Innenrücktitelbild: Ultrafast Solvent-Assisted Electronic Level Crossing in 1-Naphthol (Angew. Chem. 27/2013)

Ultrafast Relaxation Dynamics of Osmium−Polypyridine Complexes in Solution

We present steady-state absorption and emission spectroscopy and femtosecond broadband photoluminescence up-conversion spectroscopy studies of the electronic relaxation of Os(dmbp)(3) (Os1) and Os(bpy)(2)(dpp) (Os2) in ethanol, where dmbp is 4,4'-dimethyl-2,2'-biypridine, bpy is 2,2'-biypridine, and dpp is 2,3-dipyridyl pyrazine. In both cases, the steady-state phosphorescence is due to the lowest (MLCT)-M-3 state, whose quantum yield we estimate to be <= 5.0 x 10(-3). For Os1, the steady-state phosphorescence lifetime is 25 ns. In both complexes, the photoluminescence excitation spectra map the absorption spectrum, pointing to an excitation wavelength-independent quantum yield. The ultrafa…

Real-time observation of the charge transfer to solvent dynamics

Intermolecular electron-transfer reactions have a crucial role in biology, solution chemistry and electrochemistry. The first step of such reactions is the expulsion of the electron to the solvent, whose mechanism is determined by the structure and dynamical response of the latter. Here we visualize the electron transfer to water using ultrafast fluorescence spectroscopy with polychromatic detection from the ultraviolet to the visible region, upon photo-excitation of the so-called charge transfer to solvent states of aqueous iodide. The initial emission is short lived (similar to 60 fs) and it relaxes to a broad distribution of lower-energy charge transfer to solvent states upon rearrangeme…

Light-Induced Renormalization of the Dirac Quasiparticles in the Nodal-Line Semimetal ZrSiSe

In nodal-line semimetals linearly dispersing states form Dirac loops in the reciprocal space, with high degree of electron-hole symmetry and almost-vanishing density of states near the Fermi level. The result is reduced electronic screening and enhanced correlations between Dirac quasiparticles. Here we investigate the electronic structure of ZrSiSe, by combining time- and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy with ab initio density functional theory (DFT) complemented by an extended Hubbard model (DFT +U +V). We show that electronic correlations are reduced on an ultrashort timescale by optical excitation of high-energy electrons-hole pairs, which transiently screen the Coulomb interac…

Observation of Ligand-Centred Fluorescence and Intramolecular Relaxation at Sub-Vibrational Time Scales

Using broadband photoluminescence upconversion, we observe fluorescence from a high-lying ligand-centred state in Ir(ppy)3. This result allows us to clock the electronic relaxation to the lowest 3MLCT state, occurring at sub-vibrational time scales.

Relaxation processes of point defects in vitreous silica from femtosecond to nanoseconds

We studied ultrafast relaxation of localized excited states at Ge-related oxygen deficient centers in silica using femtosecond transient-absorption spectroscopy. The relaxation dynamics exhibits a biexponential decay, which we ascribe to the departure from the Frank-Condon region of the first excited singlet state in 240 fs, followed by cooling in ∼10 ps. At later times, a nonexponential relaxation spanning up to 40 ns occurs, which is fitted with an inhomogeneous distribution of nonradiative relaxation rates, following a chi-square distribution with one degree of freedom. This reveals several analogies with phenomena such as neutron reactions, quantum dot blinking, or intramolecular vibrat…

The Role of Site-Specific Hydrogen Bonding Interactions in the Solvation Dynamics of N-Acetyltryptophanamide

Measurements of the ultrafast broadband UV fluorescence of N-acetyltryptophanamide (NATA) provide detailed information on its relaxation patterns in three different solvents: methanol (MeOH), water and acetonitrile (ACN). Several processes leading to excited state solvation and cooling are found to occur on different characteristic time scales and are thoroughly analyzed. Comparison between protic MeOH and aprotic ACN allows one to single out a 12 Ps component in the former, which is attributed to the rearrangement of H-bonds existing between the protic solvent and excited NATA. This significantly stabilizes the excited state and provides the molecule with an efficient cooling mechanism. Th…

Polychromatic femtosecond fluorescence studies of metal–polypyridine complexes in solution

Femtosecond-resolved broadband fluorescence studies are reported for[ M(bpy)(3)](2+) (M = Fe, Ru), RuN3 and RuN719 complexes in solution. We investigated the pump wavelength dependence of the fluorescence of aqueous [ Fe(bpy)(3)](2+) and the solvent and ligand dependence of the fluorescence of Ru-complexes excited at 400 nm. For all complexes, the (MLCT)-M-1 fluorescence appears at zero time delay with a mirror-like image with respect to the absorption. It decays in <= 30-45 fs due to intersystem crossing to the (MLCT)-M-3 states, but a longer lived component of similar to 190 fs additionally shows up in RuN719 and RuN3. No solvent effects are detected. The very early dynamics are character…

Ligand-Centred Fluorescence and Electronic Relaxation Cascade at Vibrational Time Scales in Transition-Metal Complexes

Using femtosecond-resolved photoluminescence up-conversion, we report the observation of the fluorescence of the high-lying ligand-centered (LC) electronic state upon 266 nm excitation of an iridium complex, Ir(ppy)(3), with a lifetime of 70 +/- 10 fs. It is accompanied by a simultaneous emission of all lower-lying electronic states, except the lowest triplet metal-to-ligand charge-transfer ((MLCT)-M-3) state that shows a rise on the same time scale. Thus, we observe the departure, the intermediate steps, and the arrival of the relaxation cascade spanning similar to 1.6 eV from the (LC)-L-1 state to the lowest 3MLCT state, which then yields the long-lived luminescence of the molecule. This …

Inside Back Cover: Ultrafast Solvent-Assisted Electronic Level Crossing in 1-Naphthol (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 27/2013)

Dual Luminescence, Interligand Decay, and Nonradiative Electronic Relaxation of Cyclometalated Iridium Complexes in Solution

Femtosecond broadband photoluminescence studies are presented for Ir(ppy)3 (Ir1), Ir(ppy)2(pic) (Ir2), Ir(ppy)2(bpy)(PF6) (Ir3), Ir(ppz)3 (Ir4), and Ir(ppz)2dipy (Ir5) (where ppy = 2-phenylpyridine, pic = picolinate, bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine, ppz = 1-phenylpyrazole, and dipy = 5-phenyldipyrrinato) in solution. Upon 400-nm excitation of Ir1–Ir3, we observed a prompt population of the lowest MLCT states. The higher states decay on an ultrafast time scale (3MLCT state undergoes further vibrational relaxation on a 1-ps time scale. In Ir3, this relaxation is accompanied by an interligand decay from the ppy to the bpy ligand in ∼1.5 ps. For the ppy-containing complexes (Ir1 and Ir2), we found that, …