Wolfgang Kuehnle

Bio: Wolfgang Kuehnle is an academic researcher from Max Planck Society. The author has contributed to research in topics: Excited state & Electron transfer. The author has an hindex of 11, co-authored 12 publications receiving 918 citations.

Excited-state dipole moments of dual fluorescent 4-(dialkylamino)benzonitriles: influence of alkyl chain length and effective solvent polarity

Abstract: Singlet excited-state dipole moments of a number of aminobenzonitriles have been determined in cyclohexane, benzene, and 1,4-dioxane, using time-resolved microwave conductivity (TRMC) and fluorescence spectroscopy techniques. For the 4-(dialkylamino)benzonitriles (methyl, ethyl, propyl, and decyl) intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) occurs in the excited singlet state even in the nonpolar solvent cyclohexane

Intramolecular charge transfer in dual fluorescent 4-(dialkylamino)benzonitriles.

Abstract: The intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) reaction from the locally excited state (LE) to the charge transfer state (CT) in the singlet excited state is investigated for the dual fluorescent 4-(dial...

Structural Changes Accompanying Intramolecular Electron Transfer: Focus on Twisted Intramolecular Charge-Transfer States and Structures

Abstract: 6. Rehybridization of the Acceptor (RICT) 3908 7. Planarization of the Molecule (PICT) 3909 III. Fluorescence Spectroscopy 3909 A. Solvent Effects and the Model Compounds 3909 1. Solvent Effects on the Spectra 3909 2. Steric Effects and Model Compounds 3911 3. Bandwidths 3913 4. Isoemissive Points 3914 B. Dipole Moments 3915 C. Radiative Rates and Transition Moments 3916 1. Quantum Yields and Radiationless Deactivation Processes 3916

Geometries and properties of excited states in the gas phase and in solution: theory and application of a time-dependent density functional theory polarizable continuum model.

Abstract: In this paper we present the theory and implementation of analytic derivatives of time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) excited states energies, both in vacuo and including solvent effects by means of the polarizable continuum model. The method is applied to two case studies: p-nitroaniline and 4-(dimethyl)aminobenzonitrile. For both molecules PCM-TDDFT is shown to be successful in supporting the analysis of experimental data with useful insights for a better understanding of photophysical and photochemical pathways in solution.

A Model for Photoreceptor-Based Magnetoreception in Birds

Abstract: A large variety of animals has the ability to sense the geomagnetic field and utilize it as a source of directional (compass) information. It is not known by which biophysical mechanism this magnetoreception is achieved. We investigate the possibility that magnetoreception involves radical-pair processes that are governed by anisotropic hyperfine coupling between (unpaired) electron and nuclear spins. We will show theoretically that fields of geomagnetic field strength and weaker can produce significantly different reaction yields for different alignments of the radical pairs with the magnetic field. As a model for a magnetic sensory organ we propose a system of radical pairs being 1) orientationally ordered in a molecular substrate and 2) exhibiting changes in the reaction yields that affect the visual transduction pathway. We evaluate three-dimensional visual modulation patterns that can arise from the influence of the geomagnetic field on radical-pair systems. The variations of these patterns with orientation and field strength can furnish the magnetic compass ability of birds with the same characteristics as observed in behavioral experiments. We propose that the recently discovered photoreceptor cryptochrome is part of the magnetoreception system and suggest further studies to prove or disprove this hypothesis.

New Conjugated Polymers with Donor−Acceptor Architectures: Synthesis and Photophysics of Carbazole−Quinoline and Phenothiazine−Quinoline Copolymers and Oligomers Exhibiting Large Intramolecular Charge Transfer

Abstract: Alternating carbazole−quinoline and phenothiazine−quinoline donor−acceptor conjugated copolymers and a corresponding oligomer were synthesized, and their solution and solid-state photophysics were investigated. The new copolymers, poly(2,2‘-9-methyl-3,6-carbazolylene-6,6‘-bis(4-phenylquinoline)) and poly(2,2‘-10-methyl-3,7-phenothiazylene-6,6‘-bis(4-phenylquinoline)), had intrinsic viscosities of 11.2−22.0 dL/g, indicating very high molecular weights. The optical band gaps of the new copolymers were 2.35−2.64 eV, which are significantly smaller than the corresponding homopolymers. The absorption and emission spectra of the related donor−acceptor oligomers, 3,6-[bis(4-phenyl-2-quinolyl)]-9-methylcarbazole and 3,7-[bis(4-phenyl-2-quinolyl)]-10-methylphenothiazine, in solvents of varying polarity showed positive solvatochromism. An unusual dual fluorescence, with a blue emission band at 454 nm and an orange emission band at 584 nm, was observed in solid films of the carbazole-linked oligomer and related to i...