BODIPY chromophores
can serve as organic-based triplet photosensitizers
for a wide range of applications. To perform this function, the formation
of the triplet state is critical, and a better understanding of how
to modulate the formation of the triplet state could lead to further
advances in BODIPY-based sensitizers for solar energy conversion and
photodynamic therapy. In this work we investigate the ability of halogen
bonding, a noncovalent solvent interaction, to facilitate intersystem
crossing in a diiodo-BODIPY. Ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy
is applied to diiodo-BODIPY in the presence of pyridine-based halogen
bonding solvent molecules to determine the rate constants for intersystem
crossing. We find that halogen bonding facilitates the formation of
the triplet state by increasing the intersystem crossing rate constant
of diiodo-BODIPY. The results are interpreted in terms of the Marcus
expression for intersystem crossing. Quantum chemical calculations
show that halogen bonding acts to alter both the spin–orbit
coupling terms and the relative energetics of the singlet and triplet
states.