The nature of the rapid relaxation of excited charge-transfer complexes.

Abstract

Examples of contact radical-ion-pair (CRIP) formation from excited charge-transfer (CT) complexes are described. The reduced absorption and emission spectra of the CT complexes formed between hexamethylbenzene, pentamethylbenzene, and durene donors and 1,2,4,5-tetracyanobenzene (TCNB) in 1,2-dichloroethane (DCLE) exhibit a mirror image relationship, suggesting that each set of spectra describes transitions between the same two states. It was concluded that a CRIP is produced immediately upon excitation of the CT complex and that relaxation of the CRIP includes only minor geometry changes and changes in solvent polarization. In contrast to these results, the reduced absorption and emission spectra of the mesitylene (MES)/TCNB CT complex in DCLE are distinctly different and do not display a mirror image relationship. Time-resolved emission decay traces reveal the presence of an initial intermediate species that contributes approximately 10% of the total steady-state emission. The emission spectrum of this initial species mirrors the absorption spectrum of the MES/TCNB complex. In the MES/TCNB complex, excitation does not lead directly to the CRIP, and the relaxation of the excited complex must include an electronic component in addition to changes in geometry and solvation. The implications of these results on the applicability of golden-rule expressions of electron transfer are discussed.