@article {C7SC01285C, title = {The photophysics of naphthalene dimers controlled by sulfur bridge oxidation}, journal = {Chem. Sci.}, volume = {8}, year = {2017}, pages = {4941-4950}, publisher = {The Royal Society of Chemistry}, abstract = {In this study we investigate in detail the photophysics of naphthalene dimers covalently linked by a sulfur atom. We explore and rationalize how the oxidation state of the sulfur-bridging atom directly influences the photoluminescence of the dimer by enhancing or depriving its radiative and non-radiative relaxation pathways. In particular{,} we discuss how oxidation controls the amount of electronic transfer between the naphthalene moieties and the participation of the SOn bridge in the low-lying electronic transitions. We identify the sulfur electron lone-pairs as crucial actors in the non-radiative decay of the excited sulfide and sulfoxide dimers{,} which are predicted to proceed via a conical intersection (CI). Concretely{,} two types of CI have been identified for these dimers{,} which are associated with the photo-induced pyramidal inversion and reverse fragmentation mechanisms found in aryl sulfoxide dimers. The obtained results and conclusions are general enough to be extrapolated to other sulfur-bridged conjugated dimers{,} therefore proportionating novel strategies in the design of strongly photoluminescent organic molecules with controlled charge transfer.}, doi = {10.1039/C7SC01285C}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C7SC01285C}, author = {Climent, Claudia and Barbatti, Mario and Wolf, Michael O. and Bardeen, Christopher J. and Casanova, David} }