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Addressing Charge‐Transfer and Locally‐Excited States in a Twisted Biphenyl Push‐Pull Chromophore
Author(s) -
Campioli Elisa,
Sanyal Somananda,
Marcelli Agnese,
Di Donato Mariangela,
BlanchardDesce Mireille,
Mongin Olivier,
Painelli Anna,
Terenziani Francesca
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
chemphyschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.016
H-Index - 140
eISSN - 1439-7641
pISSN - 1439-4235
DOI - 10.1002/cphc.201900703
Subject(s) - solvation , excited state , chromophore , chemical physics , chemistry , charge (physics) , biphenyl , molecular dynamics , molecule , electron transfer , ultrafast laser spectroscopy , molecular physics , atomic physics , computational chemistry , photochemistry , spectroscopy , physics , quantum mechanics , organic chemistry
We present the synthesis and spectroscopic characterization of a twisted push–pull biphenyl molecule undergoing photoinduced electron transfer. Steady‐state and transient absorption spectra suggest, in this rigid molecular structure, a subtle interplay between locally‐excited and charge‐transfer states, whose equilibrium and dynamics is only driven by solvation. A theoretical model is presented for the solvation dynamics and, with the support of quantum chemical calculations, we demonstrate the existence of two sets of states, having either local or charge‐transfer character, that only “communicate” thanks to solvation, which is the sole driving force for the charge‐separation process.