Issue 5, 2024

Deciphering the photophysical properties of naphthalimide derivatives using ultrafast spectroscopy

Abstract

Naphthalimide derivatives composed of donor–acceptor type structures hold significant promise across a wide range of applications. Here, the solvent polarity and viscosity controlled excited-state dynamics of a naphthalimide derivative with a donor–acceptor structure were studied using multiple spectroscopic techniques. From the stationary spectroscopic investigations, large Stokes shift and low fluorescence quantum yield were observed with increasing the solvent polarity, suggesting a more polar excited state relative to the ground state, which is evidenced by the Lippert–Mataga relationship. We also observe an enhanced fluorescence with a prolonged lifetime in a more viscous solution due to the restriction of excited-state molecular rearrangement. These observations result from the emerged twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) state. The ultrafast spectroscopy studies further unravel a solvent polarity dependent excited state evolution from the intramolecular charge transfer state to the TICT state, revealing that the TICT state can be populated only in strong polar solvents. Control experiments by tuning the solvent viscosity in ultrafast experiments were employed to verify the excited state molecular rearrangement subsequently. These observations collectively emphasize how fine-tuning the photophysical properties of naphthalimide derivatives can be achieved through strategic manipulation of solvent polarity and viscosity.

Graphical abstract: Deciphering the photophysical properties of naphthalimide derivatives using ultrafast spectroscopy

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
21 Nov 2023
Accepted
03 Jan 2024
First published
04 Jan 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024,26, 4607-4613

Deciphering the photophysical properties of naphthalimide derivatives using ultrafast spectroscopy

W. Zhang, Y. Ma, H. Song, R. Miao, J. Kong and M. Zhou, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 4607 DOI: 10.1039/D3CP05654F

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements