Effective method for the computation of optical spectra of large molecules at finite temperature including the Duschinsky and Herzberg–Teller effect: The Qx band of porphyrin as a case study

Possibility of refining carotenoid geometrical isomer analysis utilizing DFT-based quantum chemical calculations

We performed quantum chemical calculations based on the density functional theory (DFT) for the all-E- and several Z-isomers of three commercially important carotenoids (lycopene, β-carotene, and astaxanthin) and theoretically obtained the UV-Vis spectrum, response factor (determined from absorption intensities of the all-E- and the Z-isomers), and Q-ratio for each carotenoid isomer. The calculated spectra reproduced the experimental spectral shapes (e.g., the appearance of the Z-peaks and the blue shift of the main peaks for the Z-isomers) very well. The calculated response factors and Q-ratios also showed good agreement with reported values. Notably, response factors, which are difficult to determine experimentally, were well reproduced. These results suggest that quantum chemical calculations can be an effective tool for refining quantitative analysis and obtaining spectral data for carotenoids for which standards are difficult to obtain.

Toward Efficient Modeling of Nonradiative Decay in Extended INVEST: Overcoming Computational Challenges in Quantum Dynamics Simulations

In recent years, an increasing number of fully organic molecules capable of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) have been reported, often with very small or even inverted singlet-triplet (INVEST) energy gaps. These molecules typically exhibit complex photophysics due to the close energy levels of multiple singlet and triplet states, which create various transition pathways toward emission. A predictive model for the rates of these transitions is thus essential for assessing the suitability of new materials for light-emitting devices. Quantum Dynamics (QD) calculations are ideal for this purpose, as they include quantum effects, without the limitations of first-order perturbative approaches, also allowing taking into account more than two electronic states at once. However, the huge computational demands of QD methodologies, especially for large molecules, currently limit their use as a standard tool. To address this problem, we here employ a strategy that allows us to include almost the whole set of the vibrational coordinates by selecting the key elements of the Hilbert space that significantly impact dynamics, thereby hugely reducing the computational burden. Application of this protocol to two relatively large INVEST molecules reveals that internal conversion in these systems is very fast, making indirect emissive pathways a possible channel for the population of the S1 state. More importantly, this study demonstrates that the dynamics can be accurately described even with a significantly reduced vibrational space, thus allowing quantum dynamics calculations that yield accurate transition rates in a few minutes of computational time.

Rational Control of Maximum EMI/CPL Intensity and Wavelength of Bora[6]helicene via Polarity and Vibronic Effects

Solvent polarity control as an efficient methodology to regulate the chiroptical properties, including spectral shape, width, intensity, wavelength, etc., has emerged as a novel frontier in optical materials design. However, the underling relationship connecting polarity to the optical property remains unclear. Herein, using state-of-the-art computations and the FC|VG model, the solvent effect on the chiroptical properties of bora[6]helicene was accurately and systematically computed to shed light on this issue. It is found that the vibronic coupling is crucial in explaining the spectral shape, width, and relative intensity of different peaks. Moreover, the intensity and position of the emission (EMI) and circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) are closely related to the polarity of the solvent. Intriguingly, we got a series of good linear relationships between polarity and EMI|CPL (|r| ≥ 0.95). Thus, this parameter can be used as a potential descriptor to estimate the intensity and position of EMI|CPL, leading to new strategies for designing fully colored fluorescent materials.

Ancillary Ligand-Promoted Charge Transfer in Bis-indole Pyridine Ligand-Based Nickel Complexes

There is growing demand for the utilization of first-row transition metal complexes in light-driven processes instead of their conventional noble metal counterparts due to the greater sustainability of first-row transition metal complexes. However, their major drawback is the ultrafast lifetime of the electronic excited states of these first-row transition metal complexes, particularly those of d8 square-planar systems such as Ni(II) complexes, wherein low-lying metal-centered (MC) states provide the deactivation pathway. To increase the excited-state lifetime and broaden their applications, it is important to develop sterically bulky, strong field ligands with low-lying π* orbitals and a highly σ-donating nature to augment the energy of MC states. The current strategy relies on synthetically carbene-based ligands, which are substitutionally cumbersome and act as σ-donors only. In this work, we introduce a bis-indole pyridine (H2BIP) ligand framework, whose dianionic congener (BIP) demonstrates the ability to form stronger covalent bonds with a Ni(II) center compared to neutral donors like carbene and its effect on the complex to produce a less distorted excited-state structure. When conjoined with ancillary ligands such as pyridine or lutidine, the BIP ligand orchestrates the formation of low-energy 3CT states, which decay in ∼40 ps.

Four-Membered Ring-Embedded Cycloarene Enabling Anti-Aromaticity and Ultra-Narrowband Emission

The synthesis of fully fused π-conjugated cycloarenes embedded with nonbenzenoid aromatics is challenging. In this work, the first example of four-membered ring-embedded cycloarene (MF2) was designed and synthesized in single-crystal form by macrocyclization and ring fusion strategies. For comparison, single bond-linked chiral macrocycle MS2 without two fused four-membered rings and its linear-shaped polycyclic benzenoid monomer L1 were also synthesized. The pronounced anti-aromaticity of four-membered rings significantly adjusts the electronic structures and photophysical properties of cycloarene, resulting in an enhancement of the photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) from 10.66 % and 10.74 % for L1 and MS2, respectively, to 54.05 % for MF2, which is the highest PLQY among the reported cycloarenes. Notably, owing to the embedded anti-aromatic four-membered rings that reduce structural displacements, MF2 exhibits an ultra-narrowband emission with a single-digit full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of only 7 nm (0.038 eV), which sets a new record among all reported organic narrowband luminescent molecules, and represents the first example of ultra-narrowband emission in conventional polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) devoid of heteroatoms.

Calibration of several first excited state properties for organic molecules through systematic comparison of TDDFT with experimental spectra

Time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) is a powerful computational tool for investigating excitation properties in organic electronics, and it holds significant potential for high-throughput virtual screening (HTVS) in this field. While most benchmarks focus on excitation energies, less attention has been paid to evaluating the accuracy of computed oscillator strengths and exciton reorganization energies against experimental data. In this work, we provide a systematic approach to evaluate in parallel the accuracy of these three quantities on the basis of a suitable fitting of the experimental absorption spectra of 71 molecules in solution. After considering 18 computational methodologies, the results from the M06-2X/def2-TZVP/PCM method demonstrate the strongest correlation with experimental data across the desired properties. For HTVS, the M06-2X/6-31G(d)/PCM method appears to be a particularly convenient choice among all methodologies due to its balance of computational efficiency and accuracy. Our results provide an additional benchmark needed before employing TDDFT methods for the discovery and design of organic electronic molecules.

Simulating temperature and tautomeric effects for vibrationally resolved XPS of biomolecules: Combining time-dependent and time-independent approaches to fingerprint carbonyl groups

Carbonyl groups (C=O) play crucial roles in the photophysics and photochemistry of biological systems. O1s x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy allows for targeted investigation of the C=O group, and the coupling between C=O vibration and O1s ionization is reflected in the fine structures. To elucidate its characteristic vibronic features, systematic Franck-Condon simulations were conducted for six common biomolecules, including three purines (xanthine, caffeine, and hypoxanthine) and three pyrimidines (thymine, 5F-uracil, and uracil). The complexity of simulation for these biomolecules lies in accounting for temperature effects and potential tautomeric variations. We combined the time-dependent and time-independent methods to efficiently account for the temperature effects and to provide explicit assignments, respectively. For hypoxanthine, the tautomeric effect was considered by incorporating the Boltzmann population ratios of two tautomers. The simulations demonstrated good agreement with experimental spectra, enabling differentiation of two types of carbonyl oxygens with subtle local structural differences, positioned between two nitrogens (O1) or between one carbon and one nitrogen (O2). The analysis provided insights into the coupling between C=O vibration and O1s ionization, consistently showing an elongation of the C=O bond length (by 0.08-0.09 Å) upon O1s ionization.

Theoretical Study on Vibrationally Resolved Electronic Spectra of Chiral Nanographenes

Nanographenes are of increasing importance owing to their potential applications in the photoelectronic field. Meanwhile, recent studies have primarily focused on the pure electronic spectra of nanographenes, which have been found to be inadequate for describing the experimental spectra that contain vibronic progressions. In this study, we focused on the vibronic effect on the electronic transition of a range of chiral nanographenes, especially in the low-energy regions with distinct vibronic progressions, using theoretical calculations. All the calculations were performed at the PBE0-D3(BJ)/def2-TZVP level of theory, adopting both time-dependent and time-independent approaches with Franck-Condon approximation. The resulting calculated curves exhibited good alignment with the experimental data. Notably, for the nanographenes incorporating helicene units, owing to the increasing π-extension, the major vibronic modes in the vibrationally resolved spectra differed significantly from those of the primitive helicenes. This investigation suggests that calculations that account for the vibronic effect could have better reproducibility compared with calculations based solely on pure electronic transitions. We anticipate that this study could pave the way for further investigations into optical and chiroptical properties, with a deeper understanding of the vibronic effect, thereby providing theoretical explanations with higher precision on more sophisticated nanographenes.

10-Dibenzothiophenyl-9,9-diphenylacridane-based multiple resonance emitters for high-efficiency narrowband green OLEDs with CIE y > 0.7 at high doping concentrations

Multiple resonance emitters are attractive for high-color-purity organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) because of their unique narrowband emissions; however, they are typically used at low doping concentrations (≤15 wt%) due to aggregation-caused quenching and spectral broadening induced by planar molecular skeletons. Here, we report two multiple resonance emitters (BThPAc-1 and BThPAc-2) consisting of a 10-dibenzothiophenyl-9,9-diphenylacridane segment for efficient narrowband green emission at high doping concentrations. The dibenzothiophenyl-9,9-diphenylacridane segment contains two carbon-bridged phenyl rings as steric groups to inhibit intermolecular aggregation and a dibenzothiophene unit to extend conjugation and red-shift the emission to the green region. The resultant emitters exhibit narrowband emissions that peaked at 509-510 nm with a full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 32 nm in 1 wt% doping films, which are maintained at less than 35 nm even in neat films. Remarkably, OLEDs employing the emitters reveal pure-green electroluminescence with a maximum external quantum efficiency of 20.3% and CIE coordinates of (0.18, 0.72) at 30 wt% doping concentration, which represents the best color coordinates for green multiple resonance OLEDs at high doping concentrations.

Explicit Modelling of Spectral Bandshapes by a Mixed Quantum-Classical Approach: Solvent Order and Temperature Effects in the Optical Spectra of Distyrylbenzene

The absorption and emission spectral shapes of a flexible organic probe, the distyrylbenzene (DSB) dye, are simulated accounting for the effect of different environments of increasing complexity, ranging from a homogeneous, low-molecular- weight solvent, to a long-chain alkane, and, eventually, a channel-forming organic matrix. Each embedding is treated explicitly, adopting a mixed quantum-classical approach, the Adiabatic Molecular Dynamics - generalized vertical Hessian (Ad-MD|gVH) model, which allows a direct simulation of the environment-induced constraining effects on the vibronic spectral shapes. In such a theoretical framework, the stiff modes of the dye are described at a quantum level within the harmonic approximation, including Duschinsky mixing effects, while flexible degrees of freedom of the solute (e. g. torsions) and those of the solvent are treated classically by means of molecular dynamics sampling. Such a setup is shown to reproduce the distinct effects exerted by the different environments in varied thermodynamic conditions. Besides allowing for a first-principles rationale on the supramolecular mechanism leading to the experimental spectral features, this result represents the first successful application of the Ad-MD|gVH method to complex embeddings and supports its potential application to other heterogeneous environments, such as for instance, pigment-protein complexes or organic dyes adsorbed into metal-organic frameworks.

Calculating absorption and fluorescence spectra for chromophores in solution with ensemble Franck-Condon methods

Accurately modeling absorption and fluorescence spectra for molecules in solution poses a challenge due to the need to incorporate both vibronic and environmental effects, as well as the necessity of accurate excited state electronic structure calculations. Nuclear ensemble approaches capture explicit environmental effects, Franck-Condon methods capture vibronic effects, and recently introduced ensemble-Franck-Condon approaches combine the advantages of both methods. In this study, we present and analyze simulated absorption and fluorescence spectra generated with combined ensemble-Franck-Condon approaches for three chromophore-solvent systems and compare them to standard ensemble and Franck-Condon spectra, as well as to the experiment. Employing configurations obtained from ground and excited state ab initio molecular dynamics, three combined ensemble-Franck-Condon approaches are directly compared to each other to assess the accuracy and relative computational time. We find that the approach employing an average finite-temperature Franck-Condon line shape generates spectra nearly identical to the direct summation of an ensemble of Franck-Condon spectra at one-fourth of the computational cost. We analyze how the spectral simulation method, as well as the level of electronic structure theory, affects spectral line shapes and associated Stokes shifts for 7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl and Nile red in dimethyl sulfoxide and 7-methoxy coumarin-4-acetic acid in methanol. For the first time, our studies show the capability of combined ensemble-Franck-Condon methods for both absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy and provide a powerful tool for simulating linear optical spectra.

Two- and three-photon processes during photopolymerization in 3D laser printing

The performance of a photoinitiator is key to control efficiency and resolution in 3D laser nanoprinting. Upon light absorption, a cascade of competing photophysical processes leads to photochemical reactions toward radical formation that initiates free radical polymerization (FRP). Here, we investigate 7-diethylamino-3-thenoylcoumarin (DETC), belonging to an efficient and frequently used class of photoinitiators in 3D laser printing, and explain the molecular bases of FRP initiation upon DETC photoactivation. Depending on the presence of a co-initiator, DETC causes radical generation either upon two-photon- or three-photon excitation, but the mechanism for these processes is not well understood so far. Here, we show that the unique three-photon based radical formation by DETC, in the absence of a co-initiator, results from its excitation to highly excited triplet states. They allow a hydrogen-atom transfer reaction from the pentaerythritol triacrylate (PETA) monomer to DETC, enabling the formation of the reactive PETA alkyl radical, which initiates FRP. The formation of active DETC radicals is demonstrated to be less spontaneous. In contrast, photoinitiation in the presence of an onium salt co-initiator proceeds via intermolecular electron transfer after the photosensitization of the photoinitiator to the lowest triplet excited state. Our quantum mechanical calculations demonstrate photophysical processes upon the multiphoton activation of DETC and explain different reactions for the radical formation upon DETC photoactivation. This investigation for the first time describes possible pathways of FRP initiation in 3D laser nanoprinting and permits further rational design of efficient photoinitiators to increase the speed and sensitivity of 3D laser nanoprinting.

First-Principles Modeling of the Absorption Spectrum of Crystal Violet in Solution: The Importance of Environmentally Driven Symmetry Breaking

Theoretical spectroscopy plays a crucial role in understanding the properties of the materials and molecules. One of the most promising methods for computing optical spectra of chromophores embedded in complex environments from the first principles is the cumulant approach, where both (generally anharmonic) vibrational degrees of freedom and environmental interactions are explicitly accounted for. In this work, we verify the capabilities of the cumulant approach in describing the effect of complex environmental interactions on linear absorption spectra by studying Crystal Violet (CV) in different solvents. The experimental absorption spectrum of CV strongly depends on the nature of the solvent, indicating strong coupling to the condensed-phase environment. We demonstrate that these changes in absorption line shape are driven by an increased splitting between absorption bands of two low-lying excited states that is caused by a breaking of the D3 symmetry of the molecule and that in polar solvents, this symmetry breaking is mainly driven by electrostatic interactions with the condensed-phase environment rather than distortion of the structure of the molecule, in contrast with conclusions reached in a number of previous studies. Our results reveal the importance of explicitly including a counterion in the calculations in nonpolar solvents due to electrostatic interactions between CV and the ion. In polar solvents, these interactions are strongly reduced due to solvent screening effects, thus minimizing the symmetry breaking. Computed spectra in methanol are found to be in reasonable agreement with the experiment, demonstrating the strengths of the outlined approach in modeling strong environmental interactions.

Fine-tuning of radiative properties by "mild" substituents: searching for a perfectly soft chromophore

Controlling spectral properties to achieve desired characteristics is an attractive goal in application-oriented research, e.g., in the design of fluorescence sensors. "Soft" chromophores, molecules with strong spectral responses to internal or external perturbations are good candidates for such studies. In this work, absorption, fluorescence, and magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectra were obtained for a series of porphyrins, substituted at the meso-positions with n-hexyl groups. As the number of substituents increases from 1 to 4, significant changes are observed. The intensity of the S0-S1 transition (Qx) in the 0-0 region strongly decreases in mono-substituted porphyrin, but upon additional substitutions it increases to values larger than in the parent, unsubstituted molecule. Such behavior can be explained, using the perimeter model, by changes in the energy splittings between the two highest (HOMO) and two lowest (LUMO) frontier molecular orbitals. Single substitution makes porphyrin a nearly perfect soft chromophore, but upon introduction of a larger number of n-hexyl groups it is transformed into a hard one. DFT simulations incorrectly predict a continuous transition from a soft to hard chromophore, because the calculated ordering of two HOMO orbitals is opposite to that obtained by experiment. On the other hand, for those porphyrins that can be classified as hard chromophores, the calculations nicely reproduce contributions of Franck-Condon and Herzberg-Teller terms to absorption and fluorescence spectra.

Coherent Vibrations Promote Charge-Transfer across a Graphene-Based Interface

Discerning the impact of the coherent motion of the nuclei on the timing and efficiency of charge transfer at the donor-acceptor interface is essential for designing performance-enhanced optoelectronic devices. Here, we employ an experimental approach using photocurrent detection in coherent multidimensional spectroscopy to excite a donor aromatic macrocycle and collect the charge transferred to a 2D acceptor layer. For this purpose, we prepared a cobalt phthalocyanine-graphene (CoPc-Gr) interface. Unlike blends, the well-ordered architecture achieved through the physical separation of the two layers allows us to unambiguously collect the electrical signal from graphene alone and associate it with a microscopic understanding of the whole process. The CoPc-Gr interface exhibits an ultrafast electron-transfer signal, stemming from an interlayer mechanism. Remarkably, the signal presents an oscillating time evolution modulated by coherent vibrations originating from the laser-excited CoPc states. By performing Fourier analysis on the beatings and correlating it with the Raman features, along with a comprehensive first-principles characterization of the vibrational coupling in the CoPc excited states, we successfully identify both the orbitals and molecular vibrations that promote the charge transfer at the interface.

Narrowband emission from fully-bridged triphenylamine derivatives: insights into effects of structure modification and pressure

Triphenylamine derivatives with narrowband emission have attracted growing attention in purely organic thermally-activated fluorescence (TADF) materials owing to their enhanced color purity and flexible molecular design strategy. Combined time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) and ONIOM (QM/MM) calculations indicate that the excellent planarity of the experimentally developed DQAO could result in gradually decreased intermolecular interactions in the aggregated state at ambient pressure and upon compression, which is unfavorable for suppressing structural relaxation and achieving narrowband emission in its non-doped practical application. Therefore, three structure-modified derivatives, DQAO-Cb, DQAO-Ph, and DQAO-PhCb, were theoretically designed by introducing the spherical o-carborane and dangling phenyl units positioned para to the N atom of the DQAO to provide additional geometrical distortion and steric hindrance. The explorations on the reported DQAO, OQAO, and SQAO found that small structural relaxations, suppressed low-frequency vibrations, and noticeable short-range charge-transfer (SR-CT) natures of DQAO and OQAO are responsible for their much narrower emission spectral full-width at half-maxima (FWHMs) compared to that of SQAO. Introducing the o-carborane unit directly at the para position of the N atom could result in additional scissoring and stretching vibrations of the corresponding DQAO-Cb while the presence of the phenyl unit in DQAO-Ph is beneficial for suppressing the high-frequency vibrations of the pristine DQAO. More importantly, the bridged phenyl unit incorporated in DQAO-PhCb is of particular importance to inhibit the undesired low-frequency scissoring and high-frequency stretching vibrations of the o-carborane unit, which is crucial to reduce the reorganization energy of DQAO-PhCb and achieve narrowband emission. Also, the phenyl unit in DQAO-Ph and DQAO-PhCb helps to shorten charge transfer distances and improve ISC and RISC processes. Since the o-carborane unit is an adopted building block to achieve piezochromic behaviors, the theoretically structure-modified DQAO-PhCb is expected to exhibit narrowband emission, TADF, and piezochromic features all together. Our findings will hopefully provide ideas for designing triphenylamine-based TADF emitters with narrowband emission and piezochromic behaviors.

Resonant Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy of a Single-Molecule Kondo System

Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) under ultrahigh vacuum and cryogenic conditions enables exploration of the relations between the adsorption geometry, electronic state, and vibrational fingerprints of individual molecules. TERS capability of reflecting spin states in open-shell molecular configurations is yet unexplored. Here, we use the tip of a scanning probe microscope to lift a perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA) molecule from a metal surface to bring it into an open-shell spin one-half anionic state. We reveal a correlation between the appearance of a Kondo resonance in differential conductance spectroscopy and concurrent characteristic changes captured by the TERS measurements. Through a detailed investigation of various adsorbed and tip-contacted PTCDA scenarios, we infer that the Raman scattering on suspended PTCDA is resonant with a higher excited state. Theoretical simulation of the vibrational spectra enables a precise assignment of the individual TERS peaks to high-symmetry Ag modes, including the fingerprints of the observed spin state. These findings highlight the potential of TERS in capturing complex interactions between charge, spin, and photophysical properties in nanoscale molecular systems and suggest a pathway for designing single-molecule spin-optical devices.

One- and two-photon absorption spectra of organoboron complexes: vibronic and environmental effects

We synthesized a series of four parent aza-β-ketoiminate organoboron complexes and performed spectroscopic studies using both experimental and computational techniques. We studied how benzannulation influences the vibronic structure of the UV/Vis absorption bands with a focus on the bright lowest-energy π → π* electronic excitation. Theoretical simulations, accounting for inhomogeneous broadening effects using different embedding schemes, allowed gaining in-depth insights into the observed differences in band shapes induced by structural modifications. We observed huge variations in the distributions of vibronic transitions depending on the position of benzannulation. By and large, the harmonic approximation combined with the adiabatic hessian model delivers qualitatively correct band shapes for the one-photon absorption spectra, except in one case. We also assessed the importance of non-Condon effects (accounted for by the linear term in Herzberg-Teller expansion of the dipole moment) for S0 → S1 band shapes. It turned out that non-Condon contributions have no effect on the band shape in one-photon absorption spectra. In contrast, these effects significantly change the Franck-Condon band shapes of the two-photon absorption spectra. For one of the studied organoboron complexes we also performed a preliminary exploration of mechanical anharmonicity, resulting in an increase of the intensity of the 0-0 transition, which improves the agreement with the experimental data compared to the harmonic model.

First-principles design of heavy-atom-free singlet oxygen photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy

In photodynamic therapy (PDT) treatment, heavy-atom-free photosensitizers (PSs) are a great source of singlet oxygen photosensitizer. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are produced by an energy transfer from the lowest energy triplet excited state to the molecular oxygen of cancer cells. To clarify the photophysical characteristics in the excited states of a few experimentally identified thionated (>C=S) molecules and their oxygenated congeners (>C=O), a quantum chemical study is conducted. This study illustrates the properties of the excited states in oxygen congeners that render them unsuitable for PDT treatment. Concurrently, a hierarchy is presented based on the utility of the lowest-energy triplet excitons of thionated compounds. Their non-radiative decay rates are calculated for reverse-ISC and inter-system crossover (ISC) processes. In addition, the vibronic importance of C=O and C=S bonds is clarified by the computation of the Huang-Rhys factor, effective vibrational mode, and reorganization energy inside the Marcus-Levich-Jörtner system. ROS generation in thionated PSs exceeds their oxygen congeners as kf ≪ kISC, where radiative decay rate is designated as kf. As a result, the current work offers a calculated strategy for analyzing the effectiveness of thionated photosensitizers in PDT.

Resonance energy transfer in orthogonally arranged chromophores: a question of molecular representation

Energy transfer between orthogonally arranged chromophores is typically considered impossible according to conventional Förster resonance energy transfer theory. Nevertheless, the disruption of orthogonality by nuclear vibrations can enable energy transfer, what has prompted the necessity for formal expansions of the standard theory. Here, we propose that there is no need to extend conventional Förster theory in such cases. Instead, a more accurate representation of the chromophores is required. Through calculations of the energy transfer rate using structures from a thermal ensemble, rather than relying on equilibrium geometries, we show that the standard Förster resonance energy transfer theory is still capable of describing energy transfer in orthogonally arranged systems. Our calculations explain how thermal vibrations influence the electronic properties of the states involved in energy transfer, affecting the alignment of transition dipole moments and the intensity of transitions.

Excitation energy transfer and vibronic relaxation through light-harvesting dendrimer building blocks: A nonadiabatic perspective

The light-harvesting excitonic properties of poly(phenylene ethynylene) (PPE) extended dendrimers (tree-like π-conjugated macromolecules) involve a directional cascade of local excitation energy transfer (EET) processes occurring from the "leaves" (shortest branches) to the "trunk" (longest branch), which can be viewed from a vibronic perspective as a sequence of internal conversions occurring among a connected graph of nonadiabatically coupled locally excited electronic states via conical intersections. The smallest PPE building block that is able to exhibit EET, the asymmetrically meta-substituted PPE oligomer with one acetylenic bond on one side and two parallel ones on the other side (hence, 2-ring and 3-ring para-substituted pseudo-fragments), is a prototype and the focus of the present work. From linear-response time-dependent density functional theory electronic-structure calculations of the molecule as regards its first two nonadiabatically coupled, optically active, singlet excited states, we built a (1 + 2)-state-8-dimensional vibronic-coupling Hamiltonian model for running subsequent multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree wavepacket relaxations and propagations, yielding both steady-state absorption and emission spectra as well as real-time dynamics. The EET process from the shortest branch to the longest one occurs quite efficiently (about 80% quantum yield) within the first 25 fs after light excitation and is mediated vibrationally through acetylenic and quinoidal bond-stretching modes together with a particular role given to the central-ring anti-quinoidal rock-bending mode. Electronic and vibrational energy relaxations, together with redistributions of quantum populations and coherences, are interpreted herein through the lens of a nonadiabatic perspective, showing some interesting segregation among the foremost photoactive degrees of freedom as regards spectroscopy and reactivity.

Neutral 2-phenylbenzimidazole-based iridium(III) complexes with picolinate ancillary ligand: tuning the emission properties by manipulating the substituent on the benzimidazole ring

We report the synthesis and characterization of ten neutral bisheteroleptic iridium(III) complexes with 2-phenylbenzimidazole cyclometallating ligand and picolinate as ancillary ligand. The 2-phenylbenzimidazole has been modified by selected substituents introduced on the cyclometallating ring and/or on the benzimidazole moiety. The integrity of the complexes has been assessed by NMR spectroscopy, by high-resolution mass spectrometry and by elemental analysis. The complexes are demonstrated to be highly phosphorescent at room temperature and a luminescence study with comprehensive ab initio calculations allow us to determine the lowest emitting excited state which depends on the substituent nature and its position on the cyclometallating ligand.

Pyrene-Based Deep-Blue Fluorophores with Narrow-Band Emission

High-efficiency narrow-band luminescent materials have attracted intense interest, resulting in their great colorimetric purity. This has led to a variety of high-tech applications in high-definition displays, spectral analysis, and biomedicine. In this study, a rigid pyrene core was employed as the molecular backbone, and four narrow-band pyrene-based blue emitters were synthesized using various synthetic methods (such as Lewis-acid catalyzed cyclization domino reactions, Pd-catalyzed coupling reactions like Suzuki-Miyaura and Sonogashira). Due to the steric effect of the hydroxy group at the 2-position, the target compounds exhibit deep blue emission (<429 nm, CIEy < 0.08) with full width at half-maximum (FWHM) less than 33 nm both in solution and when solidified. The experimental and theoretical results indicated that the substituents at the 1- and 3-positions afford a large dihedral angle with the pyrene core, and the molecular motion is almost fixed by multiple intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions in the crystallized state, leading to a suppression of the vibrational relaxation of the molecular structure. Moreover, we observed that the suppression of the vibrational relaxation in the molecular structures and the construction of rigid conjugated structures can help develop narrow-band organic light-emitting materials.

Stereo effects for efficient synthesis of orange-red multiple resonance emitters centered on a pyridine ring

Despite theoretical difficulties, we herein demonstrate an effective strategy for the inaugural synthesis of an orange-red multiple resonance (MR) emitter centered on a pyridine ring via stereo effects. Compared to conventional benzene-centered materials, the pyridine moiety in the novel MR material acts as a co-acceptor. This results in a significant spectral redshift and a narrower spectrum, as well as an improved photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) due to the formation of intramolecular hydrogen bonds. As envisioned, the proof-of-concept emitter Py-Cz-BN exhibits bright orange-red emission peaking at 586 nm with a small full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 0.14 eV (40 nm), exceeding both the wavelength and FWHM achieved with benzene-centered BBCz-Y. Benefiting from high PLQYs (>92%) and suppressed chromophore interactions, the optimized organic light-emitting diodes achieved high maximum external quantum efficiencies of 25.3-29.6%, identical small FWHMs of 0.18 eV (54 nm), and long lifetimes over a wide range of dopant concentrations (1-15 wt%). The performance described above demonstrates the effectiveness of this molecular design and synthesis strategy in constructing high performance long-wavelength MR emitters.

Impact of isoelectronic substitution on the excited state processes in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: a joint experimental and theoretical study of 4a,8a-azaboranaphthalene

Substituting CC with the isoelectronic BN units is a promising approach to modify the optoelectronic properties of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. While computational studies have already addressed trends in the electronic structure of the various isosteres, experimental data are still scarce. Here, the excited state spectroscopy and dynamics of 4a,8a-azaboranaphthalene were studied by picosecond time-resolved photoionization in a supersonic jet and analyzed with the aid of XMS-CASPT2 and time-dependent DFT calculations. A resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization spectrum (REMPI) reveals the S1 origin at  = 33 830 ± 12 cm-1. Several vibrational bands were resolved and assigned by comparison with the computations. A [1+1] photoelectron spectrum via the S1 origin yielded an adiabatic ionization energy of 8.27 eV. Selected vibrational bands were subsequently investigated by pump-probe photoionization. While the origin as well as several low-lying vibronic states exhibit lifetimes in the ns-range, a monoexponential decay is observed at higher excitation energies, ranging from 400 ps at +1710 cm-1 to 13 ps at +3360 cm-1. The deactivation is attributed to an internal conversion of the optically excited S1 state via a barrier that gives access to a conical intersection (CI) to the S0 state. The doping significantly changes the energetic ordering of CIs and lowers the corresponding energy barrier for the associated deactivation pathway, as revealed by nudged elastic band (NEB) calculations.

Taming the third order cumulant approximation to linear optical spectroscopy

The second order cumulant method offers a promising pathway to predicting optical properties in condensed phase systems. It allows for the computation of linear absorption spectra from excitation energy fluctuations sampled along molecular dynamics (MD) trajectories, fully accounting for vibronic effects, direct solute-solvent interactions, and environmental polarization effects. However, the second order cumulant approximation only guarantees accurate line shapes for energy gap fluctuations obeying Gaussian statistics. A third order correction has recently been derived but often yields unphysical spectra or divergent line shapes for moderately non-Gaussian fluctuations due to the neglect of higher order terms in the cumulant expansion. In this work, we develop a corrected cumulant approach, where the collective effect of neglected higher order contributions is approximately accounted for through a dampening factor applied to the third order cumulant term. We show that this dampening factor can be expressed as a function of the skewness and kurtosis of energy gap fluctuations and can be parameterized from a large set of randomly sampled model Hamiltonians for which exact spectral line shapes are known. This approach is shown to systematically remove unphysical contributions in the form of negative absorbances from cumulant spectra in both model Hamiltonians and condensed phase systems sampled from MD and dramatically improves over the second order cumulant method in describing systems exhibiting Duschinsky mode mixing effects. We successfully apply the approach to the coumarin-153 dye in toluene, obtaining excellent agreement with experiment.

Excellent ratiometric two-photon fluorescent probes for hydrogen sulfide detection based on the fluorescence resonance energy transfer mechanism

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) is an important mechanism to design ratiometric fluorescent probes that are able to detect analytes quantitatively according to the ratio of two well-resolved emission signals. Two-photon (TP) fluorescent probes can realize the detection in living cells and tissues with deeper penetration depth, higher resolution, and lower photodamage in contrast to one-photon fluorescent probes. However, to date, fabricating TP-FRET ratiometric fluorescent probes possessing large two-photon absorption (TPA), high fluorescence quantum yield and perfect FRET efficiency is still challenging. Consequently, to develop excellent TP-FRET ratiometric probes and explore the relationship between their molecular structures and TP fluorescence properties, in this paper, we designed a series of H2S-detecting TP fluorescent probes employing the FRET mechanism based on an experimental probe BCD. Thereafter, we comprehensively evaluated the TP sensing performance of these probes by means of time-dependent density functional theory and quadratic response theory. Furthermore, we determined energy transfer efficiency and fluorescence quantum yield. Significantly, through regulating benzene-fused positions, we successfully improved fluorescence quantum yield and TPA cross-section simultaneously. Large spectral overlap between energy donor emission and acceptor absorption was achieved and near perfect energy transfer efficiency was acquired for all the studied probes. We revealed that these probes exhibit two well-resolved TPA bands, which are contributed by FRET donors and acceptors, respectively. Especially, both the wavelengths and the cross-sections of the two TPA bands agree well with those of energy donors and acceptors, which is the unique TPA spectral profile of FRET probes and has never been previously reported. Moreover, we proposed an excellent TP-FRET probe BCD3 and its product molecule BCD3-H2S, which exhibit large Stokes (141 nm and 88 nm) and emission shifts (5931 cm-1), as well as greatly increased TP action cross-sections (24-fold and 60-fold) in the near-infrared region with respect to BCD and BCD-H2S. Our detailed study can give an insight into the efficient design of novel TP-FRET fluorescent probes.

A molecular descriptor of a shallow potential energy surface for the ground state to achieve narrowband thermally activated delayed fluorescence emission

Narrowband thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) molecules have extensive applications in optoelectronics, biomedicine, and energy. The full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) holds significant importance in assessing the luminescence efficiency and color purity of TADF molecules. The goal is to achieve efficient and stable TADF emissions by regulating and optimizing the FWHM. However, a bridge from the basic physical parameters (such as geometric structure and reorganization energy) to the macroscopic properties (delayed fluorescence, efficiency, and color purity) is needed and it is highly necessary and urgent to explore the internal mechanisms that influence FWHM. Herein, first-principles calculations coupled with the thermal vibration correlation function (TVCF) theory were performed to study the energy consumption processes of the excited states for the three TADF molecules (2,3-POA, 2,3-DPA, and 2,3-CZ) with different donors; inner physical parameters affecting the FWHM were detected. By analyzing the basic geometric and electronic structures as well as the transition properties and reorganization energies, three main findings in modulating FWHM were obtained, namely a large local excitation (LE) proportion in the first singlet excited state is advantageous in reducing FWHM, a donor group with weak electron-donating ability is beneficial for achieving narrowband emission, and small reorganization energies for the ground state are favorable for reducing FWHM. Thus, wise molecular design strategies to achieve efficient narrowband TADF emission are theoretically proven and proposed. We hope that these results will promote an in-depth understanding of FWHM and accelerate the development of high color purity TADF emitters.

Organoboron-based multiple-resonance emitters: synthesis, structure-property correlations, and prospects

Boron-based multiple-resonance (MR) emitters exhibit the advantages of narrowband emission, high absolute photoluminescence quantum yield, thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF), and sufficient stability during the operation of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Thus, such MR emitters have been widely applied as blue emitters in triplet-triplet-annihilation-driven fluorescent devices used in smartphones and televisions. Moreover, they hold great promise as TADF or terminal emitters in TADF-assisted fluorescence or phosphor-sensitised fluorescent OLEDs. Herein we comprehensively review organoboron-based MR emitters based on their synthetic strategies, clarify structure-photophysical property correlations, and provide design guidelines and future development prospects.

Excited-state normal-mode analysis: The case of porphyrins

We systematically applied excited-state normal mode analysis to investigate and compare the relaxation and internal conversion dynamics of a free-base porphyrin (BP) with those of a novel functional porphyrin (FP) derivative. We discuss the strengths and limitations of this method and employ it to predict very different dynamical behaviors of the two compounds and to clarify the role of high reorganization energy modes in driving the system toward critical regions of the potential energy landscape. We identify the modes of vibrations along which the energy gap between two excited-state potential energy surfaces within the Q band manifold may vanish and find that the excess energy to reach this "touching" region is significantly reduced in the case of FP (0.16 eV) as compared to the one calculated for BP (0.92 eV). Our findings establish a link between the chemical functionalization and the electronic and vibrational structure that can be exploited to control the internal conversion pathways in a systematic way.

Beyond the Condon limit: Condensed phase optical spectra from atomistic simulations

While dark transitions made bright by molecular motions determine the optoelectronic properties of many materials, simulating such non-Condon effects in condensed phase spectroscopy remains a fundamental challenge. We derive a Gaussian theory to predict and analyze condensed phase optical spectra beyond the Condon limit. Our theory introduces novel quantities that encode how nuclear motions modulate the energy gap and transition dipole of electronic transitions in the form of spectral densities. By formulating the theory through a statistical framework of thermal averages and fluctuations, we circumvent the limitations of widely used microscopically harmonic theories, allowing us to tackle systems with generally anharmonic atomistic interactions and non-Condon fluctuations of arbitrary strength. We show how to calculate these spectral densities using first-principles simulations, capturing realistic molecular interactions and incorporating finite-temperature, disorder, and dynamical effects. Our theory accurately predicts the spectra of systems known to exhibit strong non-Condon effects (phenolate in various solvents) and reveals distinct mechanisms for electronic peak splitting: timescale separation of modes that tune non-Condon effects and spectral interference from correlated energy gap and transition dipole fluctuations. We further introduce analysis tools to identify how intramolecular vibrations, solute-solvent interactions, and environmental polarization effects impact dark transitions. Moreover, we prove an upper bound on the strength of cross correlated energy gap and transition dipole fluctuations, thereby elucidating a simple condition that a system must follow for our theory to accurately predict its spectrum.

Frontier Molecular Orbital Engineering: Constructing Highly Efficient Narrowband Organic Electroluminescent Materials

It is of great strategic significance to develop highly efficient narrowband organic electroluminescent materials that can be utilized to manufacture ultra-high-definition (UHD) displays and meet or approach the requirements of Broadcast Television 2020 (B.T.2020) color gamut standards. This motif poses challenges for molecular design and synthesis, especially for developing generality, diversity, scalability, and robustness of molecular structures. The emergence of multiple resonance thermally activated delayed fluorescence (MR-TADF) emitters has ingeniously solved the problems and demonstrated bright application prospects in the field of UHD displays, sparking a research boom. This Minireview summarizes the research endeavors of narrowband organic electroluminescent materials, with emphasis on the tremendous contribution of frontier molecular orbital engineering (FMOE) strategy. It combines the outstanding advantages of MR framework and donor-acceptor (D-A) structure, and can achieve red-shift and narrowband emission simultaneously, which is of great significance in the development of long-wavelength narrowband emitters with emission maxima especially exceeding 500 nm. We hope that this Minireview would provide some inspiration for what could transpire in the future.

First-Principles Calculations of Excited-State Decay Rate Constants in Organic Fluorophores

In this Perspective, we discuss recent advances made to evaluate from first-principles the excited-state decay rate constants of organic fluorophores, focusing on the so-called static strategy. In this strategy, one essentially takes advantage of Fermi's golden rule (FGR) to evaluate rate constants at key points of the potential energy surfaces, a procedure that can be refined in a variety of ways. In this way, the radiative rate constant can be straightforwardly obtained by integrating the fluorescence line shape, itself determined from vibronic calculations. Likewise, FGR allows for a consistent calculation of the internal conversion (related to the non-adiabatic couplings) in the weak-coupling regime and intersystem crossing rates, therefore giving access to estimates of the emission yields when no complex photophysical phenomenon is at play. Beyond outlining the underlying theories, we summarize here the results of benchmarks performed for various types of rates, highlighting that both the quality of the vibronic calculations and the accuracy of the relative energies are crucial to reaching semiquantitative estimates. Finally, we illustrate the successes and challenges in determining the fluorescence quantum yields using a series of organic fluorophores.

Cryogenic fluorescence spectroscopy of oxazine ions isolated in vacuo

Recent developments in fluorescence spectroscopy have made it possible to measure both absorption and dispersed fluorescence spectra of isolated molecular ions at liquid-nitrogen temperatures. Absorption is here obtained from fluorescence-excitation experiments and does not rely on ion dissociation. One large advantage of reduced temperature compared to room-temperature spectroscopy is that spectra are narrow, and they provide information on vibronic features that can better be assigned from theoretical simulations. We report on the intrinsic spectroscopic properties of oxazine dyes cooled to about 100 K. They include six cations (crystal violet, darrow red, oxazine-1, oxazine-4, oxazine-170 and nile blue) and one anion (resorufin). Experiments were done with a home-built setup (LUNA2) where ions are stored, mass-selected, cooled, and photoexcited in a cylindrical ion trap. We find that the Stokes shifts are small (14-50 cm-1), which is ascribed to rigid geometries, that is, there are only small geometrical changes between the electronic ground and excited states. However, both the absorption and the emission spectra of darrow-red cations are broader than those of the other ionic dyes, which is likely associated with a less symmetric electronic structure and more non-zero Franck-Condon factors for the vibrational progressions. In the case of resorufin, the smallest ion under study, vibrational features are assigned based on calculated spectra.

Theoretical Insight into the Effect of Phosphorus Oxygenation on Nonradiative Decays: Comparative Analysis of P-Bridged Stilbene Analogs

Incorporation of the phosphorus element into a π-conjugated skeleton offers valuable prospects for adjusting the electronic structure of the resulting functional π-electron systems. Trivalent phosphorus has the potential to decrease the LUMO level through σ*-π* interaction, which is further enhanced by its oxygenation to the pentavalent P center. This study shows that utilizing our computational analysis to examine excited-state dynamics based on radiative/nonradiative rate constants and fluorescence quantum yield (ΦF) is effective for analyzing the photophysical properties of P-containing organic dyes. We theoretically investigate how the trivalent phosphanyl group and pentavalent phosphine oxide moieties affect radiative and nonradiative decay processes. We evaluate four variations of P-bridged stilbene analogs. Our analysis reveals that the primary decay pathway for photoexcited bis-phosphanyl-bridged stilbene is the intersystem crossing (ISC) to the triplet state and nonradiative. The oxidation of the phosphine moiety, however, suppresses the ISC due to the relative destabilization of the triplet states. The calculated rate constants match an increase in experimental ΦF from 0.07 to 0.98, as simulated from 0.23 to 0.94. The reduced HOMO-LUMO gap supports a red shift in the fluorescence spectra relative to the phosphine analog. The thiophene-fused variant with the nonoxidized trivalent P center exhibits intense emission with a high ΦF, 0.95. Our prediction indicates that the ISC transfer is obstructed owing to the relatively destabilized triplet state induced by the thiophene substitution. Conversely, the thiophene-fused analog with the phosphine oxide moieties triggers a high-rate internal conversion mediated by conical intersection, leading to a decreased ΦF.

Triphenylene-Based Emitters with Hybridized Local and Charge-Transfer Characteristics for Efficient Nondoped Blue OLEDs with a Narrowband Emission and a Small Efficiency Roll-Off

Developing high-efficiency nondoped blue organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with high color purity and low-efficiency roll-off is vital for display and lighting applications. Herein, we developed two asymmetric D-π-A blue emitters, PIAnTP and PyIAnTP, in which triphenylene is first utilized as a functional acceptor. The relatively weak charge transfer (CT) properties, rigid molecular structures, and multiple supramolecular interactions in PIAnTP and PyIAnTP can significantly enhance the fluorescence efficiency and suppress the structural relaxations to obtain a narrowband blue emission. The photophysical experiments and theoretical simulations reveal that they both exhibit a typical hybridized local and charge-transfer (HLCT) excited state and achieve high external quantum efficiency (EQE) via a "hot exciton" channel. As a result, PIAnTP- and PyIAnTP-based nondoped devices realize blue emission at 456 and 464 nm, corresponding to CIE coordinates of (0.16, 0.14) and (0.16, 0.19), narrow full width at half-maximums of 52 and 60 nm, and the high EQEs of 8.36 and 8.69%, respectively. More importantly, the PIAnTP- and PyIAnTP-based nondoped devices show small EQE roll-offs of only 5.9 and 2.4% at 1000 cd m-2, respectively. These results signify an advance in designing a highly efficient blue emitter for nondoped OLEDs.

Experimental radiative cooling rates of a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon cation

Several small Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been identified recently in the Taurus Molecular Cloud (TMC-1) using radio telescope observations. Reproducing the observed abundances of these molecules has been a challenge for astrochemical models. Rapid radiative cooling of PAHs by Recurrent Fluorescence (RF), the emission of optical photons from thermally populated electronically excited states, has been shown to efficiently stabilize small PAHs following ionization, augmenting their resilience in astronomical environments and helping to rationalize their observed high abundances. Here, we use a novel method to experimentally determine the radiative cooling rate of the cation of 1-cyanonaphthalene (C10H7CN, 1-CNN), the neutral species of which has been identified in TMC-1. Laser-induced dissociation rates and kinetic energy release distributions of 1-CNN cations isolated in a cryogenic electrostatic ion-beam storage ring are analysed to track the time evolution of the vibrational energy distribution of the initially hot ion ensemble as it cools. The measured cooling rate is in good agreement with the previously calculated RF rate coefficient. Improved measurements and models of the RF mechanism are needed to interpret astronomical observations and refine predictions of the stabilities of interstellar PAHs.

Efficient Protocol for Computing MCD Spectra in a Broad Frequency Range Combining Resonant and Damped CC2 Quadratic Response Theory

Coupled cluster response theory offers a path to high-accuracy calculations of spectroscopic properties, such as magnetic circular dichroism (MCD). However, divergence or slow convergence issues are often encountered for electronic transitions in high-energy regions with a high density of states. This is here addressed for MCD by an implementation of damped quadratic response theory for resolution-of-identity coupled cluster singles-and-approximate-doubles (RI-CC2), along with an implementation of the MCD A term from resonant response theory. Combined, damped and resonant response theory calculations provide an efficient strategy to obtain MCD spectra over a broad frequency range and for systems that include highly symmetric molecules with degenerate excited states. The protocol is illustrated by application to zinc tetrabenzoporphyrin in the energy region of 2-8 eV and comparison to experimental data. Timings are reported for the resonant and damped approaches, showing that a greater part of the calculation time is consumed by the construction of the building blocks for the final MCD ellipticity. A recommendation on how to use the procedure is outlined.

Narrowband Organic Afterglow via Phosphorescence Förster Resonance Energy Transfer for Multifunctional Applications

Achieving multicolor organic afterglow materials with narrowband emission and high color purity is important in various optoelectronic fields but remains a great challenge. Here, an efficient strategy is presented to obtain narrowband organic afterglow materials via Förster resonance energy transfer from long-lived phosphorescence donors to narrowband fluorescence acceptors in a polyvinyl alcohol matrix. The resulting materials exhibit narrowband emission with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) as small as 23 nm and the longest lifetime of 721.22 ms. Meanwhile, by pairing the appropriate donors and acceptors, multicolor and high color purity afterglow ranging from green to red with the maximum photoluminescence quantum yield of 67.1% are achieved. Moreover, given their long luminescence lifetime, high color purity, and flexibility, the potential applications are demonstrated in high-resolution afterglow displays and dynamic and quick information identification in low-light conditions. This work provides a facile approach for developing multicolor and narrowband afterglow materials as well as expands the features of organic afterglow.

Disclosing Early Excited State Relaxation Events in Prototypical Linear Carbon Chains

One-dimensional (1D) linear nanostructures comprising sp-hybridized carbon atoms, as derivatives of the prototypical allotrope known as carbyne, are predicted to possess outstanding mechanical, thermal, and electronic properties. Despite recent advances in their synthesis, their chemical and physical properties are still poorly understood. Here, we investigate the photophysics of a prototypical polyyne (i.e., 1D chain with alternating single and triple carbon bonds) as the simplest model of finite carbon wire and as a prototype of sp-carbon-based chains. We perform transient absorption experiments with high temporal resolution (<30 fs) on monodispersed hydrogen-capped hexayne H─(C≡C)6─H synthesized by laser ablation in liquid. With the support of computational studies based on ground state density functional theory (DFT) and excited state time-dependent (TD)-DFT calculations, we provide a comprehensive description of the excited state relaxation processes at early times following photoexcitation. We show that the internal conversion from a bright high-energy singlet excited state to a low-lying singlet dark state is ultrafast and takes place with a 200 fs time constant, followed by thermalization on the picosecond time scale and decay of the low-energy singlet state with hundreds of picoseconds time constant. We also show that the time scale of these processes does not depend on the end groups capping the sp-carbon chain. The understanding of the primary photoinduced events in polyynes is of key importance both for fundamental knowledge and for potential optoelectronic and light-harvesting applications of low-dimensional nanostructured carbon-based materials.

Extensive Analysis of the Parameters Influencing Radiative Rates Obtained through Vibronic Calculations

Defining a theoretical model systematically delivering accurate ab initio predictions of the fluorescence quantum yields of organic dyes is highly desirable for designing improved fluorophores in a systematic rather than trial-and-error way. To this end, the first required step is to obtain reliable radiative rates (kr), as low kr typically precludes effective emission. In the present contribution, using a series of 10 substituted phenyls with known experimental kr, we analyze the impact of the computational protocol on the kr determined through the thermal vibration correlation function (TVCF) approach on the basis of time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations of the energies, structures, and vibrational parameters. Both the electronic structure (selected exchange-correlation functional, application or not of the Tamm-Dancoff approximation) and the vibronic parameters (line-shape formalism, coordinate system, potential energy surface model, and dipole expansion) are tackled. Considering all possible combinations yields more than 3500 cases, allowing to extract statistically-relevant information regarding the impact of each computational parameter on the magnitude of the estimated kr. It turns out that the selected vibronic model can have a significant impact on the computed kr, especially the potential energy surface model. This effect is of the same order of magnitude as the difference noted between B3LYP and CAM-B3LYP estimates. For the treated compounds, all evaluated functionals do deliver reasonable trends, fitting the experimental values.

Chiroptical Properties of Planar Benzobisthiazole-Bridged Squaraine Dimers

Five chiral squaraine dimers were synthesized by fusing chiral indolenine semisquaraines with three different benzobisthiazole bridges. The thereby created squaraine dimers show a strong splitting of the lowest energy absorption bands caused by exciton coupling. The intensities of the two exciton transitions and the energetic splitting depend on the angle of the two squaraine moieties within the chromophore dimer. The electric circular dichroism spectra of the dimers show intense Cotton effects whose sign depends on the used squaraine chromophores. Sizable anisotropies g_abs of up to 2.6 × 10^-3 could be obtained. TD-DFT calculations were used to partition the rotational strength into the three Rosenfeld terms where the electric-magnetic coupling turned out to be the dominant contribution while the exciton chirality term is much smaller. This is because the chromophore dimers are essentially planar but the angle between the electric transition dipole moment of one squaraine and the magnetic transition dipole moment of the other squaraine strongly deviates from 90°, which makes the dot product between the two moment vectors and, thus, the rotational strength substantial.

Protomers of the green and cyan fluorescent protein chromophores investigated using action spectroscopy

The photophysics of biochromophore ions often depends on the isomeric or protomeric distribution, yet this distribution, and the individual isomer contributions to an action spectrum, can be difficult to quantify. Here, we use two separate photodissociation action spectroscopy instruments to record electronic spectra for protonated forms of the green (pHBDI⁺) and cyan (Cyan⁺) fluorescent protein chromophores. One instrument allows for cryogenic (T = 40 ± 10 K) cooling of the ions, while the other offers the ability to perform protomer-selective photodissociation spectroscopy. We show that both chromophores are generated as two protomers when using electrospray ionisation, and that the protomers have partially overlapping absorption profiles associated with the S₁ ← S₀ transition. The action spectra for both species span the 340-460 nm range, although the spectral onset for the pHBDI⁺ protomer with the proton residing on the carbonyl oxygen is red-shifted by ≈40 nm relative to the lower-energy imine protomer. Similarly, the imine and carbonyl protomers are the lowest energy forms of Cyan⁺, with the main band for the carbonyl protomer red-shifted by ≈60 nm relative to the lower-energy imine protomer. The present strategy for investigating protomers can be applied to a wide range of other biochromophore ions.

Unveiling the Excited State Dynamics of Indole in Solution

In this paper, we reconstruct in detail the dynamics of the emitting electronic excited state of aqueous indole, investigating its relaxation mechanism and kinetics to be related to the time-dependent fluorescence signal. Taking advantage of the results shown in a very recent paper, we were able to model the relaxation process in solution in terms of the transitions between two gas-phase singlet electronic states (¹L_a and ¹L_b), subsequently irreversibly relaxing to the gas-phase singlet dark state (¹πσ*). A comparison of the results with the available experimental data shows that the relaxation mechanism we obtain by our theoretical-computational model is reliable, reproducing rather accurately all the experimental observables.

Energy-Efficient Stable Hyperfluorescence Organic Light-Emitting Diodes with Improved Color Purities and Ultrahigh Power Efficiencies Based on Low-Polar Sensitizing Systems

Multi-resonance (MR) molecules with thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) are emerging as promising candidates for high-definition displays because of their narrow emission spectra. However, the electroluminescence (EL) efficiencies and spectra of MR-TADF molecules are highly sensitive to hosts and sensitizers when applied to organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), and the highly polar environments in devices often lead to significantly broadened EL spectra. In this study, a proof-of-concept TADF sensitizer (BTDMAC-XT) with low polarity, high steric hindrance, and concentration-quenching free feature is constructed, which acts as a good emitter in doped and non-doped OLEDs with high external quantum efficiencies (η_ext s) of 26.7% and 29.3%, respectively. By combining BTDMAC-XT with conventional low-polarity hosts, low-polarity sensitizing systems with a small carrier injection barrier and full exciton utilization are constructed for the MR-TADF molecule BN2. Hyperfluorescence (HF) OLEDs employing the low-polar sensitizing systems successfully improve the color quality of BN2 and afford an excellent η_ext of 34.4%, a record-high power efficiency of 166.3 lm W^-1 and a long operational lifetime (LT₅₀  = 40309 h) at an initial luminance of 100 cd m^-2 . These results provide instructive guidance for the sensitizer design and device optimization for energy-efficient and stable HF-OLEDs with high-quality light.

Cooling dynamics of energized naphthalene and azulene radical cations

Naphthalene and azulene are isomeric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and are topical in the context of astrochemistry due to the recent discovery of substituted naphthalenes in the Taurus Molecular Cloud-1 (TMC-1). Here, the thermal- and photo-induced isomerization, dissociation, and radiative cooling dynamics of energized (vibrationally hot) naphthalene (Np+) and azulene (Az+) radical cations, occurring over the microsecond to seconds timescale, are investigated using a cryogenic electrostatic ion storage ring, affording "molecular cloud in a box" conditions. Measurement of the cooling dynamics and kinetic energy release distributions for neutrals formed through dissociation, until several seconds after hot ion formation, are consistent with the establishment of a rapid (sub-microsecond) Np+ ⇌ Az+ quasi-equilibrium. Consequently, dissociation by C2H2-elimination proceeds predominantly through common Az+ decomposition pathways. Simulation of the isomerization, dissociation, recurrent fluorescence, and infrared cooling dynamics using a coupled master equation combined with high-level potential energy surface calculations [CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ], reproduce the trends in the measurements. The data show that radiative cooling via recurrent fluorescence, predominately through the Np+ D0 ← D2 transition, efficiently quenches dissociation for vibrational energies up to ≈1 eV above dissociation thresholds. Our measurements support the suggestion that small cations, such as naphthalene, may be more abundant in space than previously thought. The strategy presented in this work could be extended to fingerprint the cooling dynamics of other PAH ions for which isomerization is predicted to precede dissociation.

Many-Body Description of STM-Induced Fluorescence of Charged Molecules

A scanning tunneling microscope is used to study the fluorescence of a model charged molecule (quinacridone) adsorbed on a sodium chloride (NaCl)-covered metallic sample. Fluorescence from the neutral and positively charged species is reported and imaged using hyperresolved fluorescence microscopy. A many-body model is established based on a detailed analysis of voltage, current, and spatial dependences of the fluorescence and electron transport features. This model reveals that quinacridone adopts a palette of charge states, transient or not, depending on the voltage used and the nature of the underlying substrate. This model has a universal character and clarifies the transport and fluorescence mechanisms of molecules adsorbed on thin insulators.

New Fields, New Opportunities and New Challenges: Circularly Polarized Multiple Resonance Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Materials

Circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) materials that concurrently exhibit high efficiency and narrowband emission are extremely promising applications in 3D and wide color gamut display. By merging the CPL optical property and multiple resonance (MR) induced thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) characteristic into one molecule, a new strategy, namely CP-MR-TADF, is proposed to generate organic emitters with CPL activity, TADF and narrowband emission. High-performance red, green and blue CP-MR-TADF emitters have been developed following this strategy. Herein, the present status and progress of CP-MR-TADF materials in the field of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) is summarized. Finally, for this rapidly growing new research field, the future opportunities are forecasted and the present challenges are discussed.

FCclasses3: Vibrationally-resolved spectra simulated at the edge of the harmonic approximation

We introduce FCclasses3, a code to carry out vibronic simulations of electronic spectra and nonradiative rates, based on the harmonic approximation. Key new features are: implementation of the full family of vertical and adiabatic harmonic models, vibrational analysis in curvilinear coordinates, extension to several electronic spectroscopies and implementation of time-dependent approaches. The use of curvilinear valence internal coordinates allows the adoption of quadratic model potential energy surfaces (PES) of the initial and final states expanded at arbitrary configurations. Moreover, the implementation of suitable projectors provides a robust framework for defining reduced-dimensionality models by sorting flexible coordinates out of the harmonic subset, so that they can then be treated at anharmonic level, or with mixed quantum classical approaches. A set of tools to facilitate input preparation and output analysis is also provided. We show the program at work in the simulation of different spectra (one and two-photon absorption, emission and resonance Raman) and internal conversion rate of a typical rigid molecule, anthracene. Then, we focus on absorption and emission spectra of a series of flexible polyphenyl molecules, highlighting the relevance of some of the newly implemented features. The code is freely available at http://www.iccom.cnr.it/en/fcclasses/.

Low-Temperature Luminescence in Organic Helicenes: Singlet versus Triplet State Circularly Polarized Emission

The experimental measurement of the photophysical and chiroptical properties of helicene-based π-conjugated emitters with electron-accepting (-CN, -py, -NO₂) or donating (TMS, NMe₂, NH₂) moieties is reported at low temperature (77 K). The samples exhibit strong circularly polarized phosphorescence in frozen solution of 2-MeTHF, with a luminescence dissymmetry factor reaching 1.6 × 10^-2 and a lifetime of over 0.46 s for the most active molecule, the nitro compound. The theoretical investigation shows that although the singlet (S₁) and triplet (T₁) excited-state emissions mainly arise from the helicene core, the rotatory strengths of the spin-allowed versus spin-forbidden emission have opposite signs. Further analysis of the spin-orbit coupling matrix elements shows that there is no strong mixing between S₁ and T₁, justifying the different signs of the rotatory strengths. In the case of the nitro compound, the enhanced phosphorescence emission is due to an efficient intersystem crossing.