Rhodamine-functionalised rhodium(iii) complexes: dual role as bioimaging agents and controllable reactive oxygen species photosensitisers for photocytotoxicity applications.

ABSTRACT: Compared to well-developed iridium(iii) complexes, cyclometallated rhodium(iii) complexes are underexplored as bioimaging reagents and photosensitisers, primarily due to the presence of non-emissive low-lying d-d excited states that limit their photophysical properties. In this work, a series of rhodamine-containing rhodium(iii) complexes [Rh(N^C)₂(bpy-Rho)](PF₆)₂ was designed and synthesised to circumvent this problem. The incorporation of a rhodamine unit into cyclometallated rhodium(iii) complexes endowed them with effective bioimaging and considerable reactive oxygen species (ROS) sensitisation capabilities upon low-energy photoexcitation. Time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopy of the complexes revealed a long-lived dark triplet state of rhodam

SUBMITTER: Jiang KG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12547690 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature