Excited-State Dynamics in 4-Dimethylamino-4’-Nitrostilbene in Solution: The Role of Solvent Relaxation and Reabsorption Effects
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Push-pull donor-acceptor stilbenes are model systems for probing solvation dynamics and intramolecular processes. However, the precise nature of the excited-state evolution remains debated. To obtain a comprehensive picture of the processes involved, we combine broadband ultrafast spectroscopies, fluorescence up-conversion and transient absorption, to study the excited-state evolution of 4-dimethylamino-4’-nitrostilbene (DANS) in solvents of increasing polarity (from cyclohexane to acetonitrile). We demonstrate that the evolution is fully described by solvent relaxation only, perturbed by reabsorption effects due to transient overlap between the fluorescence and excited-state absorption bands. No intramolecular charge-transfer is involved in the observed dynamics. We extract the solvation correlation function C(t) in dibutyl ether, diethyl ether, tetrahydrofuran and acetonitrile. This work highlights the strength of combining broadband femtosecond absorption/fluorescence to disentangle the solvation dynamics from intramolecular contributions.
Source: ChemRxiv
Subfield: Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
Field: Chemistry
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7204787305
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