A key issue for the application of π-conjugated organic molecules as thin film solid-state materials is the packing structure, which drastically affects optical and electronic properties due to intermolecular coupling. In this regard, merocyanine dyes usually pack in H-coupled antiparallel arrangements while structures with more interesting J-type coupling have been rarely reported. Here we show that for three highly dipolar merocyanine dyes, which exhibit the same π-scaffold and accordingly equal properties as monomers in solution, the solid-state packing can be changed by a simple variation of aliphatic substituents to afford narrow and intense absorption bands with huge hypsochromic (H) or bathochromic (J) shifts for their thin films and nanocrystals. Time-dependent density functional theory calculations show that the energetic offset of almost 1 eV magnitude results from distinct packing motifs within the crystal structures that comply with the archetype H- or J-aggregate structures as described by Kasha's exciton theory.
Keywords: Merocyanine dyes; crystal engineering; dipole moments; dye aggregates; exciton coupling; supramolecular chemistry.