Fluoride binding to an organoboron wire controls photoinduced electron transfer.

ABSTRACT: We demonstrate that the rates for long-range electron transfer can be controlled actively by tight anion binding to a rigid rod-like molecular bridge. Electron transfer from a triarylamine donor to a photoexcited Ru(bpy)₃²⁺ acceptor (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine) across a 2,5-diboryl-1,4-phenylene bridge occurs within less than 10 ns in CH₂Cl₂ at 22 °C. Fluoride anions bind with high affinity to the organoboron bridge due to strong Lewis base/Lewis acid interactions, and this alters the electronic structure of the bridge drastically. Consequently, a large tunneling barrier is imposed on photoinduced electron transfer from the triarylamine to the Ru(bpy)₃²⁺ complex and hence this process occurs more than two orders of magnitude more

SUBMITTER: Chen J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5659175 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature