Phenanthrene triplet-singlet emission

V. Triplet-Singlet Emission from Phenanthrene Solutions. 341... 

The simple triplet-triplet quenching mechanism requires that at low rates of light absorption the intensity of delayed fluorescence should decay exponentially with a lifetime equal to one-half of that of the triplet in the same solution. Exponential decay of delayed fluorescence was, in fact, found with anthracene, naphthalene, and pyrene, but with these compounds the intensity of triplet-singlet emission in fluid solution was too weak to permit measurement of its lifetime. Preliminary measurements with ethanolic phenanthrene solutions at various temperatures indicated that the lifetime of delayed flourescence was at least approximately equal to one-half of the lifetime of the triplet-singlet emission.38 More recent measurements suggest that this rule is not obeyed under all conditions. In some solutions more rapid rates of decay of delayed fluorescence have been observed.64 Sufficient data have not been accumulated to advance a specific mechanism but it is suspected that the effect may be due to the formation of ionic species as a result of the interaction of the energetic phenanthrene triplets, and the subsequent reaction of the ions with the solvent and/or each other to produce excited singlet mole-... 

Evidence for photoassociation in the triplet manifold is at present inconclusive. Although Hoytink et al.20 have reported excimer phosphorescence from cooled ethanolic solutions of phenanthrene and naphthalene, concentration and temperature-dependent studies of the emission characteristics must be extended in order to distinguish photoassociation of the triplet state from intersystem crossing of the singlet excimer and possible triple-triplet annihilation. Certainly the decay constant of the molecular triplet state in fluid media is relatively insensitive to solute concentration21 although this... 

B) P-type delayed fluorescence is so called because it was first observed in pyrene and phenanthrene solutions. In aromatic hydrocarbons singlet-triplet splitting is large and therefore thermal activation to excited singlet state at room temperature is not possible. The mechanism was first formulated by Parker and Hatchard based on the observation that the intensity of emission of the delayed fluorescence Ipd was proportional to the square of the intensity of absorption of the exciting light Ia. 

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