Excited-State Dynamics of 2,2′-Bipyridine Moieties Embedded in the Framework of Periodic Mesoporous Organosilica

We investigate the excited-state dynamics of 2,2'-bipyridine (BPy) moieties in a framework of BPy-bridged periodic mesoporous organosilica (BPy-PMO), which is a unique solid chelating ligand that has densely and regularly arranged BPy units that are exposed on the pore surfaces. The steady-state absorption spectrum of BPy-PMO shows broad absorption bands and a prolonged absorption tail compared to its precursor molecule, which suggests that a part of the BPy moieties form dimers and/or aggregates in the ground state. Transient absorption spectra of BPy-PMO after excitation with 295 nm light show mainly intersystem crossing from the lowest singlet excited state (Si) to the lowest triplet excited state (T-1) of BPy moieties with a lifetime of 52 ps. Energy transfer (7.2 ps) from the Si of a BPy monomer to BPy dimers and/or aggregates is also suggested. The lifetime of the excited BPy dimers and/or aggregates is estimated by selective excitation (355 nm) to be 3.4 ns. The lifetime for the T-1 of the BPy monomer is estimated to be 700 ns from transient absorption spectra of BPy-PMO after nanosecond 266 nm pulse irradiation. The characteristics of the excitation-relaxation processes of BPy-PMO are discussed.