Molecules with charge transfer excitations

Energetics of oxidation-reduction (redox) reactions in solution are conveniently studied by arranging the system in an electrochemical cell. Charge transfer from the excited molecule to a solid is equivalent to an electrode reaction, namely a redox reaction of an excited molecule. Therefore, it should be possible to study them by electrochemical techniques. A redox reaction can proceed either by electron transfer from the excited molecule in solution to the solid, an anodic process, or by electron transfer from the solid to the excited molecule, a cathodic process. Such electrode reactions of the electronically excited system are difficult to observe with metal electrodes for two reasons firstly, energy transfer to metal may act as a quenching mechanism, and secondly, electron transfer in one direction is immediately compensated by a reverse transfer. By usihg semiconductors or insulators as electrodes, both these processes can be avoided. 

Excited State Charge Transfer. Our goal here is to discuss aspects of ET theory that are most relevant to the charge transfer processes of excited molecules. One important point is that often the solvent relaxation is not well modeled with a single t, but rather a distribution of times apply. This subject has been treated by Hynes [63], Nadler and Marcus [65], Rips and Jortner [66], Mukamel [67], Newton and Friedman [68], Zusman [62], Warshel [71], and Fonseca [139], We also would like to study ET in the strongly adiabatic regime since experimental results on BA indicate this is the correct limit. Finally, we would like to treat the special case of three-well ET, which is the case for BA. 

Photooxidation of the central atom Os(II) in hexacoordinated porphyrin complexes is supposed to start with the ejection of an electron from an charge-transfer to solvent excited state, CTTS, of the complexes. A complicated set of elimination, addition and redox steps involving radicals terminates in the formation of the complexes OsIV(Por)Cl2. Solvent molecules (CC14, CHC13, CH2C12) served as a source of chlorine atoms [92, 192]. 

The exact reaction mechanism is not known. It can however be assumed that the oxalate esters are first oxidised by the H2O2 to peroxyoxalate, which is then converted to the dioxethanedione. This forms a charge-transfer complex with the dye, and the complex decomposes to give CO2 and the dye in an excited state. Light is emitted when the dye molecule returns to the ground state. 

Fullerenes are excellent electron acceptors. The early examples for the high electron affinity of fullerenes include efficient nucleophilic addition reactions of fullerenes with electron donors such as primary and secondary amines. Since then, there have been many studies of electron transfer interactions and reactions involving fullerene molecules. It is now well established that both ground and excited state fullerene molecules can form charge transfer complexes with electron donors. The photochemically generated fullerene radical anions as a result of excited state electron transfers serve as precursors for a wide range of functionalizations and other reactions. 

Studies by Meyers and co-workers have shown that the NLO response of many strong donor-acceptor molecules suffer from too much bond length alternation (on the order of 0.01 nm), which inhibits charge transfer in the excited state (132). jS is zero in the cyanine limit, however, when there is no bond length alternation. Interestingly, /S peaks with opposite sign when the BLA is either intermediate between the polyene/cyanine structure or intermediate between a cyanine/zwitterionic structure (BLA 0.004 nm) (133). One important result... 

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