Photochemistry of ruthenium trisbipyridine functionalized on gold nanoparticles

Design of nanohybrid systems possessing several ruthenium trisbipyridine (Ru(bpy)(3)(2+)) chromophores on the surface of gold nanoparticles, by adopting a place exchange reaction, was reported and their photophysical properties were tuned by varying the density of chromophores. The charge shift between the excited and ground-state Ru(bpy)(3)(2+) chromophores was reported for the first time, leading to the formation of Ru(bpy)(3)(+) and Ru(bpy)(3)(3+). Electron-transfer products were not observed on decreasing the concentration of Ru(bpy)(3)(2+) functionalized on Au nanoparticles or in a saturated solution of unbound chromophores. The close proximity of the chromophores on periphery of the gold core may lead to an electron transfer reaction and the products sustained for several nanoseconds before undergoing recombination, probably due to the stabilizing effect of the polar ethylene glycol moieties embedded between the chromophore groups.