The terminal ligand in [(Ph₂phen)₂Ru(dpp)RhCl₂(TL)](PF₆)₃ (Ph2phen = 4,7-diphenyl1,10-phenanthroline; dpp = 2,3-bis(2-pyridyl)pyrazine; TL = terminal ligand – a 4,4′-disubstituted-2,2′-bipyridine where the substituent was carbomethoxy (dcmbpy), hydrogen (bpy) or methyl (Me₂bpy)). The electron-withdrawing ability of the substituent was shown to increase the rate of chloride loss upon electrochemical reduction, facilitating catalytic water reduction. The electronic properties of the terminal ligand also impact the photophysical properties of the molecule. The excited state lifetime of the complex with a dcmbpy terminal ligand was 93 ns while the excited state lifetimes of the complexes with a bpy or Me₂bpy terminal ligand were 44 ns and 47 ns, respectively. Ligand substitution was shown to influence the photocatalytic water reduction activity of these complexes with the dcmbpy complex producing approximately twice the amount of hydrogen (62 ± 7 turnovers in 20 h) as the other two complexes. / Master of Science

<p>Processes where a molecule absorbs visible light and then converts the solar energy into chemical energy are important in many biological systems, such as photosynthesis and also in many technical applications e.g. photovoltaics. This thesis describes a part of a multidisciplinary project, aiming at a functional mimic of the natural photosynthesis, with the overall goal of production of a renewable fuel from sun and water. More specific, the thesis is focused on design and photophysical characterization of new photosensitizers, i.e. light absorbers that should be capable of transferring electrons to an acceptor and be suitable building blocks for supramolecular rod-like donor-photosensitizer-acceptor arrays.</p><p>The excited state lifetime, the excited state energy and the geometry are important properties for a photosensitizer. The work presented here describes a new strategy to obtain longer excited state lifetimes of the geometrically favorable Ru(II)-bistridentate type complexes, without a concomitant substantial decrease in excited state energy. The basic idea is that a more octahedral coordination around the Ru will lead to longer excited state lifetimes. In the first generation of new photosensitizers a 50-fold increase of the excited state lifetime was observed, going from 0.25 ns for the model complex to 15 ns for the best photosensitizer. The second generation goes another step forward, to an excited state lifetime of 810 ns. Furthermore, the third generation of new photosensitizers show excited state lifetimes in the 0.45 - 5.5 microsecond region at room temperature, a significant improvement. In addition, the third generation of photosensitizers are suitable for further symmetric attachment of electron donor and acceptor motifs, and it is shown that the favorable properties are maintained upon the attachment of anchoring groups. The reactivity of the excited state towards light-induced reactions is proved and the photostability is sufficient so the new design strategy has proven successful.</p>

Processes where a molecule absorbs visible light and then converts the solar energy into chemical energy are important in many biological systems, such as photosynthesis and also in many technical applications e.g. photovoltaics. This thesis describes a part of a multidisciplinary project, aiming at a functional mimic of the natural photosynthesis, with the overall goal of production of a renewable fuel from sun and water. More specific, the thesis is focused on design and photophysical characterization of new photosensitizers, i.e. light absorbers that should be capable of transferring electrons to an acceptor and be suitable building blocks for supramolecular rod-like donor-photosensitizer-acceptor arrays. The excited state lifetime, the excited state energy and the geometry are important properties for a photosensitizer. The work presented here describes a new strategy to obtain longer excited state lifetimes of the geometrically favorable Ru(II)-bistridentate type complexes, without a concomitant substantial decrease in excited state energy. The basic idea is that a more octahedral coordination around the Ru will lead to longer excited state lifetimes. In the first generation of new photosensitizers a 50-fold increase of the excited state lifetime was observed, going from 0.25 ns for the model complex to 15 ns for the best photosensitizer. The second generation goes another step forward, to an excited state lifetime of 810 ns. Furthermore, the third generation of new photosensitizers show excited state lifetimes in the 0.45 - 5.5 microsecond region at room temperature, a significant improvement. In addition, the third generation of photosensitizers are suitable for further symmetric attachment of electron donor and acceptor motifs, and it is shown that the favorable properties are maintained upon the attachment of anchoring groups. The reactivity of the excited state towards light-induced reactions is proved and the photostability is sufficient so the new design strategy has proven successful.

ASR, est une protéine photo réceptrice qui lie la base protonée de la rétine de Schiff dans deux conformations de l'état fondamental. La protéine particulière consiste en un système modèle dans lequel I'effet de l'environnement protéique sur la dynamique d'isomérisation des deux isomères peut être étudié. Dans cette thèse, une étude approfondie sur les protéines mutées ponctuellement est présentée, où la variable est l'environnement protéique. Les résultats montrent des différences significatives entre les durées de vie des états excités des deux isomères et les durées de vie plus courtes ou plus longues commentées en termes de mélange électronique Sl/S2. En complément, le développement expérimental d'un spectromètre à absorption transitoire (T.A) et d'un dispositif de spectroscopie électronique bidimensionnelle (2DES) fonctionnant respectivement dans les domaines spectral NIR et UV-Vis. Avec cette configuration, deux impulsions colinéaires à verrouillage de phase d'une durée inférieure à 10fs sont générées, où. la précision interférométrique sur le contrôle du retard entre les deux impulsions de pompe permet d'effectuer des mesures 2DES. / ASR, is a photoreceptor protein that binds the protonated Schiff base of retinal in two ground state conformations. The particular protein consists a model system where the effect of the protein environment on the isomerization dynamics of the two isomers can be investigated. In this thesis an extended study on point mutated proteins is presented where the variable is the protein environment. The results show significant differences between the two isomers excited state lifetimes with the shorter or longer lifetimes commented in terms of Sl/S2 electronic mixing. Supplementary, the experimental development of a Transient absorption spectrometer (T.A) and a Two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy setup (2DES) operating in the NIR and UV-Vis spectral range respectively are described. The 2DES spectrometer is based on translating wedges made out of birefringent material producing two collinear phase-locked pulses with sub-I Ofs duration. The interferometric precision on controlling the delay between the two pump pulses allows to perform 2DES measurements on systems absorbing in the 360-430 nm range allowing to resolve the excitation process spectrally.

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