Synthesis and photophysical properties of neutral luminescent rhenium-based molecular rectangles

A series of neutral luminescent molecular rectangles [{Re(CO)(3)(mu-bpy)Br}{Re(CO)(3)(mu-L)Br}](2) (1-4) having fac-Re(CO)(3) Br as corners and 4,4'-bipyridine (bpy) as the bridging ligand on one side and other bipyridyl ligands of varying length (L) on the other side have been synt hesized and characterized. The crystal structure of 1 shows a rectangular cavity with the dimensions of 11.44 x 7.21 Angstrom. When the cavity size is tuned from 1 to 4, a dimension of 11.4 x 20.8 Angstrom could be achieved, as revealed by the molecular modeling. These rectangles exhibit luminescence in solution at room temperature. In particular, compound 4 containing 1,4-bis(4'-pyridylethynyl) benzene (bpeb) as bridging ligand shows the excited-state lifetime of 495 ns. Fine-tuning of the cavity size of the rectangles improves their excited-state properties. These properties facilitate the study of excited-state electron-transfer reactions with electron acceptors and donors and host-guest binding. Crystallographic information: 1.6CH(3)COCH(3) is monoclinic, P2(1)/c, with a = 12.0890(2), b = 24.2982(2), and c = 12.8721(2) Angstrom, beta = 107.923(1)degrees, and Z = 2.