A tri-metallic triad based on a [Ru(bpy)3](2+) moiety connected to Fe(ii) and Co(iii) bisterpyridine has been grafted on an ITO electrode by a stepwise procedure. Under visible light, in the presence of a sacrificial electron donor, the system produces electric current. The photo-current magnitude is compared to the one generated from a Co(iii)-Ru(ii) dyad and shows an increase of 40%.

A [Ru(bpy)3](2+)-like complex (L1) bearing two free terpyridine groups at the 5 and 5' positions of the same bipyridine, linked by the rigid and linear 2,5-dimethyl phenylene bridges has been synthesized to open access to two classes of linear molecular wires with photosensitive properties: a bimetallic coordination polymer and an inorganic triad. In this Research Article, we report on the synthesis and characterization of the resulting [{Ru(II_)Fe(II)}n](4n+) alternated bimetallic polymer and the [Co(III_)Ru(II_)Fe(II)](7+) triad based on the building block L1. The [{Ru(II_)Fe(II)}n](4n+) polymer is fully characterized in solution. Cyclic voltammetry and emission lifetime measurements show that the bridging ligand allows interaction between the metal centers in the excited state despite the lack of interactions in the ground state. Under visible irradiation, the polymer can be fully oxidized in the presence of a sacrificial electron acceptor in solution. Thin robust films of the polymer are easily obtained on ITO by a simple electrochemical procedure based on an electroreduction adsorption process. The ITO/[{Ru(II_)Fe(II)}n](4n+)-modified electrode behaves as a photocathode under irradiation in the presence of ArN2(+). The magnitude of the photocurrent is dependent on the film thickness, probably limited by the diffusion of charge in thicker film. On the other hand L1 is also used to construct a well-ordered triad in association with Co(III) and Fe(II) metallic centers as electron acceptor and donor, respectively. The metallic triad is anchored on ITO or on a SiO2 wafer, starting from a terpyridine phosphonate modified surface. AFM images prove the presence of the triad in a linear upward orientation. Irradiation of the ITO/[Co(III_)Ru(II_)Fe(II)](7+) modified surface in the presence of triethanolamine in CH3CN induces the generation of an anodic photocurrent of around 30 μA.cm(-2). The photocurrent density generated by the ITO/[Co(III_)Ru(II_)Fe(II)](7+) electrode, appears to be more stable than in the case of ITO/[{Ru(II_)Fe(II)}n](4n+) because of the presence of the anchoring group. Moreover, this photocurrent magnitude represents an enhancement of 30% compared to our previous triad ( Dalton Trans. 2014 , 43 , 12156 - 12159 ), proving the advantage of a linear and rigid spacer for the construction of such molecular assemblies with photoinduced charge transfer abilities.

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