Synthesis and photochemical behaviour of novel uranyl–salophen complexes bearing anthracenyl side arms

In this paper, we report the synthesis and physico-chemical investigation of two uranyl–salophen receptors, bearing either one or two anthracenyl moieties appended to the salophen skeleton. Despite the presence of the anthracenyl fluorophores, no fluorescence emission was detected. Photophysical data and cyclic voltammetric experiments show that photoinduced electron transfer from the anthracene-localised first singlet excited state to the metal centre is strongly exergonic, thus suggesting that this is the main fluorescence quenching mechanism in these complexes. The investigated compounds are photoreactive upon UV irradiation, yielding either anthracene photooxidation or photodimerisation products depending on the specific complex and the experimental conditions.