Intramolecular electronic energy transfer in rhodamine–azulene bichromophoric molecule

Electron transfer and electronic energy transfer (EET) processes are ways by which different molecules can interact, signalling their state, by EET from a donor (D) to an acceptor (A). This D–A transfer is often observed in an intermolecular process but it can also occur intramolecularly, that is between two bridged parts of a bichromophoric molecule. In this paper we present results pertaining to electronic energy transfer in a newly synthesized rhodamine–azulene (Rh–Az) a bichromophoric molecule, in which a full adder can be implemented. The intramolecular EET rate constant in the Rh–Az molecule was found to be 7.81 × 109 s−1.