The effect of substituting the intra-cyclic sulphur of thionine by oxygen (oxonine) and selenium (selenine) on the intersystem crossing (ISC) efficiency has been studied using high level quantum mechanical methods. The ISC rate constants are considerably increased when going from O towards Se while the fluorescence rate constants remain unchanged. For the three dyes, all accessible ISC channels are driven by vibronic spin-orbit coupling (SOC) between ππ* states. The interplay between the ground and low-lying excited states has been investigated in order to determine the dominant relaxation pathways. In oxonine the relaxation to the ground state after photoexcitation in water proceeds essentially via fluorescence from the S1(πHπL*) bright state (kF = 2.10 × 10(8) s(-1)), in agreement with the high experimental fluorescence quantum yield. In aqueous solution of thionine, the ISC rate constant (kISC ∼ 1 × 10(9) s(-1)) is one order of magnitude higher than fluorescence (kF = 1.66 × 10(8) s(-1)) which is consistent with its high triplet quantum yield observed in water (ϕT = 0.53). Due to a stronger vibronic SOC in selenine, the ISC rate is very high (kISC ∼ 10(10) s(-1)) and much faster than fluorescence (kF = 1.59 × 10(8) s(-1)). This suggests selenine-based dyes as very efficient triplet photosensitizers.

A study of the possible intersystem crossing (ISC) mechanisms (S→T) in thionine (3,7-diamino-phenothiazin-5-ium), which is conducive to the efficient population of the triplet manifold, is presented. The radiationless deactivation channels {S(1),S(2)(π → π*) → T(1),T(2)(π → π*)} have been examined. Since the direct ISC does not explain the high triplet quantum yield in this system, attention has been centered on the vibronic spin-orbit coupling between the low-lying singlet and triplet (π → π*) states of interest. An efficient population transfer from the S(1)(π(H) → π(L)*) state to the T(2)(π(H-1) → π(L)*) state via this channel is confirmed. The calculated ISC rate constant for this channel is k(ISC) ≈ 3.35 × 10(8) s(-1), which can compete with the radiative depopulation of the S(1)(π(H) → π(L)*) state via fluorescence (k(F) ≈ 1.66 × 10(8) s(-1)) in a vacuum. The S(1)(π(H) → π(L)*) → T(1)(π(H) → π(L)*) and {S(2)(π(H-1) → π(L)*) → T(1),T(2)(π → π*)} ISC channels have been estimated to be less efficient (k(ISC) ≈ 10(5)-10(6) s(-1)). Based on the computed ISC rate constants and excited-state solvent shifts, it is suggested that the efficient triplet quantum yield of thionine in water is primarily due to the S(1)(π(H) → π(L)*) → T(2)(π(H-1) → π(L)*) channel with a computed rate constant of the order of 10(8)-10(9) s(-1) which is in accord with the experimental finding (k(ISC) = 2.8 × 10(9) s(-1)).

The combination and balance of acceptor(A)-bridge-donor(D) architecture of molecules confer suitable attributes and/or properties to act as efficient light-harvesting and sensitizers in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). An important process in a DSSC performance is the electron photoinjection (PI) mechanism which can take place either via type I (indirect), that consists in injecting from the excited state of the dye to the semiconductor, or type II (direct), where the PI is from the ground state of the dye to the semiconductor upon photoexcitation. Here, we present a computational study about the role of the donor motif in the PI mechanisms displayed from a family of 11 A-bridge-D structured dyes to a (TiO2)15 anatase cluster. To this end, different donor motifs (D1-D11) were evaluated while the A and bridge motifs remained the same. All the computations were carried out within the DFT framework, using the B3LYP, PW91, PBE, M06L and CAM-B3LYP functionals. The 6-31G(d) basis set was employed for nonmetallic atoms and the LANL2DZ pseudopotential for Ti atoms. The solvation effects were incorporated using the polarized continuum model (PCM) for acetonitrile. As benchmark systems, alizarin and naphthalenediol dyes were analyzed, as they are known to undergo Type I and Type II PI pathways in DSSCs, respectively. Donors in the studied family of dyes could influence to drive Type I or II PI since it was found that D2 could show some Type II PI route, showing a new absorption band, although with CAM-B3LYP this shows a very low oscillator strength, while the remaining dyes behave according to Type I photoinjectors. Finally, the photovoltaic parameters that govern the light absorption process were evaluated, as the use of these criteria could be applied to predict the efficiency of the studied dyes in DSSCs devices.