Photoinduced Electron Transfer in an Anthraquinone–[Ru(bpy)3]2+–Oligotriarylamine–[Ru(bpy)3]2+–Anthraquinone Pentad

A molecular pentad comprised of a central multielectron donor and two flanking photosensitizer-acceptor moieties was prepared in order to explore the possibility of accumulating two positive charges at the central donor, using visible light as an energy input. Photoinduced charge accumulation in purely molecular systems without sacrificial reagents is challenging, because of the multitude of energy-wasting reaction pathways that are accessible after excitation with two photons. As expected, the main photoproduct in our pentad is a simple electron–hole pair, and it is tricky to identify the desired two-electron oxidation product on top of the stronger signal resulting from one-electron oxidation.