Journal of Physical Chemistry A, Vol.124, No.36, 7228-7237, 2020
Computational Protocol To Predict Anti-Kasha Emissions: The Case of Azulene Derivatives
In this contribution, we present a computational protocol to predict anti-Kasha photoluminescence. The herein developed protocol is based on state-of-the-art quantum chemical calculations and excited-state decay rate theories (i.e., thermal vibration correlation function formalism), along with appropriate kinetic models which include all relevant electronic states. This protocol is validated for a series of azulene derivatives. For this series, we have computed absorption and emission spectra for both their first and second excited states, their radiative and non-radiative rates, as well as fluorescence yields from the two different excited states. All the studied azulene derivatives are predicted to exclusively display anomalous anti-Kasha S-2 emission. A quantitative agreement for the herein computed excited-state spectra, lifetimes, and fluorescence quantum yields is obtained with respect to the experimental values. Given the increasing interest in anti-Kasha emitters, we foresee that the herein developed computational protocol can be used to prescreen dyes with the desired aforementioned anomalous photoluminescence properties.