Photochromism and Photomagnetism in Two Ni(II) Complexes Based on a Photoactive 2,4,6-Tris-2-Pyridyl-1,3,5-Triazine Ligand

Abstract

It is still challenging to construct novel photochromic and photomagnetic materials in the field of molecular materials. Herein, the 2,4,6-tris-2-pyridyl-1,3,5-triazine (TPTz) molecule was found to display photochromic properties under room temperature light irradiation. Two mononuclear structures,were obtained by assembling TPTz with polydentate O-ligands (oxalate and phosphonate) and the paramagnetic Ni 2+ ions. The electrontransfer (ET)-dominated photochromism was observable in 1 and 2 after light irradiation with the photogeneration of relatively stable radicals, and the resultant photochromism was demonstrated via UV−vis, photoluminescence, X-ray photoelectron spectra, electron paramagnetic resonance spectra, and molecular orbital calculations. Due to the denser stacking interactions between the adjacent organic molecules, 2 exhibited a faster photochromic rate than 1. Compared with 1 and 2, compound 3 did not show photochromic behavior, which was deciphered by the theoretical calculations for all of the compounds. Importantly, the magnetic couplings appeared between photogenerated radicals and paramagnetic Ni 2+ ions, resulting in a scarcely photomagnetic phenomenon of 1 and 2 in the Ni-based electron transfer photochromic materials. This work enriches the available kind of ligands for the design of ET photochromic materials, putting forward a method to tune the electron transfer photochromic efficiency in the molecular materials.