Harnessing of solar energy to drive the reduction of carbon dioxide to fuels requires the development of efficient catalysts that absorb sunlight. In this work, we detail the synthesis, electrochemistry, and photophysical properties of a set of homologous fac-ReI (CO) 3 complexes containing either an ancillary phenyl (8) or BODIPY (12) substituent. These studies demonstrate that both the electronic properties of the rhenium center and BODIPY ...