Excited-state dynamics and two-photon absorption cross sections of fluorescent diphenyl-tin(IV) derivatives with schiff bases: a comparative study of the effect of chelation from the ultrafast to the steady-state time scale.

Schiff bases bearing an intramolecular hydrogen bond are known to undergo excited-state intramolecular proton transfer and E-Z isomerization, which are related to their thermochromism and solvatochromism properties. In this study, we explored these ultrafast photoinduced processes for two doubly hydroxylated Schiff bases, salicylidene-2-aminophenol and 2-hydroxynaphthylmethylidene-2-aminophenol. From comparisons with our previously reported results for the parent monohidroxylated Schiff base salicylideneaniline, we were able to establish the lack of an effect of a second intramolecular hydrogen bond in the excited-state intramolecular proton-transfer process. Moreover, we synthesized and studied the photophysics of 14 diphenyl-tin(IV) derivatives with Schiff bases with the same framework as the former two. In these organometallic compounds, we observed an increase of more than 50 times in the excited-state decay times in comparison with those of the free ligands. This finding is attributed to the coordination with the metallic center, which restricts the fluctuations of the geometry of the organic Schiff base skeleton. The emission bands of these complexes can be easily tuned through substitutions at the Schiff base ligand and can be made to be centered well above 600 nm. The much enhanced emissive behavior of all diphenyl-tin(IV) derivatives allowed the study of several properties of their electronically excited states, including the effects of different substituents on their femtosecond and picosecond dynamics. Considering potential applications, we also performed transient absorption experiments to assess the wavelength interval for stimulated emission of this type of compound. Finally, we determined their two-photon absorption cross sections in the 760-820-nm range by measuring their two-photon induced fluorescence excitation spectra. Mainly, our results illustrate that the diphenyl-tin(IV) moiety, thanks to its size and its coordination mode with a single Schiff base, can be coordinated to this versatile framework to obtain tunable optical properties wherein the emissive states can have lifetimes on the nanosecond time scale.