Reversible gating of singlet fission by tuning the role of a charge-transfer state

Abstract Stimulus-responsive triplet excited states and multiexcitonic logic gates have garnered increasing interest. Singlet fission is an efficient multiple exciton generation process, in which one singlet converts into two triplets. Singlet fission is, however, rarely reported to be switchable by...

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Main Authors: Yifan Bo, Yuxuan Hou, Dominic A. X. Lavergne, Timothy Clark, Michael J. Ferguson, Rik R. Tykwinski, Dirk M. Guldi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-03-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58168-9
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author Yifan Bo
Yuxuan Hou
Dominic A. X. Lavergne
Timothy Clark
Michael J. Ferguson
Rik R. Tykwinski
Dirk M. Guldi
author_facet Yifan Bo
Yuxuan Hou
Dominic A. X. Lavergne
Timothy Clark
Michael J. Ferguson
Rik R. Tykwinski
Dirk M. Guldi
author_sort Yifan Bo
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Stimulus-responsive triplet excited states and multiexcitonic logic gates have garnered increasing interest. Singlet fission is an efficient multiple exciton generation process, in which one singlet converts into two triplets. Singlet fission is, however, rarely reported to be switchable by external stimuli. Here we design a meta-diethynylphenylene-linked tetracene dimer featuring pyridyl endgroups that function as an acid/base-responsive switch, enabling the reversible modulation of singlet fission. In its neutral form, the interchromophore charge-transfer state facilitates singlet fission and promotes the formation of a correlated triplet-pair state. Upon treatment with acid, protonation of the pyridyl nitrogens generates a more strongly electron-accepting pyridinium, leading to an intra-chromophore charge-transfer state, which inhibits singlet fission. Finally, an IMPLICATION logic gate is constructed by using acid and base as inputs and monitoring the formation of triplet excited states based on singlet fission.
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spelling doaj-art-9e0e380e309b450bb57f6c55ae30dc2c2025-08-20T02:10:14ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-03-0116111210.1038/s41467-025-58168-9Reversible gating of singlet fission by tuning the role of a charge-transfer stateYifan Bo0Yuxuan Hou1Dominic A. X. Lavergne2Timothy Clark3Michael J. Ferguson4Rik R. Tykwinski5Dirk M. Guldi6Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy & Interdisciplinary Center for Molecular Materials (ICMM), FAU Profile Center Solar, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-NürnbergDepartment of Chemistry, University of AlbertaDepartment of Chemistry, University of AlbertaDepartment of Chemistry and Pharmacy & Computer-Chemie-Center (CCC), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-NürnbergDepartment of Chemistry, University of AlbertaDepartment of Chemistry, University of AlbertaDepartment of Chemistry and Pharmacy & Interdisciplinary Center for Molecular Materials (ICMM), FAU Profile Center Solar, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-NürnbergAbstract Stimulus-responsive triplet excited states and multiexcitonic logic gates have garnered increasing interest. Singlet fission is an efficient multiple exciton generation process, in which one singlet converts into two triplets. Singlet fission is, however, rarely reported to be switchable by external stimuli. Here we design a meta-diethynylphenylene-linked tetracene dimer featuring pyridyl endgroups that function as an acid/base-responsive switch, enabling the reversible modulation of singlet fission. In its neutral form, the interchromophore charge-transfer state facilitates singlet fission and promotes the formation of a correlated triplet-pair state. Upon treatment with acid, protonation of the pyridyl nitrogens generates a more strongly electron-accepting pyridinium, leading to an intra-chromophore charge-transfer state, which inhibits singlet fission. Finally, an IMPLICATION logic gate is constructed by using acid and base as inputs and monitoring the formation of triplet excited states based on singlet fission.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58168-9
spellingShingle Yifan Bo
Yuxuan Hou
Dominic A. X. Lavergne
Timothy Clark
Michael J. Ferguson
Rik R. Tykwinski
Dirk M. Guldi
Reversible gating of singlet fission by tuning the role of a charge-transfer state
Nature Communications
title Reversible gating of singlet fission by tuning the role of a charge-transfer state
title_full Reversible gating of singlet fission by tuning the role of a charge-transfer state
title_fullStr Reversible gating of singlet fission by tuning the role of a charge-transfer state
title_full_unstemmed Reversible gating of singlet fission by tuning the role of a charge-transfer state
title_short Reversible gating of singlet fission by tuning the role of a charge-transfer state
title_sort reversible gating of singlet fission by tuning the role of a charge transfer state
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58168-9
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