D. L. Yakovlev

Influence of short-and long-range interaction forces on the efficiency of collisional vibrational energy transfer in the vibrational quasi-continuum

Based on measurements of the time-resolved delayed fluorescence, the influence of universal interactions on the collisional vibrational energy transfer is studied in mixtures of vibrationally excited polyatomic molecules (acetophenone, benzophenone, and anthraquinone) with inert bath gases (Ar, C2H4, SF6, CCl4, and C5H12). From the dependences of the decay rates of delayed fluorescence on bath gas pressure, the efficiencies of the establishment of vibrational (V-V relaxation) and thermal (V-T relaxation) equilibrium after excitation of molecules into the vibrational quasi-continuum of a triplet state are estimated. The main emphasis is on studying the dependences of the efficiency of collisional vibrational energy transfer on temperature and the molecular characteristics of collision partners. It is found that the efficiency increases with the complication of the structure of bath gases for the V-V process and decreases upon the increasing of their mass for the V-T process. For the temperature range 273–553 K, the negative temperature dependence of the V-V transfer probability and the positive (Landau-Teller) dependence of the V-T transfer probability were obtained. It is concluded that the above regularities reflect the dominant role of long-range attractive forces in initiating the quasi-resonant V-V transfer and of short-range repulsive forces in the V-T transfer of vibrational energy.

Fluorescence and fluorescence excitation spectra of jet-cooled carbazole

The fluorescence excitation spectra of jet-cooled carbazole molecules at vibrational temperatures of 55 and 80 K and the fluorescence spectrum of these molecules excited by radiation at the frequency of a pure electronic transition are measured. As the vibrational temperature increases, the excitation spectra exhibit a series of lines of the same symmetry, which are caused by the interaction of the active vibration with a subensemble of optically inactive vibrations. The final symmetry of the totally and nontotally symmetric vibrations is determined from the shape of the rotational contours of the lines of vibronic transitions. The values of a decrease in the frequency of the nontotally symmetric vibrations in the first excited electronic state S1 due to their interaction with the electronic state S2 are calculated to be up to 100 cm−1. The frequencies of the pure electronic transitions in the absorption and fluorescence spectra coincide with each other and are equal to 30809 cm−1, the frequencies of vibrations in the ground state S0 exceeding the frequencies of the corresponding vibrations in the excited state S1. The degree of polarization of the integral fluorescence is determined for a series of vibronic transitions of the a1 and b2 final symmetry that are observed in the fluorescence excitation spectra, and the contribution of the intensity with the borrowed polarization θ⊥ to the integral fluorescence is calculated. It is found that the intensity θ⊥ is higher for the transitions of the b2 symmetry and can reach ≈50%.

Intramolecular vibrational energy transfer in mixtures of anthraquinone with foreign gases

Properties of collision transfer of vibrational energy in the vibrational quasi-continuum of mixed singlet-triplet levels of anthraquinone are studied by the method of time-resolved delayed fluorescence. The two-exponential fluorescence decay is analyzed in the kinetic approximation. It is shown that dependences of the intensities and decay rates of the fast and slow components on pressure can be used for estimating the rates of the establishment of the vibrational (V-V) and thermal (V-T) equilibrium. The efficiency β and the average energy 〈ΔE〉 transferred in collisions are estimated for these processes. It is found that the V-V process is characterized by high values of β, which, however, are lower in the quasi-continuum of mixed singlet-triplet states than the gas-kinetic values (β < 0.2). The transformation of the vibrational energy to the translational energy occurs with the low efficiency (10−2 > β > 10−5). The average energy 〈ΔE〉 transferred during a collision in the V-V process is comparable with the energy predicted by the statistical theory of ergodic transfer. The correlation between experimental and theoretical values improves when the time resolution of the experiment is sufficient for the separation of the V-V and V-T processes.

Polarized fluorescence of jet-cooled molecular iodine

The degree of polarized fluorescence of molecular iodine 127I2 cooled in a supersonic jet under rotationally selective excitation in the electronic transition B3Π0u+-X1Σg+ has been measured and calculated. It was found that the interaction of the angular momentum of the molecule with the nuclear spins of iodine atoms leads to a considerable depolarizing effect. This effect is most pronounced for small rotational quantum numbers of the angular momentum that are comparable with the total nuclear spin of the iodine molecule, which is equal to 5.

Polarized fluorescence of jet-cooled indole and carbazole and their complexes with water

The spectra of the fluorescence excitation within the rotational contours of the bands of the pure electronic long-wavelength S0-S1 transitions of jet-cooled indole and carbazole molecules and their complexes with water are measured. For the carbazole-water complex, a contour with three maxima is registered, which is possibly related to the occurrence of two isomers, differing in a slight displacement of hydrogen between the nitrogen atom of the imine group of carbazole and the oxygen atom of the water molecule. The degrees of polarization of integral fluorescence upon excitation within the rotational contours of the S0-S1 electronic transition bands of the above molecules and their complexes with water are determined for the first time. The coincidence of the calculated (7.7%) and measured (7.3%) values of the degree of polarization upon excitation in the rotational Q branch of the bL1-A electronic transition of indole confirms the accepted intramolecular orientation of the transition dipole moment at an angle of 38.3° with respect to the principal axis of inertia A. Upon excitation of indole, its complex with water, and carbazole into the P and R branches, the measured and calculated degrees of polarization are also close to each other and amount to 2–3%. This confirms the occurrence of contributions to the fluorescence polarization due to the rotations of the indole molecules around the principal axes of inertia A and C.

Triplet-triplet transfer of electronic excitation energy in vapors of organic molecules

The rate constants of the triplet-triplet (T-T) transfer of energy of the electronic excitation obtained in the gas phase for two sets of donor-acceptor pairs with various spectral characteristics are compared with those predicted by the theories of nonradiative transitions. The rate constants KTT and efficiencies βDA of the T-T transfer are estimated from quenching of the phosphorescence of biacetyl by aromatic hydrocarbons (anthracene, 9-methylanthracene, 9,10-dimethylanthracene, 9-phenylanthracene, pyrene, and chrysene) and from quenching of the delayed fluorescence of benzophenone, 4-phenylbenzophenone, anthraquinone, carbazole, and naphthalene by biacetyl, as well as from the sensitization of phosphorescence of biacetyl by these compounds. The causes of the broad variations of βDA in the gas phase from 0.35 (biacetyl-anthracene) to 10−4 (biacetyl-chrysene) are discussed for the studied donor-acceptor pairs, which differ in the exothermicity of the process and in the configuration of the lowest triplet levels of the molecules participating in the transfer. The dependences of the transfer rate constants KTT on the free energy change ΔG (the range from 0.4 to −1.7 eV) are analyzed. It is shown that, in gas-phase systems, KTT increase with the exothermicity of the transfer, attain a highest value, and then decrease in the range of negative −ΔG. The observed differences in the experimental values of βDA are discussed in terms of changes in the free energy ΔG of the process, in the energy of rearrangement of the nuclear configuration of the molecules during the transfer, and in the matrix elements of the interaction.

Spectral and luminescent properties of jet-cooled dinaphthofuran

The fluorescence and fluorescence excitation spectra of jet-cooled dinaphtho[2,1-b:1′,2′-d]furan (dinaphthofuran) molecules, as well as their complexation with inert gases Ar, Kr, and Xe, are studied. The indicatrices of the degree of polarization of fluorescence of dinaphthofuran molecules upon excitation of the electronic transitions S0−S1 and S0−S2 are calculated as functions of the intramolecular orientation of the transition dipole moments. The fluorescence polarization spectrum is measured under excitation within the rotational contour of the line of the purely electronic transition v00 = 29 294 cm−1. In contrast to complex planar molecules, the S0−S2 fluorescence excitation spectrum of dinaphthofuran is found to be continuous, with the Q branch of the rotational contour being absent. The fluorescence excitation spectra of van der Waals complexes of dinaphthofuran with inert gases exhibit multiplet lines, which is associated with the helical structure of the molecules studied.

Excitonic nature of the dual fluorescence of 2,3-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]oct-2-ene and 1,4-dimethyl-(2,3-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]oct-2-ene)

Absorption, fluorescence excitation, and fluorescence spectra and the dependence of the degree of fluorescence polarization on the emission wavelength are measured for glass-like ethanol solutions of 2,3-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]oct-2-ene and 1,4-dimethyl-(2,3-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]oct-2-ene) at a temperature of 77 K. The analysis of the spectral polarization data shows that two excited electronic states S1 and S2 that contribute to the emission of the compounds are related to the exciton splitting and correspond to the symmetric (S2) and antisymmetric (S1) wave functions.

Rotational contours of electronic and electronic-vibrational bands of carbazole complexes with water cooled in a supersonic jet

The rotational contours of the bands corresponding to electronic and electronic-vibrational transitions of the fluorescence excitation spectrum of jet-cooled carbazole complexes with one, two, and three water molecules have been studied. For the carbazole-(H2O)1 complex, two bands with a spectral shift of 0.57 cm−1 were recorded under exposure to radiation with a spectral width of 0.08 cm−1 at the frequency of the purely electronic transition and some other electronic-vibrational transitions. This is caused by the tunnel effect. The intensities of the shifted low-frequency bands are threefold weaker than those of high-frequency bands due to different values of nuclear spin-statistical weights. In the carbazole-(H2O)2 and carbazole-(H2O)3 complexes, water molecules are combined into a chain by the hydrogen bond, and the two ends of the chain are hydrogen-bonded to the carbazole molecule. The principal axes IA and IB of the moments of inertia in carbazole-(H2O)3 have different orientation compared to the other complexes considered, and this leads to an increase in the intensity of the Q-branch.

Triplet‐Triplet Electron Excitation Energy Transfer in the Gas Phase for the Carbazol–Diacetyl Donor‐Acceptor Pair

For the carbazol–diacetyl donor‐acceptor pair, the features of exothermal triplet‐triplet (T‐T) transfer of electron excitation energy in the gas phase upon excitation of carbazol by the nitrogen laser radiation which is not absorbed by diacetyl have been investigated. The luminescence spectra of carbazol in the gas phase have been studied. It is shown that carbazol phosphorescence in the gas phase is absent. Therefore, for estimating the T‐T transfer efficiency and its temperature dependence, in the kinetic approximation the dependences of the intensity of time‐resolved delayed fluorescence of carbazol and sensitized phosphorescence of diacetyl on diacetyl pressure have been analyzed. It has been found that in the gas phase the features of the electronic structure of the molecules under investigation are responsible for the low efficiency of transfer (2·10−4 at 453 K), which increases by an order of magnitude with increasing temperature in the 453–513 K range despite the increasing influence of the back transfer.