Effect of locally excited state on fluorescence transition dipole moment in quadrupolar molecules subjected to symmetry breaking charge transfer.

Abstract

In excited centrosymmetric donor-acceptor triads of type A-D-A or D-A-D, symmetry breaking charge transfer (SBCT) in polar media has been explored for a few decades. SBCT is accompanied by significant reorganization of the electronic structure of the molecule, which leads to a change in the fluorescence transition dipole moment (TDM). Previously, experiments revealed a 20%-30% reduction in TDM, which occurs on the timescale of SBCT. Simple SBCT models explain this reduction. Here, the effect of the interaction of a locally excited state with zwitterionic states on TDM is investigated. This interaction is shown to have a drastic impact on the TDM and its dependence on the solvent polarity. The magnitude of TDM can decrease monotonically, increase monotonically, and also pass through a maximum with an increase in the SBCT degree due to the locally excited state effect. The scale of changes in TDM in the course of SBCT increases greatly. The conditions for the implementation of a particular scenario have been determined. This work clearly demonstrates the observable influence of upper excited states on the photochemistry and photophysics of molecules. Methods for controlling the fluorescent characteristics of quadrupolar molecules are proposed.