Electron and energy transfer processes represent fundamentally important chemical reactions. They are critical components of many biological processes, including respiration, redox enzymatic processes and photosynthesis. I have designed molecular systems that will allow me to probe the electron transfer process within the context of the sulfite reductase active site model complex, i.e. iron porphyrin-iron sulfur cluster dyad. For this purpose, a third component, a ruthenium bisterpyridine, was incorporated into the system to act as a phototrigger to initiate a cascade of thermally driven events; and a fourth component, a modified pyridinium moiety, was attached as an internal oxidant to ensure the correct direction of these intercomponent processes. Due to the intrinsic complexity of this Donor-Acceptor-Trigger-Oxidant system, a stepwise research protocol was adopted. A series of control molecules resembling different components of the system have been synthesized and fully characterized prior to the investigation on the full assembly. This dissertation details the synthesis and photophysical characterization of the Acceptor-Trigger dyad, i.e. porphyrin-appended ruthenium bisterpyridyl complexes. These studies lay the foundation for future studies on the entire assembly.
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