Air-Stable Nickel(0) Complexes with Room-Temperature Photoluminescence.
- 1Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, St. Johanns-Ring 19, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.
Abstract
Among first-row transition metals, copper-(I) plays a central role in photophysics and photochemistry due to its closed d10 subshell, which makes unwanted excited-state deactivation processes less prevalent than in metal complexes with incompletely filled 3d orbitals. Building on the isoelectronic analogy between nickel(0) and copper-(I), we develop photoactive nickel(0) complexes that, for the first time, approach the photophysical performance of their copper-(I) counterparts. By creating a coordination sphere that stabilizes the zero-valent oxidation state through strong π-backbonding and shielding it from the chemical environment, we obtain two nickel(0) complexes that are inert towards oxidation by air and show luminescence from a metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) excited state with a quantum yield of near 0.03% and a lifetime of approximately 4 ns in solution at room temperature. The more electron-rich nature of nickel(0) compared to copper-(I), as well as the unique role of nickel in modern cross-coupling catalysis, open perspectives for new inner-sphere photocatalysis beyond conventional photoredox strategies relying on simple molecular collisions, in addition to luminescence-based applications. Overall, this work contributes to the advancement of photoactive complexes based on abundant first-row transition metals and identifies new opportunities for photophysics and photochemistry compared to well-established noble metal-based coordination compounds.
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BibTeX
@article{eggenweiler2026airstable,
title = {{Air-Stable Nickel(0) Complexes with Room-Temperature Photoluminescence.}},
author = {Tim H Eggenweiler and Oliver S Wenger},
journal = {JACS Au},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1021/jacsau.6c01216},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42953177},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Air-Stable Nickel(0) Complexes with Room-Temperature Photoluminescence.
AU - Tim H Eggenweiler
AU - Oliver S Wenger
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/22
JO - JACS Au
DO - 10.1021/jacsau.6c01216
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42953177
AB - Among first-row transition metals, copper-(I) plays a central role in photophysics and photochemistry due to its closed d10 subshell, which makes unwanted excited-state deactivation processes less prevalent than in metal complexes with incompletely filled 3d orbitals. Building on the isoelectronic analogy between nickel(0) and copper-(I), we develop photoactive nickel(0) complexes that, for the first time, approach the photophysical performance of their copper-(I) counterparts. By creating a coordination sphere that stabilizes the zero-valent oxidation state through strong π-backbonding and shielding it from the chemical environment, we obtain two nickel(0) complexes that are inert towards oxidation by air and show luminescence from a metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) excited state with a quantum yield of near 0.03% and a lifetime of approximately 4 ns in solution at room temperature. The more electron-rich nature of nickel(0) compared to copper-(I), as well as the unique role of nickel in modern cross-coupling catalysis, open perspectives for new inner-sphere photocatalysis beyond conventional photoredox strategies relying on simple molecular collisions, in addition to luminescence-based applications. Overall, this work contributes to the advancement of photoactive complexes based on abundant first-row transition metals and identifies new opportunities for photophysics and photochemistry compared to well-established noble metal-based coordination compounds.
SN - 2691-3704
ER -