The Carbene Cannibal: Photoinduced Symmetry-Breaking Charge Separation in an Fe(III) N-Heterocyclic Carbene.

ABSTRACT: Photoinduced symmetry-breaking charge separation (SB-CS) processes offer the possibility of harvesting solar energy by electron transfer between identical molecules. Here, we present the first case of direct observation of bimolecular SB-CS in a transition metal complex, [Fe^IIIL₂](PF₆) (L = [phenyl(tris(3-methylimidazol-1-ylidene))borate]^-). Photoexcitation of the complex in the visible region results in the formation of a doublet ligand-to-metal charge transfer (²LMCT) excited state (E_0-0 = 2.13 eV), which readily reacts with the doublet ground state to generate charge separated products, [Fe^IIL₂] and [Fe^IVL₂]²⁺, with a measurable cage escape yield. Known spectra

SUBMITTER: Kaul N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8397313 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature