Synthesis and analysis of cuprous phenanthroline complexes

CHED 1232

Megan Burak, burak@hartford.edu and Laura E. Pence, LPence@hartford.edu. Department of Chemistry, University of Hartford, 200 Bloomfield Ave, West Hartford, CT 06117
Copper phenanthroline complexes have been studied extensively over the past century for their photophysical effects and for their ability to cleave the DNA backbone. Extensive work has been done with copper-phenanthroline compounds using ligands substituted in the 2 and 9 positions, but there has been little inquiry into the synthesis and structural analysis of copper (I) phenanthroline complexes with substituents in the sterically undemanding 5 and 6 positions. In this investigation, copper(I) bis-phenanthroline complexes were formed by the reduction of copper(II) phenanthroline. A series of phenanthroline ligands with different electron donating or electron withdrawing substituents in the 5 and 6 positions were used to synthesize the corresponding copper(I) bis-phenanthroline structures. The products were characterized by using electronic spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry.