Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-15-2007

Abstract

The electrdchemistry, UV-vis absorption, photoluminescence (PL), and coreactant electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) of Ru(bpy)32+ (where bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine) have been obtained in a series of hydroxylic solvents. The solvents included fluorinated and nonfluorinafed alcohols and alcohol/water mixtures. Tri-n-propylamine was used as the oxidative-reductive ECL coreactant. Blue shifts of up to 30 nm in PL emission wavelength maximums are observed compared to a Ru(bpy)32+/H2O standard due to interactions of the polar excited state (i.e., *Ru(bpy)32+) with the solvent media. For example, Ru(bpy)32+ in water has an emission maximum of 599 nm while in the more polar hexafluoropropanol and trifluoroethanol it is 562 and 571 nm, respectively. ECL spectra are similar to PL spectra, indicating the same excited state is formed in both experiments. The difference between the electrochemically reversible oxidation (Ru(bpy)32+/3+) and first reduction (Ru(bpy)22+/1+) correlates well with the energy gap observed in the luminescence experiments. Although the ECL is linear in all solvents with [Ru(bpy)32+] ranging from 100 to 0.1 nm, little correlation between the polarity of the solvent and the ECL efficiency (φecl = number of photons per redox event) was observed. However, dramatic increases in φecl ranging from 6- to 270-fold were seen in mixed alcohol/water solutions. © 2007 American Chemical Society.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Analytical Chemistry

First Page

6404

Last Page

6409

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