Transient Raman detection of excited state electron, transfer to methyl viologen from photoexcited molecular reagents in fluid solution and anchored to SiO₂

The lowest electronic excited state of the complexes [Ru(2,2′-bipyridine)₃]²⁺, fac-[ClRe (CO)₃(2,2′-bipyridine)], and fac-[(pyridine) Re (CO)₃(2,2′-bipyridine)]⁺ can be quenched by methyl viologen, MV²⁺, N,N′-dimethyl-4,4′-bipyridinium, in fluid solutions. The quenching obeys Stern-Volmer kinetics as deduced from plots of relative luminescence quantum yield vs [MV²⁺], and the data are consistent with a quenching process that is essentially diffusion controlled. Pulsed laser excitation (18 ns, 354.7 nm frequency tripled Nd: YAG) of the metal complexes in the presence of MV²⁺ shows that a detectable fraction of the quenching results in net electron transfer to form MV⁺. The MV⁺ is detectable by resonance Raman scattering from the trailing portion of the excitation pulse. Excited state electron transfer to MV²⁺ from a photo-excited complex anchored to SiO₂ has also been detected by transient Raman spectroscopy. High surface area SiO₂ was functionalized by reaction with 4-[2-(trimethoxysilyl)ethyl]pyridine to give [SiO₂]-SiEtpyr. Reaction of [SiO₂]-SiEtpyr with [(CH₃CN)Re(CO)₃(2,2′-bipyridine)]⁺ then yields [SiO₂]-[(SiEtpyr) Re (CO)₃ (2,2′-bipyridine)]⁺. Electron transfer quenching of the photo-excited immobilized Re complex occurs when suspended in CH₃CN solutions of MV²⁺ to yield MV⁺ as detected by resonance Raman scattering and by lifetime attenuation in the presence of MV²⁺.