Novel metal-organic ruthenium(II) diimin complexes for use as longwave excitable luminescent oxygen probes

New ruthenium(II) diimine complexes are presented which are useful as luminescent oxygen probes. Because their luminescence excitation maxima are between 535 and 570 nm, they can be photo-excited by green LEDs which are much brighter than the blue LEDs used so far for existing Ru diimines. The spectral and photophysical properties as well as the solubility properties of the new probes are investigated and discussed in terms of quenching, photostability, and lifetimes. The probes were incorporated into organic polymers by three different methods, to obtain oxygen-sensitive materials for use in optical oxygen sensing. The membranes were characterized with respect to oxygen sensitivity, luminescence intensity, response times, and stability. Notwithstanding the poor luminescence of the new ruthenium(II) probes, their stability, LED compatibility and efficient quenching by oxygen makes them an interesting alternative to existing luminescent oxygen probes.