Structure-photophysical Properties Relationship Research Articles

Steric and Electronic Influence of Excited-State Decay in Cu(I) MLCT Chromophores.

ConspectusFor the past 11 years, a dedicated effort in our research group focused on fundamentally advancing the photophysical properties of cuprous bis-phenanthroline-based metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) excited states. We rationalized that, by gaining control over the numerous factors limiting the more widespread use of CuI MLCT photosensitizers, they would be readily adopted in numerous light-activated applications given the earth-abundance of copper and the extensive library of 1,10-phenanthrolines developed over the last century. Significant progress has been achieved by recognizing valuable structure-property concepts developed by other researchers in tandem with detailed ultrafast and conventional time-scale investigations, in-silico-inspired molecular designs to predict spectroscopic properties, and applying novel synthetic methodologies. Ultimately, we achieved a plateau in exerting cooperative steric influence to control CuI MLCT excited state decay. This led to combining sterics with π-conjugation and/or inductive electronic effects to further exert control over molecular photophysical properties. The lessons gleaned from our studies of homoleptic complexes were recently extended to heteroleptic bis(phenanthrolines) featuring enhanced visible light absorption properties and long-lived room-temperature photoluminescence. This Account navigates the reader through our intellectual journey of decision-making, molecular and experimental design, and data interpretation in parallel with appropriate background information related to the quantitative characterization of molecular photophysics using CuI MLCT chromophores as prototypical examples.Initially, CuI MLCT excited states, their energetics, and relevant structural conformation changes implicated in their photophysical decay processes are described. This is followed by a discussion of the literature that motivated our research in this area. This led to our first molecular design in 2013, achieving a 7-fold increase in excited state lifetime relative to the current state-of-the-art. The lifetime and photophysical property enhancement resulted from using 2,9-branched alkyl groups in conjunction with flanking 3,8-methyl substituents, a strategy we adapted from the McMillin group, which was initially described in the late 1990s. Applications of this newly conceived chromophore are presented in solar hydrogen-producing photocatalysis, photochemical upconversion, and photosensitization of [4 + 4] anthracene dimerization of potential interest in thermal storage of solar energy in metastable intermediates. Ultrafast transient absorption and fluorescence upconversion spectroscopic characterization of this and related CuI molecules inform the resultant photophysical properties and vice versa, so the most comprehensive structure-property understanding becomes realized when these experimental tools are collectively utilized to investigate the same series of molecules. Computationally guided structural designs generated newly conceived molecules featuring visible light-harvesting and 2,9-cycloalkane substituted complexes. The latter eventually produced record-setting excited state lifetimes in molecules leveraging both cooperative steric influence and electronic inductive effects. Using photoluminescence data from structurally homologous CuI MLCT excited states collected over 44 years, an energy gap correlation successfully modeled the data spanning a 0.3 eV emission energy range. Finally, a new research direction is revealed detailing structure-photophysical property relationships in heteroleptic CuI phenanthroline chromophores that are photoluminescent at room temperature.

Ethynylbenzaldehydes as novel reaction-based “turn-on” fluorescent probes for primary amine detection in solution, vapor, food, proteins, and live cells

Amine detection is of great importance as excess volatile amine exposure and increased concentration of biogenic amines in human body can cause adverse effects to human health. Thus, the development of easy-accessible and efficient fluorescent probes for amine detection is of great importance. In this study, we are the first to establish a cascade reaction sequence featuring imine formation followed by 6-endo-dig cyclization reaction for the development of sensitive and selective “turn-on” fluorescent probes toward primary amines by using the ortho-ethynylbenzaldehydes (EBAs) as the reaction site. The corresponding isoquinolinium products generated give a significant red-shifted absorbance change and highly intense “turn-on” fluorescence. Nine EBAs (EBA-1a-1e, EBA-2–5) were designed and synthesized to study the structure-photophysical property relationship (SPPR) for selective primary amine sensing. Our EBAs possessed a highly sensitive response toward primary amines in aqueous conditions within 30 min (LOD as low as 0.45 µM) with tunable absorption (338–430 nm) and emission (410–535 nm), large Stokes shift (up to 115 nm), and high fluorescence quantum yield (up to 0.86). EBA-loaded paper strips were prepared as a portable low cost tool for amine detection in solution, vapor, and food. Fluorogenic protein labelling and in-gel fluorescent imaging were efficiently achieved by using EBAs in which the fluorescence signal was obviously observed by naked eyes under 365 nm UV lamp. Moreover, the favorable membrane permeabilization, low to moderate cytotoxicity, and “turn-on” fluorescent response of EBA-1a-1e and EBA-4–5 allow wash-free live cell imaging. Interestingly, EBA-1a-1e and EBA-4 showed high selectivity to fluorescent imaging of mitochondria.

Computational exploration of the structure-photophysical property relationship of 2,6-dicyanoaniline derivatives for optoelectronic applications

Design and development of 2,6-Dicyanoaniline based multifunctional organic molecules with an acceptor-donor-acceptor (A-D-A) framework is gaining momentum in recent years. However, identifying the suitable donor, acceptor and π-linkers remains challenging and necessitates a thorough understanding of the structure-property relationship. In this context, to enhance their properties, two experimentally reported dicyanoaniline (DCA) derivatives are subjected to structural modifications using four electron-releasing groups: OMe, NH2, NHMe, and NMe2, employing density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations. Our findings reveal that all the designed molecules exhibit higher reactivity compared to the reference molecules, with NMe2 showing the most promising attributes, including a lower HOMO-LUMO gap. Percentage contribution analysis reveals that the strength of electron releasing groups significantly alter the stabilization of HOMO. Absorption and emission spectra are obtained from TD-DFT calculations in dimethyl formamide solvent. Moreover, calculations are performed to explore the Nonlinear Optical (NLO) performance of the designed molecules, indicating that all the designed molecules outperform the reference molecules in terms of NLO properties. In summary, this study offers valuable guidance for the development of efficient 2,6-Dicyanoaniline derivatives with great potential for optoelectronic and NLO applications.

The full spectrum tuning of fluorescent molecules via a one-pot multicomponent reaction

Fluorogenic probes for imaging enable visualization and analysis of difficult-to-reach cells and organelles. However, there are limited efficient examples of tuning these fluorescent molecules to higher wavelengths. This is vital since different tissues are sensitive to varying wavelength emissions. To address this need, we report the discovery, tuning, structure-photophysical property relationships (SPPR), and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) computations of 400–700+ nm fluorescent pyrido[2′,1′:2,3]imidazo[4,5-c]isoquinolines and substituted imidazo[1,2-a]pyridin-3-amines. The syntheses involve the trimethylsilylcyanide (TMSCN) modified Groebke-Blackburn-Bienaymé (GBB) multicomponent reaction as well as the TMSCN modified GBB combined with subsequent condensation of an aldehyde, and Aza-Friedel-Crafts-Intramolecular Cyclization-Oxidation all in one pot. The SPPR reveals that electron-withdrawing strength in the para-position of the aminopyridine starting material has direct control over the absorption and fluorescence emission wavelengths of these molecules. The TD-DFT computations show the changes in the natural transition orbitals (NTOs) with differing substitutions to the parent molecule that dictate the observed excitations, emissions, and fluorescence intensities. These findings give insights and directions for tuning the fluorescent properties of these motifs for various uses as probes and imaging agents.

The impact of spatially heterogeneous chemical doping on the electronic properties of CdSe quantum dots: insights from ab initio computation.

The introduction of copper (Cu) impurity in semiconductor CdSe quantum dots (QDs) gives rise to unique photoluminescence (PL) bands exhibiting distinctive characteristics, like broad line width, significant Stokes shift, and complex temporal decay. The atomistic origins of these spectral features are yet to be understood comprehensively. We employed multiple computational techniques to systematically study the impact of the spatial heterogeneity of Cu atoms on the stability and photophysical properties, including the emission linewidth of doped QDs under ambient conditions. The Cu substitution introduces a spin-polarized intragap state, the energetic position of which is strongly dependent on the dopant location and causes spectral broadening in QD ensembles. Furthermore, the dopant dynamics under ambient conditions are significantly influenced by the specific arrangement of Cu within the QDs. The dynamic electronic structures of surface-doped CdSe illustrate more pronounced perturbations and vary the mid-gap state position more drastically than those of the core-doped QDs. Vibronic coupling broadens the photoluminescence peaks associated with the conduction band-to-defect level transition for individual QDs. These insights into the dynamic structure-photophysical property relationship suggest viable approaches, such as tuning the operational temperature and selective co-doping, to enhance the functional performances of doped CdSe QDs strategically.

(E)-2-styrylanthracene-9,10-dione derivatives as novel fluorescent probes: synthesis, photophysical properties and application in mitochondria imaging

Our previous work firstly reported that (E)-2-styrylanthracene-9,10-dione is a novel fluorescent core (EK01) with the ability of specific mitochondria imaging. In this effort, we mainly focused our attention on the structure-photophysical property relationship and application in cells imaging of this new fluorescent chemotype. A series of the structural derivatives (TZ series) were designed and synthesized by introducing some substituents onto the 2-styryl moiety. The structure-photophysical property relationship analysis suggested that TZ03 is an excellent fluorescent molecular building block with the property of fluorescent “turn-on” effect after the modification of acylation, and TZ07 is an excellent fluorescent dye with a series of advantages such as high fluorescence intensity (Fmax = 4049.0 in CH2Cl2, 25.80 μM), moderate molar extinction coefficients (3.77 × 103-5.93 × 103 mol−1∙L∙cm−1), strong fluorescence quantum yield (Φmax = 0.739 in CH2Cl2), large Stokes shift (99.0 nm-161.8 nm) and well biological tolerance. As a classical D-π-A structure, the ICT characteristic of TZ07 was analyzed through spectroscopy verification and DFT calculations. Furthermore, optimized compound TZ07 was successfully applied in the living cells imaging with the excellent selectivity to mitochondria in a green fluorescent form. It was also suggested that the mechanism of TZ07 targeting mitochondria is independent of mitochondrial membrane potential, but probably related to the mitochondrial complex I. These findings may provide some insights into the development of novel mitochondria-targeted fluorescent probes.

A new aggregation induced emission enhancement (AIEE) dye which self-assembles to panchromatic fluorescent flowers and has application in sensing dichromate ions.

We report for the very first time the crystal structure and self-assembly of a new aggregation-induced emission enhancement (AIEE) dye 4-(5-methoxythiazolo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-yl)-N,N-dimethylaniline (TPA) and its application in sensing dichromate ions. TPA reveals cyan blue emission under UV and visible light. The self-assembly properties of TPA were studied extensively by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) which revealed the formation of beautiful flower-like morphologies. These structures revealed both green and red fluorescence under FITC and rhodamine filters respectively when observed through fluorescence microscopy connoting the panchromatic emission properties of TPA from blue to red. The interactions which cause self-assembled structure formation in TPA were also validated theoretically using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Crystal and molecular structure analysis of TPA was carried out via single-crystal X-ray diffraction to visualize the intermolecular interactions occurring in the solid-state and to study the structure-photophysical property relationship in the aggregated state. The photophysical properties of TPA were also studied extensively by UV-visible and fluorescence spectroscopy and its quantum yield and fluorescence lifetime were calculated by time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC). Interestingly, TPA could efficiently sense dichromate (Cr2O72-) ions in an acidic medium and an interesting morphological transition from a fluorescent flower to non-fluorescent disassembled structures could also be observed. The limit of detection of TPA for Cr2O72- ions was found to be as low as 5.5 nM, suggesting its exceptional sensitivity. More importantly, TPA could selectively sense Cr2O72- ions in real water samples even in the presence of other metal ions routinely present in polluted water, hence making it practically useful for water quality monitoring.

Distance Effects of Phenylpiperazine-Containing Methacrylic Polymers on Optical and Structural Properties.

New materials based on methacrylic polymers modified with 1-(4-nitrophenyl)piperazine side chains, differing in the distance of the chromophore from the polymer main chain and/or the separation between the chromophoric units in the chain, are obtained and characterized in terms of their potential applications in optoelectronic devices. The surface, structural, and optical properties of the investigated materials are determined using atomic force microscopy, spectroscopic ellipsometry combined with transmission measurements, Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, as well as cyclic voltammetry. The relevant model systems are additionally analyzed with quantum chemical density functional theory calculations in order to enable the generalization of the structure–photophysical property relationships for the optimization of the material features. It is found that the structural modification of the material, relying on the transit of the piperazine moiety away from the main polymer chain, leads to the hypsochromic shift of the absorption spectrum. Moreover, the lowest refractive index values are obtained for the polymer with a distant ethylene group in the side-chains and increased separation between the piperazine units. It was shown that the optical energy band gaps of the investigated piperazine-containing polymers are in the range from 2.73 to 2.81 eV, which reveals their promising potential for the advances in photovoltaics, field effect transistors, or electrochromic devices as an alternative for other widely applied polymer materials.

Synthesis, electronic structure, linear and nonlinear photophysical properties of novel asymmetric branched compounds

A series of novel asymmetric branched compounds that utilize a 1,3,5-triazine core and feature D-π-A-(π-D′-π-A′)0-2 configurations (D = donor, A = acceptor, π = conjugated bridge) were designed, successfully synthesized, and fully characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, FT-IR, and HRMS. Their photophysical properties including linear absorption, one-photon excited fluorescence, two-photon absorption, and frequency up-converted fluorescence, were systematically investigated in different solvents. With a rise in the polarity of solvents, the peak positions of the one-photon excited fluorescence are red-shifted and the Stokes shifts increase, while the linear absorption wavelengths change slightly. In addition, the target compounds except CZ show the positive solvatokinetic effect. With a rise in the number of branches, the red shifts of the absorption and emission maxima, the hyperchromicity of the molar absorption coefficients, and the decrease of the Stokes shifts are observed. The peripheral electron donors (carbazole, phenothiazine) and acceptors (pyridine, benzimidazole) also exert an important influence on the photophysical properties. Under excitation of 690–930 nm fs laser pulses, all the target compounds emit frequency up-converted fluorescence with the maximal peaks at 471–575 nm, and the two-photon absorption cross-sections in THF are 132 (PTZ), 182 (CZ), 453 (CZ-Py1), 844 (CZ-Py2), 1244 (CZ-BI1), and 2072 (CZ-BI2) GM, respectively. Their two-photon response is found to be nearly additive with respect to the number of branches. The time-dependent density functional theory calculations were conducted to gain an insight into their electronic structures and to better understand the structure-photophysical property relationships. The results clearly indicate the importance of appropriate structural units on the enhancement of two-photon absorption properties.

A DFT/TDDFT investigation on structure–photophysical properties relationship of phenothiazine derivatives with substitutions on C-3/N-10 sites

DFT/TDDFT methods were employed to investigate structure–photophysical properties relationship of PTZ derivatives, presenting various popular substituents on common C-3/N-10 active sites. Results indicate that if intramolecular CT pattern or/and high π delocalization appears in these derivatives, it will guide the spectral variation. However, the emission is more sensitive to CT than to the planarity, whereas the reverse is found for absorption. The polarity of solvent has a greater impact on both Stokes shift and emission, than on the absorption wavelength. To enhance the oscillator strength, C-3 substitutions are more advantageous than N-10 substitutions. Obvious synergistic effect on spectral changes of N-10/C-3 modifications was found and it is particularly evident in emission spectra. So the emission of PTZ-12 modificated by alkyl chains rises up to 785 nm and about 350 nm red shift is achieved. Our work provides solid theoretical data for further PTZ-based chromophores design or optimization.

Excited-State Switching between Ligand-Centered and Charge Transfer Modulated by Metal-Carbon Bonds in Cyclopentadienyl Iridium Complexes.

Three series of pentamethylcyclopentadienyl (Cp*) Ir(III) complexes with different bidentate ligands were synthesized and structurally characterized, [Cp*Ir(tpy)L] n+ (tpy = 2-tolylpyridinato; n = 0 or 1), [Cp*Ir(piq)L] n+ (piq = 1-phenylisoquinolinato; n = 0 or 1), and [Cp*Ir(bpy)L] m+ (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine; m = 1 or 2), featuring a range of monodentate carbon-donor ligands within each series [L = 2,6-dimethylphenylisocyanide; 3,5-dimethylimidazol-2-ylidene (NHC); methyl)]. The spectroscopic and photophysical properties of these molecules and those of the photocatalyst [Cp*Ir(bpy)H]+ were examined to establish electronic structure-photophysical property relationships that engender productive photochemical reactivity of this hydride and its methyl analogue. The Ir(III) chromophores containing ancillary CNAr ligands exhibited features anticipated for predominantly ligand-centered (LC) excited states, and analogues bearing the NHC ancillary exhibited properties consistent with LC excited states containing a small admixture of metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) character. However, the molecules featuring anionic and strongly σ-donating methyl or hydride ligands exhibited photophysical properties consistent with a high degree of CT character. Density functional theory calculations suggest that the lowest energy triplet states in these complexes are composed of a mixture of MLCT and ligand-to-ligand CT originating from both the Cp* and methyl or hydride ancillary ligands. The high degree of CT character in the triplet excited states of methyliridium complexes bearing C^N-cyclometalated ligands offer a striking contrast to the photophysical properties of pseudo-octahedral structures fac-Ir(C^N)3 or Ir(C^N)2(acac) that have lowest-energy triplet excited states characterized as primarily LC character with a more moderate MLCT admixture.

Expanding the Breadth of 4-Amino-1,8-naphthalimide Photophysical Properties through Substitution of the Naphthalimide Core.

Fluorescent sensors that illuminate specific molecules and chemical events allow the selective and sensitive study of the cellular environment. At the centre of this technology lies the fluorescent reporter molecule, and it is therefore crucial to provide a breadth of fluorophores with varying photophysical and biological behaviour. 4-Amino-1,8-naphthalimides are commonly employed in fluorescent sensors, but the narrow range of structural derivatives limits versatility of application. Here we report the synthesis and investigation of a set of twelve 4-amino-1,8-naphthalimides bearing an additional substituent on the aromatic core. Photophysical characterisation and time-dependent density functional theory studies provided insights into the structure-photophysical property relationships of these derivatives, which show an expanded range of emission wavelengths and other photophysical properties. These compounds could all be visualised within cells by confocal microscopy, showing cytoplasmic or lipid droplet localisation. Our studies have demonstrated that simple structural modification of 4-amino-1,8-naphthalimides provides derivatives with considerable breadth of behaviour that lend valuable versatility to the design of fluorescent sensors.

Tetraphenylpyrazine-based luminogens with full-colour emission

Full-colour emissive tetraphenylpyrazine-based luminogens are designed and prepared and their structure–photophysical property relationship is elaborated.

Bioinspired Orientation of β-Substituents on Porphyrin Antenna Ligands Switches Ytterbium(III) NIR Emission with Thermosensitivity.

"Configurational isomerism" is an important approach found in naturally occurring chlorophylls to modulate light harvesting function without significant structural changes; however, this feature has been seldom applied in design of antenna ligands for lanthanide (Ln) sensitization. In this work, we introduced a bioinspired approach by orientation of β-dilactone moieties on porphyrinates, namely cis-/trans-porphodilactones, to modulate the energy transfer process from the lowest triplet excited state of the ligand (T1) to the emitting level of ytterbium(III) (2F5/2, Yb*). Interestingly, near-infrared (NIR) emission of Yb(III) could be switched "on" by the cis-porphodilactone ligand, while the trans-isomer renders Yb(III) emission "off" and the ratio of quantum yields is ∼8. Analysis of the structure-photophysical properties relationship suggests that the significant emission difference is correlated to the energy gaps between T1 and Yb* (1152 cm-1 in the cis- vs -25 cm-1 in the trans-isomer). More interestingly, due to back energy transfer (BEnT), the Yb(III) complex of cis-porphodilactone exhibits NIR emission with high thermosensitivity (4.0%°C-1 in solution and 4.9%°C-1 in solid state), comparable to previously reported terbium (Tb) and europium (Eu) visible emitters, in contrast to the trivial emission changes of the trans-isomer and porphyrin and porpholactone analogues. This work opens up new access to design NIR emissive Ln complexes by bioinspired modification of antenna ligands.

Highly near-IR emissive ytterbium(iii) complexes with unprecedented quantum yields.

The design of highly near-infrared (NIR) emissive lanthanide (Ln) complexes is challenging, owing to the lack of molecular systems with a high sensitization efficiency and the difficulty of achieving a large intrinsic quantum yield. Previous studies have reported success in optimizing individual factors and achieving high overall quantum yields, with the best yield being 12% for Yb(iii). Herein we report a series of highly NIR emissive Yb complexes, in which the Yb is sandwiched between an octafluorinated porphyrinate antenna ligand and a deuterated Kläui ligand, which allowed optimization of two factors in the same system, and one of the complexes had an unprecedented quantum yield of 63% (estimated uncertainty 15%) in CD2Cl2 with a long lifetime (τobs) of 714 μs. Systematic analysis of the structure-photophysical properties relationship suggested that porphyrinates are effective antenna ligands with a sensitization efficiency up to ca. 100% and that replacement of the high-energy C-H oscillators in porphyrinate and Kläui ligands significantly improves the intrinsic quantum yield up to 75% (τobs/τrad), both of which contribute to enhancing the NIR emission intensity of Yb(iii) up to 25-fold. Besides the high luminescence efficiency, these Yb complexes have other attractive features such as excitation in the visible range and large extinction coefficients which make these Yb(iii) complexes outstanding optical materials in the NIR region.

Dual Functioning Thieno-Pyrrole Fused BODIPY Dyes for NIR Optical Imaging and Photodynamic Therapy: Singlet Oxygen Generation without Heavy Halogen Atom Assistance.

We discovered a rare phenomenon wherein a thieno-pyrrole fused BODIPY dye (SBDPiR690) generates singlet oxygen without heavy halogen atom substituents. SBDPiR690 generates both singlet oxygen and fluorescence. To our knowledge, this is the first example of such a finding. To establish a structure-photophysical property relationship, we prepared SBDPiR analogs with electron-withdrawing groups at the para-position of the phenyl groups. The electron-withdrawing groups increased the HOMO-LUMO energy gap and singlet oxygen generation. Among the analogs, SBDPiR688, a CF3 analog, had an excellent dual functionality of brightness (82290 m(-1) cm(-1) ) and phototoxic power (99170 m(-1) cm(-1) ) comparable to those of Pc 4, due to a high extinction coefficient (211 000 m(-1) cm(-1) ) and balanced decay (Φflu =0.39 and ΦΔ =0.47). The dual functionality of the lead compound SBDPiR690 was successfully applied to preclinical optical imaging and for PDT to effectively control a subcutaneous tumor.

Discovery, understanding, and bioapplication of organic fluorophore: a case study with an indolizine-based novel fluorophore, Seoul-Fluor.

Owing to its high sensitivity and great applicability, the fluorescence phenomenon has been considered as an inevitable research tool in the modern scientific fields of chemistry, biology, materials science, biomedical science, and their interfaces. Many strategies have been pursued to understand and manipulate the photophysical properties of fluorescent materials, but the scientific community has been focused on the repeated application of existing organic fluorophores or the identification of unique fluorescence properties in a trial-and-error basis without systematic studies. Moreover, recent studies are emphasizing the necessity of deeper understanding about the structure-photophysical property relationship of organic fluorophores for the development of better fluorescent probes. Herein, we provide an overview of a novel fluorescent molecular framework, Seoul-Fluor, which can be rationally engineered to furnish a wide variety of fluorophores in terms of the photophysical properties. Seoul-Fluor is built on an indolizine-based fluorescent platform with three different positions to introduce various substituents: R(1) and R(2) substituents for electronic perturbation; R(3) substituent as a functional handle for bioconjugation. Over the past decade, we have demonstrated that the Seoul-Fluor system has (i) tunable and predictable emission wavelength covering a full visible-color range; (ii) controllable quantum yield via photoinduced electron transfer phenomenon; and (iii) environment-sensitive fluorogenic properties that can be modified through intramolecular charge transfer processes. We convincingly demonstrated the prediction of photophysical properties, that is, emission wavelength and quantum yield, through the construction of a systematic set of analogues and the subsequent analysis of their photophysical properties without the highly sophisticated theoretical support. Guided by quantifiable parameters such as the Hammett substituent constants or energy levels of the molecular orbitals, this unique organic fluorophore can serve as a versatile molecular platform for the development of novel fluorescent switchable biosensors and fluorogenic bioprobes. In this Account, we will discuss the discovery and recent progress made on Seoul-Fluor, the rational design of Seoul-Fluor-based bioprobes, and their practical applications to specific biological processes that are facilitated by systematic studies of the structure-photophysical property relationships.

Two‐Photon‐Induced Fluorescence of Isomorphic Nucleobase Analogs

Five isomorphic fluorescent uridine mimics have been subjected to two-photon (2P) excitation analysis to investigate their potential applicability as non-perturbing probes for the single-molecule detection of nucleic acids. We find that small structural differences can cause major changes in the 2P excitation probability, with the 2P cross sections varying by over one order of magnitude. Two of the probes, both thiophene-modified uridine analogs, have the highest 2P cross sections (3.8 GM and 7.6 GM) reported for nucleobase analogs, using a conventional Ti:sapphire laser for excitation at 690 nm; they also have the lowest emission quantum yields. In contrast, the analogs with the highest reported quantum yields have the lowest 2P cross sections. The structure-photophysical property relationship presented here is a first step towards the rational design of emissive nucleobase analogs with controlled 2P characteristics. The results demonstrate the potential for major improvements through judicious structural modifications.

Structure–Photophysical Property Relationship of Conjugated Rod–Coil Block Copolymers in Solutions

Structure–Photophysical Property Relationship of Conjugated Rod–Coil Block Copolymers in Solutions

Zwitterionic Ladder Stilbenes with Phosphonium and Borate Bridges: Intramolecular Cascade Cyclization and Structure–Photophysical Properties Relationship

The synthesis and properties of the phosphonium- and borate-bridged stilbenes are reported. The zwitterionic ladder stilbenes were synthesized by the intramolecular cascade cyclization from the phosphanyl- and boryl-substituted diphenylacetylenes 1. The study of the substituent effects of the phosphanyl and boryl groups revealed the significant dependence of the reactivity on both the nucleophilicity of the phosphanyl group and the electrophilicity of the boryl group. Theoretical calculations indicated that this reaction is initiated by the nucleophilic attack of the phosphanyl group, irrespective of the degree of the electrophilicity of the boryl group, in contrast to the analogous intermolecular reaction promoted by the frustrated Lewis pairs of R3P and B(C6F5)3. Moreover, even in the case of compound 1c, which does not undergo cascade cyclization under thermal conditions, photoexcitation promoted the cyclization to produce the corresponding zwitterionic stilbene 2c, indicative of the potential use as a photoresponsive material. The photophysical properties of a series of zwitterionic stilbenes, 2a–e, also display dependence on the substituents. The fluorescence quantum yields (ΦF) of the stilbenes 2d and 2e, with electron-withdrawing diarylboryl groups, were an order of magnitude higher than those of 2a–c, with a dimesitylboryl group. Time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy as well as the measurement of ΦF in the polymer matrices revealed that the electron-withdrawing diarylboryl groups significantly retarded the nonradiative decay process from the singlet excited state, resulting in a higher ΦF.