Azobenzene lifetime

The thermal Z —> E isomerization of azobenzene has been widely used to determine free volume in polymers at room and temperatures as low as 4 K.90b9i Jhe thermal reaction is also important in the context of photo-response, as an information written or a signal or state produced by switching E to Z is slowly fading. However, the Z-lifetime is strongly modified by strain in the molecule Z-azobenzene in solution at room temperature has a half life of about 2 days the Z,E E,E isomerization in the [3.3] 4,4 )azo-benzenophane 9 has a half life of ca. 4 min. the [2.2] 4,4 )azobenzenophane 7 has a half life of ca. 15 seconds and in dibenzo[2.2][4.4 )-azobenzeno-phane 8 the life of the E,Z-isomer drops to 1 s. On the other hand, the Z,Z Z,E isomerization in these phanes is slowed down enormously Z,Z-7 lives 2.5 days, Z,Z-9 about 5 days, and Z,Z-10 about 1 year at room temperature. Activation energies are available in the publications. The Z,E E,E isomerization in most azobenzenophanes is very fast. However, in 2,19-Dioxo[3.3](3,3 )azobenzolophane 12, the Z,E-form is relatively stable, The remarkable differences in these and other structures are not due to different activation enthalpies but to different activation entropies. 

Pseudo-stilbenes may emit fluorescence that is, contrary to true stilbenes, generally weak at room temperature and often weak even at low temperatures. Protonated azobenzene-type molecules and many protonated azo dye molecules emit strong fluorescence in sulfuric acid at 77 K with quantum yields of about 0.1. Inclusion of azobenzene in the channels of AIPO4-5 crystals provides complexation of the n-electrons and space confinement. This leads to emission by protonated azobenzene at room temperature. For their cyclopalladated azobenzenes, Ghedini et al. " report quantum yields of ca. 1T0 and lifetimes of ca. 1 ns. In contrast, donor/acceptor pseudo-stilbenes, if emitting at low temperatures or when adsorbed to surfaces, are weak emitters. In textile chemistry, it has long been known that azo dyes adsorbed to fibers may show fluorescence. ... 

The dependence of the photoisomerization process on the polarity of the environment varies greatly for differently substituted compounds. King et al. found that p-nitro- or cyanosubstituted azobenzenes had photostation-ary states vv ith similar E/Z ratios, but that an additional p -amino function stopped photoisomerization in acetonitrile. This was not true, however, in methylcyclohexane, where lifetimes of Z-isomers were determined to be in the order of seconds at room temperature. These findings are retained at -35°C, which is taken as proof that it is not the fast thermal Z —> E isomerization that fakes the lack of photoisomerization. This conclusion may be questionable, however, considering the weak temperature dependence for azobenzene-type molecules (Figure 1.10). 

In a very new report, Fujino et al. challenge the two-isomerization-mechanism concept on the basis of their time-resolved and time-integrated femtosecond fluorescence measurements of B-azobenzene following excitation of the (7t,7t ) State. They use the extremely weak fluorescence (cf. Figure 1.8) as an indicator for the population of the emitting state. From the ratios of their measured fluorescence lifetimes (S2 0.11 ps Sp 0.5 ps) and the radiative lifetimes deduced from the (absorption-spectra-based) oscillator strengths, they determine the fluorescence quantum yields 2.5310 for the emission and 7.5410" for the Si—>So emission. By comparison... 

The photoisomerization of all types of azobenzenes is a very fast reaction on either the singlet or triplet excited-state surfaces according to the preparation of the excited state, with nearly no intersystem crossing. Bottleneck states have lifetimes on the order of 10 ps. The molecules either isomerize or return to their respective ground states with high efficiency. So photoisomerization is the predominant reactive channel, and the azobenKnes are photochemically stable. Only aminoazobenzene-type molecules and pseudo-stilbenes have small quantum yields of photodegradation. 

The lower part of Figure 3.1 shows a simplified model of the excited states. Only two excited states are represented, but each represents a set of actual levels. The lifetimes of all these levels are assumed to be very short in comparison of those of the two excited states, and form the cross section for absorption of one photon by the trans and the cis isomers, respectively. The cross sections are proportional to the isomers extinction coefficients, y is the thermal relaxation rate it is equal to the reciprocal of the lifetime of the cis isomer (x ). tc and ct are the quantum yields (QYs) of photoisomerization they represent the efficiency of the trans->cis and cis—>trans photochemical conversion per absorbed photon, respectively. They can be calculated for isotropic media by Rau s method, which was adapted from Fisher see Appendix A) for anisotropic media, they can be calculated by a method described in this chapter. Two mechanisms may occur during the photoisomerization of azobenzene derivatives—one from the high-energy 7C-7t transition, which leads to rotation around the azo group, i.e., - M=N-double bond, and the other from the low-energy transition, which... 

TABLE 5.2 Lifetime of cis-Forms for Vvious Azobenzene Derivatives... 

A comparison of the photochemical behavior of azobenzene residues In the backbone and the side chains of polymers Is of special Interest since the short lifetime of the excited state makes It more difficult for the chain to undergo long-range conformational changes favoring the trans-cls Isomerization process. 

Kobayashi et al. [86] studied (4-dimethylamino)phenyl azide by means of laser flash photolysis on a picosecond time scale. They found that the triplet nitrene is formed from an unobserved precursor that has a lifetime of approximately 120ps. By consideration of model compounds, these workers suggested that the precursor is the singlet nitrene, but this conclusion must await confirmation by alternative experiments. However, in this work Kobayashi was able to show that triplet (4-dimethylamino)phenyl nitrene reacts to form the (4-dimethylamino)azobenzene by a kinetically second-order process. 

Some reports on fluorescence occurring in, for instance, porous materials such as Nafion or aluminophosphates, " do not refer to azobenzene but to protonated azobenzene, which is classified as a pseudostilbene see Section 1.5). Emission from nonprotonated, isolated azobenzene-type molecules is still very rare. Aggregated systems, however, seem more prone to sho%v fluorescence emission. Shinomura and Kunitake have detected fluorescence bands with a maximum of near 600 nm in bilayer systems built from the monomers of 15. They have shown that the ability to emit is tied to the type of aggregation Head-to-tail aggregates emit relatively strongly, with quantum yields of up to < ) = 10" and lifetimes below 2 ns. Their prototype of card-packed dimers does not emit at all. This is expected because of the low transition probability at the lower band edge, which favors radiationless deactivation, probably via the Si state (see Figure 1.7). 

Algers J, Sperr P, Egger W, Liszkay L, Kogel G, Baerdemaeker J, Maurer FHJ. 2004. Free volume determination of azobenzene PMMA copolymer by a pulsed low energy positron lifetime beam with in situ UV illumination. Macromolecules 37(21) 8035 8042. 

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