Ground- and excited-state properties of Zn(II) tetrakis(4-tetramethylpyridyl) pophyrin specifically encapsulated within a Zn(II) HKUST metal-organic framework.

We have examined the photophysical properties of Zn(II) tetramethylpyridyl porphyrin (ZnT4MPyP) specifically encapsulated within the cubioctahedral cavities of a ZnHKUST metal- organic framework. The encapsulated ZnT4MPyP exhibits a Soret maxima at ∼458 nm that is bathochromically shifted relative to ZnT4PyP in ethanol solution (Soret maxima centered at 440 nm). The corresponding emission spectra of the encapsulated porphyrin exhibit resolvable bands centered at 636 and 677 nm relative to a single broad emission band of the ZnT4MPyP in ethanol solution centered at 636 nm with a shoulder situated near ∼660 nm. The fluorescence lifetime of the encapsulated porphyrin is also perturbed relative to that of the free porphyrin in solution (1.88 ns for the encapsulated porphyrin relative to 1.2 ns in solution). These results are consistent with the ZnT4MPyP being in a more constrained environment in which the peripheral pyridyl groups have restricted rotational motion. The ZnT4MPyP triplet lifetime is also affected by encapsulation, giving rise to a longer lifetime (τ ≈ 3.3 ms) relative to that for the free porphyrin in solution (τ ≈ 1 ms). The triplet-state results indicate that nonplanar vibrational modes of the porphyrin leading to intersystem crossing are retained by encapsulation of the porphyrin but that either the density of vibrational states or the specific nonplanar modes coupling the singlet and triplet states may be perturbed, resulting in the longer observed lifetime.