Coordination complexes of Bipyridines (CCBs): Chemistry, bonding and applications

Bipyridines, a flexible class of chelating ligands, have attained a remarkable milestone in coordination chemistry because of their capacity to establish stable chelating coordination complexes. Better stability, greater solubility, improved electrical and physiochemical characteristics, and selectivity distinguish coordination complexes of bipyridines (CCBs) from traditional ligands and make them excellent candidates for various applications in photochemistry, materials science, and catalysis, among other domains. The substituents' composition significantly impacts their ligand and electronic characteristics, making them for particular purposes. The tunable steric and electronic properties make CCBs versatile materials for homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. They have also been extensively used in preparing sensors, photovoltaic devices, and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). CCBs manifest potential applications in therapeutics and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). They have been extensively used in cancer treatment, phototherapy, and drug delivery systems. CCBs are ideal candidates for the deterioration of pollutants on illuminated exposure (i.e., photocatalysis), CO₂ reduction and conversion into valuable products, and sensing of toxic contaminants, chemicals, and gases. CCBs reveal excellent corrosion inhibition properties due to their chelate and film-forming abilities. Noticeably, suitable tailoring of the CCBs can help design self-healing corrosion protective materials. The present article explores the synthesis, chemistry, and applications of CCBs in materials science, catalysis, medicine, environments, and surface protection. This article also discusses the challenges and opportunities of using synthesis, characterization, and applications of CCBs in different science and engineering disciplines.