Multi-metallic complexes based on {Ru–Cr}, {Ru–Ru} and {Ru–Ru–Cr} fragments are investigated for their light-harvesting and long-range energy transfer properties. We report the synthesis and characterization of [Ru(tpy)(bpy)(μ-CN)Ru(py)4Cl]2+ and [Ru(tpy)(bpy)(μ-CN)Ru(py)4(μ-NC)Cr(CN)5]. The intercalation of {RuII(py)4} linked by cyanide bridges between {Ru(tpy)(bpy)} and {Cr(CN)5} results in efficient, distant energy transfer followed by emission from the Cr moiety. Characterization of the energy transfer process based on photophysical and ultrafast time-resolved absorption suggests the delocalization of holes in the excited state, providing a pathway for energy transfer between the end moieties. The proposed mechanism opens the door to utilize this family of complexes as an appealing platform for the design of antenna compounds as the properties of the fragments could be tuned independently.

Solar energy conversion starts with the harvest of light, and its efficacy depends on the spatial transfer of the light energy to where it can be transduced into other forms of energy. Harnessing solar power as a clean energy source requires the continuous development of new synthetic materials that can harvest photon energy and transport it without significant losses. With chemically-controlled branched architectures, dendrimers are ideally suited for these initial steps, since they consist of arrays of chromophores with relative positioning and orientations to create energy gradients and to spatially focus excitation energies. The spatial localization of the energy delimits its efficacy and has been a point of intense research for synthetic light harvesters. We present the results of a combined theoretical experimental study elucidating ultrafast, unidirectional, electronic energy transfer on a complex molecule designed to spatially focus the initial excitation onto an energy sink. The study explores the complex interplay between atomic motions, excited-state populations, and localization/delocalization of excitations. Our findings show that the electronic energy-transfer mechanism involves the ultrafast collapse of the photoexcited wave function due to nonadiabatic electronic transitions. The localization of the wave function is driven by the efficient coupling to high-frequency vibrational modes leading to ultrafast excited-state dynamics and unidirectional efficient energy funneling. This work provides a long-awaited consistent experiment–theoretical description of excited-state dynamics in organic conjugated dendrimers with atomistic resolution, a phenomenon expected to universally appear in a variety of synthetic conjugated materials.

We present a new family of dendrimers with all-conjugated, thienylene (Th) containing photoactive backbones and branched end-groups. Steady-state spectroscopy demonstrates a donor–acceptor system, while picosecond time-resolved fluorescence characterizes a vectorial energy transfer from phenylene-ethynylene (PE) units at the periphery to thienylene-containing PE units at the core. Energy transfer rates of 1.5 and 3.5 ps are observed for generation 2 and 3 dendrimers, indicative of a weakly coupled donor–acceptor system, with couplings on the order of 40–60 cm–1.

We present a sequential molecular dynamics/quantum mechanics (MD/QM) study and steady-state spectroscopy measurements of the nanostar dendrimer (a phenylene−ethynylene dendrimer attached to a ethynylperylene chromophore) to determine the temperature dependence of the electronic absorption process. We studied the nanostar as separate units and performed MD simulations for each chromophore at 10 and 300 K to study the effects of the temperature on the structures. The absorption spectrum of the nanostar, at 10 and 300 K, was computed using an ensemble of 8000 structures for each chromophore. Quantum mechanical (QM) ZINDO/S calculations were performed for each conformation in the ensemble, including 16 excited states for a total of 128 000 excitation energies, and the intensity was scaled linearly with the number of conjugated units. Our calculations and experimental spectra measured for the individual chromophores and the nanostar are in good agreement. We found that for each system, the spectral features are narrow at 10 K because the transitions are localized in wavelength and the absorption energy depends primarily on the length of the chromophore, while at 300 K, the spectra features are quite broad and blue-shifted due to conformational changes on the systems. We explain in detail the effects of temperature and their consequence for the absorption process.

Multi-metallic complexes based on {Ru–Cr}, {Ru–Ru} and {Ru–Ru–Cr} fragments are investigated for their light-harvesting and long-range energy transfer properties. We report the synthesis and characterization of [Ru(tpy)(bpy)(μ-CN)Ru(py)4Cl]2+ and [Ru(tpy)(bpy)(μ-CN)Ru(py)4(μ-NC)Cr(CN)5]. The intercalation of {RuII(py)4} linked by cyanide bridges between {Ru(tpy)(bpy)} and {Cr(CN)5} results in efficient, distant energy transfer followed by emission from the Cr moiety. Characterization of the energy transfer process based on photophysical and ultrafast time-resolved absorption suggests the delocalization of holes in the excited state, providing a pathway for energy transfer between the end moieties. The proposed mechanism opens the door to utilize this family of complexes as an appealing platform for the design of antenna compounds as the properties of the fragments could be tuned independently.