Bertrand Fournier

Restricted Photochemistry in the Molecular Solid State: Structural Changes on Photoexcitation of Cu(I) Phenanthroline Metal-to-Ligand Charge Transfer (MLCT) Complexes by Time-Resolved Diffraction

The excited-state structure of [Cu(I)[(1,10-phenanthroline-N,N) bis(triphenylphosphine)] cations in their crystalline [BF(4)] salt has been determined at both 180 and 90 K by single-pulse time-resolved synchrotron experiments with the modified polychromatic Laue method. The two independent molecules in the crystal show distortions on MLCT excitation that differ in magnitude and direction, a difference attributed to a pronounced difference in the molecular environment of the two complexes. As the excited states differ, the decay of the emission is biexponential with two strongly different lifetimes, the longer lifetime, assigned to the more restricted molecule, becoming more prevalent as the temperature increases. Standard deviations in the current Laue study are very much lower than those achieved in a previous monochromatic study of a Cu(I) 2,9-dimethylphenanthroline substituted complex ( J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2009 , 131 , 6566 ), but the magnitudes of the shifts on excitation are similar, indicating that lattice restrictions dominate over the steric effect of the methyl substitution. Above all, the study illustrates emphatically that molecules in solids have physical properties different from those of isolated molecules and that their properties depend on the specific molecular environment. This conclusion is relevant for the understanding of the properties of molecular solid-state devices, which are increasingly used in current technology.

Shedding Light on the Photochemistry of Coinage-Metal Phosphorescent Materials: A Time-Resolved Laue Diffraction Study of an AgI–CuI Tetranuclear Complex

The triplet excited state of a new crystalline form of a tetranuclear coordination d(10)-d(10)-type complex, Ag2Cu2L4 (L = 2-diphenylphosphino-3-methylindole ligand), containing Ag(I) and Cu(I) metal centers has been explored using the Laue pump-probe technique with ≈80 ps time resolution. The relatively short lifetime of 1 μs is accompanied by significant photoinduced structural changes, as large as the Ag1···Cu2 distance shortening by 0.59(3) Å. The results show a pronounced strengthening of the argentophilic interactions and formation of new Ag···Cu bonds on excitation. Theoretical calculations indicate that the structural changes are due to a ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) strengthening the Ag···Ag interaction, mainly occurring from the methylindole ligands to the silver metal centers. QM/MM optimizations of the ground and excited states of the complex support the experimental results. Comparison with isolated molecule optimizations demonstrates the restricting effect of the crystalline matrix on photoinduced distortions. The work represents the first time-resolved Laue diffraction study of a heteronuclear coordination complex and provides new information on the nature of photoresponse of coinage metal complexes, which have been the subject of extensive studies.

New methods in time-resolved Laue pump–probe crystallography at synchrotron sources

Newly developed methods for time-resolved photocrystallographic studies using the polychromatic pink-Laue technique, suitable for medium- and small-size unit cells typical in chemical crystallography, are summarized.

The LaueUtil toolkit for Laue photocrystallography. II. Spot finding and integration.

A spot-integration method is described which does not require prior indexing of the reflections. It is based on statistical analysis of the values from each of the pixels on successive frames, followed for each frame by morphological analysis to identify clusters of high value pixels which form an appropriate mask corresponding to a reflection peak. The method does not require prior assumptions such as fitting of a profile or definition of an integration box. The results are compared with those of the seed-skewness method which is based on minimizing the skewness of the intensity distribution within a peaks integration box. Applications in Laue photocrystallography are presented.

On the assessment of time-resolved diffraction results.

Data collected during dynamic structure pump-probe crystallography experiments require appropriate indicators of agreement and tools to visualize the electron-density distribution changes. Agreement factors based on the ratio of intensities R with and without the external perturbation are shown to be analogous to the R1 and wR2 R factors widely used in standard crystallographic refinements. The η-based R factors, normalized by the average relative intensity change, are significantly larger than R-based values. It is shown that the relative intensity change η-based R factors are not suitable for comparing different data sets. Fourier photodifference maps allow the visualization of the externally induced structural changes in the crystal, but also can be used during refinement to observe residual peaks not yet accounted for by the model and thus monitor the progress of the refinement. The photodeformation maps are a complementary tool to confirm the validity of the final model. Photodeformation maps with equalized laser-on and laser-off thermal motion are used to highlight the structural changes.

Analysis of multicrystal pump-probe data sets. I. Expressions for the RATIO model.

The RATIO method in time-resolved crystallography [Coppens et al. (2009). J. Synchrotron Rad. 16, 226-230] was developed for use with Laue pump-probe diffraction data to avoid complex corrections due to wavelength dependence of the intensities. The application of the RATIO method in processing/analysis prior to structure refinement requires an appropriate ratio model for modeling the light response. The assessment of the accuracy of pump-probe time-resolved structure refinements based on the observed ratios was discussed in a previous paper. In the current paper, a detailed ratio model is discussed, taking into account both geometric and thermal light-induced changes.

Measuring picosecond excited-state lifetimes at synchrotron sources.

A new analysis method for the short excited-state lifetime measurement of photosensitive species in crystals is described. Based on photocrystallographic techniques, this method is an alternative to spectroscopic methods and is also valid for non-luminescent excited species. Two different approaches are described depending on the magnitude of the lifetime τ. For very short lifetimes below the width of the synchrotron pulse, an estimated τ can be obtained from the occurrence of the maximal system response as a function of the pump-probe delay time Δt. More precise estimates for both short and longer lifetimes can be achieved by a refinement of a model of the response as a function of the pump-probe delay time. The method also offers the possibility of the structure determination of excited species with lifetimes in the 40-100u2005ps range.

A priori checking of the light-response and data quality before extended data collection in pump–probe photocrystallography experiments

In picosecond and slower pump–probe diffraction experiments, collection of response–ratio correlation sets prior to full data collection provides an invaluable confirmation of the existence of a light-induced signal prior to full data collection. If a response to light exposure is observed, the quality of the data being collected can be assessed. A number of such correlation plots both for synchrotron and in-house pump–probe data collection are presented.

Analysis of multicrystal pump-probe data sets. II. Scaling of ratio data sets.

Two methods for scaling of multicrystal data collected in time-resolved photocrystallography experiments are discussed. The WLS method is based on a weighted least-squares refinement of laser-ON/laser-OFF intensity ratios. The other, previously applied, is based on the average absolute system response to light exposure. A more advanced application of these methods for scaling within a data set, necessary because of frequent anisotropy of light absorption in crystalline samples, is proposed. The methods are applied to recently collected synchrotron data on the tetra-nuclear compound Ag2Cu2L4 with L = 2-diphenylphosphino-3-methylindole. A statistical analysis of the weighted least-squares refinement residual terms is performed to test the importance of the scaling procedure.

Can we deconvolute electron density changes from the dominant influence of the atomic rearrangement on molecular excitation in time-resolved diffraction studies?

Recent studies have produced experimental triplet excited state structures with lifetimes of nanoseconds to microseconds. Photodifference maps, showing the total change on excitation, in principle include both the effect of the atomic shifts on excitation and that of the orbital transitions. The latter can be calculated theoretically thus achieving a formal deconvolution of the atomic and electronic shifts. In the three examples presented electronic shifts on excitation are orders of magnitude smaller than the effect of the atomic shifts and their electron shells and therefore not experimentally accessible at this time.