Vibrational Spin–Orbit Coupling Contributions to Excited-State Decay of Ligand-to-Ligand Charge Transfer States

Controlling excited-state relaxation processes is important in a variety of photochemical and photophysical processes, including the generation of ground- and excited-state spin polarization for quantum information science applications. Here, we address how specific static distortions, based on vibrational spin-orbit active modes at C 2 v symmetry determined by group theory, in a series of low-symmetry ligand-to-ligand charge transfer complexes enable direct spin–orbit coupling contributions to T 1 → S 0 excited-state decay. These results are used to address spin-vibronic coupling contributions to T 1 → S 0 decay in a high-symmetry ( t Bu 2 bpy)Pt(S,S) ( t Bu 2 bpy = 4,4′-di- tert -butyl-2,2′-bipyridine and S,S = benzene-1,2-dithiolate) ligand-to-ligand charge transfer complex with effective C 2 v symmetry, where T 1 relaxation is both spin- and orbitally forbidden due to the direct spin–orbit coupling matrix element being zero by symmetry. Low-frequency vibrations that involve a pyridine–pyridine twisting motion within the bpy ligand generate large ∂⟨S 0 | H SO |T 1 ⟩/∂ Q i values that will contribute significantly to T 1 → S 0 relaxation. The work advances ligand design strategies for the generation of tailored T 1 → S 0 relaxation rates, which can be utilized to optimize the generation of electron spin polarization and excited state decay processes in radical-elaborated ligand-to-ligand charge transfer complexes.