2) A, c = 26.7601(7) A, beta = 104.496(1) degrees, V = 4078.5(2) A(3), Z = 4. The relatively long Ir-C distances (2.122 and 2.094 A) reflect the strong mutual trans effect of the cyclometalating carbons. The complex exhibits strong visible absorption and long-lived (1.7 micros) emission (lambda(max), 690 nm) in room temperature solution. The inherent asymmetry of the coordination environment offers a unique directional character to the emitting excited state, which is predominantly ligand-to-ligand charge transfer (dppy --> 2,2':6',2' '-terpyridine) in nature.

A new series of iridium cyclometalated complexes with a C/N/C dppy-type ligand and a N/N/N tpy-type ligand have been synthesized and characterized by various techniques such as mass spectrometry, 1H and 13C NMR, cyclic voltammetry, both steady-state and time-resolved emission and absorption studies, and time-dependent DFT (TDDFT) calculations. The complexes exhibit strong visible absorptions and long-lived (1.6-2.0 micros) emissions (lambdamax, ca. 680 nm) in room-temperature solution. DFT calculations on the ground-state geometry match that of an X-ray crystal structure. TDDFT calculations give accurate predictions of the electronic absorption energies and intensities, while geometry optimizations on the lowest energy triplet state give accurate energies for the emission. Examination of the relevant molecular orbitals shows that the inherent asymmetry of the coordination environment offers a unique directional character to the emitting excited state, which is predominately LLCT (dppy --> tpy) in nature.

A family of tridendate ligands 1 a-e, based on the 2-aryl-4,6-di(2-pyridyl)-s-triazine motif, was prepared along with their hetero- and homoleptic Ru(II) complexes 2 a-e ([Ru(tpy)(1 a-e)](2+); tpy=2,2':6',2"-terpyridine) and 3 a-e ([(Ru(1 a-e)(2)](2+)), respectively. The ligands and their complexes were characterized by (1)H NMR spectroscopy, ES-MS, and elemental analysis. Single-crystal X-ray analysis of 2 a and 2 e demonstrated that the triazine core is nearly coplanar with the non-coordinating ring, with dihedral angles of 1.2 and 18.6 degrees, respectively. The redox behavior and electronic absorption and luminescence properties (both at room temperature in liquid acetonitrile and at 77 K in butyronitrile rigid matrix) were investigated. Each species undergoes one oxidation process centered on the metal ion, and several (three for 2 a-e and four for 3 a-e) reduction processes centered on the ligand orbitals. All compounds exhibit intense absorption bands in the UV region, assigned to spin-allowed ligand-centered (LC) transitions, and moderately intense spin-allowed metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) absorption bands in the visible region. The compounds exhibit relatively intense emissions, originating from triplet MLCT levels, both at 77 K and at room temperature. The incorporation of triazine rings and the near planarity of the noncoordinating ring increase the luminescence lifetimes of the complexes by lowering the energy of the (3)MLCT state and creating a large energy gap to the dd state.