Photoinduced intramolecular charge transfer in push-pull polyenes: effects of solvation, electron-donor group, and polyenic chain length

Subpicosecond absorption spectroscopy is used for characterizing primary photoinduced processes in a class of push-pull polyenes bearing a julolidine end group as the electron donor and a diethylthiobarbituric acid end group as the electron acceptor. The results have shown that photoinduced reaction trajectories in push-pull polyenes are controlled by the static and dynamic properties of the solvent, the chemical nature and size of the end groups and the conjugated-chain length and flexibility.