Charge separation in a covalently-linked phthalocyanine-oligo(p-phenylenevinylene)-C60 system. Influence of the solvent polarity

Abstract

A photo- and redoxactive system ZnPc-oPPV-C(60)2, in which the photoexcited state electron donor - zinc phthalocyanine - and the ground state electron acceptor - C(60) - are connected by a oligo(p-phenylenevinylene) (oPPV) spacer, has been synthesized in a multi-step synthesis by means of two consecutive Wadsworth-Horner-Emmons and a dipolar 1,3-cycloaddition reactions as key steps. The simpler system ZnPc-C(60)1 has also been prepared as a reference model for photophysical studies. In this regards, the photophysical investigations by means of fluorescence, flash photolysis, and transient-absorption spectroscopy have manifested a clear dependence between charge transfer kinetics and spatial arrangement. In both systems, intramolecular charge separation evolves from the photoexcited ZnPc and yields the ZnPc(·+)/C(60)(·-) radical ion pairs. Interestingly, the ZnPc(·+)/C(60)(·-) radical ion pair lifetimes and quantum yields are strongly impacted by the solvent polarity and the distance. To this end, maximum radical ion pair lifetimes of 2900 and 5530 ps were found in anisol for 1 and 2, respectively.