Ultrafast excited state dynamics of S2 and S1 states of triphenylmethane dyes

Abstract

Excited state dynamics of S2 and S1 states for a series of TPM dyes, pyrogallol red (PGR), bromopyrogallol red (Br-PGR) and aurin tricarboxylic acid (ATC), have been monitored by using ultrafast transient absorption and fluorescence up-conversion techniques. Optical absorption studies indicate that all the TPM dyes exist as keto–enol tautomers depending upon the pH of the solution. Interestingly, all the TPM dyes give S2 emission (major emitting state) in addition to weak S1 emission. S2 emission lifetimes as fast as ∼150–300 fs and S1 emission lifetimes of 2–5 ns were observed depending upon the molecular structure of the dyes. Femtosecond transient absorption studies suggest the presence of an ultrafast non-radiative decay channel from the S2 state in addition to S2 luminescence. The vibrational relaxation time from hot S1 state is found to be 2–6 ps. The heavy atom effect has been observed in ultrafast relaxation dynamics of Br-PGR.