Reflections on a Fifty-Year Career in Organic Photochemistry: A Personal Perspective

Abstract

This Perspective traces the career of the author in the area of mechanistic organic photochemistry from the primitive state of this field in the late 1950s and early 1960s until its maturity as a highly sophisticated discipline at the present time. The paper focuses on early studies carried out by the author and his associates to delineate mechanisms of basic types of photochemical reactions of small organic molecules to studies in recent years involving photoinduced electron-transfer processes occurring in nanoscale artificial photosynthetic systems in ultrashort time domains. The important role that serendipitous events played in directing key career decisions and events is emphasized. The important ways that developments in instrumentation influenced the choices, possibilities, and accomplishments of performing research in photochemistry between 1960 and the present time are emphasized. Acknowledgment is given by the author to the many people who contributed directly and indirectly to the course that his career has taken over more than half a century.

Porphyrin-based assemblies directed by non-covalent interactions: highlights of recent investigations

“…These features make the porphyrin-fullerene complexes potential candidates for electron transfer processes, photovoltaic devices, solar-energy conversion, and energy storage. [133][134][135][136][137][138][139][140][141][142][143] From the structural point of view, some interesting observations have been reported in recent years. Olmstead et al have used porphyrin compounds The atoms involved in the directional interactions are depicted as purple (iodine), yellow (sulfur), red (oxygen), and blue (nitrogen) spheres.…”

Light triggers molecular shuttling in rotaxanes: control over proximity and charge recombination

“…These considerations led to the approach of constructing interlocked structures with a scaffold containing fullerenes and porphyrins 31. On many occasions, porphyrins and fullerenes have been utilized as stoppers in pseudorotaxanes or catenanes, but only in very few cases in rotaxanes.…”

Long-Lived Photoinduced Charge Separation in Inclusion Complexes Composed of a Phenothiazine-Bridged Cyclic Porphyrin Dimer and Fullerenes

“…Porphyrins and fullerenes are useful components for the preparation of electron donor–acceptor complexes. Porphyrins, which have a two-dimensional 18π-electron system and strong absorption bands in the UV–vis region, possess sufficient electron-donating ability upon photoexcitation. − Meanwhile, fullerenes, which have a three-dimensional π-electron system, are excellent electron acceptors on account of their suitable reduction potential and small reorganization energy in ET reactions, which is derived from the highly delocalized π-electron system over the curved surface together with the rigid and confined framework. − Thus, numerous porphyrin–fullerene complexes have been explored as artificial mimicking models for CS in the reaction center of photosynthesis. − …”