Nature of Large Temporal Fluctuations of Hydrogen Transfer Rates in Single Molecules

Double hydrogen transfer was monitored in single molecules of parent porphycene and its tetra-t-butyl derivative using confocal fluorescence microscopy. The molecules have been embedded in a polymer matrix. Under such conditions, a significant fraction of the population reveals a huge decrease of the tautomerization rate with respect to the value obtained from ensemble studies in solution. This effect is explained by a model that assumes that the rate is determined by the reorganization coordinate that involves slow relaxation of the polymer matrix. The model provides indirect evidence for the dominant role of tunneling. It is proposed that tautomerization in single molecules of the porphycene family can be used to probe polymer relaxation dynamics on the time scale ranging from picoseconds to minutes.