Issue 3, 2021

Charge stabilization via electron exchange: excited charge separation in symmetric, central triphenylamine derived, dimethylaminophenyl–tetracyanobutadiene donor–acceptor conjugates

Abstract

Photoinduced charge separation in donor–acceptor conjugates plays a pivotal role in technology breakthroughs, especially in the areas of efficient conversion of solar energy into electrical energy and fuels. Extending the lifetime of the charge separated species is a necessity for their practical utilization, and this is often achieved by following the mechanism of natural photosynthesis where the process of electron/hole migration occurs distantly separating the radical ion pairs. Here, we hypothesize and demonstrate a new mechanism to stabilize the charge separated states via the process of electron exchange among the different acceptor entities in multimodular donor–acceptor conjugates. For this, star-shaped, central triphenylamine derived, dimethylamine–tetracyanobutadiene conjugates have been newly designed and characterized. Electron exchange was witnessed upon electroreduction in conjugates having multiple numbers of electron acceptors. Using ultrafast spectroscopy, the occurrence of excited state charge separation, and the effect of electron exchange in prolonging the lifetime of charge separated states in the conjugates having multiple acceptors have been successfully demonstrated. This work constitutes the first example of stabilizing charge-separated states via the process of electron exchange.

Graphical abstract: Charge stabilization via electron exchange: excited charge separation in symmetric, central triphenylamine derived, dimethylaminophenyl–tetracyanobutadiene donor–acceptor conjugates

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
22 Aug 2020
Accepted
12 Nov 2020
First published
13 Nov 2020
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2021,12, 1109-1120

Charge stabilization via electron exchange: excited charge separation in symmetric, central triphenylamine derived, dimethylaminophenyl–tetracyanobutadiene donor–acceptor conjugates

I. S. Yadav, A. Z. Alsaleh, R. Misra and F. D'Souza, Chem. Sci., 2021, 12, 1109 DOI: 10.1039/D0SC04648E

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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