ELECTROGENERATED CHEMILUMINESCENCE .53. ELECTROCHEMISTRY AND EMISSION FROM ABSORBED MONOLAYERS OF A TRIS(BIPYRIDYL)RUTHENIUM(II)-BASED SURFACTANT ON GOLD AND TIN OXIDE ELECTRODES

Cyclic voltammetric surface waves were found for monolayers of Ru(bpy)2(bpy')2+, where bpy' is 4-methyl-4'-(dodecyl-1-thiol)-2,2'-bipyridine, which spontaneously adsorbs onto conducting substrates (indium tin oxide, polycrystalline gold). On polycrystalline gold, the monolayer, probably attached via the thiol functional group, is oxidized in an aqueous oxalate medium to produce electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ecl). The derivatized gold surface exhibited an ecl emission maximum from the excited surfactant at 650 nm. This represents a red shift compared to the solution phase luminescence of the complex in acetonitrile (lambda-max = 629 nm) or its aggregates with Triton-X100 micelles in aqueous media (lambda-max = 639 nm).