Radiative and nonradioactive electron transfer in donor-acceptor phenanthrimidazoles.

Photoinduced electron transfer in a series of naphthyl substituted phenanthrimidazoles has been studied in solutions. The intramolecular charge transfer (CT) leads to a large Stokes shift and large dipole moment in the fluorescent state. Solvatochromic effects on the spectral position and profile of the stationary fluorescence spectra clearly indicate the CT character of the emitting singlet states of all the compounds studied. An analysis of the CT fluorescence lead to the quantities relevant for the electron transfer in the Marcus inverted region.