A Structural Model of Nitro-Porphyrin Dyes Based on Spectroscopy and Density Functional Theory.

Nitro-porphyrins are an important class of commercial dyes with a range of potential applications. The nitro group is known to dramatically affect the photophysics of the porphyrin, but there are few systematic investigations of the contributing factors. To address this deficiency, we present spectroscopic studies of a series of nitro-porphyrins, accompanied by density functional theory calculations to elucidate their structures. In particular, we explore how the positions of the substituents affect the energy levels and nuclear geometry. As expected, nitro groups on the meso-phenyl rings cause small changes to the orbital energies by induction, while those at the ß-pyrrole positions more strongly conjugate into the aromatic system. In addition, however, we find evidence that ß-pyrrole nitro groups distort the porphyrin, creating two non-planar conformations with distinct properties. This unexpected result helps explain the anomalous photophysics of nitro-porphyrins reported throughout the literature, including inhomogeneous line broadening and biexponential fluorescence decay. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Quantifying highly efficient incoherent energy transfer in perylene-based multichromophore arrays.

Multichromophore perylene arrays were designed and synthesized to have extremely efficient resonance energy transfer. Using broadband ultrafast photoluminescence and transient absorption spectroscopies, transfer timescales of approximately 1 picosecond were resolved, corresponding to efficiencies of up to 99.98%. The broadband measurements also revealed spectra corresponding to incoherent transfer between localized states. Polarization resolved spectroscopy was used to measure the dipolar angles between donor and acceptor chromophores, thereby enabling geometric factors to be fixed when assessing the validity of Förster theory in this regime. Förster theory was found to predict the correct magnitude of transfer rates, with measured ∼2-fold deviations consistent with the breakdown of the point-dipole approximation at close approach. The materials presented, along with the novel methods for quantifying ultrahigh energy transfer efficiencies, will be valuable for applications demanding extremely efficient energy transfer, including fluorescent solar concentrators, optical gain, and photonic logic devices.

Thermodynamic factors impacting the peptide-driven self-assembly of perylene diimide nanofibers.

Synthetic peptides offer enormous potential to encode the assembly of molecular electronic components, provided that the complex range of interactions is distilled into simple design rules. Here, we report a spectroscopic investigation of aggregation in an extensive series of peptide-perylene diiimide conjugates designed to interrogate the effect of structural variations. By fitting different contributions to temperature dependent optical absorption spectra, we quantify both the thermodynamics and the nature of aggregation for peptides by incrementally varying hydrophobicity, charge density, length, as well as asymmetric substitution with a hexyl chain, and stereocenter inversion. We find that coarse effects like hydrophobicity and hexyl substitution have the greatest impact on aggregation thermodynamics, which are separated into enthalpic and entropic contributions. Moreover, significant peptide packing effects are resolved via stereocenter inversion studies, particularly when examining the nature of aggregates formed and the coupling between π electronic orbitals. Our results develop a quantitative framework for establishing structure-function relationships that will underpin the design of self-assembling peptide electronic materials.

Ternary Porphyrinato Hf(IV) and Zr(IV) - Polyoxometalate Complexes.

We report a facile, high yield synthesis and characterization of discrete, ternary porphyrin-metal-polyoxometalate (Por-M-POM) complexes where a group (IV) transition metal ion is bound both to the porphyrin core and to the lacunary site of a Keggin POM, PW(11)O(39) (-7). The remarkably robust complexes exploit the fact that Hf(IV) and Zr(IV) are 7-8 coordinate and reside outside the plane of the porphyrin macrocycle, thus enabling the simultaneous coordination to meso-tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP) or meso-tetra(4-pyridyl)porphyrin (TPyP) and to the defect site in the Keggin framework. The physical properties of the (TPP)Hf(PW(11)O(39))[TBA](5), (TPyP)Hf(PW(11)O(39))[TBA](5), and (TPP)Zr(PW(11)O(39))[TBA](5) complexes are similar because the metal ions have similar oxidation states, and coordination chemistry.This architecture couples the photonic properties of the porphyrin to the POM because the metal ion is incorporated into both frameworks. Thus the ternary complexes can serve as a basis for the characterization of Hf(IV) and Zr(IV) porphyrins bound to oxide surfaces via the group (IV) metal ions. The Hf(Por) and Zr(Por) bind strongly to TiO(2) nanoparticles and indium tin oxide (ITO) surfaces, but significantly less binds to crystalline SiO(2) or TiO(2) surfaces. Together, the strong binding of the metalloporphyrins to the POM, nanoparticles, and the ITO surfaces, and paucity of binding to crystalline surfaces, suggests that the 3-4 open coordination sites on the Hf(Por) and Zr(Por) are predominantly bound at surface defect sites.

Routes to new hafnium(IV) tetraaryl porphyrins and crystal structures of unusual phosphate-, sulfate-, and peroxide-bridged dimers.

New routes for the synthesis of mono tetraaryl porphyrinato hafnium(IV) complexes, Hf(IV)Por(L)(2), are reported, where the secondary ligands, L, are determined by the method of purification. These synthetic routes cater to the solubility of the macrocycles and provide access to Hf(IV) complexes of meso tetraaryl porphyrins bearing diverse functional groups such as phenyl, tolyl, pyridyl, pentafluorophenyl, and carboxyphenyl. The latter three derivatives significantly expand the repertoire of hafnium porphyrinates. One route refluxes the porphyrin with HfCl(4) in 1-chloronaphthalene or in a mixed solvent of 1-chloronaphthalene and o-cresol. A second, solventless method is also reported wherein the porphyrin is mixed with Hf(cp)(2)Cl(2) and heated to give the metalated porphyrin in good yields. Simultaneous purification and formation of stable porphyrinato hafnium(IV) diacetate complexes, Hf(Por)OAc(2), is accomplished by elution over silica gel using 3-5% acetic acid in the eluent. Exchange of the acetate ligands for other oxo-bearing ligands can be nearly quantitative, such as p-aminobenzoate (PABA), pentanoate (pent), or octanoate (oct). Notably, we find that two to three of a variety of small multitopic dianions such as peroxo (O(2)(-2)), SO(4)(-2), and HPO(4)(-2) serve to bridge between two Hf(Por) moieties to form stable dimers. The crystal structures of this library of Hf(Por) complexes are reported, and we note that careful analysis of crystallography data reveals (Por)Hf(micro-eta(2)-O(2))(2)Hf(Por) rather than four bridging oxo or hydroxy ions.