Diketopyrrolopyrrole–Porphyrin Conjugates for Solar Cells
from the wavelength at the edge of the lowest energy Q-band
(Table 1). This indicates that when a zinc porphyrin is substitut-
ed in the meso position with both a strong electron-releasing
group, such as dianisylamine, and a strong electron-withdraw-
ing group, such as ethynylphenylcyanoacrylic acid, the nonra-
diative deactivation pathways are particularly efficient, because
ZnP remains fluorescent in the presence of only one of these
substituents.[7,14,42,43] This can be a result of the stronger
to that of a regular DPP unit, and in agreement with the quan-
tum chemical calculations, which show that the HOMO level is
distributed on the zinc porphyrin with a strong contribution
on the amino group when it is present. In these systems, the
diarylamino group contains methoxy substituents that signifi-
cantly increase the electron-donating ability and, therefore,
cathodically shift the redox potential compared to similar por-
phyrins reported by Diau and co-workers that contain alkyl
groups instead (EOx ꢁ0.7 V vs. SCE).[41] Conversely, the
first oxidation potential of 3, lacking the diarylamino
substituent, is anodically shifted compared to 1, 2,
Table 1. Absorption and emission characteristics, redox potentials, and Gibbs free en-
ergies of 1, 2, 3, and 4 (SCE=saturated calomel electrode).
and 4, which is in agreement with the neutral elec-
tronic effect of the phenyl group. The calculated
Gibbs free energies indicate that the electron injec-
tion and the dye regeneration reactions are both
thermodynamically allowed processes for 1–4. How-
ever, 3 differs from the others because it is the single
sensitizer for which the regeneration reaction is sig-
nificantly exergonic (DG=ꢀ0.62 eV), whereas the
other dyes exhibit relatively weak driving forces
Dye
EOx(S+/S)
[V vs. SCE]
labs
E00(S*)
[eV]
EOx(S+/S*)
[V vs. SCE][a]
DGinj
[eV][b]
DGreg
[eV][c]
[nm]
1
2
3
4
0.51
0.54
0.80
0.50
424, 568, 656
439, 574, 668
422, 520, 625
427, 654
1.63[d]
1.70[d]
1.90[e]
1.67[d]
ꢀ1.12
ꢀ1.16
ꢀ1.10
ꢀ1.17
ꢀ0.38
ꢀ0.42
ꢀ0.36
ꢀ0.43
ꢀ0.33
ꢀ0.36
ꢀ0.62
ꢀ0.32
[a] Calculated according to the equation: EOx(S+/S*)=EOx(S+/S)ꢀE00. [b] Calculated ac-
cording to the equation: DGinj =0.74+EOx(S+/S*). [c] Calculated according to the equa-
tion: DGreg =0.18ꢀEOx(S+/S). [d] Estimated from the wavelength at the tail of the
lowest energy Q-band. [e] Calculated with the wavelength at the intersection (linter) of
(DGreg ꢁꢀ0.3 eV) for
a bimolecular reaction and
multi-electronic process known for their high overpo-
tential.[48,49] Furthermore, one should bear in mind
normalised absorption and emission spectra with the equation E00 =1240/linter
.
ꢀ
that the reduction of I3 is a non-elemental, polyelec-
tronic process, involving much higher potentials than
E(I3ꢀ/Iꢀ).[48] Experimental evidence supports the for-
·ꢀ
charge-transfer character of the lowest excited-state, which
may interconnect with the ground state as the energy gap is
decreased. Furthermore, the presence of a double bond direct-
ly connected to the porphyrin core can also quench the por-
phyrin excited state by possible cis–trans isomerism, which has
been reported for other porphyrins directly substituted with
double bonds.[44,45]
mation of I2 from Iꢀ during the regeneration of oxidised
N719;[50,51] the relevant potential to estimate the dye regenera-
tion thermodynamics is then E(I2·ꢀ/Iꢀ), which is higher than
E(I3ꢀ/Iꢀ), and therefore even a small difference in E(Dye+/Dye)
may account for significant changes in the regeneration of the
photo-oxidised dye.[48]
This indicates that the presence of both dianisylamine and
electron-withdrawing groups (cyanoacrylic anchor for 1 and 2,
and DPP–bridge–cyanoacetic anchor for 4) probably decreases
the luminescence emission quantum yield because of the
stronger charge-transfer character of the lowest excited state.
This is in agreement with other push–pull porphyrins pub-
lished recently.[41,42]
Quantum mechanical calculations
Time-dependent (TD)-DFT calculations have been performed
for the four dyes (see Experimental Section in the Supporting
Information) to probe the nature of the electronic transitions
implied in the different absorption bands. The main results are
collated in Tables 2 and 3, which displays the nature of the
frontier orbitals. The optimised structure of the four com-
pounds present the expected trends: the core is almost flat,
but the DPP moiety forms a dihedral angle of approximately
308 with its side phenyl rings, whereas the electron-rich diani-
sylamine group is arranged in a propeller-helix form. Neverthe-
less, the absence of a spacer between the porphyrin and the
anchoring group in 1 induces a twist of 428 between these
two moieties. The dipole moments computed are relatively
uniform for all structures: 8–9 D. The theoretical wavelengths
listed in Table 2 are in reasonable agreement with the experi-
mental values (see above): i) the Q-band is located at around
650 nm for all systems but 1 (608 nm) and is also less intense
in 1; ii) the introduction of a DPP unit causes the emergence of
an extra band at approximately 510 nm (but its relative intensi-
ty seems to be overestimated by TD-DFT); iii) the most intense
Soret transitions appear at around 400 nm and, notably, 2
presents the most redshifted Soret peak, which fits Figure 2.
Electrochemical properties
The oxidation potentials of the dyes were determined by dif-
ferential pulse voltammetry recorded on TiO2 electrodes to
assess the thermodynamic feasibility of the different electron
transfer processes. Using the zero–zero energy of the singlet
excited state (E00) and the well-accepted values of the conduc-
tion band of TiO2 (ꢀ0.74 V vs. SCE)[46] and that of the redox
ꢀ
couple I3 /Iꢀ (0.18 V vs. SCE),[47] the electron injection Gibbs
free energy (DGinj) and the dye regeneration Gibbs free energy
(DGreg) have been calculated (Table 1). The first oxidation pro-
cess corresponds to the removal of an electron from the zinc
porphyrin with a significant contribution of the dianisylamino
substituent (see DFT calculation section) as they represent the
most electron-rich fragments of 1, 2, and 4. This is consistent
with the easier oxidation of this type of porphyrin, compared
ChemSusChem 0000, 00, 1 – 11
ꢁ 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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