Swedin, R.K.; Zatsikha, Y.V. Healy, A.T.; Didukh, N.O.; Blesener, T.S.; Fathi-Rasekh, M.; Wang, T.; King, A.J.; Nemykin, V.N.; Blank, D.A. The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2019, 10, 1828–1832.
The excited-state dynamics and energetics of a series of BODIPY-derived chromophores bound to a catechol at the boron position were investigated with a combination of static and time-resolved spectroscopy, electrochemistry, and density functional theory calculations. Compared with the difluoro-BODIPY-derived parent compounds, the addition of the catechol at the boron reduced the excited-state lifetime by three orders of magnitude. Deactivation of the excited state proceeded through an intermediate charge-transfer state accessed from the initial optically excited π* state in <1 ps. Despite differences in the structures of the BODIPY derivatives and absorption maxima that spanned the visible portion of the spectrum, all compounds exhibited the same, rapid, excited-state deactivation mechanism, suggesting the generality of the observed dynamics within this class of compounds.