Excited state and transient chemistry of a perylene derivative (DBP). An untold story

Transient chemistry of sensitizing dyes is important to obtain insights into the photochemical conversion processes of light harvesting assemblies. We have now employed transient absorption spectroscopy (pulsed laser and pulse radiolysis) to characterize the excited state and radical intermediates of a perylene derivative, (5,10,15,20-Tetraphenylbisbenz[5,6]indeno[1,2,3-cd:1',2',3'-lm]perylene (DBP). The distinguishable transient absorption features for the singlet and triplet excited states and radical anion and radical cation provide spectral fingerprints to identify the reaction intermediates in photochemical energy and electron transfer processes of composite systems involving DBP. For example, identifying these transients in the energy transfer processes of the rubrene-DBP system would aid in establishing their role as annihilator-emitter for triplet-triplet annihilation up-conversion (TTA-UC). The transient characterization thus serves as an important mechanistic fingerprint for elucidating mechanistic details of systems employing DBP in optoelectronic applications.