Core molecule dependence of energy migration in phenylacetylene nanostar dendrimers: Ab initio molecular orbital-configuration interaction based quantum master equation study

The core molecule dependence of energy (exciton) migration in phenylacetylene nanostar dendrimers is investigated using the ab initio molecular orbital (MO)-configuration interaction based quantum master equation approach. We examine three kinds of core molecular species, i.e., benzene, anthracene, and pentacene, with different highest occupied MO-lowest unoccupied MO (HOMO-LUMO) gaps, which lead to different orbital interactions between the dendron parts and the core molecule. The nanostars bearing anthracene and pentacene cores are characterized by multistep exciton states with spatially well-segmented distributions: The exciton distributions of high-lying exciton states are spatially localized well in the periphery region, whereas those of low-lying exciton states are done in the core region. On the other hand, for the nanostar bearing benzene core, which also has multistep exciton states, the spatial exciton distributions of low-lying exciton states are delocalized over the dendron and the core regions. It is found that the former nanostars exhibit nearly complete exciton migration from the periphery to the core molecule in contrast to the latter one, in which significant exciton distribution remains in the dendron parts attached to the core after the exciton relaxation, although all these dendrimers exhibit fast exciton relaxation from the initially populated states. It is predicted from the analysis based on the MO correlation diagrams and the relative relaxation factor that the complete exciton migration to the core occurs not only when the HOMO-LUMO gap of the core molecule is nearly equal to that of the dendron parts attached to the core (anthracene case) but also when fairly smaller than that (pentacene case), whereas the complete migration is not achieved when the HOMO-LUMO gap of the core is larger than that of the dendron parts (benzene case). These results suggest that the fast and complete exciton migration of real dendrimers could be realized by adjusting the HOMO-LUMO gap of the core molecule to be smaller than that of dendron parts, although there exist more complicated relaxation processes as compared to simple dendritic aggregate models studied so far.     

Vibrational dynamics and structural investigation of 2,2'-dipyridylketone using Raman, IR and UV-visible spectroscopy aided by ab initio and density functional theory calculation

Detailed investigation on the vibrational and electronic spectra has been carried out in order to study various properties of 2,2'-dipyridylketone molecule in its ground and excited electronic states. To get insight into the structural and symmetry features of the molecule, Raman excitation profiles of several normal modes have been analyzed. The polarized Raman spectra in different environments along with their IR counterpart have been critically surveyed and different normal modes have been assigned. The knowledge in regard to the positions of different excited electronic states has been acquired from the study of electronic absorption spectra. All the experimental observations have been substantiated and corroborated theoretically by the quantum chemical calculation. Possibility of exciton splitting of the 1La band has been explored both from theoretical and experimental points of view.     

Theoretical analysis of excited states and energy transfer mechanism in conjugated dendrimers

The excited states of the phenylene ethynylene dendrimer are investigated comprehensively by various electronic‐structure methods. Several computational methods, including SCS‐ADC(2), TDHF, TDDFT with different functionals (B3LYP, BH&HLYP, CAM‐B3LYP), and DFT/MRCI, are applied in systematic calculations. The theoretical approach based on the one‐electron transition density matrix is used to understand the electronic characters of excited states, particularly the contributions of local excitations and charge‐transfer excitations within all interacting conjugated branches. Furthermore, the potential energy curves of low‐lying electronic states as the functions of ethynylene bonds are constructed at different theoretical levels. This work provides us theoretical insights on the intramolecular excited‐state energy transfer mechanism of the dendrimers at the state‐of‐the‐art electronic‐structure theories. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Excited-state processes in first-generation phenyl-cored thiophene dendrimers

First generation dendrimers with three oligothiophene arms (meta-arranged, 3G1-nS) and four arms (ortho- and para-arranged, 4G1-nS) connected to a central phenyl core were investigated spectroscopically in solution. In all dendrimers, on an ultrafast time scale (<10 ps), two "cooling" processes convert the initially generated, "hot" exciton into the geometrically relaxed, "cold" exciton. A decrease in the triplet yield, particularly evident for the 4-arm dendrimers; intersystem crossing rate; and nonradiative triplet decay time with increasing number of bridging thiophene units n all meet with expectations from prior studies on linear oligothiophenes. A relatively fast internal conversion process (>0.6 ns(-1)) is observed in both dendrimer series, possibly due to increased twisting about the phenyl core that reduces the triplet yields considerably with respect to oligothiophenes. An anomalous shifting of the triplet-triplet absorption spectra characterizes the 4G1-nS dendrimers as unique from the 3G1-nS series in terms of the hindrance of torsional motion and confinement of excited states enforced by the arrangement of dendrons.     

Exciton fission and fusion in bis(tetracene) molecules with different covalent linker structures

Bichromophoric molecules can support two spatially separated excited states simultaneously and thus provide novel pathways for electronic state relaxation. Exciton fission, where absorption of a single photon leads to two triplet states, is a potentially useful example of such a pathway. In this paper, a detailed study of exciton fission in three novel phenylene-linked bis(tetracene) molecules is presented. Their spectroscopy is analyzed in terms of a three-state kinetic model in which the singlet excited state can fission into a triplet pair state, which in turn undergoes recombination on a time scale longer than the molecule's radiative lifetime. This model allows us to fit both the prompt and delayed fluorescence decay data quantitatively. The para-phenylene linked bis(tetracene) molecules 1,4-bis(tetracen-5-yl)benzene (1) and 4,4'-bis(tetracen-5-yl)biphenylene (2) show intramolecular exciton fission with yields of approximately 3%, whereas no delayed fluorescence is observed for tetracene or the meta-linked molecule 1,3-bis(tetracen-5-yl)benzene 3. Analysis of the temperature-dependent fluorescence dynamics yields activation energies for fission of (10.0 +/- 0.6) kJ/mol for 1 and (4.1 +/- 0.5) kJ/mol for 2, with Arrhenius prefactors of (1.48 +/- 0.04) x 10(8) s(-1) for 1 and (1.72 +/- 0.02) x 10(7) s(-1) for 2. The observed trends in activation energies are reproduced by ab initio calculations of the independently optimized singlet and triplet energies. The calculations indicate that electronic coupling between the two tetracene units is primarily through-bond, allowing differences in fission rates to be qualitatively explained in terms of the linker structure as well. Our results show that it is important to consider the effects of the linker structure on both energy relaxation and electronic coupling in bichromophoric molecules. This study provides insight into the structural and energetic factors that should be taken into account in the design of exciton fission molecules for possible solar cell applications.     

Novel electronic transitions within excited doublets of dimers

We consider the electronic transition between the split components of the excited electronic doublet of a dimer species when the monomer species have permanent dipole moments. We show that the transition moment is given in terms of the permanent dipole moments of the ground and excited states of the monomers. Extension to ionic dimers and transitions between exciton bands in molecular crystals are suggested.     

Overcoming excitonic bottleneck in organic solar cells: electronic structure and spectra of novel semiconducting donor-acceptor block copolymers

A novel class of organic semiconductors aimed at improving the efficiency of organic photovoltaic devices is investigated by an ab initio electronic structure theory. Two conjugated block copolymers composed of chemically bound donor and acceptor blocks show substantial charge transfer upon photoexcitation, suggesting that the optically excited states are separated charge pairs rather than strongly interacting charges forming excitons. In contrast, little charge transfer is seen in the ground electronic state. The optical cross-sections of the charge separated states are quite high due to a good overlap of the tails of the ground and excited state wavefunctions. The absorption spectra of the systems cover visible spectrum and extend to the infrared, suggesting good prospects for light harvesting. The calculation results indicate that the proposed class of semiconducting molecular heterojunctions may overcome the exciton bottleneck problem in organic photovoltaic materials.     

Excited electronic states of small water clusters

The lowest electronic states that are initially formed upon excitation of small water clusters having a central water molecule with one stretched OH bond are studied with electronic structure methods. It is found that in water dimer, trimer, and pentamer the lowest excited singlet and triplet states are each nondissociative for stretching of an OH bond that is hydrogen bonded in an icelike configuration to a neighboring water molecule. This is in marked contrast to the behavior of an isolated gas phase water monomer, where it is well known that the lowest excited state is strongly dissociative upon OH stretching. The conclusions of this study may serve as a basis to interpret recent experimental evidence that suggests a significant lifetime for excited water in irradiated thin ice films, and may also have important implications for the behavior of excitation of liquid water.     

Photogenerated cumulenic structure of adamantyl endcapped linear carbon chains: an experimental and computational investigation based on infrared spectroscopy

The infrared (IR) spectrum of an adamantyl endcapped α, ω-polyyne (the hexayne, Ad-C(12)-Ad) is investigated both experimentally and computationally. A new IR band is observed upon UV photoexcitation of the compound (embedded in a poly methyl methacrylate matrix at 78 K), thus, revealing the existence of new photogenerated molecular structure trapped at low temperature. Complete reversibility is found, thus, demonstrating that the photoexcitation is responsible for the generation of metastable excited states of the molecule. Density functional theory and time dependent density functional theory calculations indicate that these metastable states result from the forbidden singlet (S(1)) or triplet (T(1)) excited states, and geometry optimizations of the polyyne trapped in either S(1) and/or T(1) states demonstrate that the carbon chain takes on a cumulenic structure. Comparison of the experimental and the computed IR spectra for the molecule trapped in the forbidden states confirms that the new IR features are clear markers of cumulenic species. The temperature and time dependent behavior of the new IR band is analyzed, while the experimentally determined value of the activation energy highlights the low stability of these molecular structures.     

Exciton dissociation dynamics in model donor-acceptor polymer heterojunctions. I. Energetics and spectra

In this paper we consider the essential electronic excited states in parallel chains of semiconducting polymers that are currently being explored for photovoltaic and light-emitting diode applications. In particular, we focus upon various type II donor-acceptor heterojunctions and explore the relation between the exciton binding energy to the band offset in determining the device characteristic of a particular type II heterojunction material. As a general rule, when the exciton binding energy is greater than the band offset at the heterojunction, the exciton will remain the lowest-energy excited state and the junction will make an efficient light-emitting diode. On the other hand, if the offset is greater than the exciton binding energy, either the electron or hole can be transferred from one chain to the other. Here we use a two-band exciton to predict the vibronic absorption and emission spectra of model polymer heterojunctions. Our results underscore the role of vibrational relaxation and suggest that intersystem crossings may play some part in the formation of charge-transfer states following photoexcitation in certain cases.     

Dications of bis-triarylamino-[2.2]paracyclophanes: Evaluation of excited state couplings by GMH analysis

In this paper, we present the absorption properties of a series of bis-triarylamino-[2.2]paracyclophane diradical dications. The localized pi-pi and the charge-transfer (CT) transitions of these dications are explained and analyzed by an exciton coupling model that also considers the photophysical properties of the "monomeric" triarylamine radical cations. Together with AM1-CISD-calculated transition moments, experimental transition moments and transition energies of the bis-triarylamine dications were used to calculate electronic couplings by a generalized Mulliken-Hush (GMH) approach. These couplings are a measure for interactions of the excited mixed-valence CT states. The modification of the diabatic states reveals similarities of the GMH three-level model and the exciton coupling model. Comparison of the two models shows that the transition moment between the excited mixed-valence states mu(ab) of the dimer equals the dipole moment difference Delta of the ground and the excited bridge state of the corresponding monomer.     

CARS-spectra of excited states of metalloporphyrins

It is shown that resonance coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (RCARS) spectra of Cu- and Ni-octaethylporphyrins contain lines corresponding to molecule vibrations both in the ground and excited electronic states. Mechanisms are given which lead to the appearance of vibrations in the excited state in RCARS spectra. The RCARS methods are shown to be promising for comparing molecule vibrations in different electronic states.     

Exciton Migration in Conjugated Dendrimers: A Joint Experimental and Theoretical Study

We report a joint experimental and theoretical investigation of exciton diffusion in phenyl‐cored thiophene dendrimers. Experimental exciton diffusion lengths of the dendrimers vary between 8 and 17 nm, increasing with the size of the dendrimer. A theoretical methodology is developed to estimate exciton diffusion lengths for conjugated small molecules in a simulated amorphous film. The theoretical approach exploits Fermi’s Golden Rule to estimate the energy transfer rates for a large ensemble of bimolecular complexes in random relative orientations. Utilization of Poisson’s equation in the evaluation of the Coulomb integral leads to very efficient calculation of excitonic couplings between the donor and the acceptor chromophores. Electronic coupling calculations with delocalized transition densities revealed efficient coupling pathways in the bulk of the material, but do not result in strong couplings between the chromophores which are calculated for more localized transition densities. The molecular structures of dendrimers seem to be playing a significant role in the magnitude of electronic coupling between chromophores. Simulated diffusion lengths correlate well with the experimental data. The chemical structure of the chromophore, the shape of the transition densities and the exciton lifetime are found to be the most important factors in determining the size of the exciton diffusion length in amorphous films of conjugated materials.     

Excited states in the multireference state-specific coupled-cluster theory with the complete active space reference

The recently proposed multireference state-specific coupled-cluster theory with the complete active space reference has been used to study electronically excited states with different spatial and spin symmetries. The algorithm for the method has been obtained using the computerized approach for automatic generation of coupled-cluster diagrams with an arbitrary level of the electronic excitation from a formal reference determinant. The formal reference is also used to generate the genuine reference state in the form of a linear combination of determinants contracted to a configuration with the spin and spatial symmetries of the target state. The natural-orbital expansions of the one-electron configuration inferaction density matrix allowed us to obtain the most compact orbital space for the expansion of the reference function. We applied our approach in the calculations of singlet and triplet states of different spatial symmetries of the water molecule. The comparisons of the results with values obtained using other many-particle methods and with the full configuration interaction results demonstrate good ability of the approach to deal with electronic excited states.     

CASSCF and CASPT2 studies on the structures, transition energies, and dipole moments of ground and excited states for azulene

The electronic structure of azulene molecule has been studied. We have obtained the optimized structures of ground and singlet excited states by using the complete active space self-consistent-field (CASSCF) method, and calculated vertical and 0-0 transition energies between the ground and excited states with second-order M?ller-Plesset perturbation theory (CASPT2). The CASPT2 calculations indicate that the bond-equalized C(2v) structure is more stable than the bond-alternating C(s) structure in the ground state. For a physical understanding of electronic structure change from C(2v) to C(s), we have performed the CASSCF calculations of Duschinsky matrix describing mixing of the b(2) vibrational mode between the ground (1A(1)) and the first excited (1B(2)) states based on the Kekule-crossing model. The CASPT2 0-0 transition energies are in fairly good agreement with experimental results within 0.1-0.3 eV. The CASSCF oscillator strengths between the ground and excited states are calculated and compared with experimental data. Furthermore, we have calculated the CASPT2 dipole moments of ground and excited states, which show good agreement with experimental values.     

Negative ion photoelectron spectroscopy of acridine molecular anion and its monohydrate

Negative ion photoelectron spectroscopy was employed to investigate the electronic structure of the acridine molecular anion and its monohydrated anion in the gas phase. Their adiabatic electron affinities were measured to be 0.896+/-0.010 and 1.18+/-0.05 eV, and the low-lying electronic excited states in both neutral acridine and in its monohydrate were revealed. The photoelectron spectra clearly exhibit the presence of low-lying singlet and triplet states having a (pi,pi*) configuration in an uncomplexed acridine molecule. Comparison of the photoelectron spectrum of acridine with that of anthracene shows that photodetachment processes into the excited states of (n,pi*) configuration have little intensity, implying a relatively large intramolecular structural relaxation in the (n,pi*) states.     

Probing the acidity of p-substituted phenols in the excited state: electronic spectroscopy of the p-cyanophenol-water cluster.

The hydrogen bond structure of the p-cyanophenol-water cluster has been determined in the ground and first excited electronic state by rotationally resolved UV spectroscopy. The water molecule is trans-linearly bound to the hydroxy group of the p-cyanophenol moiety, with hydrogen bond distances considerably shorter in both electronic states than in the similar phenol-water cluster. The structure of the cluster has been elucidated by ab initio calculations at various levels of theory and compared to the experimental findings. The barriers to internal rotation of the water moiety were determined experimentally to be 275 and 183 cm(-1) for the ground and excited state, respectively. Hydrogen bond distances and the energy barrier to water torsion correlate with the pK(a) values of different substituted phenols for both electronic states.     

Ultrafast photo-induced charge transfer unveiled by two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy

The interaction of exciton and charge transfer (CT) states plays a central role in photo-induced CT processes in chemistry, biology, and physics. In this work, we use a combination of two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy (2D-ES), pump-probe measurements, and quantum chemistry to investigate the ultrafast CT dynamics in a lutetium bisphthalocyanine dimer in different oxidation states. It is found that in the anionic form, the combination of strong CT-exciton interaction and electronic asymmetry induced by a counter-ion enables CT between the two macrocycles of the complex on a 30 fs timescale. Following optical excitation, a chain of electron and hole transfer steps gives rise to characteristic cross-peak dynamics in the electronic 2D spectra, and we monitor how the excited state charge density ultimately localizes on the macrocycle closest to the counter-ion within 100 fs. A comparison with the dynamics in the radical species further elucidates how CT states modulate the electronic structure and tune fs-reaction dynamics. Our experiments demonstrate the unique capability of 2D-ES in combination with other methods to decipher ultrafast CT dynamics.     

Anti-correlated spectral motion in bisphthalocyanines: evidence for vibrational modulation of electronic mixing

We exploit a coherently excited nuclear wave packet to study nuclear motion modulation of electronic structure in a metal bridged phthalocyanine dimer, lutetium bisphthalocyanine, which displays two visible absorption bands. We find that the nuclear coordinate influences the energies of the underlying exciton and charge resonance states as well as their interaction; the interplay of the various couplings creates unusual anti-correlated spectral motion in the two bands. Excited state relaxation dynamics are the same regardless of which transition is pumped, with decay time constants of 1.5 and 11 ps. The dynamics are analyzed using a three-state kinetic model after relaxation from one or two additional states faster than the experimental time resolution of 50-100 fs.