Solvent-Dependent Stabilization of a Charge Transfer State is the Key to Ultrafast Triplet State Formation in an Epigenetic DNA Nucleoside

2’-Deoxy-5-formylcytidine (5fdCyd), a naturally occurring nucleoside found in mammalian DNA and mitochondrial RNA, exhibits important epigenetic functionality in biological processes. Because it efficiently generates triplet excited states, it is an endogenous photosensitizer capable of damaging DNA, but the intersystem crossing (ISC) mechanism responsible for ultrafast triplet state generation is poorly understood. In this study, time-resolved mid-IR spectroscopy and quantum mechanical calculations reveal the distinct ultrafast ISC mechanisms of 5fdCyd in water versus acetonitrile. Our experiment indicates that in water, ISC to triplet states occurs within 1 ps after 285 nm excitation. PCM-TD-DFT computations suggest that this ultrafast ISC is mediated by a singlet state with significant cytosine-to-formyl charge-transfer (CT) character. In contrast, ISC in acetonitrile proceeds via a dark ¹nπ* state with a lifetime of ∼3 ps. CT-induced ISC is not favored in acetonitrile because reaching the minimum of the gateway CT state is hampered by intramolecular hydrogen bonding, which enforces planarity between the aldehyde group and the aromatic group. Our study provides a comprehensive picture of the non-radiative decay of 5fdCyd in solution and new insights into the factors governing ISC in biomolecules. We propose that the intramolecular CT state observed here is a key to the excited-state dynamics of epigenetic nucleosides with modified exocyclic functional groups, paving the way to study their effects in DNA strands.     

On the unusual fluorescence properties of xanthone in water

Photo-excited xanthone is known to undergo ultrafast intersystem crossing (ISC) in the 1 ps time domain. Correspondingly, its fluorescence quantum yield in most solvents is very small ( approximately 10(-4)). Surprisingly, the quantum yield in water is 100 times larger, while ISC is still rapid ( approximately 1 ps), as seen by ultrafast pump probe absorption spectroscopy. Temperature dependent steady state and time resolved fluorescence experiments point to a delayed fluorescence mechanism, where the triplet (3)npi* state primarily accessed by ISC is nearly isoenergetic with the photo-excited (1)pipi* state. The delayed fluorescence of xanthone in water decays with a time constant of 700 ps, apparently by internal conversion between the (3)npi* state and the lowest lying triplet state (3)pipi*.     

Influence of solvent on carbene intersystem crossing rates

The influence of coordinating solvents on singlet-to-triplet carbene intersystem crossing (ISC) rates has been studied with diphenylcarbene (DPC) and para-biphenyltrifluoromethylcarbene (BpCCF 3) by using ultrafast time-resolved spectroscopy. DPC has a triplet ground state in all of the solvents considered, and the concentration of singlet carbene at equilibrium is too small to be measured. It is found that the lifetime of (1)DPC is extended in acetonitrile, benzene, tetrahydrofuran, dichloromethane, and halobenzene solvents relative to cyclohexane. The solvent effect does not well correlate with bulk measures of solvent polarity. The singlet-triplet energy separation of BpCCF 3 is close to zero. The data demonstrates that BpCCF 3 has a triplet ground state in benzene, fluorobenzene, and hexafluorobenzene. Halogenated solvents are found to dramatically retard the rate of ISC in (1)BpCCF 3. We postulate that the empty p orbital of a singlet carbene coordinates with a nonbonding pair of electrons of a halogen atom of the solvent to form a pseudoylide solvent complex, stabilize the singlet carbene, and decrease the singlet-triplet (S-T) energy gap. The "golden rule" of radiationless transitions posits that the smaller the energy gap between the two states, the faster their rate of interconversion. To explain the apparent violation of the golden rule of radiationless transitions for the carbene ISC processes monitored in this study, we propose that the significantly different specific solvation of the singlet and triplet carbenes imposes a Franck-Condon-like factor on the ISC process. Those solvents that most solvate the singlet carbene will also have the greatest structural difference between singlet carbene-solvent complex and their triplet spin isomer-solvent complex, the smallest S-T gap, and the slowest ISC rate. Alternatively, one can propose that a highly solvated singlet carbene must desolvate prior to ISC, and that this requirement decelerates the radiationless transition.     

Ultrafast Decay of the Excited Singlet States of Thioxanthone by Internal Conversion and Intersystem Crossing

The experimental ultrafast photophysics of thioxanthone in several aprotic organic solvents at room temperature is presented, measured using femtosecond transient absorption together with high‐level ab initio CASPT2 calculations of the singlet‐ and triplet‐state manifolds in the gas phase, including computed state minima and conical intersections, transition energies, oscillator strengths, and spin–orbit coupling terms. The initially populated singlet ππ* state is shown to decay through internal conversion and intersystem crossing processes via intermediate nπ* singlet and triplet states, respectively. Two easily accessible conical intersections explain the favorable internal conversion rates and low fluorescence quantum yields in nonpolar media. The presence of a singlet–triplet crossing near the singlet ππ* minimum and the large spin–orbit coupling terms also rationalize the high intersystem crossing rates. A phenomenological kinetic scheme is proposed that accounts for the decrease in internal conversion and intersystem crossing (i.e. the very large experimental crescendo of the fluorescence quantum yield) with the increase of solvent polarity.     

Observation of singlet cycloreversion of thymine oxetanes by direct photolysis

An ultrafast broadband transient absorption spectroscopic study of the direct photolysis of oxetane DMT-BP [which is the oxetane adduct of 1,3-dimethylthymine (DMT) with benzophenone (BP)] is presented. Previous nanosecond time-resolved absorption studies by other researchers observed that direct photolysis of such oxetanes results in a rare, adiabatic photochemical reaction to produce a triplet excited-state carbonyl species. However, the mechanism for this adiabatic photochemical reaction remained unclear for the reaction sequence of the bond scission and the intersystem crossing (ISC) because of the time resolution for the experiments, and this prompted us to further study its mechanism with ultrafast time-resolution. The ultrafast time-resolved spectra presented here indicate that the cycloreversion reaction occurs in a stepwise manner on a singlet excited-state, and then intersystem crossing (ISC) occurs to produce the triplet carbonyl product observed in the previously reported nanosecond time-resolved experiments.     

Femtosecond fluorescence and intersystem crossing in rhenium(I) carbonyl-bipyridine complexes

Ultrafast electronic-vibrational relaxation upon excitation of the singlet charge-transfer b (1)A' state of [Re(L)(CO) 3(bpy)] ( n ) (L = Cl, Br, I, n = 0; L = 4-Et-pyridine, n = 1+) in acetonitrile was investigated using the femtosecond fluorescence up-conversion technique with polychromatic detection. In addition, energies, characters, and molecular structures of the emitting states were calculated by TD-DFT. The luminescence is characterized by a broad fluorescence band at very short times, and evolves to the steady-state phosphorescence spectrum from the a (3)A" state at longer times. The analysis of the data allows us to identify three spectral components. The first two are characterized by decay times tau 1 = 85-150 fs and tau 2 = 340-1200 fs, depending on L, and are identified as fluorescence from the initially excited singlet state and phosphorescence from a higher triplet state (b (3)A"), respectively. The third component corresponds to the long-lived phosphorescence from the lowest a (3)A" state. In addition, it is found that the fluorescence decay time (tau 1) corresponds to the intersystem crossing (ISC) time to the two emissive triplet states. tau 2 corresponds to internal conversion among triplet states. DFT results show that ISC involves electron exchange in orthogonal, largely Re-localized, molecular orbitals, whereby the total electron momentum is conserved. Surprisingly, the measured ISC rates scale inversely with the spin-orbit coupling constant of the ligand L, but we find a clear correlation between the ISC times and the vibrational periods of the Re-L mode, suggesting that the latter may mediate the ISC in a strongly nonadiabatic regime.     

Harvesting highly electronically excited energy to triplet manifolds: state-dependent intersystem crossing rate in Os(II) and Ag(I) complexes

A series of newly synthesized Os(II) and Ag(I) complexes exhibit remarkable ratiometric changes of intensity for phosphorescence versus fluorescence that are excitation wavelength dependent. This phenomenon is in stark contrast to what is commonly observed in condensed phase photophysics. While the singlet to triplet intersystem crossing (ISC) for the titled complexes is anomalously slow, approaching several hundred picoseconds in the lowest electronic excited state (S(1) → T(1)), higher electronic excitation leads to a much accelerated rate of ISC (10(11)-10(12) s(-1)), which is competitive with internal conversion and/or vibrational relaxation, as commonly observed in heavy transition metal complexes. The mechanism is rationalized by negligible metal d orbital contribution in the S(1) state for the titled complexes. Conversely, significant ligand-to-metal charge transfer character in higher-lying excited states greatly enhances spin-orbit coupling and hence the ISC rate. The net result is to harvest high electronically excited energy toward triplet states, enhancing the phosphorescence.     

Triplet acetylenes as synthetic equivalents of 1,2-bicarbenes: phantom n,pi state controls reactivity in triplet photocycloaddition

Diaryl acetylenes, in which one of the aryl groups is either a pyridine or a pyrazine, undergo efficient triplet state photocycloaddition to 1,4-cyclohexadiene with formation of 1,5-diaryl substituted tetracyclo[3.3.0.0(2,8).0(4,6)]octanes (homoquadricyclanes). In the case of pyrazinyl acetylenes, the primary homoquadricyclane products undergo a secondary photochemical rearangement leading to diaryl substituted tricyclo[3.2.1.0(4,6)]oct-2-enes. Mechanistic and photophysical studies suggest that photocycloaddition proceeds through an electrophilic triplet excited state whereas the subsequent rearrangement to the tricyclooctenes proceeds through a singlet excited state. Chemical and quantum yields for the cycloaddition, in general, correlate with the electron acceptor character of aryl substituents but are attenuated by photophysical factors, such as the competition between the conversion of acetylene singlet excited state into the reactive triplet excited states (intersystem crossing: ISC) and/or to the radical-anion (photoelectron transfer from the diene to the excited acetylene: PET). Dramatically enhanced ISC between pi-pi S(1) state and "phantom" n,pi triplet excited state is likely to be important in directing reactivity to the triplet pathway. The role of PET can be minimized by the judicious choice of reaction conditions (solvent, concentration, etc.). From a practical perspective, such reactions are interesting because "capping" of the triple bond with the polycyclic framework orients the terminal aryl (4-pyridyl, 4-tetrafluoropyridyl, phenyl, etc.) groups in an almost perfect 60 degrees angle and renders such molecules promising supramolecular building blocks, especially in the design of metal coordination polymers.     

Ultrafast dynamics of the excited states of 1-(p-nitrophenyl)-2-(hydroxymethyl)pyrrolidine

The dynamics of the excited states of 1-(p-nitrophenyl)-2-(hydroxymethyl)pyrrolidine (p-NPP) has been investigated using the subpicosecond transient absorption spectroscopic technique in different kinds of solvents. Following photoexcitation using 400 nm light, conformational relaxation via twisting of the nitro group, internal conversion (IC) and the intersystem crossing (ISC) processes have been established to be the three major relaxation pathways responsible for the ultrafast deactivation of the excited singlet (S(1)) state. Although the nitro-twisting process has been observed in all kinds of solvents, the relative probability of the occurrence of the other two processes has been found to be extremely sensitive to solvent polarity, because of alteration of the relative energies of the S(1) and the triplet (T(n)) states. In the solvents of lower polarity, the ISC is predominant over the IC process, because of near isoenergeticity of the S(1)(ππ*) and T(3)(nπ*) states. On the other hand, in the solvents of very large polarity, the energy of the S(1)(ππ*) state becomes lower than those of both the T(3)(nπ*) and T(2)(nπ*/ππ*) states, but those of the T(1)(ππ*) state and the IC process to the ground electronic (S(0)) state are predominant over the ISC, and hence the triplet yield is nearly negligible. However, in the solvents of medium polarity, the S(1) and T(2) states become isoenergetic and the deactivation of the S(1) state is directed to both the IC and ISC channels. In the solvents of low and medium polarity, following the ISC process, the excited states undergo IC, vibrational relaxation, and solvation in the triplet manifold. On the other hand, following the IC process in the Franck-Condon region of the S(0) state, the vibrationally hot molecules with the twisted nitro group subsequently undergo the reverse nitro-twisting process via dissipation of the excess vibrational energy to the solvent or vibrational cooling.     

Study of acyl group migration by femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy and computational chemistry

The primary photophysical and photochemical processes in the photochemistry of 1-acetoxy-2-methoxyanthraquinone (1a) were studied using femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. Excitation of 1a at 270 nm results in the population of a set of highly excited singlet states. Internal conversion to the lowest singlet npi* excited state, followed by an intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR) process, proceeds with a time constant of 150 +/- 90 fs. The 1npi* excited state undergoes very fast intersystem crossing (ISC, 11 +/- 1 ps) to form the lowest triplet pipi* excited state which contains excess vibrational energy. The vibrational cooling occurs somewhat faster (4 +/- 1 ps) than ISC. The primary photochemical process, migration of acetoxy group, proceeds on the triplet potential energy surface with a time constant of 220 +/- 30 ps. The transient absorption spectra of the lowest singlet and triplet excited states of 1a, as well as the triplet excited state of the product, 9-acetoxy-2-methoxy-1,10-anthraquinone (2a), were detected. The assignments of the transient absorption spectra were supported by time-dependent DFT calculations of the UV-vis spectra of the proposed intermediates. All of the stationary points for acyl group migration on the triplet and ground state singlet potential energy surfaces were localized, and the influence of the acyl group substitution on the rate constants of the photochemical and thermal processes was analyzed.     

Density functional theory study of 1,2‐dioxetanone decomposition in condensed phase

The decomposition of 1,2‐dioxetanone into a CO₂ molecule and into an excited state formaldehyde molecule was studied in condensed phase, using a density functional theory approach. Singlet and triplet ground and excited states were all included in the calculations. The calculations revealed a novel mechanism for the chemiluminescence of this compound. The triplet excitation can be explained by two intersystem crossings (ISCs) with the ground state, while the singlet excitation can be accounted by an ISC with the triplet state. The experimentally verified small excitation yield can then be explained by the presence of an energy barrier present in the potential energy surface of the triplet excited state, which will govern both triplet and singlet excitation. It was also found that the triplet ground state interacts with both the triplet excited and singlet ground states. A MPWB1K/mPWKCIS approach provided results in agreement with the existent literature. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Intramolecular photoexcitation dynamics and magnetic field effects in an intermediate-case molecule

Molecular vibration and rotation play a significant role in the intramolecular photoexcitation dynamics of the so-called intermediate-case molecule, and the fluorescence intensity, decay and polarization of s-triazine vapor are shown to depend on the excited rovibronic level of the S₁ state. Fluorescence characteristics are interpreted by assuming three zero-order states: (1) a zero-order singlet state that carries the absorption intensity and emits fluorescence with sharp structure; (2) zero-order singlet states that do not carry the absorption intensity but emit broad fluorescence; and (3) zero-order triplet states. The interaction among these states depends not only on the vibrational level but also on the rotational level excited. It is suggested that the number of triplet states coupled to the singlet state increases with increasing excess vibrational energy. It is also suggested that K-scrambling occurs both in the triplet manifold following intersystem crossing (ISC) and in the singlet manifold following intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR). The fluorescence intensity and decay of s-triazine vapor are significantly influenced by a magnetic field, and the field effects are interpreted in terms of the spin decoupling in the triplet manifold following ISC; the role of external magnetic fields is to mix the spin sublevels of different rovibronic levels coupled to the excited singlet state. Magnetic depolarization of fluorescence also occurs because of the efficient interaction between the excited singlet state and the triplet state.     

Ultrafast Deactivation Mechanism of the Excited Singlet in the Light‐Induced Spin Crossover of [Fe(2,2′‐bipyridine)3]2+

The mechanism of the light‐induced spin crossover of the [Fe(bpy)₃]²⁺ complex (bpy=2,2′‐bipyridine) has been studied by combining accurate electronic‐structure calculations and time‐dependent approaches to calculate intersystem‐crossing rates. We investigate how the initially excited metal‐to‐ligand charge transfer (MLCT) singlet state deactivates to the final metastable high‐spin state. Although ultrafast X‐ray free‐electron spectroscopy has established that the total timescale of this process is on the order of a few tenths of a picosecond, the details of the mechanisms still remain unclear. We determine all the intermediate electronic states along the pathway from low spin to high spin and give estimates for the deactivation times of the different stages. The calculations result in a total deactivation time on the same order of magnitude as the experimentally determined rate and indicate that the complex can reach the final high‐spin state by means of different deactivation channels. The optically populated excited singlet state rapidly decays to a triplet state with an Fe d⁶(${{\rm t}{{5\hfill \atop {\rm 2g}\hfill}}}$ ${{\rm e}{{1\hfill \atop {\rm g}\hfill}}}$ ) configuration either directly or by means of a triplet MLCT state. This triplet ligand‐field state could in principle decay directly to the final quintet state, but a much faster channel is provided by internal conversion to a lower‐lying triplet state and subsequent intersystem crossing to the high‐spin state. The deactivation rate to the low‐spin ground state is much smaller, which is in line with the large quantum yield reported for the process.     

Spectral signatures of inter-system crossing mediated by energetically distant doorway levels: examples from the acetylene S1 state

We review recent research on the acetylene S(1) state that illustrates how mechanistic rather than phenomenological information about intersystem crossing (ISC) may be obtained directly from frequency-domain spectra. The focus is on the dynamically rich "doorway-mediated" ISC domain that lies between isolated spectroscopic spin-orbit perturbations and statistical-limit interactions between one singlet "bright state" and a quasi-continuum of triplet "dark states". New and improved experimental and data processing techniques permit the statistical-model curtain to be drawn back to reveal mechanistically explicit pathways via one or more identifiable, hence, manipulatable, doorway states, between a user-selected bright state and the undifferentiated bath of dark states.     

On the intrinsic population of the lowest triplet state of thymine

The population of the lowest triplet state of thymine after near-UV irradiation has been established, on the basis of CASPT2//CASSCF quantum chemical calculations, to take place via three distinct intersystem crossing mechanisms from the initially populated singlet bright 1pipi* state. Two singlet-triplet crossings have been found along the minimum-energy path for ultrafast decay of the singlet state at 4.8 and 4.0 eV, involving the lowest 3npi* and 3pipi* states, respectively. Large spin-orbit coupling elements predict efficient intersystem crossing processes in both cases. Another mechanism involving energy transfer from the lowest 1npi* state with much larger spin-orbit coupling terms can also be proposed. The wavelength dependence measured for the triplet quantum yield of pyrimidine nucleobases is explained by the location and accessibility of the singlet-triplet crossing regions.     

Comprehensive Photophysical Behaviour of Ethynyl Fluorenes and Ethynyl Anthracenes Investigated by Fast and Ultrafast Time‐Resolved Spectroscopy

Detailed investigations by time‐resolved transient absorption and fluorescence spectroscopies with nano‐ and femtosecond time resolutions are carried out with the aim of characterising the lowest excited singlet and triplet states of three ethynyl fluorenes ( 1 – 3 ) and three ethynyl anthracenes ( 4 – 6 ) in solvents of different polarity. The solvent is found to modify the deactivation pathways of the lowest excited singlet state of compounds 1 – 4 , thus changing their fluorescence, intersystem crossing and internal conversion efficiencies. The fluorescence and triplet yields gradually decrease, while the internal conversion quantum yield increases upon increasing the solvent dielectric constant. These experimental results, coupled with the marked fluorosolvatochromic effect, point to the involvement of an emitting state with a charge‐transfer (CT) character, strongly stabilised by polar solvents. This is proved by ultrafast spectroscopic studies in which two transients, distinguished by characteristic spectral shapes assigned to locally excited (LE) and CT states, are detected, the CT state being the longer lived and fluorescent one in highly polar solvents. The intramolecular LE→CT process, operative in highly polar media, becomes particularly fast (up to ≈300 fs) in the case of the NO₂ derivative 1 . No push–pull character is found for 5 and 6 , which exhibit different photophysical behaviour; indeed, the solvent polarity does not modify significantly the dynamics of the lowest excited singlet states. Quantum mechanical calculations at the TDDFT level are also used to determine the state order and nature of the lowest excited singlet and triplet states and to rationalise the different photophysical behaviour of fluorine and anthracene derivatives, particularly concerning the intersystem crossing process.     

Singlet relaxation dynamics and long triplet lifetimes of thiophene-coupled perylene diimides dyads: New insights for high efficiency organic solar cells

In the active layer of organic solar cells (OSCs), the lifetime of triplet excitons is one of the decisive factors in the diffusion length and therefore has important impact on the power conversion efficiency of the devices. Herein, we have investigated singlet excited state relaxation dynamics and their triplet exciton lifetimes of two thiophene-coupled perylene diimides (PDI) dyads (2PDI-Th and fused-2PDI-Th), in order to provide a unique explanation in depth on their different performances in OSC devices. From the transient absorption (TA) spectra, the singlet excitons of 2PDI-Th form excimers in the time scale of 1.5 ps. Then the excimers go into the triplet state via intersystem crossing (ISC). In fused-2PDI-Th, triplet excitons are generated directly from the singlet excited excitons via the efficient ISC. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations further support the formation of excimers. DFT results indicate that 2PDI-Th exhibits an H-typed molecular configuration which is beneficial to form the excimers, while fused-2PDI-Th gives a twisted X-shaped configuration in the optimized ground and excited state. In steady-state emission spectra, 2PDI-Th shows abroad and featureless spectral characteristics of the excimers with a decay time of 840 ps, which is much shorter than those of PDI (5.5 ns) and fused-2PDI-Th (3.3 ns). The triplet lifetime (67 μs) of fused-2PDI-Th is factor of 3 longer than that of 2PDI-Th (22 μs). These results demonstrate that ring-fused structure is an efficient strategy to eliminate excimer formation and prolong the lifetime of triplet excitons, which provides a new insight for design of optoelectronic molecules for high efficiency organic solar cells.     

Photophysical Behavior of Angelicins and Thioangelicins: Semiempirical Calculations and Experimental Study

The decay processes of the lowest excited singlet and triplet states of five methylated angelicins (4,6,4′-trimethyl-angelicin, MA, and four methylated thioangelicins, MTA; see Scheme 1) were investigated in live solvents by stationary and pulsed fluorometric and flash photolytic techniques. In particular, the solvent effects on absorption, fluorescence, quantum yields of fluorescence (φ_F) and triplet formation (φ_T), lifetimes of fluorescence (τ_F) and the triplet state (τ_T) and the quantum yields of singlet oxygen production (φ_Δ) were investigated. Semiempirical (ZINDO/S-CI) calculations were carried out to obtain information (transition probabilities and nature) on the lowest excited singlet and triplet states. The quantum mechanical calculations and the solvent effect on the photophysical properties showed that the lowest excited singlet state (S¹) is a partially allowed π,π* state, while the close-lying S₂ state is n,π* in nature. The efficiencies of fluorescence, S₁→T₁ intersystem crossing (ISC) and S₁→ S₀ internal conversion (IC) strongly depend on the energy gap between S₁, and S₂ and are explained in terms of the so-called proximity effect. In fact, for MA in cyclohexane, only the S₁→ S₀ internal conversion is operative, while in acetonitrile and ethanol, where the n.π* state is shifted to higher energy, the efficiencies of fluorescence and ISC increase significantly. The energy gap between S₁ and S₂ increases in MTA, where the furanic oxygen is replaced by a sulfur atom. Consequently, the solvent effect on the photophysical parameters of MTA is less marked than for MA; e.g. fluorescence and triplet-triplet absorption are also detectable in the nonpolar cyclohexane. The lowest excited singlet state of molecular oxygen O₂(¹D_g) was produced efficiently in polar solvents by energy transfer from the T₁ state of MA and MTA.     

Singlet relaxation dynamics and long triplet lifetimes of thiophene-coupled perylene diimides dyads: New insights for high efficiency organic solar cells

In the active layer of organic solar cells (OSCs), the lifetime of triplet excitons is one of the decisive factors in the diffusion length and therefore has important impact on the power conversion efficiency of the devices. Herein, we have investigated singlet excited state relaxation dynamics and their triplet exciton lifetimes of two thiophene-coupled perylene diimides (PDI) dyads (2PDI-Th and fused-2PDI-Th), in order to provide a unique explanation in depth on their different performances in OSC devices. From the transient absorption (TA) spectra, the singlet excitons of 2PDI-Th form excimers in the time scale of 1.5 ps. Then the excimers go into the triplet state via intersystem crossing (ISC). In fused-2PDI-Th, triplet excitons are generated directly from the singlet excited excitons via the efficient ISC. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations further support the formation of excimers. DFT results indicate that 2PDI-Th exhibits an H-typed molecular configuration which is beneficial to form the excimers, while fused-2PDI-Th gives a twisted X-shaped configuration in the optimized ground and excited state. In steady-state emission spectra, 2PDI-Th shows abroad and featureless spectral characteristics of the excimers with a decay time of 840 ps, which is much shorter than those of PDI (5.5 ns) and fused-2PDI-Th (3.3 ns). The triplet lifetime (67 μs) of fused-2PDI-Th is factor of 3 longer than that of 2PDI-Th (22 μs). These results demonstrate that ring-fused structure is an efficient strategy to eliminate excimer formation and prolong the lifetime of triplet excitons, which provides a new insight for design of optoelectronic molecules for high efficiency organic solar cells.