A novel route to 4,4′-disubstituted bipyridyl ligands in ruthenium complexes for dye-sensitized solar cells

In situ nucleophilic aromatic substitution provides a simple route to functionalization at the 4,4′ positions of bipyridyl units co-ordinated to a Ru(II) centre. The resulting new Ru(II) sensitiser [RuII(4,4′-dicarboxy-2,2′-bipyridyl)(4,4′-dithiocyanate-2,2′-bipyridyl)dithiocyanate] is studied in dye-sensitised solar cells.