J Fluoresc (2011) 21:1559–1564
1563
reduction potential of an acceptor, and C is a small constant
associated with solvent.
Fig. 4 is obvious. The 630, 595 and 480 nm positive
absorptions bands are assigned to the anion radical of the
phthalocyanine [20], the fitting of decay at 595 nm gives a
lifetime of 5.6 ns. The positive 520 nm band is due to
phenoxy radical [19, 23]. These positive bands are
accompanied by the current occurrence of negative bands
due to the bleaching of ground state of ZnPc moiety,
indicating that the positive bands of charge separation state
is indeed originated from the light excitation of ground
state.
PET from phenolate to S1 of ZnPc moiety (by the photo
excitation of the Pc moiety), on the other hand, is
thermodynamically allowed, because its ΔG is a negative
value obtained by: ΔGPET ¼ ΔGET ꢁ E00 (S1 excitation
energy of ZnPc)=1.34–1.75 = − 0.41 eV, which is more
favorable than the case of phenol: ΔGPET=−0.21 eV. PET
from Phenolate to T1 of ZnPc moiety is forbidden, since the
energy of the T1 state is 0.99 eV [21], which is fairly low
and suggesting a ΔG of +0.34 eV.
Efficiency and Kinetics of PET
Conclusion
The rate constant of PET (ket) in ZnPc(α-OPhONa)4 can
be calculated from the fluorescence quantum yield and
lifetime data using Eq. 1, in which Φ0f and tf0 is the
fluorescence quantum yield and lifetime of the model
compound, ZnPc(α-OPh)4, while Φf and τf are the values
for ZnPc(α-OPhONa)4. ket is thus obtained as 2.29×1010 s−1
in ZnPc(α-OPhONa)4 and 1.25×108 s−1 for (α-OPhOH)4.
The fluorescence of ΖnPc(α-OPhOH)4, shows profound
dependency on pH values. Very efficient intra-molecular
PET occurs in the phenol-substituted zinc phthalocyanine,
ΖnPc(α-OPhONa)4, upon photoexcitation which quenches
its fluorescence. Its conjugate acid, ΖnPc(α-OPhOH)4, on
the other hand, shows fairly weak PET and therefore highly
fluorescent. Upon pH increase in solution containing ΖnPc
(α-OPhOH)4, the fluorescence is switched off at pH 9.1. Dual
emission bands were observed when pH>7, one is attributed
to the ZnPc moiety, while the other is from the anion of ZnPc
generated by PET. The results suggest that ΖnPc(α-OPhOH)4
may be used as a fluorescent pH indicator.
ð Φ0f = Φf Þ ꢁ 1
ket ¼ tꢁf 1 ꢁ ðt0f Þꢁ1
¼
ð1Þ
tf0
Efficiency for PET (Φet) was calculated to be 99% and
14% , respectively, by using the Φf value
Acknowledgement We thank the Natural Science Foundation of
Hebei Province (Contract B2010001518) and HBUST for financial
support.
À
À
0
Φet ¼ 1 ꢁ Φf = Φf ÞÞ, which indicates that PET is very
efficient in ZnPc(α-OPhONa)4. kf (the rate constant of
fluorescence emission) is 0.83×108 s−1 for ZnPc (computed
by kf ¼ Φf =tf ), which is much slower than the rate of PET.
References
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suggests that triplet generation by ISC in ZnPc(α-OPhONa)4
would be negligible.
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Transient Absorption Studies
Transient absorption spectra were recorded in argon
saturated methanol solutions upon laser excitation of
355 nm (5 ns pulse). Figure 4 displays the μs-scale spectra
for ZnPc(α-OPhOH)4. It exhibited the typical triplet-triplet
(T1-Tn) transient absorptions as reported [22] with abs.
maximum at 565 nm. The fitting of transient decay by
mono-exponential function gave a lifetime (τT) of 38 μs in
the absence of oxygen, but it is shortened to 0.11 μs in the
air saturated solution, a typical feature of triplet signal.
On the same μs time scale, however, no signal could be
detected for ZnPc(α-OPhONa)4, this is due to the efficient
quenching of S1 by PET, so that no remarkable T1 state was
formed. TA absorption on ns scale, on the other hand, could
be recorded and is shown in Fig. 5. The difference from