Spectroscopic study of polyphenylquinolines—materials with efficient intramolecular charge transfer

The energy structure and nature of intramolecular charge transfer have been determined for a series of synthesized 2,6-polyphenylquinolines (PPQs) containing resorcinol, oxygen, and phenylamine bridging groups between phenylquinoline cycles and possessing an arylene radical in the form of alkylated derivatives of carbazole or indolo[3,2-b]carbazole, as well as arylated derivatives of carbazole with nitro- and fluorine substituents. The analysis was based on data on their absorption spectra, photosensitivity, carrier photogeneration quantum efficiency, and luminescence. It is shown that the PPQ monomeric unit is a composite intramolecular charge-transfer complex (ICTC) between the donor arylene fragment and the acceptor quinoline cycle; the latter, in turn, is an ICTC between the donor bridging group and quinoline ring (when acceptor fluorine or nitro substituents are introduced into the carbazole structure, the complex becomes ternary), and the narrowest band gap (2.3 eV) corresponds to the PPQ having a phenylamine bridging group and a fragment of indolo[3,2-b]carbazole.     

2,6-二氨基吡啶衍生物作为过渡金属离子荧光探针的研究

2,6-二氨基吡啶(DAPD)衍生物都有较强的荧光。除DMHND(2,4-二甲基-7-羟基-1,8-萘啶)外,2,4-二甲基-7-胺基-1,8-萘啶(DMAND)和2,4-二甲基-7-丙烯酰胺基-1,8-萘啶(DMAAN)在加入过渡金属离子后,荧光强度增强,发射光谱红移,可以作为过渡金属离子的荧光探针。根据Irving-Williams顺序,以过渡金属中络合能力较强的Cu2+为代表,求算了DMAND和DMAAN与Cu2+的结合比,通过非线性拟合计算了结合常数,比较了它们与金属离子结合的强弱,DMAND较DMAAN为更灵敏的过渡金属离子荧光探针。     

Effect of a protein on the light energy conversion in dual fluorophore-nitroxide probes studied by ESR and fluorescence spectroscopy

Probing biological environment with dual fluorophore-nitroxide (FN) molecules in which fluorophore is tethered with nitroxide, a fluorescence quencher, opens unique opportunities to study molecular dynamics and micropolarity of the medium which affect intramolecular fluorescence quenching (IFQ), electron transfer, photoreduction and light energy conversion. In such molecules, the excited fragment of the chromophore can serve as an electron donor, and the nitroxide fragment as an electron acceptor. The same groups allow monitoring of molecular dynamics and also make it possible to measure micropolarity of the medium in the vicinity of the donor (by fluorescence technique) and acceptor (by electron spin resonance [ESR]) moieties. In the present work, two dual dansyl-nitroxide probes were incorporated in a binding site of bovine serum albumin. Their interactions with the protein, mobility, and photoreduction, as well as micropolarity of the media, have been studied by ESR and fluorescence methods. IFQ and spectral relaxation shift of the dansyl fragment have been monitored by time-resolved fluorescence technique. In parallel, computational studies on intramolecular dynamics of the FN probe were performed. On the basis of the Marcus model of the electron transfer between the excited dansyl fluorophore (donor) and nitroxide group (acceptor) and our experimental data, the mechanism of the electron transfer in the dual molecules incorporated into bovine serum albumin was established. It was shown that dual FN molecules in the protein meet main requirements for an efficient light energy conversion system.     

Spectroscopic and theoretical evidence for the photoinduced twisted intramolecular charge transfer state formation in N,N-dimethylaminonaphthyl-(acrylo)-nitrile

The phenomenon of excited state twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) process in N,N-dimethylaminonaphthyl-(acrylo)-nitrile (DMANAN) has been reported on the basis of steady-state absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy in combination with quantum chemical calculations. The absorption and fluorescence characteristics of DMANAN in solvents of different polarity reveal the presence of a single species in the ground state which forms the intramolecular charge transfer state upon photoexcitation. The observed dual fluorescence is assigned to a high-energy emission from the locally excited or the Franck-Condon state and the red-shifted emission from the charge transfer (CT) state. In polar protic solvents, hydrogen-bonding interaction on CT emission has been established from the linear dependency of the position of the low-energy emission maxima on hydrogen-bonding parameter (α). The experimental findings have been correlated with the theoretical results based on TICT model obtained at density functional theory (DFT) level. The theoretical potential energy surface for the first excited state along both the donor and acceptor twist coordinates in the gas phase obtained by time dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) method and in polar solvent by time dependent density functional theory-polarized continuum model (TDDFT-PCM) method predicts well the experimental spectral properties.     

Intramolecular charge transfer in donor‐bridge‐acceptor compounds with paired linearly conjugated or cross‐conjugated pathways

An understanding of intramolecular charge transfer in 2‐D linearly conjugated and cross‐conjugated compounds is necessary for the rational design of molecular electronics, improved solar energy devices, semi‐conducting polymers, and materials with nonlinear optical properties. In this work, the femtosecond transient absorption spectra and kinetics of several donor‐bridge‐acceptor compounds containing cross‐conjugated or linearly conjugated bridging groups were obtained. The veratrole group was used as the donor, and the phthalimide group was used as an acceptor. 2‐D conjugation was achieved by involving two bridging groups arranged cyclically between the donor and acceptor. The donor and acceptor were bridged by m‐phenylene in the cross‐conjugated compounds or 2,5‐thiophene in the linearly conjugated compounds. We found slower charge separation times and slower charge recombination times in the compounds containing cyclic cross‐conjugated bridging groups than in those containing the cyclic linearly conjugated groups in polar solvent. Charge separation rates that were found to be dependent on solvent were observed in the donor‐bridge‐acceptor compounds. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

具有电子推拉结构的多支化分子的光物理特性的研究

利用稳态光谱和飞秒时间分辨荧光亏蚀的技术,研究了不同溶剂中一系列有分子内电荷转移特性的分子的结构与光物理性质的关系,研究体系为三苯胺作为电子给体,2,1,3-苯并噻二唑作为受体的单支分子及其对应的两支和三支分子. 并结合TD-DFT计算进一步解释了实验中所观察到的现象. 三个分子相似的吸收和荧光光谱以及强的溶剂依赖光谱特性表明两支与三支分子激发态与单支分子相似,表明激发态都定域在其中一支上. 激发时多支分子内发生多维电荷转移,然后快速地定域到某一支上发射. 另一方面多支分子相对于单支分子吸收和发射光谱的红     

A Series of Carbazole Cationic Compounds with Large Two-Photon Absorption Cross Sections for Imaging Mitochondria in Living Cells with Two-Photon Fluorescence Microscopy

A series of carbazole cationic compounds based on donor- Π—acceptor (D-Π-A) structure were synthesized and characterized. They exhibit large two-photon absorption cross sections when excited by a 810 nm a laser beam, and their photophysical properties show that the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) character is predominant. Moreover these compounds can easily pass though the intact cell membrane of living cells, amongst, 3-(1-hydroxyethyl -4-vinylpyridium iodine)-N-butyl carbazole (9B-HVC) has been proven to be capable of accumulating within the mitochondria possessing large membrane potential and imaging this organelle in living cells by means of two-photon fluorescence microscopy. At the same time usable fluorescent photos can be obtained at lower incident excitation power (5 mW) and low-micromolar concentrations (2 μM), which does not result in significant reduction in cell viability over a period of at least 24 h.     

Hydroquinone–Benzonitrile System: Intramolecular Charge-Transfer and Computational Studies

A novel intramolecular donor–acceptor system of hydroquinone–benzonitrile was synthesized. Its photo-induced intramolecular charge-transfer (ICT) transition was confirmed by (1) shift of its emission maximum with increasing solvent polarity, (2) high dipole moment for the ICT excited state calculated from the Lippert equation, and (3) its HOMO and LUMO. According to the extent of separation between HOMO and LUMO, it is suggested that substituent position (ortho, meta, or para) in the donor–acceptor biphenyls is not a key point for the photo-induced intramolecular charge transfer and the donor with two alkoxy or hydroxy groups has more photo-induced charge transfer transitions than the one with one alkoxy or hydroxy group. In other words, the hydroquinone–benzonitrile system displays more photo-induced charge transfer transitions than 4COB (4-cyano-4′-butyloxybiphenyl).     

Luminescent properties of thermally activated delayed fluorescence molecule with intramolecular π-π interaction between donor and acceptor

Influence of intramolecular π-π interaction on the luminescent properties of thermally activated delayed fluorescence(TADF) molecule(3, 5-bis(3,6-di-tert-butyl-9 H-carbazol-9-yl)-phenyl)(pyridin-4-yl) methanone(DTCBPY) is theoretically studied by using the density functional theory(DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory(TD-DFT).Four conformations(named as A, B, C, and D) of the DTCBPY can be found by relax scanning, and the configuration C corresponds to the luminescent molecule detected experimentally. Besides, we calculate the proportion of each conformation by Boltzmann distribution, high configuration ratios(44% and 52%) can be found for C and D. Moreover, C and D are found to exist with an intramolecular π-π interaction between one donor and the acceptor; the intramolecular interaction brings a smaller Huang-Rhys factor and reduced reorganization energy. Our work presents a rational explanation for the experimental results and demonstrates the importance of the intramolecular π-π interaction to the photophysical properties of TADF molecules.     

Fluorescence quenching of 9-cyanoanthracene in presence of zinc tetraphenylporphyrin in a polar liquid medium

Steady-state and time-resolved techniques are used to study photoinduced electron and/or excitational energy transfer processes involved within a novel donor (zinc tetraphenylporphyrin)-acceptor (9-cyanoanthracene) system in a polar liquid medium (acetonitrile) at the ambient temperature (300 K). After photoexcitation of 9-cyanoanthracene, its fluorescence emission as well as lifetime are found to be quenched in presence of zinc tetraphenylporphyrin. The fluorescence quenching is ascribed to be due to the combined effect of electron transfer from zinc tetraphenylporphyrin to 9-cyanoanthracene and energy transfer (radiative as well as non-radiative) from 9-cyanoanthracene to zinc tetraphenylporphyrin. The highly exergonic values of Gibbs free energy change for both forward electron transfer reaction (−1.15 eV) and charge recombination reaction (−1.94 eV) indicate the possibilities of occurrences of these two processes in the Marcus inverted region. The fluorescence quenching rate due to photoinduced electron transfer reaction is found to be close to the diffusion-controlled limit within the present donor-acceptor system upon excitation of the acceptor molecules.     

吩噻嗪衍生物的分子内电荷转移激发态的特性

合成了一系列的N-10位取代的吩噻嗪给体受体化合物,这些受体包括苯、苯甲醚、吡啶、萘、苯乙酮和苯乙腈.研究了不同极性溶剂中这些化合物的分子内的光诱导电荷转移现象.稳态荧光的溶剂化效应和较大的Stokes位移清楚表明,仅仅后四种吩噻嗪衍生物的激发态存在着分子内的电荷转移,而苯和苯甲醚取代吩噻嗪因为受体部分氧化电势低,所以不具有这种特性.修正过的Lippert-Mataga公式被用来分析Stokes位移值,从而获得激发态偶极矩.较大的激发态偶极矩说明在激发态时这四种给体受体化合物体系内发生了完全的电子转移.氧化还原电势的数据表明基态时这四种衍生物给体受体部分的作用比较弱.分析荧光光谱获得的结果说明伴随着电荷转移这四种衍生物的激发态构型变化比较小,给体和受体间的扭转角在电荷转移后的激发态与在基态时相似.     

Enhanced Emission Induced by FRET from a Long-Lifetime, Low Quantum Yield Donor to a Long-Wavelength, High Quantum Yield Acceptor

We report observation of high quantum yield, long-lifetime fluorescence from a red dye BO-PRO-3 excited by resonance energy transfer (RET). The acceptor fluorescence was highly enhanced upon binding to the donor-labeled DNA. A ruthenium complex (Ru) was chosen as a donor in this system because of its long fluorescence lifetime. Both donor and acceptor were non-covalently bound to DNA. Emission from the donor-acceptor system (DA) at wavelengths exceeding 600 nm still preserves the long-lifetime component of the Ru donor, retaining average fluorescence lifetimes in the range of 30–50 ns. Despite the low quantum yield of the Ru donor in the absence of acceptor, its overall quantum yield of the DA pair was increased by energy transfer to the higher quantum yield acceptor BO-PRO-3. The wavelength-integrated intensity of donor and acceptor bound to DNA was many-fold greater than the intensity of the donor and acceptor separately bound to DNA. The origin of this effect is due to an efficient energy transfer from the donor, competing with non-radiative depopulation of the donor excited state. The distinctive features of DA complexes can be used in the development of a new class of engineered luminophores that display both long lifetime and long-wavelength emission. Similar DA complexes can be applied as proximity indicators, exhibiting strong fluorescence of adjacently located donors and acceptors over the relatively weak fluorescence of separated donors and acceptors.     

A DFT/TD-DFT study of effect of different substituent on ESIPT fluorescence features of 2-(2'-hydroxyphenyl)-4-chloro- methylthiazole derivatives

Based on density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT), the effects of substituent on the excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) process and photophysical properties of 2-(2'-hydroxyphenyl)-4-chloromethylthiazole (HCT) are studied. The electron-donating group (CH₃, OH) and electron-withdrawing group (CF₃, CHO) are introduced to analyze the changes of intramolecular H-bond, the frontier molecular orbitals, the absorption/fluorescence spectra, and the energy barrier of ESIPT process. The calculation results indicate that electron-donating group strengthens the intramolecular H-bond in the S₁ state, and leads to an easier ESIPT process. The electron-withdrawing group weakens the corresponding H-bond and makes ESIPT process a little harder. Different substituents also affect the photophysical properties of HCT. The electron-withdrawing group (CF₃, CHO) has a little effect on electronic spectra. The electron-donating group (CH₃, OH) red-shifts both the absorption and fluorescence emission peaks of HCT, respectively, which causes the Stokes shift to increase.     

Temporal dependences of dipole moments of prodan molecules

The fluorescence spectra of 6-propyl-2-dimethylaminonaphtalene (prodan), 1-(phenylamino)naphthalene (1-PAN), and 3-aminophthalimide are measured in glycerol with a picosecond resolution. The instantaneous fluorescence spectra and the correlation functions of the time-dependent Stokes shift of the fluorescence spectra of the two latter probes are used to find the time dependence of the dielectric response function of glycerol, which is necessary for calculating the charge transfer kinetics in prodan molecules. Based on the solvatochromism theory and using the experimental dependences of the time-dependent shift of the fluorescence bands for prodan molecules, which are characterized by efficient charge transfer in the excited electronic state, the kinetics of the electric dipole moment of the first singlet state is calculated.     

Effectiveness of charge separation from the long-lived second excited state of donors

In molecular zinc-porphyrin-based donor–acceptor systems, the electron transfer from the second singlet excited state S₂ is accompanied by ultrafast recombination into the first excited state, resulting in a low quantum yield of the thermalized charge-separated state (20%). It is demonstrated that the quantum yield of ultrafast charge separation in donor–acceptor triads D–A₁–A₂ can be close to 100% in molecular systems with lifetimes of the S₂ state longer than 150 ps. As prototypes of such systems, donor–acceptor diads D–A₁ and triads D–A₁–A₂ are considered, wherein the xanthione molecule plays the role of a donor. The ranges of the model parameters are determined in which the efficiency of charge separation is high. The twostage photoinduced charge transfer is studied within the framework of a multichannel stochastic model that takes into account the reorganization of a polar solvent and a high-frequency intramolecular vibrational mode.     

Energy migration and transfer between chromophores embedded in Gaussian space

We have used a Monte Carlo method to investigate energy migration and transfer between chromophores embedded in Gaussian space. In using this method we have obtained fluorescence quantum yields, fluorescence depolarization, and the respective decay profiles of donor fluorescence. It was shown that all photophysical observables are dependent upon the number of donor and acceptor chromophores and upon the Förster radii ratio. The latter feature is particularly interesting, and it indicates the existence of correlations between donor and acceptor chromophores. It was shown that the excitation of the donor chromophore at the origin leads to different values of observables, in comparison with an excitation of a randomly selected donor chromophore. The results presented show the importance of the averaging procedures needed to be developed while dealing with specific distribution functions, as, for example, in the case of energy migration and trapping in aromatic polymers and copolymers.     

Structural,Electronic and Charge Transfer Studies of Highly Sensitive Fluorescent Probe 2-((E)-2-(1-phenyl-1H-phenanthro[9,10-d]imidazol-2-yl)vinyl)phenol: Quantum Chemical Investigations

This article presents a facile synthesis of novel class of bluish-green fluorescent 2-((E)-2-(1-phenyl-1H-phenanthro[9,10-d]imidazol-2-yl)vinyl)phenol [PPIVP] and their optical, electrochemical and thermal properties. Detailed photophysical and quantum chemical studies have been performed to elucidate the origin of the dual emission shifts. PPIVP undergo excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) reaction leading a large Stoke’s shifted fluorescence emission from the phototautomer. The results of quantum chemical investigations not only confirmed the intramolecular charge transfer characteristics of the ESIPT tautomers but also provided a rational for the observed high fluorescence quantum efficiency in the solid state. The high photoluminescence quantum yield in the solid state is ascribed to twisted chromophores due to phenyl substituents at 1,2-position of the phenanthroimidazole ring which restricted intramolecular motion, leading to an optically allowed lowest optical transition without self quenching.     

Investigation of third-order nonlinear optical properties of two azo-nickel chelate compounds

This paper investigates the third-order nonlinear optical properties of two azo-nickel chelate compounds by the optical Kerr gate method at 830 nm wavelength with pulse duration of 120 fs. Both of the two compounds exhibited large third-order optical nonlinearity. The second-order hyperpolarizability,γ, of Compound 1 is of 1.0 × 10^-31 esu. Due to the charge transfer, the γ of Compound 2 with electron donor and acceptor group is 4.9 × 10^-31 esu, which is a four-time enhancement in comparison with Compound i. The absorption spectra show that the electron push-pull effect, which induces intramolecular charge transfer, leads to the increased optical nonlinearity.     

A TDDFT Study on the Excited-State Intramolecular Proton Transfer (ESIPT): Excited-State Equilibrium Induced by Electron Density Swing

One important issue of current interest is the excited-state equilibrium for some ESITP dyes. However, so far, the information about the driving forces for excited-state equilibrium is very limited. In this work, the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) method was employed to investigate the nature of the excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT). The geometric structures, vibrational frequencies, frontier molecular orbitals (MOs) and the potential-energy curves for 1-hydroxy-11H-benzo[b]fluoren-11-one (HHBF) in the ground and the first singlet excited state were calculated. Analysis of the results shows that the intramolecular hydrogen bond of HHBF is strengthened from E to E*. Moreover, it is found that electron density swing between the proton acceptor and donor provides the driving forces for the forward and backward ESIPT, enabling the excited-state equilibrium to be established. Furthermore, we proposed that the photoexcitation and the interchange of position for electron-donating and electron-withdrawing groups are the main reasons for the electron density swing. The potential-energy curves suggest that the forward ESIPT and backward ESIPT may happen on the similar timescale, which is faster than the fluorescence decay of both E* and K* forms.