Excited State Structural Changes of 10-Cyano-9-tert-butyl-anthracene (CTBA) in Polymer Matrices

Two main deactivation processes are suggested to be present in the electronic excited state of 10-cayano-9-tert-butyl-anthracene (CTBA): one leading to the Dewar strucure resulted from photochemical effect, similar to the case of 9-tert-butyl-anthracene (TBA), which is enhanced in solution, and another leads to a more planar structure leading to a Charge Transfer (CT) state and is enhanced in polymers. The presence of donor (tert-butyl group) and an acceptor (cyano group) along the line of 9,10 positions in CTBA confirm our hypothesis of CT state. Our suggestions were supported by steady state and time resolved fluorescence spectra results.