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.     

The effect of solvent polarity on the photophysical properties of 4-cyano-(4'-methylthio)diphenylacetylene: a prototypic donor-acceptor system

The photophysical properties of the target compound are extremely sensitive to changes in solvent polarity since the lowest-energy excited states possess considerable charge-transfer character. Excitation results in a greatly increased dipole moment, with the resultant excited singlet state retaining a lifetime of ca. 1 ns in all solvents. Radiative decay involves coupling between the lowest-energy excited singlet state and both the ground state and an upper excited singlet state. The level of coupling to the upper singlet decreases in non-polar solvents, presumably due to symmetry factors. The radiative rate constant decreases smoothly with increasing solvent polarity function as the molecule acquires an ever increasing dipolar character. Non-radiative decay includes both intersystem crossing and internal conversion, but the former process dominates in polar solvents. The excited singlet state lifetime is very weakly dependent upon temperature in the solid state. However, in polar solutions where the Stokes' shift decreases with decreasing temperature, there is clear evidence for an activated process. This is believed to involve coupling to the upper-lying singlet excited state.     

Mechanism and Nature of the Different Viscosity Sensitivities of Hemicyanine Dyes with Various Heterocycles

A series of hemicyanine derivatives are excellent fluorescent viscosity sensors in live cells and in imaging of living tissues due to their low quantum yields in solution but large fluorescence enhancements in viscous environments. Herein, three carbazole‐based hemicyanine dyes with different heterocycles are studied. They have different background quantum yields, and hence different sensitivities to viscosity detection, large Stokes shifts, and high sensitivity. Better understanding of the structure–property relationships for viscosity sensitivity could benefit the design of improved dyes. Computational studies on these dyes reveal the mechanism of viscosity sensitivity of fluorescent molecular rotors and the nature of the difference in viscosity sensitivity of the three dyes. The results show that the greatly raised HOMO and greatly lowered LUMO in the S₁ state compared with the S₀ state are responsible for the large Stokes shift of the three dyes. The heterocyclic moieties have the primary influence on the LUMO levels of the three hemicyanine dyes. Rotation about the C? C bond adjacent to the carbazole moiety of the three dyes drives the molecule toward a small energy gap between the ground state and the first excited state, which causes mainly nonradiative deactivation. The oscillator strengths in the lowest singlet excited state drop rapidly with increasing rotation between 0 and 95°, which leads to a dark state for these dyes when fully twisted at 95°. We draw a mechanistic picture at the molecular level to illustrate how these dyes work as viscosity‐sensitive fluorescent probes. The activation barriers and energy gaps of C? C bond rotation strongly depend on the choice of heterocycle, which plays a major role in reducing fluorescence quantum yield in the free state and provides high sensitivity to viscosity detection in viscous environments for the carbazole‐based hemicyanine dyes.     

Singlet energy migration along an alternating block copolymer of oligothiophene and oligosilylene in solution

The singlet excited-state properties of the block copolymers of oligothiophene and oligosilylene in solution were investigated with several fast spectroscopic methods. Time-resolved fluorescence measurements at room temperature and in a glassy matrix revealed that the singlet excited states of the block copolymers are deactivated accompanying structural changes of the polymer. It became clear from the transient absorption spectroscopy that the absorption peak of the singlet excited state shifted to the longer wavelength side compared to that of the corresponding oligothiophenes because of the sigma-pi conjugation of the oligothiophene and oligosilylene. The intersystem crossing process generating the triplet excited state was also revealed by the transient absorption spectroscopy. Energy migration along the polymer chain was revealed by the fluorescence anisotropy measurements. The time constant for the energy migration became faster as the size of the oligothiophene in the polymer repeating unit became shorter. From comparison with the F?rster theory, the energy migration process was attributed to an incoherent hopping mechanism.     

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.     

FEMTOSECOND STUDIES OF HEMATOPORPHYRIN DERIVATIVE IN SOLUTION: EFFECT OF pH AND SOLVENT ON THE EXCITED STATE DYNAMICS

Abstract We report direct femtosecond measurements of the excited state dynamics of hematoporphyrin derivative (HpD) in solution. The dynamics are found to be very sensitive to the solvent and pH of aqueous solutions. The decay of the excited singlet states is much faster in acidic and pH 7 buffer aqueous solutions (<230 ps) than in basic aqueous solutions or organic solvents (> 10 ns). The dynamical results show strong correlation with static fluorescence measurements: weaker fluorescence in acidic and pH 7 buffer solutions corresponding to shorter-lived excited states. A new fast decay component with a time constant around 5 ps is identified both in acidic aqueous solutions and in organic solvents such as acetone and attributed to internal conversion from the second to the first excited singlet state of aggregates or certain oligomers in HpD, in accord with the observation that the fast decay component is larger at a higher concentration. Oxygen is found to have no effect on the dynamics on the time scale investigated, 1 ns, indicating that oxygen quenching of the singlet excited states is insignificant on this time scale. The sensitive solvent and pH dependence of the excited state dynamics has important clinical implications in the use of HpD as a photosensitizing agent.     

Photophysics and photochemistry of naphthoylnaphthvalene, and photoinduced valence isomerization of highly strained aromatic compounds (Or Quinones) yielding the valene-type isomers as well as related photochromism and photo-electro dualchromism

The lowest excited singlet state of naphthoylnaphthvalene (NNV) undergoes valence isomerization yielding ground-state naphthoylnaphthalene (NN) finally. Neither the lowest excited singlet nor triplet state of NN is formed upon excitation of NNV, and of particular interest in photoinduced NNV→NNV valence isomerization is the existence of an intermediate which is probably either a bond-cloven species or a valence isomer of NNV. The lowest excited triplet state of NNV populated in benzene deactivates to its ground state, but that populated in ethanol abstracts a hydrogen atom from the solvent molecule generating the NNV ketyl radical. Interestingly, this radical also undergoes rapid valence isomerization and recombination of two NN ketyl radicals thus formed yields naphthopinacol. Synthesis of poly-tert-butylpolyacenes, tri-tert-butylisobenzofuran and tri-tert-butylpolyacenequinones, and furthermore, their photoinduced valence isomerization yielding the valene-type isomers as well as related photochromism and photo-electro dualchromism are presented.     

Determination of the singlet state lifetime of dissolved nitrous oxide from high field relaxation measurements

Longitudinal spin relaxation due to modulation of dipolar interactions often limits the development of hyperpolarized magnetic tracers. Recently, it has been demonstrated that transferring spin order to a singlet state significantly increases the polarization lifetimes in systems where nitrous oxide is dissolved in a liquid solvent. Additionally, previous studies have suggested that the longitudinal relaxation of nitrous oxide is largely dominated by the spin-rotation interaction. Models of spin-relaxation under Brownian motion nai?vely predict the angular momentum reorienting correlation time of the spin rotation interaction to be inversely proportional to the viscosity of the solution. This dependence implies the singlet lifetime can be lengthened by increasing the dissolving solvent's viscosity-an extension which is not observed. Our work formulates a model which describes the relaxation of nitrous oxide dissolved in various solvents. We investigate the effect of altering the temperature of the solvent, as well as the effect of varying solute-solvent interactions on the singlet state as well as the longitudinal polarization lifetime. We predict the singlet lifetime for nitrous oxide dissolved in several solvents by fitting rotational and angular momentum correlation times measured at high magnetic field, and relate singlet relaxation to translational diffusion constants.     

Computational study on the anomalous fluorescence behavior of isoflavones

Isoflavones are known to show fluorescence with intensities that depend strongly on the solvent properties and exhibit Stokes' shifts as large as 1.4 eV. While some of this behavior can be explained by (excited state) deprotonation, this mechanism does not apply for all isoflavones. The aim of this study is to computationally and experimentally investigate the reasons for this anomalous behavior of neutral isoflavones, taking the daidzein molecule as a model compound. We find that the absence in fluorescence in aprotic solvents and the weak fluorescence in protic solvents can be explained by a change of order of the lowest singlet states in which a fluorescent charge-transfer state lies below the nonfluorescent locally excited state in water but not in acetonitrile. The large Stokes' shift is partly due to a significant rotation among the chromone-phenyl bond in the excited state.     

Temperature-induced switching of the mechanism for intramolecular energy transfer in a 2,2':6',2' '-Terpyridine-based Ru(II)-Os(II) trinuclear array

The synthesis and photophysical properties of a linear 2,2':6',2' '-terpyridine-based trinuclear Ru(II)-Os(II) nanometer-sized array are described. This array comprises two bis(2,2':6',2' '-terpyridine) ruthenium(II) terminals connected via alkoxy-strapped 4,4'-diethynylated biphenylene units to a central bis(2,2':6',2' '-terpyridine) osmium(II) core. The mixed-metal linear array was prepared using the "synthesis at metal" approach, and the Ru(II)-Ru(II) separation is ca. 50 A. Energy transfer occurs with high efficiency from the Ru(II) units to the Os(II) center at all temperatures. Forster-type energy transfer prevails in a glassy matrix at very low temperature, but this is augmented by Dexter-type electron exchange at higher temperatures. This latter process, which is weakly activated, involves long-range superexchange interactions between the metal centers. In fluid solution, a strongly activated process provides for fast energy transfer. Here, a charge-transfer (CT) state localized on the bridge is populated as an intermediate species. The CT triplet does not undergo direct charge recombination to form the ground state but transfers energy, possibly via a second CT state, to the Os(II)-based acceptor. The short tethering strap constrains the geometry of the linker, especially in a glassy matrix, such that low-temperature electron exchange occurs across a particular torsion angle of 37 degrees . The probability of triplet energy transfer depends on temperature but always exceeds 75%.     

Exciplex Emission from a Boron Dipyrromethene (Bodipy) Dye Equipped with a Dicyanovinyl Appendage

The photophysical properties of a prototypic donor–acceptor dyad, featuring a conventional boron dipyrromethene (Bodipy) dye linked to a dicyanovinyl unit through a meso‐phenylene ring, have been recorded in weakly polar solvents. The absorption spectrum remains unperturbed relative to that of the parent Bodipy dye but the fluorescence is extensively quenched. At room temperature, the emission spectrum comprises roughly equal contributions from the regular π, π* excited‐singlet state and from an exciplex formed by partial charge transfer from Bodipy to the dicyanovinyl residue. This mixture moves progressively in favor of the locally excited π, π* state on cooling and the exciplex is no longer seen in frozen media; the overall emission quantum yield changes dramatically near the freezing point of the solvent. The exciplex, which has a lifetime of approximately 1 ns at room temperature, can also be seen by transient absorption spectroscopy, in which it decays to form the locally excited triplet state. Under applied pressure (P<170 MPa), formation of the exciplex is somewhat hindered by restricted rotation around the semirigid linkage and again the emission profile shifts in favor of the π, π* excited state. At higher pressure (170<P<550 MPa), the molecule undergoes reversible distortion that has a small effect on the yield of π, π* emission but severely quenches exciplex fluorescence. In the limiting case, this high‐pressure effect decreases the molar volume of the solute by approximately 25 cm³ and opens a new channel for nonradiative deactivation of the excited‐state manifold.     

Electronic properties and ultraviolet absorption and fluorescence spectra of 2-pyridinamine

The u.v. absorption and fluorescence spectra of 2-pyridinamine, its methyl derivatives and its carboxylate salts were measured in various solvents (isooctane, methylcyclohexane and isopentane mixed solvent, ethanol and isooctane mixed solvent, acetic acid and isooctane mixed solvent, and pH adjusted solvent) at room temperature and 77 K. These spectral data were interpretated by the molecular orbital method. From these results it was found that the formation of 2(1H)-pyridinimine with the accompanying 2-pyridinium amine occurs only in the π,π* excited singlet state in the acetic acid and isooctane mixed solvent. On the other hand, the fluorescence spectrum of 2-pyridinamine in the pH ⪢ 11 controlled solution was assigned to the monoanion species, that is, the 2-pyridylamide ion which was formed in the first π,π* excited singlet state.     

Photochemistry of naphthalimide photoacid generators

The photophysical properties of a series of 1,8-naphthalimide photoacid generators were studied by steady state fluorescence and phosphorescence spectroscopy. Emission and excitation anisotropies, triplet quantum yields in polar and nonpolar solvent and photoacid generation were evaluated. The singlet excited state exhibits a low polarity and is strongly deactivated by an efficient intersystem crossing process. In protic solvent, a homolytic singlet cleavage of the N-O bond occurs and leads to the acid production. The existence of a triplet state close to the singlet state was clearly evidenced. The presence of close singlet excited states is supported by fluorescence anisotropy and picosecond laser spectroscopy experiments. Results of DFT calculations well confirm the experimental contentions and yield important information about the cleavage process involved in such compounds.     

Electronic properties and ultraviolet absorption and fluorescence spectra of 2,6-pyridinediamine

The u.v. absorption and fluorescence spectra of 2,6-pyridinediamine and its carboxylate salts were measured in various solvents [isooctane (2,2,4-trimethylpentane), methylcyclohexane and isopentane mixed solvent, ethanol and isooctane mixed solvent, and pH adjusted solvent] at room temperature and 77 K. These spectral data were interpreted by the molecular orbital method. From these results it was found that the formation of 6-amino-2(1H)-pyridinimine through the 2,6-pyridinediamine hydrogen bonded complex with ethanol occurs only in the π,π* excited singlet state in the ethanol and isooctane mixed solvent. On the other hand, the fluorescence spectrum of 2,6-pyridinediamine in the pH > 13 controlled solution was assigned to the monoanion species, that is, the 6-amino-2-pyridylamide ion which was formed in the first π,π* excited singlet state.     

DNA excited-state dynamics: ultrafast internal conversion and vibrational cooling in a series of nucleosides

To better understand DNA photodamage, several nucleosides were studied by femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. A 263-nm, 150-fs ultraviolet pump pulse excited each nucleoside in aqueous solution, and the subsequent dynamics were followed by transient absorption of a femtosecond continuum pulse at wavelengths between 270 and 700 nm. A transient absorption band with maximum amplitude near 600 nm was detected in protonated guanosine at pH 2. This band decayed in 191 +/- 4 ps in excellent agreement with the known fluorescence lifetime, indicating that it arises from absorption by the lowest excited singlet state. Excited state absorption for guanosine and the other nucleosides at pH 7 was observed in the same spectral region, but decayed on a subpicosecond time scale by internal conversion to the electronic ground state. The cross section for excited state absorption is very weak for all nucleosides studied, making some amount of two-photon ionization of the solvent unavoidable. The excited state lifetimes of Ado, Guo, Cyd, and Thd were determined to be 290, 460, 720, and 540 fs, respectively (uncertainties are +/-40 fs). The decay times are shorter for the purines than for the pyrimidine bases, consistent with their lower propensity for photochemical damage. Following internal conversion, vibrationally highly excited ground state molecules were detected in experiments on Ado and Cyd by hot ground state absorption at ultraviolet wavelengths. The decays are assigned to intermolecular vibrational energy transfer to the solvent. The longest time constant observed for Ado is approximately 2 ps, and we propose that solute-solvent H-bonds are responsible for this fast rate of vibrational cooling. The results show for the first time that excited singlet state dynamics of the DNA bases can be directly studied at room temperature. Like sunscreens that function by light absorption, the bases rapidly convert dangerous electronic energy into heat, and this property is likely to have played a critical role in life's early evolution on earth.     

Viscosity scaling for the glassy phase of protein folding

Although commendable progress has been made in the understanding of the physics of protein folding, a key unresolved issue is whether Kramers' diffusion model of chemical reactions is generally applicable to activated barrier crossing events during folding. To examine the solvent viscosity effect on the folding transition of native-like trapped intermediates, laser flash photolysis has been used to measure the microsecond folding kinetics of a natively folded state of CO-liganded ferrocytochrome c (M-state) in the 1-250 cP range of glycerol viscosity at pH 7.0, 20 degrees C. The single rate coefficient for the folding of the M-state to the native state of the protein (i.e., the M --> N folding process) decreases initially when the solvent viscosity is low (<10 cP), but saturates at higher viscosity, indicating that Kramers model is not general enough for scaling the viscosity dependence of post-transition folding involving glassy dynamics. Analysis based on the Grote-Hynes idea of time dependent friction in conjunction with defect diffusion dynamics can account for the observed non-Kramers scaling.     

Thermodynamics and Conformations in the Formation of Excited States and Their Interconversions for Twisted Donor‐Substituted Tridurylboranes

We synthesized a series of donor‐substituted tridurylboranes containing different types and number of chromophores including 1‐pyrene (PB1–3), 3‐carbazole (CBC1–3), or substituted p‐carbazol‐N‐phenyl (CBN3a–c) as various donor–acceptor (D–A) molecules. The photophysical and electrochemical properties of these twisted D–A molecules were investigated by means of UV/Vis absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy as well as cyclic voltammetry (CV). Solvent polarity, viscosity, and temperature effects on the fluorescence emission reveal the existence of three types of excited states, and their equilibria and interconversions between three excited states. In increasing order of the charge‐separated extent and the conformational change, three excited states are the locally excited (LE) state, the more planar intramolecular charge‐transfer (ICT) state, and the more twisted ICT (TICT) state as compared to the ground state. The TICT state undergoes a conformational change with a higher energy barrier over the ICT state. The solvent polarity effect on the state conversion is opposite to the viscosity effect, and temperature effects derive from its resulting changes of polarity and viscosity. For example, the increase of the polarity of the solvent results in excited‐state conversions from the LE state to the ICT state, and/or from the ICT to the TICT state, and an increased viscosity leads to the opposite conversions. On the basis of electrochemical and spectral data, thermodynamics of a possible ICT process were estimated, and correlated with the excited‐state character. Finally, three excited states have been characterized by the conformation, the photophysical properties, and the thermodynamics of the ICT processes.     

Conformational relaxation dynamics in the excited electronic states of benzil in solution

Relaxation dynamics in the excited singlet (S₁) state of benzil have been studied in solution using pico and subpicosecond transient absorption spectroscopic techniques. The triple exponential decay dynamics of the S₁ state indicates that the process of conformational change from the cis-skewed to the trans-planar form takes place via the formation of a meta-stable intermediate conformer resulting the involvement of two consequent barrier crossing processes. The barrier crossing dynamics is governed by both the polarity of the solvent, which alters the barrier heights by ‘static' interactions, as well as the viscosity of the solvent via ‘dynamical' interactions.     

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.     

S2 fluorescence and ultrafast relaxation dynamics of the S2 and S1 states of a ketocyanine dye

Dynamics of the excited singlet (both the S2 and S1) states of a ketocyanine dye, namely, 2,5-bis[(2,3-dihydroindolyl)-propylene]-cyclopentanone (KCD), have been investigated in different kinds of media using steady-state absorption and emission as well as femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopic techniques. Steady-state fluorescence measurements, following photoexcitation of KCD to its second excited singlet state, reveal dual fluorescence (emission from both the S2 and S1 states) behavior. Although the intensity of the S2 --> S0 fluorescence is weaker than that of the S1 --> S0 fluorescence in solutions at room temperature (298 K), the former becomes as much as or more intense than the latter in rigid matrixes at 77 K. The lifetime of the S2 state is short and varies between 0.2 and 0.6 ps in different solvents. After its creation, the S2 state undergoes two simultaneous processes, namely, S2 --> S0 fluorescence and S2 --> S1 internal conversion. Time-resolved measurements reveal the presence of an ultrafast component in the decay dynamics of the S1 state. A good correlation between the lifetime of this component and the longitudinal relaxation times (tauL) of the solvents suggests that this component arises due to solvation in polar solvents. More significant evolution of the spectroscopic properties of the S1 state in alcoholic solvents in the ultrafast time domain has been explained by the occurrence of the repositioning of the hydrogen bonds around the carbonyl group in the excited state of KCD. In 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol, a strongly hydrogen bond donating solvent, it has even been possible to establish the existence of two distinct forms of the S1 state, namely, the non-hydrogen-bonded (or free) molecule and the hydrogen-bonded complex.