6 research outputs found
Solvent-dependent switching between two dipolar excited states in a rigidly extended trichromophoric system
Intramolecular switching between dipolar resonance structures in singlet and triplet excited states detected by TRMC
Sudden Polarization in the Twisted, Phantom State of Tetraphenylethylene Detected by Time-Resolved Microwave
Photoexcitation of the symmetrical molecules tetraphenylethylene and tetra-p-methoxyphenylethylene dissolved in saturated hydrocarbon solvents results in a transient increase in the dielectric loss of the solutions as monitored using the nanosecond time-resolved microwave conductivity (TRMC) technique. This provides direct evidence for the dipolar, or "zwitterionic", nature of the 1p* phantom state formed from S1 by rotation around the central carbon-carbon bond. Dipole relaxation occurs mainly by charge inversion between the two energetically equivalent zwitterionic configurations, Z±, on a timescale of several picoseconds. A minimum dipole moment of ca. 7.5 D for the individual Z± states is found. The fluorescence of TPE in alkane solvents has two decay components, one with a decay time less than 200 ps and a second with a decay time of 1.9 ns. The former (λmax ≈ 490 nm) is assigned to emission from the partially relaxed S1 state prior to twisting. The latter (λmax ≈ 540 nm) is assigned to emission from a small, ca. 1%, concentration of the relaxed S1 state in equilibrium with the 1p* state in saturated hydrocarbon solvents.