Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 25, 2025

Coulomb Explosion Imaging as a Tool to Distinguish Between Stereoisomers
Published on: August 18, 2017
Symmetry-Breaking Charge Separation Mediated Triplet Population in a Perylenediimide Trimer at the Single-Molecule
Aniruddha Mazumder1, Kavya Vinod1, Philip Daniel Maret1
1School of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram, Maruthamala P.O., Vithura, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 695551, India.
Abstract:
Herein, we demonstrate triplet excited-state population in a conformationally rigid perylenediimide trimer (PDI-T) via intramolecular symmetry-breaking charge separation (SB-CS) at the single-molecule level. The single-molecule fluorescence intensity trajectories of PDI-T in nonpolar polystyrene matrix (ε = 2.60) exhibit prolonged fluorescence with infrequent dark states, representing the triplet and/or the charge transfer states. In contrast, in a poly(vinyl alcohol) matrix (ε = 7.80), erratic blinking dynamics resulting in low photon counts were observed, corroborating the feasibility of charge separation in a polar environment. In agreement with the single-molecule measurements, transient absorption spectroscopy of PDI-T reveals ultrafast SB-CS (τ < 5 ps) in polar tetrahydrofuran (ε = 7.58) and acetone (ε = 20.70), with the population of the triplet excited-state through charge recombination. The current investigation shows the utility of rigid and weakly coupled molecular constructs in controlling triplet generation and SB-CS for potential applications in optoelectronic devices.
Related Concept Videos
¹H NMR: Complex Splitting
Splitting diagrams or splitting tree diagrams are routinely used to depict such complex couplings. While drawing splitting diagrams, the splitting with the larger coupling constant is usually applied...
Woodward–Hoffmann Selection Rules and Microscopic Reversibility
Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) Spectroscopy: Organic Radicals
Aromatic Hydrocarbon Cations: Structural Overview
Removing one hydrogen from the intervening CH2 group...
Interpreting ¹H NMR Signal Splitting: The (n + 1) Rule
¹³C NMR: Distortionless Enhancement by Polarization Transfer (DEPT)

