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1. Meso ‐Biphenyl‐Linked, Near‐ and Far‐Infrared Emitting, Chlorin and Bacteriochlorin Dimers: Synthesis, Excitation Transfer, and Singlet Oxygen Production

   https://doi.org/10.1002/cplu.202100120  

   Seetharaman, Sairaman ; Dukh, Mykhaylo ; Tabaczynski, Walter A. ; Ou, Zhongping ; Karr, Paul A. ; Kadish, Karl M. ; Pandey, Ravindra K. ; D'Souza, Francis ( April 2021 , ChemPlusChem)

   A series ofmeso‐biphenyl linked chlorin and bacteriochlorin dimers, derived from naturally occurring chlorophyll (Chl‐a) and bacteriochlorophyll (BChl‐a) were synthesized in 32 % to 44 % yields and characterized, as photosynthetic antenna mimics, and a new class of singlet oxygen producing agents. The dimers are characterized by absorption, fluorescence, electrochemical, spectroelectrochemical and computational methods to evaluate their physico‐chemical properties, and to identify ground and excited state interactions. Evidence of excited energy exchange among the chromophores in the dimer is derived from femtosecond transient absorption spectral studies. Rate constants for excitation hopping were in the order of 10¹¹ s⁻¹, indicating occurrence of efficient processes. Nanosecond transient absorption studies confirmed relaxation of the singlet excited chlorin and bacteriochlorin dimers to their corresponding triplet states (³Chl* and³Bchl*). As predicted by the established energy level diagrams, both³Chl* and³Bchl* are shown to be capable of producing singlet oxygen with appreciable quantum yields (ϕ_SO∼0.3).

    

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2. One‐Photon Excitation Followed by a Three‐Step Sequential Energy–Energy–Electron Transfer Leading to a Charge‐Separated State in a Supramolecular Tetrad Featuring Benzothiazole–Boron‐Dipyrromethene–Zinc Porphyrin–C 60

   https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202004262  

   Badgurjar, Deepak ; Seetharaman, Sairaman ; D'Souza, Francis ; Chitta, Raghu ( December 2020 , Chemistry – A European Journal)

   A panchromatic triad, consisting of benzothiazole (BTZ) and BF₂‐chelated boron‐dipyrromethene (BODIPY) moieties covalently linked to a zinc porphyrin (ZnP) core, has been synthesized and systematically characterized by using¹H NMR spectroscopy, ESI‐MS, UV‐visible, steady‐state fluorescence, electrochemical, and femtosecond transient absorption techniques. The absorption band of the triad, BTZ‐BODIPY‐ZnP, and dyads, BTZ‐BODIPY and BODIPY‐ZnP, along with the reference compounds BTZ‐OMe, BODIPY‐OMe, and ZnP‐OMe exhibited characteristic bands corresponding to individual chromophores. Electrochemical measurements on BTZ‐BODIPY‐ZnP exhibited redox behavior similar to that of the reference compounds. Upon selective excitation of BTZ (≈290 nm) in the BTZ‐BODIPY‐ZnP triad, the fluorescence of the BTZ moiety is quenched, due to photoinduced energy transfer (PEnT) from¹BTZ^*to the BODIPY moiety, followed by quenching of the BODIPY emission due to sequential PEnT from the¹BODIPY* moiety to ZnP, resulting in the appearance of the ZnP emission, indicating the occurrence of a two‐step singlet–singlet energy transfer. Further, a supramolecular tetrad, BTZ‐BODIPY‐ZnP:ImC₆₀, was formed by axially coordinating the triad with imidazole‐appended fulleropyrrolidine (ImC₆₀), and parallel steady‐state measurements displayed the diminished emission of ZnP, which clearly indicated the occurrence of photoinduced electron transfer (PET) from¹ZnP* to ImC₆₀. Finally, femtosecond transient absorption spectral studies provided evidence for the sequential occurrence of PEnT and PET events, namely,¹BTZ^*‐BODIPY‐ZnP:ImC₆₀→BTZ‐¹BODIPY^*‐ZnP:ImC₆₀→BTZ‐BODIPY‐¹ZnP^*:ImC₆₀→BTZ‐BODIPY‐ZnP^.+:ImC₆₀^.−in the supramolecular tetrad. The evaluated rate of energy transfer,k_EnT, was found to be 3–5×10¹⁰ s⁻¹, which was slightly faster than that observed in the case of BODIPY‐ZnP and BTZ‐BODIPY‐ZnP, lacking the coordinated ImC₆₀. The rate constants for charge separation and recombination,k_CSandk_CR, respectively, calculated by monitoring the rise and decay of C₆₀^.−were found to be 5.5×10¹⁰and 4.4×10⁸ s⁻¹, respectively, for the BODIPY‐ZnP:ImC₆₀triad, and 3.1×10¹⁰and 4.9×10⁸ s⁻¹, respectively, for the BTZ‐BODIPY‐ZnP:ImC₆₀tetrad. Initial excitation of the tetrad, promoting two‐step energy transfer and a final electron‐transfer event, has been successfully demonstrated in the present study.

    

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3. Panchromatic Light‐Capturing Bis‐styryl BODIPY‐Perylenediimide Donor‐Acceptor Constructs: Occurrence of Sequential Energy Transfer Followed by Electron Transfer

   https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202301686  

   Ileperuma, Chamari V. ; Garcés‐Garcés, José ; Shao, Shuai ; Fernández‐Lázaro, Fernando ; Sastre‐Santos, Ángela ; Karr, Paul A. ; D'Souza, Francis ( August 2023 , Chemistry – A European Journal)

   Two wide‐band‐capturing donor‐acceptor conjugates featuring bis‐styrylBODIPY and perylenediimide (PDI) have been newly synthesized, and the occurrence of ultrafast excitation transfer from the¹PDI* to BODIPY, and a subsequent electron transfer from the¹BODIPY* to PDI have been demonstrated. Optical absorption studies revealed panchromatic light capture but offered no evidence of ground‐state interactions between the donor and acceptor entities. Steady‐state fluorescence and excitation spectral recordings provided evidence of singlet‐singlet energy transfer in these dyads, and quenched fluorescence of bis‐styrylBODIPY emission in the dyads suggested additional photo‐events. The facile oxidation of bis‐styrylBODIPY and facile reduction of PDI, establishing their relative roles of electron donor and acceptor, were borne out by electrochemical studies. The electrostatic potential surfaces of the S₁and S₂states, derived from time‐dependent DFT calculations, supported excited charge transfer in these dyads. Spectro‐electrochemical studies on one‐electron‐oxidized and one‐electron‐reduced dyads and the monomeric precursor compounds were also performed in a thin‐layer optical cell under corresponding applied potentials. From this study, both bis‐styrylBODIPY⋅⁺and PDI⋅⁻could be spectrally characterizes and were subsequently used in characterizing the electron‐transfer products. Finally, pump–probe spectral studies were performed in dichlorobenzene under selective PDI and bis‐styrylBODIPY excitation to secure energy and electron‐transfer evidence. The measured rate constants for energy transfer,k_ENT, were in the range of 10¹¹ s⁻¹, while the electron transfer rate constants,k_ET, were in the range of 10¹⁰ s⁻¹, thus highlighting their potential use in solar energy harvesting and optoelectronic applications.

    

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4. Far‐Red Excitation Induced Electron Transfer in Bis Donor‐AzaBODIPY Push‐Pull Systems; Role of Nitrogenous Donors in Promoting Charge Separation

   https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202301659  

   Alsaleh, Ajyal Z. ; Pinjari, Dilip ; Misra, Rajneesh ; D'Souza, Francis ( August 2023 , Chemistry – A European Journal)

   A far‐red absorbing sensitizer, BF₂‐chelated azadipyrromethane (azaBODIPY) has been employed as an electron acceptor to synthesize a series of push‐pull systems linked with different nitrogenous electron donors, viz.,N,N‐dimethylaniline (NND), triphenylamine (TPA), and phenothiazine (PTZ) via an acetylene linker. The structural integrity of the newly synthesized push‐pull systems was established by spectroscopic, electrochemical, spectroelectrochemical, and DFT computational methods. Cyclic and differential pulse voltammetry studies revealed different redox states and helped in the estimation of the energies of the charge‐separated states. Further, spectroelectrochemical studies performed in a thin‐layer optical cell revealed diagnostic peaks of azaBODIPY⋅⁻in the visible and near‐IR regions. Free‐energy calculations revealed the charge separation from one of the covalently linked donors to the¹azaBODIPY* to yield Donor⋅⁺‐azaBODIPY⋅⁻to be energetically favorable in a polar solvent, benzonitrile, and the frontier orbitals generated on the optimized structures helped in assessing such a conclusion. Consequently, the steady‐state emission studies revealed quenching of the azaBODIPY fluorescence in all of the investigated push‐pull systems in benzonitrile and to a lesser extent in mildly polar dichlorobenzene, and nonpolar toluene. The femtosecond pump‐probe studies revealed the occurrence of excited charge transfer (CT) in nonpolar toluene while a complete charge separation (CS) for all three push‐pull systems in polar benzonitrile. The CT/CS products populated the low‐lying³azaBODIPY* prior to returning to the ground state. Global target (GloTarAn) analysis of the transient data revealed the lifetime of the final charge‐separated states (CSS) to be 195 ps for NND‐derived, 50 ps for TPA‐derived, and 85 ps for PTZ‐derived push‐pull systems in benzonitrile.

    

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5. Photoinduced Electron Transfer in Axially Coordinated Supramolecular Zinc Tetrapyrrole Bis(styryl)BODIPY Donor‐Acceptor Conjugates

   https://doi.org/10.1002/cptc.202000221  

   Benitz, Alejandro ; Thomas, Michael B. ; de Silva, Imesha ; Nesterov, Vladimir N. ; Verbeck, IV, Guido F. ; D'Souza, Francis ( November 2020 , ChemPhotoChem)

   Photoinduced electron transfer (PET) in newly assembled dyads formedviametal‐ligand axial coordination of phenylimidazole‐functionalized bis(styryl)BODIPY (BODIPY(Im)₂) and zinc tetrapyrroles, that is, zinc tetratolylporphyrin (ZnP), zinc tetra‐t‐butyl phthalocyanine (ZnPc) and zinc tetra‐t‐butyl naphthalocyanine (ZnNc), in non‐coordinatingo‐dichlorobenzene (DCB) is investigated using both steady‐state and time‐resolved transient absorption techniques. The structure of the BODIPY(Im)₂was identified by using single crystal X‐ray structural analysis. The newly formed supramolecular dyads were fully characterized by spectroscopic, computational and electrochemical methods. The binding constants measured from optical absorption spectral studies were in the range of ∼10⁴ M⁻¹for the first zinc tetrapyrrole binding and suggested that the two imidazole entities of bis(styryl)BODIPY behave independently in the binding process. The energy level diagram established using spectral and electrochemical studies suggested PET to be thermodynamically unfavorable in the ZnP‐bearing complex while for ZnPc‐ and ZnNc‐bearing complexes such a process is possible when zinc tetrapyrrole is selectively excited. Consequently, occurrence of efficient PET in the latter two dyads was possible to establish from femtosecond transient absorption studies wherein the electron transfer products, that is, the radical cation of zinc tetrapyrrole and the radical anion of BODIPY(Im)₂, was possible to spectrally identify. From target analysis of the transient data, time constants of circa 3 ns for ZnPc^⋅+:BODIPY⋅⁻and circa 0.5 ns for ZnNc⋅⁺:BODIPY⋅⁻were obtained indicating persistence of the radical ion‐pair to some extent. The electron acceptor property of bis(styryl)BODIPY in donor‐acceptor conjugates is borne out from the present study.

    

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