EFFECTS OF ORBITAL ORDERING ON ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION IN MULTIPORPHYRIN ARRAYS

The rational design of molecular photonic devices requires a thorough understanding of all factors affecting electronic communication among the various constituents. To explore how electronic factors mediate both excited- and ground-state electronic communication in multiporphyrin arrays, we have conducted a detailed static spectroscopic (absorption, fluorescence, resonance Raman, electron paramagnetic resonance), time-resolved spectroscopic (absorption, fluorescence), and electrochemical (cyclic and square-wave voltammetry, coulometry) study of tetraarylporphyrin dimers. The complexes investigated include both zinc-free base (ZnFb) and bis-Zn dimers in which the porphyrin constituents are linked via diphenylethyne groups at the meso positions. Comparison of dimeric arrays containing pentafluorophenyl groups at all nonlinking meso positions (F30ZnFbU and F30Zn2U) with nonfluorinated analogs (ZnFbU and Zn2U) directly probes the effects of electronic factors on intradimer communication. The major findings o...