Hierarchical Self-organization of Cyclic Chromophore Arrays for Artificial Light Harvesting

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Jürgen Köhler; Professor Dr. Frank Würthner
• Subject Area: Organic Molecular Chemistry - Synthesis and Characterisation
• Term: from 2005 to 2010
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 19554624

In the light harvesting system of purple bacteria hundreds of chromophores are hierarchically organized in cyclic arrays within a 2D membrane. In this project we aim to construct a similar but fully artificial system based on perylene bisimide dyes that are first organized in trimers to provide metallacycles containing three perylene bisimide and up to twelve additional antenna dyes. The optical and photophysical properties of these supramolecular dye assemblies are investigated by UV/Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy and, in particular, by single-molecule spectroscopy. In the subsequent step these trimeric units are self-assembled on surfaces to give 2D patterns of interacting ultichromophoric subunits.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants