Electron Transfer to [60]Fullerene and Its o-Quinodimethane Adducts in Dimethyl Sulfoxide (EPR, Visible/Near-IR, and Electrochemical Study)

Fluorescent Perylene Diimide Rotaxanes: Spectroscopic Signatures of Wheel–Chromophore Interactions

[2]- and [3]-rotaxanes with a tetraphenoxy perylene diimide core were synthesized. Hydrogen bonding between the wheel and the imide changes the optical properties of the perylene chromophore: the absorption and fluorescence spectra are red-shifted. The decay times of the rotaxanes are shorter in comparison with that of the axle. Single molecule fluorescence measurements reveal relatively narrow distributions of emission maxima and decay times. The averages are in agreement with ensemble measurements. The observed red shifts make the perylene diimide a suitable chromophore for sensing the position of the wheel on the axle.

Ultrafast Intersystem Crossing in 9,10-Anthraquinones and Intramolecular Charge Separation in an Anthraquinone-Based Dyad

Femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy was employed to determine quantitatively the ultrafast S1-T1 intersystem crossing in a 2-substituted 9,10-anthraquinone derivative (3), kisc = 2.5 x 10(12) s-1. Notwithstanding this rapid process, photoexcitation of dyad 1 is followed by competition between intersystem crossing and intramolecular charge separation, the latter leading to a short-lived (2 ps) singlet charge-transfer (CT) state. The local triplet state itself undergoes slower charge separation to populate a relatively long-lived (130 ns) triplet CT state. An earlier report about the formation of an extremely long-lived CT state (> 900 micros) in 1 was found to be erroneous and was related to the sacrificial photo-oxidation of the dimethylsulfoxide solvent used in that study. Finally, some important criteria have been formulated for future experimental validation of "unusually long-lived" CT states.

Active oxygen species generated from photoexcited fullerene (C60) as potential medicines: O2-* versus 1O2

To characterize fullerenes (C(60) and C(70)) as photosensitizers in biological systems, the generation of active oxygen species, through energy transfer (singlet oxygen (1)O(2)) and electron transfer (reduced active oxygen radicals such as superoxide anion radical O(2)(-)* and hydroxyl radical *OH), was studied by a combination of methods, including biochemical (DNA-cleavage assay in the presence of various scavengers of active oxygen species), physicochemical (EPR radical trapping and near-infrared spectrometry), and chemical methods (nitro blue tetrazolium (NBT) method). Whereas (1)O(2) was generated effectively by photoexcited C(60) in nonpolar solvents such as benzene and benzonitrile, we found that O(2)(-)* and *OH were produced instead of (1)O(2) in polar solvents such as water, especially in the presence of a physiological concentration of reductants including NADH. The above results, together with those of a DNA cleavage assay in the presence of various scavengers of specific active oxygen species, indicate that the active oxygen species primarily responsible for photoinduced DNA cleavage by C(60) under physiological conditions are reduced species such as O(2)(-)* and *OH.

Photoinduced electron transfer between C70 fullerene and 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine studied by electron paramagnetic resonance

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) in situ spectroscopy was applied in the study of photoinduced electron transfer between 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) and C70 in different solvent systems. The changes found in UV-vis spectra pointed at ground state charge transfer complex formation [C70-TMB] in benzonitrile. Upon selective excitation of C70 using steady-state monochromatic irradiation with a wavelength of 546 nm, two EPR singlets were observed, which were assigned to C70 mono- and di-anion. In the photochemical and cathodic in situ reductions, identical EPR spectra of anion radicals were obtained. C70 mono-anion was investigated also in frozen 1,2-dichlorobenzene solutions within the temperature range from 110 to 210 K, and at 110 K the anisotropic EPR spectrum of C70 mono-anion was simulated assuming an axially symmetric g-matrix with gparallel - gperpendicular = 0.00165.

In situ EPR and UV-vis spectroelectrochemistry of hole-transporting organic substrates

A newly developed in situ electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR)/ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroelectrochemical cell equipped with a laminated indium-tin oxide (ITO) working electrode was used in the investigation of various organic substrates which are potential hole-transporting materials. The experiment demonstrated the possibility of using such a technique for examining redox behavior of conducting polymers (polypyrrole, PPy), oligomers (thiophene dimmer and quarterthiophene) and bis-anilines (N,N,N',N'-tetraphenylbenzidine, TPB). All investigated structures formed stable paramagnetic intermediates in the first oxidation step characterised with UV-vis spectra in the region 400-600 nm. In the second oxidation step EPR-silent di-cationic structures are formed with broad vis bands in the region 600-1000 nm. The measurement of the reference UV-vis spectra direct in the EPR cavity was possible using a specially-constructed non-contacted ITO plate in the spectroelectrochemical cell in the case of polypyrrole.