A new class of isocyanide-containing rhenium(I) bipyridyl luminophore with readily tunable and highly environmentally sensitive excited-state properties.

A new class of readily tunable and highly environmentally sensitive luminescent rhenium(I) tetra(isocyano)bipyridyl complexes has been synthesized and characterized, and their luminescent properties have been investigated. Preliminary studies showed that the metal-to-ligand charge-transfer [dpi(Re) --> pi*(bpy)] absorption and emission are extremely sensitive to the nature of the solvent and the rigidity of the environment.