Event

Abstract 

Advances in chemical control of the photophysical properties of transition metal complexes are

revolutionizing a wide range of technologies, such as photocatalysis, solar energy conversion, and light-

emitting diodes, but rely heavily on molecules containing precious metals. While ruthenium and iridium

complexes have long dominated the field of inorganic photochemistry, luminescent complexes based on

more Earth-abundant early transition metals are exceedingly rare. Driven by the lower costs, greater

resource availability, and reduced toxicity of Earth-abundant transition metals, research on chromophores

based on these elements has become the focus of intense research over the last decade and promises a

pathway to more efficient and sustainable photochemical applications.

This presentation will highlight the Milsmann group’s efforts to establish design principles for the

generation of luminescent early transition metal complexes that can undergo photo-induced single

electron transfer (SET) reactions upon irradiation with visible light. A particular focus will be on

photoluminescent zirconium complexes that exhibit exceptionally long triplet excited state lifetimes with

high ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) character. Successful applications in photocatalysis and

triplet–triplet annihilation-based photon upconversion (TTA- UC) will be presented. These results show

that the photophysical properties of these complexes based on Earth-abundant elements can not only

compete with those of precious metal photosensitizers, but may result in optical properties that

complement or improve upon those of traditional late metal chromophores.

https://www.milsmannlab.com