Efficient Intersystem Crossing and Long-lived Charge-Separated State Induced by Through-Space Intramolecular Charge Transfer in a Parallel Geometry Carbazole-Bodipy Dyad.

Abstract

The design of efficient heavy atom-free triplet photosensitizers (PSs) based on through bond charge transfer (TBCT) features is a formidable challenge due to the criteria of orthogonal donor-acceptor geometry. Herein, we propose using parallel (face-to-face) conformation carbazole-bodipy donor-acceptor dyads (BCZ-1 and BCZ-2) featuring through space intramolecular charge transfer (TSCT) process as efficient triplet PS. Efficient intersystem crossing (ΦΔ =61 %) and long-lived triplet excited state (τT =186 μs) were observed in the TSCT dyad BCZ-1 compared to BCZ-3 (ΦΔ =0.4 %), the dyad involving TBCT, demonstrating the superiority of the TSCT approach over conventional donor-acceptor system. Moreover, the transient absorption study revealed that TSCT dyads have a faster charge separation and slower intersystem crossing process induced by charge recombination compared to TBCT dyad. A long-lived charge-separated state (CSS) was observed in the BCZ-1 (τCSS =24 ns). For the first time, the TSCT dyad was explored for the triplet-triplet annihilation upconversion, and a high upconversion quantum yield of 11 % was observed. Our results demonstrate a new avenue for designing efficient PSs and open up exciting opportunities for future research in this field.