Normally, transition-metal complexes used for photocatalysis or luminescence bioimaging have a single type of chromophore. As a result, there is usually only one major absorption band in the visible region. These complexes are unable to collect excitation energy of a broadband light source efficiently, such as solar light. In their Full Paper on page 14282 ff., J. Zhao, T. Zhang, et al. describe a PtII complex that contains two different organic chromophores. Each ligand gives strong visible-light absorption but at different wavelengths. Intramolecular resonance energy transfer is confirmed with steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopy. The new complex is efficient for singlet oxygen photosensitization.

Chemistry - A European Journal,  2014