Ultrafast Energy Transfer in Triptycene‐Grafted Bodipy Scaffoldings

A series of new compounds in which various Bodipy dyes are grafted logically on triptycene rigid structures are synthesized and characterized, and their absorption spectra and photophysical properties are studied, also by pump‐probe transient absorption spectroscopy. The studied compounds are: the mono‐Bodipy species TA, TB, and TC (where A, B, and C identify different Bodipy subunits absorbing and emitting at different wavelengths), the multichromophore species TA₃, which bears three identical A subunits, and the three multichromophoric species TAB, TBC, and TABC, all of them containing at least two different types of Bodipy subunits. The triptycene moiety plays the role of a rigid scaffold, keeping the various dyes at predetermined distances and allowing for a three‐dimensional structural arrangement of the multichromophoric species. The absorption spectra of the multichromophoric Bodipy species are essentially additive, indicating that negligible inter‐chromophoric interaction takes place at the ground state. Luminescence properties and transient absorption spectroscopy indicate that a very fast (on the picosecond time scale) and efficient photoinduced energy transfer occurs in all the multi‐Bodipy species, with the lower‐energy Bodipy subunits of each multi‐Bodipy compounds playing the role of an electronic energy collector. In TAB, an energy transfer from the A‐type Bodipy subunit to the B‐type one takes place with a rate constant of 1.6×10¹⁰ s^?1, whereas in TBC an energy transfer from the B‐type Bodipy subunit to the C‐type subunit is bi‐exponential, exhibiting rate constants of 1.7×10¹¹ and 1.9×10¹⁰ s^?1; the possible presence of different conformers with different donor–acceptor distances in this bichromophoric species is proposed to cause the bi‐exponential energy‐transfer process. Interpretation of the intricate energy‐transfer pathways occurring in TABC is made with the help of the processes identified in the bichromophoric compounds. In all cases, the measured energy‐transfer rate constants agree with a Förster mechanism for the energy‐transfer processes.     

A Facile Synthesis of Pechmann Dyes

A facile synthesis of Pechmann dyes has been accomplished by the reaction of substituted N‐phenacyl‐4‐dimethylaminopyridinium halides with dimethyl maleate in the presence of DBU. Based on a related 4‐DMAP elimination product and an isolated monolactone intermediate a reaction mechanism has been proposed. The scope of this synthetic method is determined by the availability of α‐haloaroyl or heteroaroyl derivatives. DBU=1,8‐diazabicycloundec‐7‐ene, DMAP=4‐dimethylaminopyridine.     

Synthesis and Molecular Properties of Acceptor‐Substituted Squaraine Dyes

A broad series of more than 20 acceptor‐substituted squaraines was synthesized that feature different acceptor functionalities at the central squaraine four‐membered ring. The influence of these acceptor units on the reactivity of semisquaraine precursors and stability of the respective squaraines were explored. Thereby the dicyanovinyl group was found to be the most versatile acceptor group that enabled various modifications at the donor moiety of the squaraine scaffold, leading to an extended series of dicyanovinyl‐functionalized squaraines. The variation of donor units afforded a set of NIR fluorophores that cover a wavelength region from the visible at about 650 nm far into the NIR up to 920 nm with fluorescence quantum yields between 0.93 and 0.11 and outstanding optical brightness. This excellent optical property is related to a rigid molecular scaffold that is fixed in an all‐cis configuration by the additional dicyanovinyl acceptor unit. The change of the molecular symmetry from C_2h to C_2v upon functionalization of the squaraine core with dicyanovinyl acceptor group has been confirmed in solution by electro‐optical absorption (EOA) spectroscopy, revealing permanent ground‐state dipole moments μ_g in the range between 4.3 and 6.4 D. These dipole moments direct an antiparallel packing of the molecules in the solid state according to single‐crystal X‐ray analyses achieved for four dicyanovinyl‐functionalized squaraines. The structural properties, the EOA results, as well as the band shapes of the optical spectra indicate that these polymethine dyes are cyanine‐type chromophores. It is worth noting that the orientation of the dipole moment vectors is orthogonal to the orientation of the transition dipole moment vectors, which is an uncommon but characteristic feature of this rather novel class of polymethine dyes. With regard to applications of these dyes in organic solar cells, their redox properties were also studied by cyclic voltammetry.     

BODIPY Dyes Bearing Multibranched Fluorinated Chains: Synthesis,Structural, and Spectroscopic Studies

A small series of boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) dyes, characterized by the presence of multibranched fluorinated residues, were designed and synthesized. The dyes differ in both the position (para-perfluoroalkoxy-substituted phenyl ring or boron functionalization) and number of magnetically equivalent fluorine atoms (27 or 54 fluorine atoms per molecule). Photophysical and crystallographic characterization of the synthesized BODIPYs was carried out to evaluate the effect of the presence of highly fluorinated moieties on the optical and morphological properties of such compounds.     

Competitive Photoisomerization and Energy Transfer Processes in Fluorescent Multichromophoric Systems

Multichromophoric systems showing both fluorescence and photoisomerization are fascinating, with complex interchromophoric interactions. The experimental and theoretical study of a series of compounds, bearing a variable number of 4-dicyanomethylene-2-tert-butyl-6-(p-(N-(2-azidoethyl)-N-methyl)aminostyryl)-4H-pyran (DCM) units are reported. The photophysical properties of multi-DCM derivatives, namely 2DCM and 3DCM , were compared to the single model azido-functionalized DCM , in the E and Z isomers. The (EE)- 2DCM and (EEE)- 3DCM were synthesized via the click reaction. Steady-state spectroscopy and photokinetics experiments under UV or visible irradiation indicated the presence of intramolecular energy transfer processes among the DCM units. Homo- and hetero-energy transfer processes between adjacent chromophores were confirmed by fluorescence anisotropy and decays. Molecular dynamics simulations for 2DCM were carried out and analyzed using a Markov state model, providing geometrical parameters (orientation and distance between chromophores) and energy transfer efficiency. This work contributes to a better understanding and rationalization of multiple energy transfer processes occuring within multichromophoric systems.     

Pyrrolopyrrole Cyanine Dyes: A New Class of Near‐Infrared Dyes and Fluorophores

NIRer there : Pyrrolopyrrole cyanine (PPCys) dyes, a new class of near‐infrared (NIR) fluorophores, are obtained by condensation of heteroarylacetonitrile and diketopyrrolopyrrole compounds (see picture). Complexation with BF₂ or BPh₂ yields strongly fluorescent, photostable NIR dyes that show high absorption cross‐sections and fluorescence quantum yields. Furthermore, alteration of the heterocycle can tune the main absorption between λ = 684 and 864 nm.

     

Synthesis and Optical Properties of Water‐Soluble Polyglycerol‐Dendronized Rylene Bisimide Dyes

Four new water‐soluble polyglycerol‐dendronized perylene, terrylene, and quaterrylene bisimides have been synthesized and characterized with respect to their optical properties in polar organic solvents and water by using UV/Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. All of these dyes were highly soluble in water, but the size of the chosen polyglycerol dendron was only sufficient to completely suppress dye aggregation for the core‐unsubstituted perylene derivative. Their high solubility in water and their absorption and emission wavelengths up to the NIR region make the core‐unsubstituted perylene and terrylene bisimides ideal candidates for applications in bioimaging, whilst the lack of fluorescence for quaterrylene bisimide in all polar solvents does not warrant further investigation of this chromophore in fluorescence and imaging applications. Likewise, tuning of the emission of rylene bisimides towards longer wavelengths by employing electron‐donating bay substituents is not a promising strategy, owing to the lower fluorescence quantum yields in polar solvents and, in particular, in water.     

Monofluorination and Trifluoromethylation of BODIPY Dyes for Prolonged Single‐Molecule Detection

Electrophilic monofluorination with Selectfluor and nucleophilic trifluoromethylation with the Ruppert–Prakesh reagent of dimethyl‐, tetramethyl‐ and pentamethyl‐substituted boron dipyrromethenes (BODIPY) are investigated. Monofluorinated dyes are synthesized with low yields (<30 %), however trifluoromethyl derivatives are obtained in moderate to high yields (≈40–90 %). All compounds are characterized by steady‐state and time‐resolved fluorescence spectroscopy, the photostability is investigated with fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) and total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRF). Monofluorination hardly affects the spectroscopic parameters of the unsubstituted parent compounds, but distinctly enhances the photostability, whereas trifluoromethylation leads to a hypsochromic shift by up to 17 nm in both absorption and emission, slightly enhanced intersystem crossing, and higher photostability. Further development of soft fluorination and trifluoromethylation methods is therefore highly desired.     

Design and Synthesis of Chemiluminescent Cassettes Based on Energy Transfer

Chemiluminescent probes are being considered as a convenient option for optical imaging. Several strategies were reported to increase the probe chemiluminescence efficiency. In this study, a series of chemiluminescent cassettes based on adamantyl stabilized 1,2-dioxetanes (“Schaap's dioxetane”) linked to a fluorophore (BODIPY or dicyanoisophorone fluorophore) by a conjugated linker have been synthetized. Their chemiluminescent decomposition and the photoluminescence properties of their respective emissive species were investigated.     

Quasi‐One‐Dimensional Electronic Systems Formed from Boron Dipyrromethene (BODIPY) Dyes

Synthetic strategies have been devised that allow the rational design and isolation of highly coloured boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) dyes that absorb across much of the visible region. Each dye has an aryl polycycle (usually pyrene or perylene) connected to the central BODIPY core through a conjugated tether at the 3,5‐positions. Both mono‐ and difunctionalised derivatives are accessible, in certain cases containing both pyrene and perylene residues. For all new compounds, the photophysical properties have been recorded in solution at ambient temperature and in a glassy matrix at 77 K. The presence of the aryl polycycle(s) affects the absorption and emission maxima of the BODIPY nucleus, thereby confirming that these units are coupled electronically. Indeed, the band maxima and oscillator strengths depend on the conjugation length of the entire molecule, whereas there is no sign of fluorescence from the polycycle. As a consequence, the radiative rate constant tends to increase with each added appendage. The nature of the linkage (styryl, ethenyl, or ethynyl) also exerts an effect on the photophysical properties and, in particular, the absorption spectrum is perturbed in the region of the aryl polycycle. The perylene‐containing BODIPY derivatives absorb over a wide spectral range and emit in the far‐red region in almost quantitative yield. A notable exception to this generic behaviour is provided by the anthracenyl derivative, which exhibits charge‐transfer absorption and emission spectra in weakly polar media at ambient temperature. Regular BODIPY‐like behaviour is restored in a glassy matrix at 77 K. Overall, these new dyes represent an important addition to the range of strongly absorbing and emitting reagents that could be used as solar concentrators.     

Synthesis of Azobenzene Dyes Mediated by CotA Laccase

An eco‐friendly protocol for the synthesis of azobenzene dyes by oxidative coupling of primary aromatic amines is reported. As efficient biocatalytic systems, CotA laccase and CotA laccase/ABTS (2,2′‐azinobis(3‐ethylbenzothiazoline‐6‐sulfonic acid)) enable the oxidation of various substituted anilines, in aqueous medium, ambient atmosphere and under mild reaction conditions of pH and temperature. A series of azobenzene dyes were prepared in good to excellent yields in an one‐pot reaction. A mechanistic proposal for the formation of the azo derivatives is presented. Our strategy offers an alternative approach for the direct synthesis of azobenzene dyes, avoiding the harsh conditions generally required for most of the traditional synthetic methods.     

Energy Transfer in Dye‐Coupled Lanthanide‐Doped Nanoparticles: From Design to Application

Surface modification with organic dye molecules is a useful strategy to manipulate the optical properties of lanthanide‐doped nanoparticles (LnNPs). It enables energy transfer between dyes and LnNPs, which provides unprecedented possibilities to gain new optical phenomena from the dye–LnNPs composite systems. This has led to a wide range of emerging applications, such as biosensing, drug delivery, gene targeting, information storage, and photon energy conversion. Herein, the mechanism of energy transfer and the structural‐dependent energy‐transfer properties in dye‐coupled LnNPs are reviewed. The design strategies for achieving effective dye–LnNP functionalization are presented. Recent advances in these composite nanomaterials in biomedicine and energy conversion applications are highlighted.     

Ultrafast Photoinduced Electron Transfer in Viologen‐Linked BODIPY Dyes

New boron‐dipyrromethene (BODIPY) dyes linked to viologen are prepared and their photophysical and electrochemical properties are investigated. Both synthesized molecules have similar electronic absorption spectra with the absorption maximum localized at 517 and 501 nm for dye 1 and dye 2 , respectively. They exhibit well‐defined redox behavior, highlighting the presence of BODIPY and viologen subunits, with little perturbation of the redox potential of both subunits with respect to the parent compounds. Both dyes are heavily quenched by photoinduced electron transfer from the BODIPY to the viologen subunit. The transient absorption technique demonstrates that dye 2 forms the viologen radical within a timeframe of 7.1 ps, and that the charge‐separated species has a lifetime of 59 ps. Sustained irradiation of dye 2 in the presence of a tertiary amine allows for the accumulation of BODIPY–methyl‐4,4′‐bipyridinium (BODIPY–MV⁺), as observed by its characteristic absorption at 396 and 603 nm. However, dye 2 does not generate catalytic amounts of hydrogen under standard conditions.