Subpicosecond time-resolved intramolecular electronic energy transfer in flexible bichromophoric Coumarin molecules

By excite-and-probe spectroscopy with subpicosecond time resolution, the authors have measured the intramolecular electronic energy transfer in bichromophoric coumarins linked by a flexible polymethylene chain. The transfer proceeds on a time scale between 1 and 20 ps depending on the polymethylene chain length. The results can be well described by a dipole-dipole interaction model that takes into account the statistical distribution of intramolecular distances between the two chromophores.