About 85% of the world’s energy is derived from non-renewable sources—coal, petroleum, and natural gas. Solar photocatalysis is one way to potentially generate cheap renewable fuels by harnessing energy from the sun and converting it into chemical energy. Photosensitizers serve as materials that absorb and store sunlight in the form of chemical energy. The efficiency of a photosensitizer depends on its capacity to form a prolonged triplet excited state. Zinc dipyrrin complexes have the potential to be efficient sensitizers for reductive photochemistry, but their ability to form long-lived triplet excited states still needs extensive research. The overall aim of this research is to probe the role charge separation plays in the formation of triplet state in metal complexes of dipyrrin photosensitizers. The specific objectives are to synthesize and characterize zinc and boron dipyrrin complexes, analyze their photophysical properties—such as steady-state spectroscopy, low-temperature emission spectroscopy—and quantify their triplet states using time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopy.

<p>This thesis describes an interdisciplinary project, where the aim is to mimic the initial reactions in photosynthesis. In photosynthesis, the absorption of light is followed by the formation of charge-separated states. The energy stored in these charge-separated states is further used for the oxidation of water and reduction of carbon dioxide. In this thesis the photo-induced processes in a range of supramolecular complexes have been investigated with time resolved spectroscopic techniques. The complexes studied consist of three types of units; photosensitizers (P) capable of absorbing light, electron acceptors (A) that are easily reduced and electron donors (D) that are easily oxidised. Our results are important for the future design of artificial photosystems, where the goal is to produce hydrogen from light and water. </p><p>Two molecular triads with a D-P-A architecture are presented. In the first one, a photo-induced charge-separated state was formed in an unusually high yield (φ>90%). In the second triad, photo-irradiation led to the formation of an extremely long-lived charge-separated state (τ = 500 ms at 140K). This is also the first synthetically made triad containing a dinuclear manganese unit as electron donor.</p><p>Further, two sets of P-A dyads are presented. In both, the expected photo-induced reduction of the electron acceptor is diminished due to competing energy transfer to the triplet state of the acceptor.</p><p>Finally, a P-P-A complex containing two separate photosensitizers is described. The idea is to produce high-energy charge-separated states by using the energy from two photons.</p>

This thesis describes an interdisciplinary project, where the aim is to mimic the initial reactions in photosynthesis. In photosynthesis, the absorption of light is followed by the formation of charge-separated states. The energy stored in these charge-separated states is further used for the oxidation of water and reduction of carbon dioxide. In this thesis the photo-induced processes in a range of supramolecular complexes have been investigated with time resolved spectroscopic techniques. The complexes studied consist of three types of units; photosensitizers (P) capable of absorbing light, electron acceptors (A) that are easily reduced and electron donors (D) that are easily oxidised. Our results are important for the future design of artificial photosystems, where the goal is to produce hydrogen from light and water. Two molecular triads with a D-P-A architecture are presented. In the first one, a photo-induced charge-separated state was formed in an unusually high yield (φ&gt;90%). In the second triad, photo-irradiation led to the formation of an extremely long-lived charge-separated state (τ = 500 ms at 140K). This is also the first synthetically made triad containing a dinuclear manganese unit as electron donor. Further, two sets of P-A dyads are presented. In both, the expected photo-induced reduction of the electron acceptor is diminished due to competing energy transfer to the triplet state of the acceptor. Finally, a P-P-A complex containing two separate photosensitizers is described. The idea is to produce high-energy charge-separated states by using the energy from two photons.