Hydrogen-bond-mediated photoinduced electron-transfer: Novel dimethylaniline-anthracene ensembles formed via Watson-Crick base-pairing

The synthesis of a new, noncovalent anthracene-dimethylaniline dyad (ensemble I) held together via guanosine-cytidine Watson-Crick base-pairing interactions is reported. Upon excitation at 420 nm, photoinduced electron-transfer from the dimethylaniline donor to the singlet excited state of the anthracene acceptor occurs, as inferred from a combination of time-resolved fluorescence quenching and transient absorption measurements. In toluene at room temperature, the rate constants for photoinduced intraensemble electron-transfer and subsequent back-electron-transfer (charge recombination) are k(CS) = (3.5 +/- 0.03) x 10(10) s(-1) and k(CR) = (1.42 +/- 0.03) x 10(9) s(-1), respectively.