A Fresh Perspective on the Photophysics of Benzophenone

A Fresh Perspective on the Photophysics of Benzophenone | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article A Fresh Perspective on the Photophysics of Benzophenone Andrew Monkman, Carolina Francener, Hector Miranda-Salinas, Larrisa Gomes Franca This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7536619/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Aromatic ketones, such as benzophenone ( BP ), are widely used as photophores and triplet sensitizers in photochemical reactions. It is also employed in donor-acceptor delayed fluorescence systems. BP is the benchmark for studying the photophysics of aromatic ketones due to its efficient triplet generation. Despite its importance, many spectroscopic properties of BP have not been critically investigated in recent times. Here we report the characterization of BP using steady-state and time-resolved optical techniques in non-polar environments. The planar structural analogue, 10,10-dimethylanthrone ( DMA ), was also studied to assess the degree of importance that the BP molecular structure plays. Both BP and DMA exhibit direct triplet absorption and instantaneous phosphorescence, challenging current models of fast triplet formation in ketones. Surprisingly, high-energy excitation produces anti-Kasha S₂ emission alongside S₁. The intersystem crossing (ISC) mechanism was further clarified through transient absorption measurements. This work offers fresh insights into aromatic ketone photophysics. MAIN Physical sciences/Chemistry/Materials chemistry Physical sciences/Chemistry/Physical chemistry Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files BPDMASI.docx Supplimentary information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7536619","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":514335369,"identity":"ae1f4a1b-4d89-416c-a519-0fbfe9b62c32","order_by":0,"name":"Andrew Monkman","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA+ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBADAyBmfMDDwJCALEJQC7MByVrYJIjSwt/Ae4DpRsUdY932s8cq3rbdy+OfdoDxww+Gw8a4tEgc4EtgzjnzzMzsTF7azbltxcUStxOYJXsYDpvhdNEBHgPm3LbDNmYHcsxu87YlJDbcTmCQZmA4bINLhzxcy/k3ZsUgLfOBtvzGp8UAqsXM7EaOGTNIy4bbCWwgW3A6zPAwX8LhnDOHjc1uvDGWnHMuIXHj7cQ2yx6DdJzelzvee/BxTsVhw23ncww/vClLSJx3O/nwjR8V1oYNuPQw8zAcQBNibCAQkTz4JEfBKBgFo2AUAAEACm9YMPuqQhkAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0784-8640","institution":"Durham University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Andrew","middleName":"","lastName":"Monkman","suffix":""},{"id":514335370,"identity":"18e9d18b-c3a8-47ac-b77c-373a750dd91f","order_by":1,"name":"Carolina Francener","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Durham University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Carolina","middleName":"","lastName":"Francener","suffix":""},{"id":514335371,"identity":"d1cb43ef-bd13-48eb-91fb-5f851eea277a","order_by":2,"name":"Hector Miranda-Salinas","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6403-5251","institution":"Durham University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hector","middleName":"","lastName":"Miranda-Salinas","suffix":""},{"id":514335372,"identity":"ae84e9b3-d7ec-468b-b811-2b0f15745bce","order_by":3,"name":"Larrisa Gomes Franca","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy University of Cambridge","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Larrisa","middleName":"Gomes","lastName":"Franca","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-09-04 13:32:19","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7536619/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7536619/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":92435175,"identity":"775211b2-e80a-4701-a670-0d005738b7c1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-29 16:53:35","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":977476,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"BPDMAManuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7536619/v1_covered_21ec6f4f-8fe2-4a49-a224-6285e1d5f786.pdf"},{"id":92434644,"identity":"0a7d1789-8c07-4ef5-a861-05cec0d43026","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-29 16:45:33","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":1221142,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Supplimentary information","description":"","filename":"BPDMASI.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7536619/v1/40dd2c270c483b52dde6a1b1.docx"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"A Fresh Perspective on the Photophysics of Benzophenone","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7536619/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7536619/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eAromatic ketones, such as benzophenone (\u003cb\u003eBP\u003c/b\u003e), are widely used as photophores and triplet sensitizers in photochemical reactions. It is also employed in donor-acceptor delayed fluorescence systems. \u003cb\u003eBP\u003c/b\u003e is the benchmark for studying the photophysics of aromatic ketones due to its efficient triplet generation. Despite its importance, many spectroscopic properties of \u003cb\u003eBP\u003c/b\u003e have not been critically investigated in recent times. Here we report the characterization of \u003cb\u003eBP\u003c/b\u003e using steady-state and time-resolved optical techniques in non-polar environments. The planar structural analogue, 10,10-dimethylanthrone (\u003cb\u003eDMA\u003c/b\u003e), was also studied to assess the degree of importance that the \u003cb\u003eBP\u003c/b\u003e molecular structure plays. Both \u003cb\u003eBP\u003c/b\u003e and \u003cb\u003eDMA\u003c/b\u003e exhibit direct triplet absorption and instantaneous phosphorescence, challenging current models of fast triplet formation in ketones. Surprisingly, high-energy excitation produces anti-Kasha S₂ emission alongside S₁. The intersystem crossing (ISC) mechanism was further clarified through transient absorption measurements. This work offers fresh insights into aromatic ketone photophysics.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMAIN\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"A Fresh Perspective on the Photophysics of Benzophenone","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-09-29 16:45:29","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7536619/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-communications","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"NCOMMS","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Communications](http://www.nature.com/ncomms/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://mts-ncomms.nature.com/","title":"Nature Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Communications","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"d3c5d9f3-6c86-445a-8d04-80cb12d600f2","owner":[],"postedDate":"September 29th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":54646220,"name":"Physical sciences/Chemistry/Materials chemistry"},{"id":54646221,"name":"Physical sciences/Chemistry/Physical chemistry"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-09-29T16:45:29+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-09-29 16:45:29","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7536619","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7536619","identity":"rs-7536619","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}