Dynamical excimer formation in rigid carbazolophane via charge transfer state

Formation dynamics of intramolecular excimer in dioxa[3.3](3,6)carbazolophane (CzOCz) was studied by time-resolved spectroscopic methods and computational calculations. In the ground state, the most stable conformer in CzOCz is the anti-conformation where two carbazole rings are in antiparallel alignment. No other isomers were observed even after the solution was heated up to 150 °C, although three characteristic isomers were found by the molecular mechanics calculation: the first is the anti-conformer, the second is the syn-conformer where two carbazole rings are stacked in the same direction, and the third is the int-conformer where two carbazole rings are aligned in an edge-to-face geometry. Because of the anti-conformation, the interchromophoric interaction in CzOCz is negligible in the ground state. Nonetheless, the intramolecular excimer in CzOCz was dynamically formed in an acetonitrile (MeCN) solution, indicating strong interchromophoric interaction and the isomerization from the anti- to syn-conformation in the excited state. The excimer formation in CzOCz is more efficient in polar solvents than in less polar solvents, suggesting the contribution of the charge transfer (CT) state to the excimer formation. The stabilization in the excited state is discussed in terms of molecular orbital interaction between two carbazole rings. The solvent-polarity-induced excimer formation is discussed in terms of the CT character in the int-conformation.