Synthesis and Characterization of Bola-Amphiphilic Porphyrin-Perylenebisimide Architectures

We report on the synthesis and characterization of a family of three water-soluble bola-amphiphilic zinc-porphyrin-perylenebisimide triads containing oligo carboxylic-acid capped Newkome dendrons in the periphery. Variations of the perylenebisimide (PBI) core geometry and dendron size (G1 and G2 dendrons with 3- and 9-carboxylic acid groups respectively) allow for tuning the supramolecular aggregation behavior with respect to variation of the molecular architecture. The triads show good solubility in basic aqueous media and aggregation to supramolecular assemblies. Theoretical investigations at the DFT level of theory accompanied by electrochemical measurements unravel the geometric and electronic structure of the amphiphiles. UV/Vis and fluorescence titrations with varying amounts of THF demonstrate disaggregation.

Fast Charge Separation in Distant Donor-Acceptor Dyads Driven by Relaxation of a Hot Excited State

A series of three perylenemonoimide-p-oligophenylene-dimethylaniline molecular dyads undergo photoinduced charge separation (CS) with anomalous distance dependence as a function of increasing donor-acceptor (DA) distances. A comprehensive experimental and computational investigation of the photodynamics in the donor-bridge-acceptor (DBA) chromophores reveals a clear demarcation concerning the nature of the CS accessed at shorter (bridgeless) and longer DA distances. At the shortest distance, a strong DA interaction and ground-state charge delocalization populate a hot excited state (ES) with prominent charge transfer (CT) character, via Franck-Condon vertical excitation. The presence of such a CT-polarized hot ES enables a subpicosecond CS in the bridgeless dyad. The incorporation of the p-oligophenylene bridge effectively decouples the donor and the acceptor units in the ground state and consequentially suppresses the CT polarization in the hot ES. Theoretically, this should render a slower CS at longer distances. However, the transient absorption measurement reveals a fast CS process at the longer distance, contrary to the anticipated exponential distance dependence of the CS rates. A closer look into the excited-state dynamics suggests that the hot ES undergoes ultrafast geometry relaxation (τ < 1 ps) to create a relaxed ES. As compared to a decoupled, twisted geometry in the hot ES, the geometry of the relaxed ES exhibits a more planar conformation of the p-oligophenylene bridges. Planarization of the bridge endorses an increased charge delocalization and a prominent CT character in the relaxed ES and forms the origin for the evident fast CS at the longest distance. Thus, the relaxation of the hot ES and the concomitantly enhanced charge delocalization adds a new caveat to the classic nature of distance-dependent CS in artificial DBA chromophores and recommends a cautious treatment of the attenuation factor (β) while discussing anomalous CS trends.

Panchromatic Absorbers Tethered for Bioconjugation or Surface Attachment

The syntheses of two triads are reported. Each triad is composed of two perylene-monoimides linked to a porphyrin via an ethyne unit, which bridges the perylene 9-position and a porphyrin 5- or 15-position. Each triad also contains a single tether composed of an alkynoic acid or an isophthalate unit. Each triad provides panchromatic absorption (350–700 nm) with fluorescence emission in the near-infrared region (733 or 743 nm; fluorescence quantum yield ~0.2). The syntheses rely on the preparation of trans-AB-porphyrins bearing one site for tether attachment (A), an aryl group (B), and two open meso-positions. The AB-porphyrins were prepared by the condensation of a 1,9-diformyldipyrromethane and a dipyrromethane. The installation of the two perylene-monoimide groups was achieved upon the 5,15-dibromination of the porphyrin and the subsequent copper-free Sonogashira coupling, which was accomplished before or after the attachment of the tether. The syntheses provide relatively straightforward access to a panchromatic absorber for use in bioconjugation or surface-attachment processes.

Excited-state photophysical processes in a molecular system containing perylene bisimide and zinc porphyrin chromophores

Multichromophoric systems with efficient photoinduced excited-state processes are important for the conversion of solar energy in artificial photosynthesis. However, a low molecular absorption coefficient of these multichromophoric systems in the near-infrared region limits their power conversion efficiency in organic solar cells. It is critical to design molecules with a broad absorption range in the whole spectral region, to better harvest solar energy, and to reveal their important multiple-step photophysical processes for the design of organic solar cells. Here, we investigate a novel compound having three chromophores, namely two near-by N,N'-bis(1-pentyl)hexyl-3,4,9,10-perylenebiscarboximide (PDI) units linked to a zinc porphyrin core side by side (in the form of PDI-ZnPor-PDI), which absorbs solar energy ranging from the ultraviolet (UV) to near-infrared regions. The photophysical behavior of PDI-ZnPor-PDI in both film and solution forms, has been investigated using steady-state and transient spectroscopy measurements. Charge-transfer species and triplet excited-state species are observed, the excited-state evolutions of which are monitored using molecular vibrations as probes. These observations support the idea that PDI-ZnPor-PDI on photoexcitation generates the radical anion and triplet species of the PDI unit (PDI˙- and 3PDI*). Our results demonstrate the effect of solid film state on the photophysical properties in such multichromophoric system, and are valuable for guiding the design and utilization of novel near-infrared electron donors or acceptors for use in organic solar cells.

Photophysics of perylene monoimide-labelled organocatalysts

A fluorophore-tagged organocatalyst undergoes electron transfer in polar solvents allowing to sense the presence of its free quinuclidine catalytic site.

Probing electronic communication for efficient light-harvesting functionality: dyads containing a common perylene and a porphyrin, chlorin, or bacteriochlorin

The synthesis, photophysical, redox, and molecular-orbital characteristics of three perylene-tetrapyrrole dyads were investigated to probe the efficacy of the arrays for use as light-harvesting constituents. Each dyad contains a common perylene-monoimide that is linked at the N-imide position via an arylethynyl group to the meso-position of the tetrapyrrole. The tetrapyrroles include a porphyrin, chlorin, and bacteriochlorin, which have zero, one, and two reduced pyrrole rings, respectively. The increased pyrrole-ring reduction results in a progressive red shift and intensification of the lowest-energy absorption band, as exemplified by benchmark monomers. The arylethyne linkage affords moderate perylene-tetrapyrrole electronic coupling in the dyads as evidenced by the optical, molecular-orbital, and redox properties of the components of the dyads versus the constituent parts. All three dyads in nonpolar solvents exhibit relatively fast (subpicosecond) energy transfer from the perylene to the tetrapyrrole. Competing charge-transfer processes are also absent in nonpolar solvents, but become active for both the chlorin and bacteriochlorin-containing dyads in polar solvents. Calculations of energy-transfer rates via the Förster, through-space mechanism reveal that these rates are, on average, 3-fold slower than the observed rates. Thus, the Dexter through-bond mechanism contributes more substantially than the through-space mechanism to energy transfer in the dyads. The electronic communication between the perylene and tetrapyrrole falls in a regime intermediate between those operative in other classes of perylene-tetrapyrrole dyads that have previously been studied.

Long-range electron transfer in zinc-phthalocyanine-oligo(phenylene-ethynylene)-based donor-bridge-acceptor dyads

In the context of long-range electron transfer for solar energy conversion, we present the synthesis, photophysical, and computational characterization of two new zinc(II) phthalocyanine oligophenylene-ethynylene based donor-bride-acceptor dyads: ZnPc-OPE-AuP(+) and ZnPc-OPE-C(60). A gold(III) porphyrin and a fullerene has been used as electron accepting moieties, and the results have been compared to a previously reported dyad with a tin(IV) dichloride porphyrin as the electron acceptor (Fortage et al. Chem. Commun. 2007, 4629). The results for ZnPc-OPE-AuP(+) indicate a remarkably strong electronic coupling over a distance of more than 3 nm. The electronic coupling is manifested in both the absorption spectrum and an ultrafast rate for photoinduced electron transfer (k(PET) = 1.0 × 10(12) s(-1)). The charge-shifted state in ZnPc-OPE-AuP(+) recombines with a relatively low rate (k(BET) = 1.0 × 10(9) s(-1)). In contrast, the rate for charge transfer in the other dyad, ZnPc-OPE-C(60), is relatively slow (k(PET) = 1.1 × 10(9) s(-1)), while the recombination is very fast (k(BET) ≈ 5 × 10(10) s(-1)). TD-DFT calculations support the hypothesis that the long-lived charge-shifted state of ZnPc-OPE-AuP(+) is due to relaxation of the reduced gold porphyrin from a porphyrin ring based reduction to a gold centered reduction. This is in contrast to the faster recombination in the tin(IV) porphyrin based system (k(BET) = 1.2 × 10(10) s(-1)), where the excess electron is instead delocalized over the porphyrin ring.

Synthesis of perylene-porphyrin dyads for light-harvesting studies

The spectral coverage of porphyrin-based light-harvesting arrays can be enhanced through the use of suitable accessory pigments. Perylene-monoimide dyes can serve as valuable accessory pigments with porphyrins. To investigate the choice of perylene-monoimide and the effects of molecular architecture on light-harvesting efficacy, five perylene-porphyrin dyads were prepared. Each dyad employs a diphenylethyne linker that bridges the perylene N-imide site and the porphyrin meso-position. Three dyads incorporate a mono-phenoxy perylene at the o-, m-, or p-position of the meso-aryl group on the porphyrin. The two remaining dyads incorporate a perylene-monoimide (bearing zero or three phenoxy substituents) at the p-position of the meso-aryl group on the porphyrin. The introduction of phenoxy groups on the perylenes increases the solubility, a key requirement for use in light-harvesting arrays. The long-wavelength absorption band of the perylene shifts from 506 nm to 532 or 533 nm upon substitution with one or three phenoxy groups, respectively. The synthesis of the dyads entails Pd -mediated coupling of a bromo-perylene and an ethynyl porphyrin, or the mixed-aldehyde condensation with a perylene-aldehyde, mesitaldehyde, and pyrrole. Five perylene-monoimide dyes bearing an ethyne or bromo substituent at the p-position of the N-aryl unit were developed for this modular chemistry. Each perylene-porphyrin dyad exhibits efficient energy transfer from the excited perylene to the ground-state porphyrin.

N-(2-(N',N'-diethylamino)ethyl)perylene-3,4-dicarboximide and its quaternized derivatives as fluorescence probes of acid, temperature, and solvent polarity

In this manuscript, we report the fluorescence properties of N-(2-(N',N'-diethylamino)ethyl)perylene-3,4-dicarboximide (1) and its quaternized derivative N-(2-(N',N'- diethyl-N'-methylammonium)ethyl)perylene-3,4-dicarboximide tosylate (2) in organic solvents. The effects of carboxylic acids and amines on the fluorescence properties of these compounds were investigated. In addition, we studied the aggregation and fluorescence properties of (2) and its 9-bromo-substituted derivative (3) in aqueous solution. The fluorescent properties of these compounds change dramatically with the extent of aggregation, thus allowing these compounds to be used as fluorescent probes for changes in temperature and solvent polarity. For instance, the fluorescence emission intensity of 3 increases by about 28 times as the temperature of the solution increases from 10°C to 85°C. The fluorescent intensities of 2 and 3 in methanol are higher than that in water by about 8 and 25 times, respectively.

Theoretical Solar-to-Electrical Energy-Conversion Efficiencies of Perylene−Porphyrin Light-Harvesting Arrays

The efficiencies of organic solar cells that incorporate light-harvesting arrays of organic pigments were calculated under 1 sun of air mass 1.5 solar irradiation. In one set of calculations, photocurrent efficiencies were evaluated for porphyrin, phthalocyanine, chlorin, bacteriochlorin, and porphyrin-bis(perylene) pigment arrays of different length and packing densities under the assumption that each solar photon absorbed quantitatively yielded one electron in the external circuit. In another more realistic set of calculations, solar conversion efficiencies were evaluated for arrays comprising porphyrins or porphyrin-(perylene)2 units taking into account competitive excited-state relaxation pathways. A system of coupled differential equations for all reactions in the arrays was solved on the basis of previously published rate constants for (1) energy transfer between the perylene and porphyrin pigments, (2) excited-state relaxation of the perylene and porphyrin pigments, and (3) excited-state electron injection into the semiconductor. This formal analysis enables determination of the optimal number of pigments in an array for solar-to-electrical energy conversion. The optimal number of pigments depends on the molar absorption coefficient and the density at which the arrays can be packed on an electrode surface. Taken together, the ability to employ fundamental photophysical, kinetic, and structural parameters of modular molecular architectures in assessments of the efficiency of solar-to-electrical energy conversion should facilitate the design of molecular-based solar cells.

Dyads and Triads Containing Perylenetetracarboxylic Diimide and Porphyrin: Efficient Photoinduced Electron Transfer Elicited via Both Excited Singlet States

Synthesis, characterizations, and photophysical properties of new photoactive dyads and triads containing perylenetetracarboxylic diimide (PIm) and porphyrin (free-base porphyrin (H(2)P) and zinc porphyrin (ZnP)), in which both entities were connected with a short ether bond, were examined with the aim of using these systems for molecular photonics. The porphyrin(P)-PIm systems absorbed strongly across the visible region, which greatly matched the solar spectrum. The geometric and electronic structures of the dyads and triads were probed using density function theory method at the B3LYP/3-21G level. It was revealed that the majority of the highest-occupied molecular orbital was located on the porphyrin entity, while the lowest-unoccupied molecular orbitals were entirely on the PIm entity. The excited-state electron-transfer processes were monitored by both steady-state and time-resolved emission as well as transient-absorption techniques in polar solvent benzonitrile. Upon excitation of the P (H(2)P and ZnP) moieties, efficient fluorescence quenching of the P moiety was observed, suggesting that the main quenching paths involved charge separation from the excited singlet porphyrin ((1)P) to the PIm moiety. Upon excitation of the PIm moiety, fluorescence quenching of the (1)PIm moiety was also observed. The nanosecond transience of spectra in near-IR region revealed the charge separation process from the P moieties to the PIm moiety via their excited singlet states. The lifetimes of the charge-separated states were evaluated to be 7-14 ns, depending on the solvent polarity. Photosensitized electron mediation systems were also revealed in the presence of methyl viologen and sacrificial electron donor.