Effect of Electrostatic Interactions and Dynamic Disorder on the Distance Dependence of Charge Transfer in Donor−Bridge−Acceptor Systems

The influence of hindered rotation on electron transfer and exchange interaction in triarylamine-triptycene-perylene diimide triads

Stretched electron-donor-bridge-acceptor triads that exhibit intramolecular twisting degrees of freedom are capable of modulating exchange interaction (J) as well as electronic couplings through variable π-overlap at the linear bond links, affecting the rate constants of photoinduced charge separation and recombination. Here we present an in-depth investigation of such effects induced by methyl substituents leading to controlled steric hindrance of intramolecular twisting around biaryl axes. Starting from the parent structure, consisting of a triphenyl amine donor, a triptycene (TTC) bridge and a phenylene-perylene diimide acceptor (Me0), one of the two phenylene linkers attached to the TTC was ortho-substituted by two methyl groups (Me2, Me3), or both such phenylene linkers by two pairs of methyl groups (Me23). Photoinduced charge separation (kCS) leading to a charge-separated (CS) state was studied by fs-laser spectroscopy, charge recombination to either singlet ground state (kS) or to the first excited local triplet state of the acceptor (kT) by ns-laser spectroscopy, whereby kinetic magnetic field effects in an external magnetic field were recorded and analysed using quantum dynamic simulations of the spin dependent kinetics of the CS state. Kinetic spectra of the initial first order rate constants of charge recombination (k(B)) exhibited characteristic J-resonances progressing to lower fields in the series Me0, Me2, Me3, Me23. From the quantum simulations, the values of the parameters J, kS, kT and kSTD, the singlet/triplet dephasing constant, were obtained. They were analysed in terms of molecular dynamics simulations of the intramolecular twisting dynamics based on potentials calculated by density functional theory. Apart from kT, all of the parameters exhibit a clear correlation with the averaged cosine square products of the biaryl angles.

Localization to delocalization transition in a double stranded helical geometry: effects of conformation, transverse electric field and dynamics

Conformational effect on electronic localization is critically investigated for the first time considering a double-stranded helical geometry (DSHG) subjected to an electric field. In the presence of electric field the DSHG behaves like a correlated disordered system whose site potentials are modulated in a cosine form like the well known Aubry-André-Harper model. The potential distribution can be modulated further by changing the orientation of the incident field. A similar kind of cosine modulation is also introduced in the inter-strand hopping integrals of the DSHG. Suitably adjusting the orientation of the electric field, we can achieve fully extended energy eigenstates or completely localized ones or a mixture of both. The effects of short-range and long-range hopping integrals along with the chirality on localization are thoroughly studied. Finally, we inspect the role of helical dynamics to make the model more realistic. The interplay between the helical geometry and electric field may open up several notable features of electronic localization and can be verified by using different chiral molecules.

Plasmon induced deprotonation of 2-mercaptopyridine

Surface plasmons can provide a novel route to induce and simultaneously monitor selective bond formation and breakage. Here pH-induced protonation, followed by plasmon-induced deprotonation of 2-mercaptopyridine was investigated using surface- and tip-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS and TERS). A large difference in the deprotonation rate between SERS and TERS will be demonstrated and discussed with respect to hot-spot distribution.

Nonexponential kinetics of ion pair dissociation in electrofreezing water

Temporally- or spatially-heterogeneous environments can participate in many kinetic processes, from chemical reactions and self-assembly to the forced dissociation of biomolecules. Here, we simulate the molecular dynamics of a model ion pair forced to dissociate in an explicit, aqueous solution. Triggering dissociation with an external electric field causes the surrounding water to electrofreeze and the ion pair population to decay nonexponentially. To further probe the role of the aqueous environment in the kinetics, we also simulate dissociation events under a purely mechanical force on the ion pair. In this case, regardless of whether the surrounding water is a liquid or already electrofrozen, the ion pair population decays exponentially with a well-defined rate constant that is specific to the medium and applied force. These simulation data, and the rate parameters we extract, suggest the disordered kinetics in an electrofreezing medium are a result of the comparable time scales of two concurrent processes, electrofreezing and dissociation.

Electronic structure and carrier transfer in B-DNA monomer polymers and dimer polymers: Stationary and time-dependent aspects of a wire model versus an extended ladder model

We employ two tight-binding (TB) approaches to systematically study the electronic structure and hole or electron transfer in B-DNA monomer polymers and dimer polymers made up of N monomers (base pairs): (I) at the base-pair level, using the onsite energies of base pairs and the hopping integrals between successive base pairs, i.e., a wire model and (II) at the single-base level, using the onsite energies of the bases and the hopping integrals between neighboring bases, i.e., an extended ladder model since we also include diagonal hoppings. We solve a system of M (matrix dimension) coupled equations [(I) M=N, (II) M=2N] for the time-independent problem, and a system of M coupled first order differential equations for the time-dependent problem. We perform a comparative study of stationary and time-dependent aspects of the two TB variants, using realistic sets of parameters. The studied properties include HOMO and LUMO eigenspectra, occupation probabilities, density of states and HOMO-LUMO gaps as well as mean over time probabilities to find the carrier at each site [(I) base pair or (II) base], Fourier spectra, which reflect the frequency content of charge transfer, and pure mean transfer rates from a certain site to another. The two TB approaches give coherent, complementary aspects of electronic properties and charge transfer in B-DNA monomer polymers and dimer polymers.

Charge transfer versus molecular conductance: molecular orbital symmetry turns quantum interference rules upside down

Destructive quantum interference has been shown to strongly reduce charge tunneling rates across molecular bridges. The current consensus is that destructive quantum interference occurs in cross-conjugated molecules, while linearly conjugated molecules exhibit constructive interference. Our experimental results on photoinduced charge transfer in donor-bridge-acceptor systems, however, show that hole transfer is ten times faster through a cross-conjugated biphenyl bridge than through a linearly conjugated biphenyl bridge. Electronic structure calculations reveal that the surprisingly low hole transfer rate across the linearly conjugated biphenyl bridge is caused by the presence of destructive instead of constructive interference. We find that the specific molecular orbital symmetry of the involved donor and acceptor states leads to interference conditions that are different from those valid in single molecule conduction experiments. Furthermore, the results indicate that by utilizing molecular orbital symmetry in a smart way new opportunities of engineering charge transfer emerge.

Exponential distance dependence of photoinitiated stepwise electron transfer in donor-bridge-acceptor molecules: implications for wirelike behavior

Donor-bridge-acceptor (D-B-A) systems in which a 3,5-dimethyl-4-(9-anthracenyl)julolidine (DMJ-An) chromophore and a naphthalene-1,8:4,5-bis(dicarboximide) (NI) acceptor are linked by oligomeric 2,7-fluorenone (FN(n)) bridges (n = 1-3) have been synthesized. Selective photoexcitation of DMJ-An quantitatively produces DMJ(+•)-An(-•), and An(-•) acts as a high-potential electron donor. Femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy in the visible and mid-IR regions showed that electron transfer occurs quantitatively in the sequence: DMJ(+•)-An(-•)-FN(n)-NI → DMJ(+•)-An-FN(n)(-•)-NI → DMJ(+•)-An-FN(n)-NI(-•). The charge-shift reaction from An(-•) to NI(-•) exhibits an exponential distance dependence in the nonpolar solvent toluene with an attenuation factor (β) of 0.34 Å(-1), which would normally be attributed to electron tunneling by the superexchange mechanism. However, the FN(n)(-•) radical anion was directly observed spectroscopically as an intermediate in the charge-separation mechanism, thereby demonstrating conclusively that the overall charge separation involves the incoherent hopping (stepwise) mechanism. Kinetic modeling of the data showed that the observed exponential distance dependence is largely due to electron injection onto the first FN unit followed by charge hopping between the FN units of the bridge biased by the distance-dependent electrostatic attraction of the two charges in D(+•)-B(-•)-A. This work shows that wirelike behavior does not necessarily result from building a stepwise, energetically downhill redox gradient into a D-B-A molecule.