On the use of vibronic coherence to identify reaction coordinates for ultrafast excited-state dynamics of transition metal-based chromophores

The question of whether one can use information from quantum coherence as a means of identifying vibrational degrees of freedom that are active along an excited-state reaction coordinate is discussed. Specifically, we are exploring the notion of whether quantum oscillations observed in single-wavelength kinetics data exhibiting coherence dephasing times that are intermediate between that expected for either pure electronic or pure vibrational dephasing are vibronic in nature and therefore may be coupled to electronic state-to-state evolution. In the case of a previously published Fe(ii) polypyridyl complex, coherences observed subsequent to (1)A(1) -> (MLCT)-M-1 excitation were linked to large-amplitude motion of a portion of the ligand framework; dephasing times on the order of 200-300 fs suggested that these degrees of freedom could be associated with ultrafast (similar to 100 fs) conversion from the initially formed MLCT excited state to lower-energy, metal-centered ligand-field excited state(s) of the compound. Incorporation of an electronically benign but sterically restrictive Cu(i) ion into the superstructure designed to interfere with this motion yielded a compound exhibiting a similar to 25-fold increase in the compound's MLCT lifetime, a result that was interpreted as confirmation of the initial hypothesis. However, new data acquired on a different chemical system - Cr(acac ')(3) (where acac ' represents various derivatives of acetylacetonate) - yielded results that call into question this same hypothesis. Coherences observed subsequent to (4)A(2) -> T-4(2) ligand-field excitation on a series of molecules implicated similar vibrational degrees of freedom across the series, but exhibited dephasing times ranging from 340 fs to 2.5 ps without any clear correlation to the dynamics of excited-state evolution in the system. Taken together, the results obtained on both of these chemical platforms suggest that while identification of coherences can indeed point to degrees of freedom that should be considered as candidate modes for defining reaction trajectories, our understanding of the factors that determine the interplay across coherences, dephasing times, and electronic and geometric structure is insufficient at the present time to view this parameter as a robust metric for differentiating active versus spectator modes for ultrafast dynamics.