P. Schlichting et al., A bichromophore based on perylene and terrylene for energy transfer studies at the single-molecule level, CHEM-EUR J, 5(8), 1999, pp. 2388-2395
A functionalized dialkylperylene and a modified terrylenetetracarboxdiimide
(TTCDI) were joined together by a hexanediyl spacer. The resulting bichrom
ophoric molecule 4 is a suitable model system for donor-acceptor energy tra
nsfer studies at the single-molecule level. With its absorption and fluores
cence maximum at shorter wavelengths (lambda(max) = 450 nm, lambda(n) = 458
nm) the dialkylperylene acts as the donor, while the TTCDI with lambda(max
) = 665 nm and lambda(fl) = 705 nm is the acceptor molecule. The synthetic
route to the new bichromophoric molecule and its optical properties (UV/V i
s, fluorescence spectroscopy) are presented herein. Energy transfer from th
e perlyene to the terrylene moiety was confirmed by conventional ensemble f
luorescence excitation and emission spectroscopy. Single bichromophores 4 e
mbedded in polyvinylbutyral were imaged with a scanning confocal optical mi
croscope at room temperature by selectively exciting the perylene chromopho
re and detecting the terrylene emission.