Ultrafast intersystem crossing in 9,10-anthraquinones and intramolecular charge separation in an anthraquinone-based dyad

Femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy was employed to determine quantitatively the ultrafast S1-T1 intersystem crossing in a 2-substituted 9,10-anthraquinone derivative (3), kisc = 2.5 x 10(12) s-1. Notwithstanding this rapid process, photoexcitation of dyad 1 is followed by competition between intersystem crossing and intramolecular charge separation, the latter leading to a short-lived (2 ps) singlet charge-transfer (CT) state. The local triplet state itself undergoes slower charge separation to populate a relatively long-lived (130 ns) triplet CT state. An earlier report about the formation of an extremely long-lived CT state (> 900 micros) in 1 was found to be erroneous and was related to the sacrificial photo-oxidation of the dimethylsulfoxide solvent used in that study. Finally, some important criteria have been formulated for future experimental validation of "unusually long-lived" CT states.     

Controlling electron transfer dynamics in donor-bridge-acceptor molecules by increasing unpaired spin density on the bridge

A t-butylphenylnitroxide (BPNO*) stable radical is attached to an electron donor-bridge-acceptor (D-B-A) system having well-defined distances between the components: MeOAn-6ANI-Ph(BPNO*)-NI, where MeOAn=p-methoxyaniline, 6ANI=4-(N-piperidinyl)naphthalene-1,8-dicarboximide, Ph=phenyl, and NI=naphthalene-1,8:4,5-bis(dicarboximide). MeOAn-6ANI, BPNO*, and NI are attached to the 1, 3, and 5 positions of the Ph bridge, respectively. Time-resolved optical and EPR spectroscopy show that BPNO* influences the spin dynamics of the photogenerated triradical states 2,4(MeOAn+*-6ANI-Ph(BPNO*)-NI-*), resulting in slower charge recombination within the triradical, as compared to the corresponding biradical lacking BPNO*. The observed spin-spin exchange interaction between the photogenerated radicals MeOAn+* and NI-* is not altered by the presence of BPNO*. However, the increased spin density on the bridge greatly increases radical pair (RP) intersystem crossing from the photogenerated singlet RP to the triplet RP. Rapid formation of the triplet RP makes it possible to observe a biexponential decay of the total RP population with components of tau=740 ps (0.75) and 104 ns (0.25). Kinetic modeling shows that the faster decay rate is due to rapid establishment of an equilibrium between the triplet RP and the neutral triplet state resulting from charge recombination, whereas the slower rate monitors recombination of the singlet RP to ground state.     

Structural control of the excited-state dynamics of bis(dipyrrinato)zinc complexes: self-assembling chromophores for light-harvesting architectures

The replacement of the phenyl rings at the 5,5'-positions of a bis(dipyrrinato)zinc complex with mesityl groups transforms the molecule from a very weak emitter that deactivates rapidly after photoexcitation (Phif = 0.006; tau approximately 90 ps) to a highly fluorescent chromophore with a long-lived singlet excited state (Phif = 0.36; tau approximately 3 ns). The results demonstrate that steric constraints on aryl-ring internal rotation dramatically alter the excited-state properties of 5,5'-substituted bis(dipyrrinato)metal complexes. The insights establish the foundation for tuning the photophysical properties of these chromophores for use in diverse photochemical applications.     

Photodecarbonylation of alpha-diketones: a mechanistic study of reactions leading to acenes

Poly(acene)s are significant compounds for various electronic applications. A clean, one-step synthesis involves alpha-diketones (2-4), which undergo facile Strating-Zwanenburg photodecarbonylation producing the corresponding poly(acene)s (i.e., anthracene, hexacene, and heptacene, respectively). Compounds 2-4 show weak fluorescence (lambdaF=approximately 525-530 nm and PhiF=approximately 0.1-0.4%) and phosphorescence (lambdaPh=approximately 565-570 nm) and have a small singlet-triplet energy gap (S1-T1 gap, approximately 4 kcal/mol) that facilitates rapid intersystem crossing from the singlet to the triplet state. Both the singlet states (tauS=approximately 20-218 ps) and the triplet states (tauT=approximately 370 ps to <7 ns) of 2-4 are short-lived, while the decarbonylation of 2-4 is a rapid process occurring within 7 ns from both the singlet and the triplet manifolds. The nanosecond laser flash photolysis of 4 also reveals the T-T absorption of heptacene (580 nm, tau=approximately 11 micros).     

The direct detection of an aryl azide excited state: an ultrafast study of the photochemistry of para- and ortho-biphenyl azide

Ultrafast laser flash photolysis (266 nm) of para- and ortho-biphenyl azide in acetonitrile produces azide excited states that have broad absorption bands centered at 480 nm. The para-biphenyl azide excited singlet state has a lifetime of 100 fs. The excited-state lifetime of the ortho-azide isomer is 450 +/- 150 fs. Decay of the azide excited states is accompanied by the formation of the corresponding known singlet nitrenes (para, lambdamax = 350 nm, ortho, lambdamax = 400 nm). Singlet para-biphenylnitrene is born with excess energy and undergoes vibrational cooling with a time constant of 11 ps to form the long-lived (tau approximately 9 ns) relaxed singlet nitrene. Singlet ortho-biphenylnitrene decays with a lifetime of 16 ps in acetonitrile at ambient temperature.     

Ultrafast study of p-biphenylyldiazomethane and p-biphenylylcarbene

p-Biphenylyldiazomethane was excited by femtosecond pulses of UV light in acetonitrile, in cyclohexane, and in methanol. Ultrafast photolysis produces a singlet excited state of p-biphenylyldiazomethane with lambdamax = 490 nm, and lifetimes of less than 300 fs in acetonitrile, in cyclohexane, and in methanol. The decay of the excited state is accompanied by the growth of transient absorption with lambdamax = 360 nm. The carrier of this transient absorption is attributed to singlet p-biphenylylcarbene, a result that is consistent with the predictions of TD-DFT calculations. The singlet carbene lifetimes are 200 and 77 ps in acetonitrile and cyclohexane, respectively, and are controlled by intersystem crossing to the lower energy triplet state. The transient absorption does not decay to baseline in acetonitrile, because of the formation of nitrile ylide. The equilibrium mixture of singlet and triplet p-biphenylylcarbene reacts with acetonitrile to form a nitrile ylide (lambdamax = 370 nm), and with cyclohexane by C-H insertion 1-20 ns after the laser pulse. The singlet carbene lifetime is only 7.9 ps in methanol, owing to a rapid reaction with the solvent. Reaction with the solvent gives rise, in part, to a p-biphenylylbenzyl cation (lambdamax = 450 nm, tau = 6.3 ps) in methanol.     

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.     

Time-resolved EPR, fluorescence, and transient absorption studies on phthalocyaninatosilicon covalently linked to one or two TEMPO radicals.

The photophysical properties of tetra-tert-butylphthalocyaninatosilicon (SiPc) covalently linked to one or two 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy (TEMPO) radicals (R1, R2) have been studied by fluorescence, transient absorption, and time-resolved electron paramagnetic resonance (TREPR) spectroscopies. It is found that the fluorescence quantum yields and lifetimes of R1 and R2 decrease compared with those of (dihydroxy)SiPc ((dihydroxy)SiPc = 6.8 ns, R1 = 4.7 ns and 42 ps, and R2 = 4.7 ns and <30 ps). Transient absorption measurements indicate that the lifetime of the excited triplet SiPc is markedly dependent on the number of linking TEMPO radicals ((dihydroxy)SiPc = 500 micros, R1 = 7.6 micros, and R2 = 3.7 micros). These short lifetimes of R1 and R2 in the excited states are explained as a result of the interaction with TEMPO changing the ISC between the singlet and triplet states to spin-allowed transitions. Quantitative TREPR investigations have been carried out for the radical-quartet pair mechanism of R1 and the photoinduced population transfer of R2. It is determined that the rise and decay times of these electron spin polarizations denote the spin-lattice relaxation time of the ground state and the lifetime of the excited multiplet state, respectively. This study contributes not only to an elucidation of radical-chromophore interactions but also to a novel approach for controlling magnetic properties by photoexcitation.     

Triplet formation involving a polar transition state in a well-defined intramolecular perylenediimide dimeric aggregate

A cofacially stacked perylenediimide (PDI) dimer with a xanthene linker was studied under a variety of conditions (solvent, temperature) and serves as a model for the molecular interactions occurring in solid films. Intrinsically, the PDI units have a fluorescence quantum yield (Phi F) close to unity, but Phi F is lowered by a factor of 6-50 at room temperature when two PDI moieties are held in a cofacial arrangement, while the decay time of the most emissive state is increased significantly (tau F = 27 ns in toluene) compared to a monomeric PDI molecule (tau F = 4 ns). Fluorescence measurements show a strong solvent and temperature dependence of the characteristics of the emissive excited state. In a glassy matrix of toluene (TOL) or 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (2-MeTHF), Phi F is high, and the decay time is long (tau F = approximately 50 ns). At higher temperature, both Phi F and tau F are reduced. Interestingly, at room temperature, Phi F and tau F are also reduced with increasing solvent polarity, revealing the presence of a polar transition state. Photoinduced absorption of the stacked molecules from the picosecond to the microsecond time scale shows that after photoexcitation reorganization occurs in the first nanoseconds, followed by intersystem crossing (ISC), producing the triplet excited state. Using singlet oxygen ( (1)Delta g) luminescence as a probe, a triplet quantum yield (Phi T) greater than 50% was obtained in air-saturated 2-Me-THF. Triplet formation is exceptional for PDI chromophores, and the enhanced ISC is explained by a decay involving a highly polar transition state.     

2-Naphthyl(carbomethoxy)carbene revisited: combination of ultrafast UV-vis and infrared spectroscopic study

Ultrafast laser flash photolysis (310 nm) of methyl 2-napthyldiazoacetate (2-NpCN2CO2CH3) in acetonitrile or cyclohexane produces a diazo excited state which absorbs broadly in the visible region (tau = 300 fs). The decay of the excited diazo compound is accompanied by growth of the vibrationally excited singlet 2-naphthyl(carbomethoxy)carbene ((1)NpCCO2CH3). The singlet carbene absorbs at 360 and 470 nm. In acetonitrile these bands do not decay over 3 ns, but they do decay by approximately 50% of their original intensity in cyclohexane in 3 ns. It is concluded that (1)NpCCO2CH3 has a singlet ground state in acetonitrile but a triplet ground state in cyclohexane. Related experiments reveal a singlet ground state in Freon-113 and chloroform. This interpretation is supported by ultrafast IR spectroscopy, which confirms that only (1)NpCCO2CH3 is formed within 50 ps of the laser pulse rather than a singlet-triplet equilibrium mixture of carbene. The planar singlet relaxes to the preferred perpendicular singlet over a few tens of picoseconds, as evidenced by a red shift of the carbonyl stretching vibration. Although our data agrees with previous studies, its interpretation is somewhat altered.     

Exploring the Photodeactivation Pathways of Pt[O^N^C^N] Complexes: A Theoretical Perspective

In this article, the influence of the tert‐butyl unit on the photodeactivation pathways of Pt[O^N^C^N] (O^N^C^N=2‐(4‐(3,5‐di‐tert‐butylphenyl)‐6‐(3‐(pyridin‐2‐l)phenyl) pyridin‐2‐yl)phenolate) is investigated by DFT/TDDFT calculations. To further explore the factors that determine the radiative processes, the transition dipole moments of the singlet excited states, spin–orbit coupling (SOC) matrix elements, and energy gaps between the lowest triplet excited states and singlet excited states are calculated. As demonstrated by the results, compared with Pt‐3 , Pt‐1 and Pt‐2 have larger SOC matrix elements between the lowest triplet excited states and singlet excited states, an indicator that they have faster radiative decay processes. In addition, the SOC matrix elements between the lowest triplet excited states and ground states are also computed to elucidate the temperature‐independent non‐radiative decay processes. Moreover, the temperature‐dependent non‐radiative decay mechanisms are also explored via the potential energy profiles.     

Azobenzene-linked porphyrin-fullerene dyads

A new group of porphyrin-fullerene dyads with an azobenzene linker was synthesized, and the photochemical and photophysical properties of these materials were investigated using steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopic methods. The electrochemical properties of these compounds were also studied in detail. The synthesis involved oxidative heterocoupling of free base tris-aryl-p-aminophenyl porphyrins with a p-aminophenylacetal, followed by deprotection to give the aldehyde, and finally Prato 1,3-dipolar azomethineylide cycloaddition to C60. The corresponding Zn(II)-porphyrin (ZnP) dyads were made by treating the free base dyads with zinc acetate. The final dyads were characterized by their 1H NMR, mass, and UV-vis spectra. 3He NMR was used to determine if the products are a mixture of cis and trans stereoisomers, or a single isomer. The data are most consistent with the isolation of only a single configurational isomer, assigned to the trans (E) configuration. The ground-state UV-vis spectra are virtually a superimposition of the spectral features of the individual components, indicating there is no interaction of the fullerene (F) and porphyrin (H2P/ZnP) moieties in the ground state. This conclusion is supported by the electrochemical data. The steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectra indicate that the porphyrin fluorescence in the dyads is very strongly quenched at room temperature in the three solvents studied: toluene, tetrahydrofuran (THF), and benzonitrile (BzCN). The fluorescence lifetimes of the dyads in all solvents are sharply reduced compared to those of H2P and ZnP standards. In toluene, the lifetimes of the free base dyads are 600-790 ps compared to 10.1 ns for the standard, while in THF and BzCN the dyad lifetimes are less than 100 ps. For the ZnP dyads, the fluorescence lifetimes were 10-170 ps vs 2.1-2.2 ns for the ZnP references. The mechanism of the fluorescence quenching was established using time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopy. In toluene, the quenching process is singlet-singlet energy transfer (k approximately 10(11) s-1) to give C60 singlet excited states which decay with a lifetime of 1.2 ns to give very long-lived C60 triplet states. In THF and BzCN, quenching of porphyrin singlet states occurs at a similar rate, but now by electron transfer, to give charge-separated radical pair (CSRP) states, which show transient absorption spectra very similar to those reported for other H2P-C60 and ZnP-C60 dyad systems. The lifetimes of the CSRP states are in the range 145-435 ns in THF, much shorter than for related systems with amide, alkyne, silyl, and hydrogen-bonded linkers. Thus, both forward and back electron transfer is facilitated by the azobenzene linker. Nonetheless, the charge recombination is 3-4 orders of magnitude slower than charge separation, demonstrating that for these types of donor-acceptor systems back electron transfer is occurring in the Marcus inverted region.     

Laser flash photolysis of tert-butyl aroylperbenzoates: kinetics of the singlet and triplet states and the aroylphenyl radicals

tert-Butyl aroylperbenzoates (1-4) were studied by laser flash photolysis (LFP). LFP (380 nm, pulse width approximately 350 fs) of 2 and 3 allowed direct observation of their singlet states, which showed broad absorption (lambda(max) approximately 625 nm; tau approximately 20 and approximately 7.9 ps, respectively). The triplet state of each (lambda(max) approximately 530-560 nm) rapidly dissociates by O-O cleavage as indicated by the short triplet lifetimes (e.g., triplet lifetime of 3 approximately 0.74 ns). The approximately 550 nm absorption obtained from the 355 nm LFP (pulse width approximately 7 ns) of 1, 2, and 4 has been assigned to the corresponding aroylphenyl radicals. Two representative radicals (4-benzoylphenyl 5 and 3-(4'-methylbenzoyl)phenyl 6) investigated in detail showed solvent-dependent lifetimes. Absolute bimolecular rate constants of reactions of these radicals with various quenchers including double-bond-containing monomers have been observed to range from 7.56 x 10(7) to 1.68 x 10(9) M(-1) s(-1) in CCl(4) at room temperature. A possible structure of the aroylphenyl radicals and the transition responsible for the 550 nm absorption are discussed.     

Femtosecond time-resolved photophysics of 1,4,5,8-naphthalene diimides

The photophysical properties of a tetrahedral molecule with naphthalene diimide (NDI) moieties and of two model compounds were investigated. The absorption and fluorescence spectra of dialkyl-substituted NDI are in agreement with literature. While the absorption spectra of phenyl-substituted molecules are similar to all other NDIs, their fluorescence showed a broad band between 500 and 650 nm. This band is sensitive to the polarity of the solvent and is attributed to a CT state. The absorption spectra and lifetime (10+/-2 ps) of the electronically excited singlet state of a dialkyl-substituted NDI was determined by femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy, and the latter was confirmed by picosecond fluorescence spectroscopy. Nanosecond flash photolysis showed the subsequent formation of the triplet state. The presence of a phenyl substituent on the imide nitrogen of NDI resulted in faster deactivation of the singlet state (lifetime 0.5-1 ps). This is attributed to the formation of a short-lived CT state, which decays to the local triplet state. The faster deactivation was confirmed by fluorescence lifetime measurements in solution and in a low-temperature methyl-tetrahydrofuran glass.     

Photodissociation of bromobenzene in solution

The photodissociation of bromobenzene in solution was investigated with ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy following excitation at 266 nm. Ab initio calculations of lower singlet and triplet states were performed in order to guide the interpretations. The main feature of the kinetics measured between 300 and 930 nm in acetonitrile is a 9±1 ps decay, which we mainly assign to predissociation. Similar decays were observed in hexane, dichloromethane and tetrachloromethane at 400 and 800 nm. Other features in acetonitrile, such as complicated short-time dynamics between 420 and 620 nm and a long-lived component, might indicate the involvement of lower triplet states.     

Solvent-dependent C-OH homolysis and heterolysis in electronically excited 9-fluorenol: the life and solvation time of the 9-fluorenyl cation in water

The primary pathways of the photodecomposition of 9-fluorenol (FOH) were studied in polar and nonpolar solvents by use of laser flash-photolysis with a resolution time of 10 ps. In solvents of high polarity, that is, in 1,1.1,3,3,3-hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP), 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE), formamide or water, the fluorenyl cation, F+, forms by heterolytic C-O bond cleavage. In H2O, the initial (10 ps) spectrum of F+ has lambdamax at <460 nm. This absorption red-shifts with T = 25 ps to the "classical" spectrum with lambdamax = 510-515 nm. This process is assigned to the solvation of the initial "naked" cation, or rather, the contact ion pair. The lifetime of the solvated fluorenyl cation in H2O (or D2O) and TFE was measured to be tau 20 ps and 1 ns, respectively. In solvents of lower polarity such as alkanes, ethers and alcohols, the long-lived (tau 1/2 1 micros) fluorenyl radical, F., (lambdamax = 500 nm) forms through homolytic C-O cleavage. In addition to the radical and the cation, the vibrationally relaxed excited singlet state of FOH is seen with its absorption at approximately 640 nm; its lifetime is strongly dependent on the solvent, from 10 ps for formamide to 1.7 ns for cyclohexane. The rate constant for singlet decay increases exponentially with the polarity of the solvent (as expressed by the Dimroth-Reichardt ET value) or with the Gutmann solvent acceptor number. The relaxation of S1 to S0 is accompanied by homolytic C9-O bond cleavage (except in HFIP, TFE, and water, where S1 is not seen).     

Single-photon spectroscopy of singlet sulfur atoms and the autoionization lifetime measurements of the superexcited singlet states

Single-photon excitation spectra from the lowest singlet (1)D(2) level of sulfur atoms were recorded with a tunable vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation source generated by frequency tripling in noble gases. The photolysis of CS(2) at 193 nm was used to produce the singlet S((1)D(2)) sulfur atoms that were then excited to neutral superexcited states with the tunable VUV radiation. These superexcited states undergo autoionization into the first ionization continuum state of S(+)((4)S(3/2) (o))+e(-), which is not directly accessible from the S((1)D(2)) state via an allowed transition. The excitation spectra were recorded by monitoring the S(+) signal in a velocity imaging apparatus while scanning the VUV excitation wavelength. Three new lines were observed in the spectra which have not been previously reported. The full widths at half maximum (FWHM) of each of the observed transitions were determined by fitting the profiles of each absorption resonances with the Fano formula. Autoionization lifetimes tau of these singlet superexcited states were obtained from FWHM using the Uncertainty Principle. Abnormal autoionization lifetimes were found for the 3s(2)3p(3)((2)D(o))nd((1)D(2)) and the 3s(2)3p(3)((2)D(o))ns((1)D(2)) Rydberg series, in which tau(5d) and tau(7s) are shorter than tau(4d) and tau(6s), respectively. This is contrary to the well-known scaling law of tau(n*) proportional, variantn(*3), which should be followed within a series unless there exist perturbations from other series or new channels open up to which some members of the series can decay. Possible perturbations from the nearby triplet series are suspected for causing the broadening of the 5d and 7s levels.     

Ultrafast excited-state dynamics of rhenium(I) photosensitizers [Re(Cl)(CO)3(N,N)] and [Re(imidazole)(CO)3(N,N)]+: diimine effects

Femto- to picosecond excited-state dynamics of the complexes [Re(L)(CO)(3)(N,N)](n) (N,N = bpy, phen, 4,7-dimethyl-phen (dmp); L = Cl, n = 0; L = imidazole, n = 1+) were investigated using fluorescence up-conversion, transient absorption in the 650-285 nm range (using broad-band UV probe pulses around 300 nm) and picosecond time-resolved IR (TRIR) spectroscopy in the region of CO stretching vibrations. Optically populated singlet charge-transfer (CT) state(s) undergo femtosecond intersystem crossing to at least two hot triplet states with a rate that is faster in Cl (～100 fs)(-1) than in imidazole (～150 fs)(-1) complexes but essentially independent of the N,N ligand. TRIR spectra indicate the presence of two long-lived triplet states that are populated simultaneously and equilibrate in a few picoseconds. The minor state accounts for less than 20% of the relaxed excited population. UV-vis transient spectra were assigned using open-shell time-dependent density functional theory calculations on the lowest triplet CT state. Visible excited-state absorption originates mostly from mixed L;N,N(?-) → Re(II) ligand-to-metal CT transitions. Excited bpy complexes show the characteristic sharp near-UV band (Cl, 373 nm; imH, 365 nm) due to two predominantly ππ*(bpy(?-)) transitions. For phen and dmp, the UV excited-state absorption occurs at ～305 nm, originating from a series of mixed ππ* and Re → CO;N,N(?-) MLCT transitions. UV-vis transient absorption features exhibit small intensity- and band-shape changes occurring with several lifetimes in the 1-5 ps range, while TRIR bands show small intensity changes (≤5 ps) and shifts (～1 and 6-10 ps) to higher wavenumbers. These spectral changes are attributable to convoluted electronic and vibrational relaxation steps and equilibration between the two lowest triplets. Still slower changes (≥15 ps), manifested mostly by the excited-state UV band, probably involve local-solvent restructuring. Implications of the observed excited-state behavior for the development and use of Re-based sensitizers and probes are discussed.     

Charge shift and triplet state formation in the 9-mesityl-10-methylacridinium cation

The target donor-acceptor compound forms an acridinium-like, locally excited (LE) singlet state on illumination with blue or near-UV light. This LE state undergoes rapid charge transfer from the acridinium ion to the orthogonally sited mesityl group in polar solution. The resultant charge-transfer (CT) state fluoresces in modest yield and decays on the nanosecond time scale. The LE and CT states reside in thermal equilibrium at ambient temperature; decay of both states is weakly activated in fluid solution, but decay of the CT state is activationless in a glassy matrix. Analysis of the fluorescence spectrum allows precise location of the relevant energy levels. Intersystem crossing competes with radiative and nonradiative decay of the CT state such that an acridinium-like, locally excited triplet state is formed in both fluid solution and a glassy matrix. Phosphorescence spectra position the triplet energy well below that of the CT state. The triplet decays via first-order kinetics with a lifetime of ca. 30 micros at room temperature in the absence of oxygen but survives for ca. 5 ms in an ethanol glass at 77 K. The quantum yield for formation of the LE triplet state is 0.38 but increases by a factor of 2.3-fold in the presence of iodomethane. The triplet reacts with molecular oxygen to produce singlet molecular oxygen in high quantum yield. In sharp contradiction to a recent literature report, there is no spectroscopic evidence to indicate the presence of an unusually long-lived CT state.     

Time-Resolved Studies of the Excited-State Dynamics of meso-Tetra(hydroxylphenyl)chlorin in Solution

Meso-tetra(hydroxyphenyl)chlorin (m-THPC) is a new photosensitizer developed for potential use in photodynamic therapy (PDT) for cancer treatment. In PDT, the accepted mechanism of tumor destruction involves the formation of excited singlet oxygen via intermolecular energy transfer from the excited triplet-state dye to the ground triplet-state oxygen. Femtosecond transient absorption measurements are reported here for the excited singlet state dynamics of m-THPC in solution. The observed early time kinetics were best fit using a triple exponential function with time constants of 350 fs, 80 ps and > or = 3.3 ns. The fastest decay (350 fs) was attributed to either internal conversion from S2 to S1 or vibrational relaxation in S2. Multichannel time-resolved absorption and emission spectroscopies were also used to characterize the excited singlet and triplet states of the dye on nanosecond to microsecond time scales at varying concentrations of oxygen. The nanosecond time-resolved absorption data were fit with a double exponential with time constants of 14 ns and 250 ns in ambient air, corresponding to lifetimes of the S1 and T1 states, respectively. The decay of the T1 state varied linearly with oxygen concentration, from which the intrinsic decay rate constant, ki, of 1.5 x 10(6) s-1 and the biomolecular collisional quenching constant, kc, of 1.7 x 10(9) M-1 s-1 were determined. The lifetime of the S1 state of 10 ns was confirmed by fluorescence measurements. It was found to be independent of oxygen concentration and longer than lifetimes of other photosensitizers.