Understanding the On-Off Switching Mechanism in Cationic Tetravalent Group-V-Based Fluoride Molecular Sensors Using Orbital Analysis

The precise control of on-off switching is essential to the design of ideal molecular sensors. To understand the switching mechanism theoretically, we selected as representative example a 9-anthryltriphenylstibonium cation, which was reported as a fluoride ion sensor. In this molecule, the first excited singlet state exhibits two minimum geometries, where one of them is emissive and the other one dark. The excited state at the geometry with bright emission is of π-π∗ character, whereas it is of π-σ∗ character at the "dark" geometry. Geometry changes in the excited state were identified by geometry optimization and partial potential energy surface (PES) mapping. We also studied Group V homologues of this molecule. A barrierless relaxation pathway after vertical excitation to the "dark" geometry was found for the Sb-containing compound on the excited-states PES, whereas barriers appear in the case of P and As. Molecular orbital analysis suggests that the σ∗ orbital of the antimony compound is stabilized along such relaxation and that the excited state changes its nature correspondingly. Our results indicate that the size of the central atom is crucial for the design of fluoride sensors with this ligand framework.