Investigations of the Degenerate Intramolecular Charge Exchange in Symmetric Organic Mixed Valence Compounds: Solvent Dynamics of Bis(triarylamine)paracyclophane Redox Systems

Triarylamines are important hole-transport components in optoelectronic devices. Understanding the factors controlling their intra- and intermolecular electron transfer properties is crucial to the application and optimization of organic hole conductors. Here, we report on the degenerate intramolecular electron exchange reactions of several purely organic mixed valence compounds based on the bis(triarylamine)paracyclophane structural unit, which are archetypical molecular wires. Different bridging moieties are compared, and the foremost impact of the solvent environment on the rate of electron transfer is demonstrated. Comparing the rate constants found for many different solvents, we find that surprisingly the electron transfer reaction is limited by the solvent dynamic effect and not strongly impacted by the peculiarities of the bridging moiety, a finding which was not anticipated for this type of long-range, thermally activated intramolecular charge transfer from previous studies. Rate constants are me...