S1 Energy Research Articles

Blue organic light-emitting diodes realizing external quantum efficiency over 25% using thermally activated delayed fluorescence emitters

Improving the performance of blue organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) is needed for full-colour flat-panel displays and solid-state lighting sources. The use of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) is a promising approach to efficient blue electroluminescence. However, the difficulty of developing efficient blue TADF emitters lies in finding a molecular structure that simultaneously incorporates (i) a small energy difference between the lowest excited singlet state (S1) and the lowest triplet state (T1), ΔEST, (ii) a large oscillator strength, f, between S1 and the ground state (S0), and (iii) S1 energy sufficiently high for blue emission. In this study, we develop TADF emitters named CCX-I and CCX-II satisfying the above requirements. They show blue photoluminescence and high triplet-to-singlet up-conversion yield. In addition, their transition dipole moments are horizontally oriented, resulting in further increase of their electroluminescence efficiency. Using CCX-II as an emitting dopant, we achieve a blue OLED showing a high external quantum efficiency of 25.9%, which is one of the highest EQEs in blue OLEDs reported previously.

Excited State N-H Tautomer Selectivity in the Singlet Energy Transfer of a Zinc(II)-Porphyrin-Truxene-Corrole Assembly.

An original corrole-containing polyad for S1 energy transfer, in which one zinc(II)-porphyrin donor is linked to two free-base corrole acceptors by a truxene linker, is reported. This polyad exhibits a rapid zinc(II)-porphyrin*→free-base corrole transfer (4.83×1010 s-1 ; 298 K), even faster than the tautomerization in the excited state processes taking advantage of the good electronic communication provided by the truxene bridge. Importantly, the energy transfer process shows approximately 3-fold selectivity for one corrole N-H tautomer over the other even at low temperature (77 K). This selectivity is due to the difference in the J-integral being effective in both the Förster and Dexter mechanisms. The data are rationalized by DFT computations.

Twisting a β-Carotene, an Adaptive Trick from Nature for Dissipating Energy during Photoprotection

Cyanobacteria possess a family of one-helix high light-inducible proteins (Hlips) that are homologous to light-harvesting antenna of plants and algae. An Hlip protein, high light-inducible protein D (HliD) purified as a small complex with the Ycf39 protein is evaluated using resonance Raman spectroscopy. We show that the HliD binds two different β-carotenes, each present in two non-equivalent binding pockets with different conformations, having their (0,0) absorption maxima at 489 and 522 nm, respectively. Both populations of β-carotene molecules were in all-trans configuration and the absorption position of the farthest blue-shifted β-carotene was attributed entirely to the polarizability of the environment in its binding pocket. In contrast, the absorption maximum of the red-shifted β-carotene was attributed to two different factors: the polarizability of the environment in its binding pocket and, more importantly, to the conformation of its β-rings. This second β-carotene has highly twisted β-rings adopting a flat conformation, which implies that the effective conjugation length N is extended up to 10.5 modifying the energetic levels. This increase in N will also result in a lower S1 energy state, which may provide a permanent energy dissipation channel. Analysis of the carbonyl stretching region for chlorophyll a excitations indicates that the HliD binds six chlorophyll a molecules in five non-equivalent binding sites, with at least one chlorophyll a presenting a slight distortion to its macrocycle. The binding modes and conformations of HliD-bound pigments are discussed with respect to the known structures of LHCII and CP29.

Different conical intersections control nonadiabatic photochemistry of fluorene light-driven molecular rotary motor: A CASSCF and spin-flip DFT study

We report the light-driven isomerization mechanism of a fluorene-based light-driven rotary motor (corresponding to Feringa's 2nd generation rotary motor, [M. M. Pollard et al., Org. Biomol. Chem. 6, 507-512 (2008)]) at the complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) and spin-flip time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) (SFDFT) levels, combined with the complete active space second-order perturbation theory (CASPT2) single-point energy corrections. The good consistence between the SFDFT and CASSCF results confirms the capability of SFDFT in investigating the photoisomerization step of the light-driven molecular rotary motor, and proposes the CASPT2//SFDFT as a promising and effective approach in exploring photochemical processes. At the mechanistic aspect, for the fluorene-based motor, the S1/S0 minimum-energy conical intersection (MECIs) caused by pyramidalization of a fluorene carbon have relatively low energies and are easily accessible by the reactive molecule evolution along the rotary reaction path; therefore, the fluorene-type MECIs play the dominant role in nonadiabatic decay, as supported by previous experimental and theoretical works. Comparably, the other type of MECIs that results from pyramidalization of an indene carbon, which has been acting as the dominant nonadiabatic decay channel in the stilbene motor, is energetically inaccessible, thus the indene-type MECIs are "missing" in previous mechanistic studies including molecular dynamic simulations. A correlation between the geometric and electronic factors of MECIs and that of the S1 energy profile along the C═C rotary coordinate was found. The findings in current study are expected to deepen the understanding of nonadiabatic transition in the light-driven molecular rotary motor and provide insights into mechanistic tuning of their performance.

GW-BSE approach on S1 vertical transition energy of large charge transfer compounds: A performance assessment.

In this work, we apply many-body perturbation theory (MBPT) on large critical charge transfer (CT) complexes to assess its performance on the S1 excitation energy. Since the S1 energy of CT compounds is heavily dependent on the Hartree-Fock (HF) exchange fraction in the reference density functional, MBPT opens a new way for reliable prediction of CT S1 energy without explicit knowledge of suitable amount of HF-exchange, in contrary to the time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT), where depending on various functionals, large errors can arise. Thus, simply by starting from a (semi-)local reference functional and performing update of Kohn-Sham (KS) energies in the Green's function G while keeping dynamical screened interaction (W(ω)) frozen to the mean-field level, we obtain impressingly highly accurate S1 energy at slightly higher computational cost in comparison to TD-DFT. However, this energy-only updating mechanism in G fails to work if the initial guess contains a fraction or 100% HF-exchange, and hence considerably inaccurate S1 energy is predicted. Furthermore, eigenvalue updating both in G and W(ω) overshoots the S1 energy due to enhanced underscreening of W(ω), independent of the (hybrid-)DFT starting orbitals. A full energy-update on top of HF orbitals even further overestimates the S1 energy. An additional update of KS wave functions within the Quasi-Particle Self-Consistent GW (QSGW) deteriorates results, in stark contrast to the good results obtained from QSGW for periodic systems. For the sake of transferability, we further present data of small critical non-charge transfer systems, confirming the outcomes of the CT-systems.

Erratum to: Investigation of the S1/ICT equilibrium in fucoxanthin by ultrafast pump–dump–probe and femtosecond stimulated Raman scattering spectroscopy

Time-resolved multi-pulse spectroscopic methods-pump-dump-probe (PDP) and femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy-were used to investigate the excited state photodynamics of the carbonyl group containing carotenoid fucoxanthin (FX). PDP experiments show that S1 and ICT states in FX are strongly coupled and that the interstate equilibrium is rapidly (<5 ps) reestablished after one of the interacting states is deliberately depopulated. Femtosecond stimulated Raman scattering experiments indicate that S1 and ICT are vibrationally distinct species. Identification of the FSRS modes on the S1 and ICT potential energy surfaces allows us to predict a possible coupling channel for the state interaction.

The influence of deuteration of complex organic molecules on their fluorescence quantum yield (a review)

Data on the influence of deuteration of organic molecules and/or solvent on their fluorescence quantum yield are summarized. It is demonstrated that the effect of deuteration is normal, i.e., deuteration increases the fluorescence quantum yield due to decrease in the internal conversion probability, for organic molecules exhibiting fluorescence in the red region of spectrum, in which the internal conversion competes with the emission of fluorescence. In the case in which the probability of internal conversion is low, i.e., energy of level S 1 ≥ 16000–20000 cm–1, the intersystem crossing probability from the S 1 state to the set of triplet levels depends on the relative position of S 1 and the nearest triplet level. In so doing, the effect of deuteration can be either normal or anomalous, depending on whether the resonance between the S 1 level and the level nearest to it, the T n level, improves or deteriorates when these levels shift as a result of deuteration. In dilute vapors, cooled supersonic jets, and crystalline matrices, including Shpolskii matrices, the effect of deuteration at helium temperatures depends on exact resonance between the interacting levels. In the case of dilute vapors and cooled jets, the effect also depends on the vibronic level being excited. Deuteration of OH and NH groups, as a rule, slows proton transfer in the S 1 state of the molecule that occurs with their involvement, leading to normal effect of deuteration.

Excited-state energy levels and photophysics of a short polyene 2-(4-phenyl-1,3-butadien-1-yl)thiophene

Abstract Emission, excitation and absorption spectra of a new and short polyene, 2-(4-phenyl-1,3-butadien-1-yl)thiophene (PBT), have been measured under different conditions by varying temperature and solvent and in the vapor phase, along with those of 2-(2-phenylethenyl)-thiophene (PET). The presence of a forbidden excited singlet state, located at energies slightly below the strongly absorbing state, is indicated for PBT, although the forbidden state was not identified for PET. The emission of PBT consists of fluorescence from the allowed S2 and forbidden S1 states in low polarizable solvents, while it consists of florescence mainly from forbidden S1 in the vapor phase and that from allowed S1 state in high polarizable solvents. Quantitative analysis of the temperature dependence of the S1 and S2 fluorescence spectra provides the S1 and S2 state energies and physical parameters that characterize the excited states of PBT.

Excited-State Proton-Transfer-Induced Trapping Enhances the Fluorescence Emission of a Locked GFP Chromophore.

The chemical locking of the central single bond in core chromophores of green fluorescent proteins (GFPs) influences their excited-state behavior in a distinct manner. Experimentally, it significantly enhances the fluorescence quantum yield of GFP chromophores with an ortho-hydroxyl group, while it has almost no effect on the photophysics of GFP chromophores with a para-hydroxyl group. To unravel the underlying physical reasons for this different behavior, we report static electronic structure calculations and nonadiabatic dynamics simulations on excited-state intramolecular proton transfer, cis–trans isomerization, and excited-state deactivation in a locked ortho-substituted GFP model chromophore (o-LHBI). On the basis of our previous and present results, we find that the S1 keto species is responsible for the fluorescence emission of the unlocked o-HBI and the locked o-LHBI species. Chemical locking does not change the parts of the S1 and S0 potential energy surfaces relevant to enol–keto tautomerization; hence, in both chromophores, there is an ultrafast excited-state intramolecular proton transfer that takes only 35 fs on average. However, the locking effectively hinders the S1 keto species from approaching the keto S1/S0 conical intersections so that most of trajectories are trapped in the S1 keto region for the entire 2 ps simulation time. Therefore, the fluorescence quantum yield of o-LHBI is enhanced compared with that of unlocked o-HBI, in which the S1 excited-state decay is efficient and ultrafast. In the case of the para-substituted GFP model chromophores p-HBI and p-LHBI, chemical locking hardly affects their efficient excited-state deactivation via cis–trans isomerization; thus, the fluorescence quantum yields in these chromophores remain very low. The insights gained from the present work may help to guide the design of new GFP chromophores with improved fluorescence emission and brightness.

Investigation of the S1/ICT equilibrium in fucoxanthin by ultrafast pump-dump-probe and femtosecondstimulated Raman scattering spectroscopy.

Time-resolved multi-pulse spectroscopic methods-pump-dump-probe (PDP) and femtosecondstimulated Raman spectroscopy-were used to investigate the excited state photodynamics of the carbonyl group containing carotenoid fucoxanthin (FX). PDP experiments show that S1 and ICT states in FX are strongly coupled and that the interstate equilibrium is rapidly (<5ps) reestablished after one of the interacting states is deliberately depopulated. Femtosecondstimulated Raman scattering experiments indicate that S1 and ICT are vibrationally distinct species. Identification of the FSRS modes on the S1 and ICT potential energy surfaces allows us to predict a possible coupling channel for the state interaction.

Rational Improvement of Molar Absorptivity Guided by Oscillator Strength: A Case Study with Furoindolizine‐Based Core Skeleton

AbstractThe rational improvement of photophysical properties can be highly valuable for the discovery of novel organic fluorophores. Using our new design strategy guided by the oscillator strength, we developed a series of full‐color‐tunable furoindolizine analogs with improved molar absorptivity through the fusion of a furan ring into the indolizine‐based Seoul fluorophore. The excellent correlation between the computable values (oscillator strength and theoretical S0–S1 energy gap) and photophysical properties (molar absorptivity and emission wavelength) confirmed the effectualness of our design strategy.

Rational Improvement of Molar Absorptivity Guided by Oscillator Strength: A Case Study with Furoindolizine-Based Core Skeleton.

The rational improvement of photophysical properties can be highly valuable for the discovery of novel organic fluorophores. Using our new design strategy guided by the oscillator strength, we developed a series of full‐color‐tunable furoindolizine analogs with improved molar absorptivity through the fusion of a furan ring into the indolizine‐based Seoul fluorophore. The excellent correlation between the computable values (oscillator strength and theoretical S0–S1 energy gap) and photophysical properties (molar absorptivity and emission wavelength) confirmed the effectualness of our design strategy.

How Adsorption Onto TiO2 Modifies the Properties of Multiswitchable DTE Systems: Theoretical Insights

In order to best employ multiphotochromes as complex molecular gates, each isomer should ideally have a distinct optical profile to be selectively addressable. In this ab initio DFT and TD-DFT study, we have modeled the electronic and optical properties of a series of dithienylethene (DTE) dimers grafted onto an anatase (101) surface. We seek to investigate how grafting onto a TiO2 surface modifies the energy levels and UV–visible spectra of the dimers and enhances the asymmetry of the isomers. By extracting information from the density of states, we have qualified the distinct degrees of interaction between the substrate and each isomeric configuration as CO > CC > OC > OO in order of decreasing electronic coupling. We subsequently use this information to interpret the UV–vis spectra computed for the isomers. The results show that the grafted systems present new peaks and shifted S1 energies compared with the isolated photochrome, suggesting that adsorption onto a TiO2 surface may induce an asymmetric ch...

The elusive S2 state, the S1/S2 splitting, and the excimer states of the benzene dimer

We observe the weak S0 → S2 transitions of the T-shaped benzene dimers (Bz)2 and (Bz-d6)2 about 250 cm(-1) and 220 cm(-1) above their respective S0 → S1 electronic origins using two-color resonant two-photon ionization spectroscopy. Spin-component scaled (SCS) second-order approximate coupled-cluster (CC2) calculations predict that for the tipped T-shaped geometry, the S0 → S2 electronic oscillator strength fel(S2) is ∼10 times smaller than fel(S1) and the S2 state lies ∼240 cm(-1) above S1, in excellent agreement with experiment. The S0 → S1 (ππ(∗)) transition is mainly localized on the "stem" benzene, with a minor stem → cap charge-transfer contribution; the S0 → S2 transition is mainly localized on the "cap" benzene. The orbitals, electronic oscillator strengths fel(S1) and fel(S2), and transition frequencies depend strongly on the tipping angle ω between the two Bz moieties. The SCS-CC2 calculated S1 and S2 excitation energies at different T-shaped, stacked-parallel and parallel-displaced stationary points of the (Bz)2 ground-state surface allow to construct approximate S1 and S2 potential energy surfaces and reveal their relation to the "excimer" states at the stacked-parallel geometry. The fel(S1) and fel(S2) transition dipole moments at the C2v-symmetric T-shape, parallel-displaced and stacked-parallel geometries are either zero or ∼10 times smaller than at the tipped T-shaped geometry. This unusual property of the S0 → S1 and S0 → S2 transition-dipole moment surfaces of (Bz)2 restricts its observation by electronic spectroscopy to the tipped and tilted T-shaped geometries; the other ground-state geometries are impossible or extremely difficult to observe. The S0 → S1/S2 spectra of (Bz)2 are compared to those of imidazole ⋅ (Bz)2, which has a rigid triangular structure with a tilted (Bz)2 subunit. The S0 → S1/ S2 transitions of imidazole-(benzene)2 lie at similar energies as those of (Bz)2, confirming our assignment of the (Bz)2 S0 → S2 transition.

Alkaline Earth Metal Ion/Dihydroxy-Terephthalate MOFs: Structural Diversity and Unusual Luminescent Properties.

Alkaline earth (group 2) metal ion organic frameworks (AEMOFs) represent an important subcategory of MOFs with interesting structures and physical properties. Five MOFs, namely, [Mg2(H2dhtp)2(μ-H2O)(NMP)4] (AEMOF-2), [Mg2(H2dhtp)1.5(DMAc)4]Cl·DMAc (AEMOF-3), [Ca(H2dhtp)(DMAc)2] (AEMOF-4), [Sr3(H2dhtp)3(DMAc)6]·H2O (AEMOF-5), and [Ba(H2dhtp)(DMAc)] (AEMOF-6) (H4dhtp = 2,5-dihydroxy-terepthalic acid; DMAc = N,N-dimethylacetamide; NMP = N-methylpyrrolidone), are presented herein. The reported MOFs display structural variety with diverse topologies and new structural features. Interestingly, AEMOF-6 is the first example of a Ba(2+)-H2dhtp(2-) MOF, and AEMOF-5 is only the second known Sr(2+)-H2dhtp(2-) MOF. Detailed photoluminescence studies revealed alkaline earth metal ion-dependent fluorescence properties of the materials, with the heavier alkaline earth metal ions exhibiting red-shifted emission with respect to the lighter ions at room temperature. A bathochromic shift of the emission was observed for the MOFs (mostly for AEMOF-3 and AEMOF-4) at 77 K as a result of excited state proton transfer (ESIPT), which involves an intramolecular proton transfer from a hydroxyl to an adjacent carboxylic group of the H2dhtp(2-) ligand. Remarkably, AEMOF-6 displays rare yellow fluorescence at room temperature, which is attractive for solid state lighting applications. To probe whether the alkaline earth metal ions are responsible for the unusual luminescence properties of the reported MOFs, the potential energy surfaces (PESs) of the ground, S0, and lowest energy excited singlet, S1, states of model complexes along the intramolecular proton transfer coordinate were calculated by DFT and TD-DFT methods.

Spectroscopic and Photophysical Characterization of Acetylenic Fluorophores: The Role of the Proximity Effect on Increasing Internal Conversion.

The spectroscopic and photophysical behavior of a series of six extended arylacetylenes and one 1,3-diyne derivative was studied in solvents of different polarity to gain insight into the relationships between molecular architecture and optical/photophysical properties. The radiative decay channel was revealed to be the most important one for all the compounds, particularly in nonpolar solvents. A notable fluoro-solvatochromism was observed for the 1,3-diyne derivative in line with the large increase of its dipole moment under excitation. A peculiar behavior was observed for nitro-substituted aryl acetylenes on increasing solvent polarity, which was explained by the presence of an upper forbidden singlet state (S2 ) that is more polar than the allowed S1 state; this was confirmed by quantum mechanical calculations. The large decrease of the S2 -S1 energy gap in a moderately polar solvent causes a strong increase of S1 -S0 internal conversion to the detriment of fluorescence, which is in agreement with Lim's proximity effect model.

Excited-state ring-opening mechanism of cyclic ketones: a MS-CASPT2//CASSCF study.

We have employed complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) and its second-order perturbation (MS-CASPT2) methods to study the S1 and T1 excited-state ring-opening mechanisms and S1 excited-state deactivation channels of cyclopropanone, cyclobutanone, cyclopentanone, and cyclohexanone. On the basis of optimized minima, transition states, conical intersections, refined energies, and relaxed two-dimensional S1 and T1 potential energy surfaces, we find that, with the ring-strain decrease from cyclopropanone to cyclohexanone, (1) the ring-opening S1 and T1 barrier increases from 0.0 and 0.0 to 19.7 and 10.4 kcal/mol, respectively; (2) the electronic state responsible for the dominant ring-opening reaction varies from the S1 state of cyclopropanone to the T1 state of cyclopentanone and cyclohexanone; and (3) the S1 ring opening gradually becomes inefficient even blocked in cyclopentanone and cyclohexanone. This work shows that these dissimilar excited-state dynamics could originate from different ring strain of small cyclic ketones.

Tuning the spectroscopic properties of aryl carotenoids by slight changes in structure.

Two carotenoids with aryl rings were studied by femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy and theoretical computational methods, and the results were compared with those obtained from their nonaryl counterpart, β-carotene. Although isorenieratene has more conjugated C═C bonds than β-carotene, its effective conjugation length, Neff, is shorter than of β-carotene. This is evidenced by a longer S1 lifetime and higher S1 energy of isorenieratene compared to the values for β-carotene. On the other hand, although isorenieratene and renierapurpurin have the same π-electron conjugated chain structure, Neff is different for these two carotenoids. The S1 lifetime of renierapurpurin is shorter than that of isorenieratene, indicating a longer Neff for renierapurpurin. This conclusion is also consistent with a lower S1 energy of renierapurpurin compared to those of the other carotenoids. Density functional theory (DFT) was used to calculate equilibrium geometries of ground and excited states of all studied carotenoids. The terminal ring torsion in the ground state of isorenieratene (41°) is very close to that of β-carotene (45°), but equilibration of the bond lengths within the aryl rings indicates that the each aryl ring forms its own conjugated system. This results in partial detachment of the aryl rings from the overall conjugation making Neff of isorenieratene shorter than that of β-carotene. The different position of the methyl group at the aryl ring of renierapurpurin diminishes the aryl ring torsion to ∼20°. This planarization results in a longer Neff than that of isorenieratene, rationalizing the observed differences in spectroscopic properties.

Lessons from chlorophylls: modifications of porphyrinoids towards optimized solar energy conversion.

Practical applications of photosynthesis-inspired processes depend on a thorough understanding of the structures and physiochemical features of pigment molecules such as chlorophylls and bacteriochlorophylls. Consequently, the major structural features of these pigments have been systematically examined as to how they influence the S1 state energy, lifetimes, quantum yields, and pigment photostability. In particular, the effects of the macrocyclic π-electron system, central metal ion (CMI), peripheral substituents, and pigment aggregation, on these critical parameters are discussed. The results obtained confirm that the π-electron system of the chromophore has the greatest influence on the light energy conversion capacity of porphyrinoids. Its modifications lead to changes in molecular symmetry, which determine the energy levels of frontier orbitals and hence affect the S1 state properties. In the case of bacteriochlorophylls aggregation can also strongly decrease the S1 energy. The CMI may be considered as another influential structural feature which only moderately influences the ground-state properties of bacteriochlorophylls but strongly affects the singlet excited-state. An introduction of CMIs heavier than Mg2+ significantly improves pigments' photostabilities, however, at the expense of S1 state lifetime. Modifications of the peripheral substituents may also influence the S1 energy, and pigments’ redox potentials, which in turn influence their photostability.

Ultrafast energy transfer in a Pd(II)-bridged bisporphyrin dyad.

A free base porphyrin/zinc(II)porphyrin dyad bridged by a Pd(II) unit exhibits an ultrafast S1 energy transfer (1.5 × 10(12) s(-1)) due to significant MO couplings between the acceptor and the donor and a non-nil atomic contribution of the Pd-atom in the frontier MOs, hence ensuring π-conjugation.