High energy and quantum efficiency in photoinduced charge separation.
Supramolecular triad assemblies consisting of a central trisbipyridine ruthenium(II) chromophore (C2+) with one or more appended phenothiazine electron donors (D) and a diquat-type electron acceptor (A2+) have been shown to form long-lived photoinduced charge separated states (CSS) with unusually and consistently high quantum efficiency. Up to now, there has been no understanding for why these large efficiencies (often close to unity) are achieved across this entire class of triads when other, seemingly similar systems are often much less efficient. In the present study, using a bimolecular system consisting of a chromophore-acceptor diad (C2+-A2+) and an N-methylphenothiazine donor, we demonstrate that a ground-state association exists between the RuL3(2+) and the phenothiazine prior to photoexcitation. It is this association process that is responsible for the efficient CSS formation in the bimolecular system and, by inference, also must be an essential factor in the fully intramolecular process occurring with the D-C2+-A2+ triad analogues.
Weber
John M
JM
Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA.
Rawls
Matthew T
MT
Mackenzie
Valerie J
VJ
Limoges
Bradford R
BR
Elliott
C Michael
CM