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The response to Fe(super III) and potentially interfering metal ions is studied in highly polar aprotic and protic solvents for both probes as well as in neat and buffered aqueous solution for one of the sensor molecules, the boron-dipyrromethane (BDP) derivative. The unbound BDP derivative shows dual emission in water and can be employed for the selective ratiometric signaling of Fe(super III) in buffered aqueous solutions.

Incorporation of a tailor-made size-restricted dithia-aza-oxa macrocycle, 1-oxa-4,10-dithia-7-aza-cyclododecane, via a phenyl linker into two fluorescent sensor molecules with electronically decoupled, rigidly fixed, and sterically preoriented architectures, a 1,3,5-triaryl-Δ²-pyrazoline and a meso-substituted boron-dipyrromethene (BDP), yields amplified fluorescence in the red-visible spectral range upon binding of FeIII ions. The response to FeIII and potentially interfering metal ions is studied in highly polar aprotic and protic solvents for both probes as well as in neat and buffered aqueous solution for one of the sensor molecules, the BDP derivative. In organic solvents, the fluorescence of both indicators is quenched by an intramolecular charge or electron transfer in the excited state and coordination of FeIII leads to a revival of their fluorescence without pronounced spectral shifts. Most remarkably, the unbound BDP derivative shows dual emission in water and can be employed for the selective ratiometric signaling of FeIII in buffered aqueous solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An asymmetrically core-extended boron-dipyrromethene (BDP) dye was equipped with two electron-donating macrocyclic binding units with different metal ion preferences to operate as an ionically driven molecular IMPLICATION gate. A Na(+)-responsive tetraoxa-aza crown ether (R(2)) was integrated into the extended pi system of the BDP chromophore to trigger strong intramolecular charge transfer (ICT(2)) fluorescence and guarantee cation-induced spectral shifts in absorption. A dithia-oxa-aza crown (R(1)) that responds to Ag(+) was attached to the meso position of BDP in an electronically decoupled fashion to independently control a second ICT(1) process of a quenching nature. The bifunctional molecule is designed in such a way that in the absence of both inputs, ICT(1) does not compete with ICT(2) and a high fluorescence output is obtained (In(A)=In(B)=0-->Out=1). Accordingly, binding of only Ag(+) at R(1) (In(A)=1, In(B)=0) as well as complexation of both receptors (In(A)=In(B)=1) also yields Out=1. Only for the case in which Na(+) is bound at R(2) and R(1) is in its free state does quenching occur, which is the distinguishing characteristic for the In(A)=0 and In(B)=1-->Out=0 state that is required for a logic IMPLICATION gate and Boolean operations such as IF-THEN or NOT.

A luminescent molecular switch in which the active thiol/disulfide switching element is attached to a meso-phenyl-substituted boron-dipyrromethene (BDP) chromophore as the signalling unit is presented. The combination of these two functional units offers great versatility for multimodal switching of luminescence: 1) deprotonation/protonation of the thiol/thiolate moiety allows the highly fluorescent meso-p-thiophenol-BDP and its nonfluorescent thiolate analogue to be chemically and reversibly interconverted, 2) electrochemical oxidation of the monomeric dyes yields the fluorescent disulfide-bridged bichromophoric dimer, also in a fully reversible process, and 3) besides conventional photoexcitation, the well separated redox potentials of the BDP also allow the excited BDP state to be generated electrochemically (i.e., processes 1) and 2) can be employed to control both photo- and electrochemiluminescence (ECL) of the BDP). The paper introduces and characterizes the various states of the switch and discusses the underlying mechanisms. Investigation of the ortho analogue of the dimer provided insight into potential chromophore-chromophore interactions in such bichromophoric architectures in both the ground and the excited state. Comparison of the optical and redox properties of the two disulfide dimers further revealed structural requirements both for redox switches and for ECL-active molecular ensembles. By employing thiol/disulfide switching chemistry and BDP luminescence features, it was possible to create a prototype molecular ensemble that shows both fully reversible proton- and redox-gated electrochemiluminescence.

In a one-pot reaction of N-(5-methylthiazole-2-yl)-thiazole-2-carboxamide HL2 (3) with iron(II) acetate in air, the homotrinuclear heteroleptic mixed-valent oxo-centered iron cluster [Fe(II)Fe(III)O(L2)3(OAc)3] (4) was formed. Exchange of iron(II) in 4 by nickel(II) afforded the heteronuclear cluster [Ni(II)Fe(III)O(L2)3(OAc)3] (6). To obtain crystals suitable for X-ray structure analyses, in 4 and 6, the OAc- co-ligands were exchanged by OBz- ligands to give [Fe(II)Fe2(III)O(L2)3(OBz)3] (5) and [Ni(II)Fe(III)O(L2)3(OBz)3] (7). The complexes 5 and 7 are isostructural and made up of three ditopic, tridentate ligands (L2)- and three bridging benzoate co-ligands, which fix the three metal ions in the corners of a triangle with an mu3-O2- ion in the center. The mixed-valent character of 4-7, their intramolecular electron-exchange processes, and their redox properties were studied by variable-temperature Mössbauer spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry.