Twisting Dynamics in the Excited Singlet State of Michler's Ketone

Low-Fluorescence Starter for Optical 3D Lithography of Sub-40 nm Structures

Stimulated emission depletion (STED) has been used to break the diffraction limit in fluorescence microscopy. Inspired by this success, similar methods were used to reduce the structure size in three-dimensional, subdiffractional optical lithography. So far, only a very limited number of radical polymerization starters proved to be suitable for STED-inspired lithography. In this contribution, we introduce the starter Michler's ethyl ketone (MEK), which has not been used so far for STED-inspired lithography. In contrast to the commonly used 7-diethylamino-3-thenoylcoumarin (DETC), nanostructures written with MEK show low autofluorescence in the visible range. Therefore, MEK is promising for being used as a starter for protein or cell scaffolds in physiological research because the autofluorescence of DETC so far excluded the use of the green emission channel in multicolor fluorescence or confocal microscopy. In turn, because of the weak transitions of MEK in the visible spectrum, STED, in its original sense, cannot be applied to deplete MEK in the outer rim of the point spread function. However, a 660 nm laser can be used for depletion because this wavelength is well within the absorption spectrum of transient states, possibly of triplet states. We show that polymerization can be fully stopped by applying transient state absorption at 660 nm and that structure sizes down to approx. 40 nm in the lateral and axial directions can be achieved, which means 1/20 of the optical wavelength used for writing.

Twisted intramolecular charge transfer of nitroaromatic push-pull chromophores

The structural changes during the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) of nitroaromatic chromophores, 4-dimethylamino-4′-nitrobiphenyl (DNBP) and 4-dimethylamino-4′-nitrostilbene (DNS) were investigated by femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy (FSRS) with both high spectral and temporal resolutions. The kinetically resolved Raman spectra of DNBP and DNS in the locally-excited and charge-transferred states of the S₁ state appear distinct, especially in the skeletal vibrational modes of biphenyl and stilbene including ν_8a and ν_C=C. The ν_8a of two phenyls and the ν_C=C of the central ethylene group (only for stilbene), which are strongly coupled in the planar geometries, are broken with the twist of nitrophenyl group with the ICT. Time-resolved vibrational spectroscopy measurements and the time-dependent density functional theory simulations support the ultrafast ICT dynamics of 220–480 fs with the twist of nitrophenyl group occurring in the S₁ state of the nitroaromatic chromophores. While the ICT of DNBP occurs via a barrier-less pathway, the ICT coordinates of DNS are strongly coupled to several low-frequency out-of-phase deformation modes relevant to the twist of the nitrophenyl group.

Intramolecular charge transfer of a push-pull chromophore with restricted internal rotation of an electron donor

Intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) of 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-[2-(2,3,6,7-tetrahydro-1H,5H-benzo[ij]quinolizin-9-yl)vinyl]-4H-pyran (LD688) in DMSO solution was investigated by femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy (FSRS) with 403 nm excitation. The molecular structure of LD688 is similar to that of a well-known push-pull chromophore, 4-dicyanomethylene-2-methyl-6-(p-dimethylaminostyryl)-4H-pyran (DCM), except that the internal rotation of the electron-donating dimethylamino group is restricted with the introduction of the julolidine moiety. Upon photo-excitation, LD688 shows an ultrafast (1.0 ps) ICT followed by the vibrational relaxation (3-8 ps) in the charge-transfer (CT) state. Two distinct Raman spectra of LD688 in the locally excited (LE) and CT state of the S₁ state were retrieved from FSRS measurements. Based on the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) simulations, a "twisted" julolidine geometry of LD688 was proposed for the ICT state, which was further confirmed in comparison to the spectral changes of several push-pull chromophores with the π-conjugated backbone of stilbene, biphenyl, styrylpyran, styrylpyridinium, and styrene in terms of the skeletal vibrational modes of ν_19b,py, ν_CC,ph, and ν_CN.

Organic Nanoparticles-Assisted Low-Power STED Nanoscopy

Stimulated emission depletion (STED) nanoscopy plays a key role in achieving sub-50 nm high spatial resolution for subcellular live-cell imaging. To avoid re-excitation, the STED wavelength has to be tuned at the red tail of the emission spectrum of fluorescent probes, leading to high depletion laser power that might damage the cell viability and functionality. Herein, with the highly emissive silica-coated core-shell organic nanoparticles (CSONPs) enabling a giant Stokes shift of 150 nm, ultralow power STED is achieved by shifting the STED wavelength to the emission maximum at 660 nm. The stimulated emission cross section is increased by ∼20-fold compared to that at the emission red tail. The measured saturation intensity and lateral resolution of our CSONP are 0.0085 MW cm^-2 and 25 nm, respectively. More importantly, long-term (>3 min) dynamic super-resolution imaging of the lysosomal fusion-fission processes in living cells is performed with a resolution of 37 nm.

A “turn-on” Michler's ketone–benzimidazole fluorescent probe for selective detection of serum albumins

Enhanced emission and selective binding with albumins.

Substituent control of the ultrafast twisted intramolecular charge transfer rate in dimethylaminochalcone derivatives

The rate of TICT relaxation in dimethylaminochalcone derivatives is shown to be controlled by acceptor strength. Variation in the charge pulling capacity of the acceptor modifies the torsional barrier along the TICT coordinate in the S₁ state, resulting in a tunable TICT relaxation rate.

Comparative photophysics and ultrafast dynamics of dimethylaminochalcone and a structurally rigid derivative: experimental identification of TICT coordinate

Restriction of torsional relaxation and solvent dependent competing photophysical dynamics of free and rigid dimethylaminochalcones were investigated by time resolved spectroscopy.

Swift Electrofluorochromism of Donor-Acceptor Conjugated Polytriphenylamines

Electrofluorochromic (EFC) materials, which exhibit electrochemically controllable fluorescence, hold great promise in optoelectronic devices and biological analysis. Here we design such donor-acceptor (D-A) conjugated polymers-P(TPACO) and P(TCEC)-that contain the same electron-rich and oxidizable polytriphenylamine (PTPA) as π-backbone, yet with different electron-deficient ketone and cyano units as pendant groups, respectively. They both exhibit solvatochromic effects due to intrinsic characteristics of intramolecular charge transfer (ICT). Compared to P(TPACO), P(TCEC) shows stronger ICT, which leads to higher electrochemical oxidation potential and lower ion diffusion coefficient. Moreover, both polymers present simultaneous electrochromic (EC) and EFC behaviors with multistate display and remarkably rapid fluorescence response. The response time of P(TPACO) is as short as 0.19 s, nearly 4-fold faster than that of P(TCEC) (0.92 s). Such rapid response is found to be determined by the ion diffusion coefficient which is associated with the ICT nature. Finally, the EFC display device based on P(TPACO) is successfully demonstrated, which shows green fluorescence ON/OFF switching upon applied potentials. This work has successfully demonstrated that swift EFCs can be achieved by rational modulation of the ICT effect in such D-A conjugated polymers.

Solvent sensitive intramolecular charge transfer dynamics in the excited states of 4-N,N-dimethylamino-4′-nitrobiphenyl

Solvent sensitive excited state dynamics of DNBP is explored. In polar solvents, the ultrafast barrierless TICT process is the major relaxation pathway, whereas, in nonpolar solvents the excited state undergoes the PICT process, followed by efficient intersystem crossing to the triplet state.

Aggregation induced emission enhancement of 4,4′-bis(diethylamino)benzophenone with an exceptionally large blue shift and its potential use as glucose sensor

Aggregation induced emission enhancement of 4,4′-bis(diethylamino)benzophenone with exceptionally blue shift is observed and it is used for potential glucose sensor.

Electronic Interactions of Michler's Ketone with DNA Bases in Synthetic Hairpins

The mechanism and dynamics of photoinduced electron transfer in two families of DNA hairpins possessing Michler's ketone linkers have been investigated by means of steady state and time-resolved transient absorption and emission spectroscopies. The excited state behavior of the diol linker employed in hairpin synthesis is similar to that of Michler's ketone in methanol solution. Hairpins possessing only a Michler's ketone linker undergo fast singlet state charge separation and charge recombination with an adjacent purine base, attributed to well-stacked ground state conformations, and intersystem crossing to the triplet state, attributed to poorly stacked ground state conformations. The failure of the triplet to undergo electron transfer reactions on the 7 ns time scale of our measurements is attributed to the low triplet energy and reduction potential of the twisted triplet state. Hairpins possessing both a Michler's ketone linker and a perylenediimide base surrogate separated by four base pairs undergo photoinduced hole transport from the diimide to Michler's ketone upon excitation of the diimide. The efficiency of hole transport is dependent upon the sequence of the intervening purine bases.

Experimental and theoretical study of the exited state of aminostyryl terpyridine derivatives: hydrogen-bonding effects

The synthesis, structure and photophysical behavior of the aminostyryl terpyridine derivatives, named 4'-(4-{2-[4-(N,N-dimethylaniline)]vinyl}phenyl)-2,2':6',2″-terpyridine (M(1)) and the related model compounds 4'-(4-{2-[4-(N,N-diphenylammino)phenyl]vinyl}phenyl)-2,2':6',2″-terpyridine (M(2)), respectively, are reported. Large solvatochromic shifts of the first excited-state fluorescence maximum suggest the intramolecular charge transfer characters for both compounds. In addition, with N,N-dimethyl substituents, its fluorescence is quenched a lot in protic solvents. This is consisted with the decay of its S(1) state, through nonradiative internal conversion, to the ground state, which is facilitated by the formation of the hydrogen bond between M(1) and alcohols. Whereas, the introduction of N,N-diphenyl substituents has been proved to be a hydrogen-bond-free case with the unchanged Φ(f). Furthermore, the formation of TICT state via diffusive twisting motion of the dimethyl/phenylamino group is the major relaxation process, which is proved by the ultrafast relaxation dynamics experiment and theoretically conformational optimization of the first excited-state of both the compounds.

Determination of the Formation of Dark State via Depleted Spontaneous Emission in a Complex Solvated Molecule

We present a general two-color two-pulse femtosecond pump-dump approach to study the specific population transfer along the reaction coordinate through the higher vibrational energy levels of excited states of a complex solvated molecule via the depleted spontaneous emission. The time-dependent fluorescence depletion provides the correlated dynamical information between the monitored fluorescence state and the SEP "dumped" dark states, and therefore allow us to obtain the dynamics of the formation of the dark states corresponding to the ultrafast photoisomerization processes. The excited-state dynamics of LDS 751 have been investigated as a function of solvent viscosity and solvent polarity, where a cooperative two-step isomerization process is clearly identified within LDS 751 upon excitation.

Ultrafast Relaxation Dynamics of the Excited States of Michler's Thione

Ultrafast relaxation dynamics of the S2 and S1 states of 4,4'-bis(N,N-dimethylamino)thiobenzophenone (Michler's thione, MT) have been investigated in different kinds of solvents, using steady-state absorption and emission as well as femtosecond transient absorption and fluorescence up-conversion spectroscopic techniques. Steady-state fluorescence measurements, following photoexcitation to the S2 state of MT, reveal weak fluorescence from the S2 state (phi F approximately 10(-3) in nonpolar and 10(-4) in polar solvents) but much weaker fluorescence from the S1 state. Yield of fluorescence from the S2 state is reduced in polar solvents because of reduced energy gap between the S2 and S1 states, Delta E(S2-S1), as well as interaction with the solvent molecules. Occurrence of S2-fluorescence in polar solvents, despite small energy gap, suggests that symmetry allowed S2(1A1) --> S0 (1A1) radiative and symmetry forbidden S2(1A1) --> S1 (1A2) nonradiative transitions are the factors responsible for the S2 fluorescence in MT. Lifetime of the S2 state is shorter (varying in the range 0.28-3.5 ps in different solvents) than that predicted from the Delta E(S2-S1) value and this can be attributed to its flexible molecular structure, which promotes an efficient intramolecular radiationless deactivation pathways. The lifetime of the S1 state (approximately 1.9-6.5 ps) is also very short because of small energy difference between the S1 and T1 states (Delta E(S1-T1) approximately 300 cm(-1)) in cyclohexane and hydrogen-bonding interaction as well as the presence of the isoenergetic T1(pipi*) state to enhance the rate of the intersystem crossing process from the S1(npi*) state in protic solvents.