Spectroscopic detection of excited-state electron transfer in porphyrin viologen systems

Pulsed laser excitation (354.7 nm, 10 ns pulse) of a pyridyltritolylporphyrin chromophore covalently linked to a dibenzylviologen, Bz₂V²⁺, electron acceptor (porphyrin-viologen, PV²⁺) in CH₃CN leads to intramolecular electron transfer quenching of the porphyrin singlet excited state within the laser pulsewidth to reduce the linked Bz₂V²⁺ to Bz₂V^+·. Transient Bz₂V^+· can be detected directly by resonance Raman spectroscopy. The same transient features are obtained from pulsed laser excitation of a mixture of porphyrin (P) and dibenzylviologen in CH₃CN where Bz₂V²⁺ quenches the porphyrin fluorescence, establishing bimolecular excited state electron transfer quenching to yield Bz₂V^+·. Confirmation of our assignment of the transient Bz₂V^+· comes from comparison of the spectra with the resonance Raman spectrum of an authentic sample of Bz₂V^+·, and of electrochemically reduced PV²⁺ which has been spectroscopically confirmed to form PV^+·. Fluorescence lifetime determinations for PV²⁺ and P yield a rate constant for intramolecular electron transfer, k_et = 8 × 10⁷ s^-1, consistent with the ability to observe electron transfer within the laser pulsewidth.