Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.141, No.15, 6191-6203, 2019
Varying the Interpentacene Electronic Coupling to Tune Singlet Fission
We have designed and used four different spacers, denoted A-D, to connect two pentacenes and to probe the impact of intramolecular forces on the modulation of pentacene-pentacene interactions and, in turn, on the key steps in singlet fission (SF), that is, the (1)(S1S0)-to-(1)(T1T1) as well as (1)(T1T1)-to-(5)(T1T1) transitions by means of transient absorption and electron paramagnetic resonance measurements. In terms of the (1)(S1S0)-to-(1)(T1T1) transition, a superexchange mechanism, that is, coupling to a higher-lying CT state to generate a virtual intermediate, enables rapid SF in A-D. Sizeable electronic coupling in A and B opens, on one hand, an additional pathway, that is, the population of a real intermediate, and changes, on the other hand, the mechanism to that of hopping. In turn, A and B feature much higher (1)(T1T1) quantum yields than C and D, with a maximum value of 162% for A. In terms of the (1)(T1T1)-to-(5)(T1T1) transition, the sizable electronic coupling in A and B is counterproductive, and C and D give rise to higher (5)(T1T1)-to-(T-1 + T-1) quantum yields than A and B, with a maximum value of 85% for D.