Prolonged charge-separated states of starburst tetra(diphenylaminofluoreno)[60]fullerene adducts upon photoexcitation

Construction of starburst C60(>DPAF-C9)4 pentads was coupled with the use of highly fluorescent diphenylaminofluorene-C9 (DPAF-C9) addends as donor components in conjunction with the fullerene acceptor during single-photon excitation processes. High quantum yields (PhiCS) of charge-separation processes in the range 0.83-0.90 for C60(>DPAF-C9)n (n = 1, 2, or 4) were obtained in the formation of C60*-(>DPAF*+-C9)(>DPAF-C9)n-1 transient states. The lifetime of the radical ion-pairs (tauRIP) was found to be 900 ns for starburst C60(>DPAF-C9)4 (3) samples, which is 6-fold longer than that of the linear analogue C60(>DPAF-C9) (1), with a ca. 2 times increase of the charge-separation rate (kCS) compared to that of 1. These data implied the important role of sterically hindered DPAF-C9 pendants arranged in a starburst-like environment that encapsulates the central C60 core on extending the tauRIP. We interpreted the phenomena by the occurrence of intramolecular migration or exchange of electron or positive charge among multiple DPAF-C9 pendants of C60*-(>DPAF*+-C9)(>DPAF-C9)n-1, which gives an increased rate in charge generation and delayed charge recombination.