Unveiling the double triplet nature of the 2Ag state in conjugated stilbenoid compounds to achieve efficient singlet fission

In this investigation, the excited-state evolution in a series of all-trans stilbenoid compounds, displaying a low-lying dark singlet state of 2Ag-like symmetry nearly degenerate with the bright 1Bu state, was unveiled by employing advanced ultrafast spectroscopies while probing the effect of solvent polarizability. Together with the dual emission, femtosecond transient absorption and broadband fluorescence up-conversion disclosed the double nature of the 2Ag-like state showing both singlet features, a lifetime typical of a singlet and the ability to emit, and a triplet character, exhibiting a triplet-like absorption spectrum. The ultrafast formation (in hundreds of femtoseconds) from the non-relaxed upper singlet state led to the identification of 2Ag as the correlated triplet pair of singlet fission. The spectral difference obtained by comparison of transient absorption peaks of the 2Ag ((TT)-T-1) and the triplet states was found to be in remarkable agreement with the observed triplet yield and the (1)(TT) separation rate constant. Indeed, this spectral shift provided an experimental method to gain qualitative insight into the ease of separation of the (1)(TT) and the relative SF efficiency. The highly conjugated polyene-like structures enable the ultrafast formation of the double triplet, but then the large binding energy prevents the triplet separation and thus the effective completion of singlet fission. Even though thermodynamically feasible for all the investigated stilbenoids according to TD-DFT calculations, singlet fission resulted to occur efficiently in the case of 1-(pyridyl-4-ylethenyl)-4-(p-nitrostyryl)benzene and nitro-styrylfuran with the triplet yield reaching 120% and 140%, respectively, triggered by their greatly enhanced intramolecular charge transfer character relative to the other compounds in the series.