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Updated: May 30, 2026

Iridium(III) Luminescent Probe for Detection of the Malarial Protein Biomarker Histidine Rich Protein-II
Published on: July 7, 2015
Photophysical and analyte sensing properties of cyclometalated Ir(III) complexes
Bethany B H Leavens1, Carl O Trindle, Michal Sabat
1Chemistry Department, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA.
Abstract:
The synthesis of some heteroleptic, cyclometalated iridium(III) complexes is described. The utility of these [Ir(ppy)(2)(N-N)]Cl (ppy = 2-phenylpyridine and N-N = substituted bipyridine, biquinoline, or phenanthroline) complexes as luminescence-based sensors is assessed. The emission intensity of an Ir(III) complex featuring the 3,3'-H(n)dcbpy ligand (H(n)dcbpy = dicarboxylic acid-2,2'-bipyridine; n = 0,1,2 to indicate deprotonated, mono- and diprotonated species, respectively) is seen to increase in the presence of Pb(II). Insight into the structure and analyte-sensing capability is achieved by X-ray crystallography in conjunction with computational modeling. Complexes incorporating carboxylic acid-functionalized bipyridine and biquinoline as the polypyridyl ligand show pH sensitivity while similar phenanthroline complexes do not.
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