Stabilization of the charge-separated states of covalently linked zinc porphyrin-triphenylamine-[60]fullerene

Spectroscopic, redox, computational, and electron transfer reactions of the covalently linked zinc porphyrin-triphenyl-amine-fulleropyrrolidine system are investigated in solvents of varying polarity. An appreciable interaction between triphenylamine and the porphyrin π system is revealed by steady-state absorption and emission, redox, and computational studies. Free-energy calculations suggest that the light-induced processes via the singlet-excited porphyrin are exothermic in benzonitrile, dichlorobenzene, toluene, and benzene. The occurrence of fast and efficient charge-separation processes (≈ 10¹² s ¹) via the singlet-excited porphyrin is confirmed by femtosecond transient absorption measurements in solvents with dielectric constants ranging from 25.2 (benzonitrile) to 2.2 (benzene). The rates of the charge separation processes are much less solvent-dependent, which suggests that the charge-separation processes occur at the top region of the Marcus parabola. The lifetimes of the singlet radical-ion pair (70-3000 ps at room temperature) decrease substantially in more polar solvents, which suggests that the charge-recombination process is occurring in the Marcus inverted region. Interestingly, by utilizing the nanosecond transient absorption spectral technique we can obtain clear evidence about the existence of triplet radical-ion pairs with relatively long lifetimes of 0.71 μs (in benzonitrile) and 2.2 μs (in o-dichlorobenzene), but not in toluene and benzene due to energetic considerations. From the point of view of mechanistic information, the synthesized zinc porphyrin-triphenylamine-fulleropyrrolidine system has the advantage that both the lifetimes of the singlet and triplet radical-ion pair can be determined.