Intramolecular excited-state processes of a halato-telechelic polymer, evaluated by global compartmental analysis of the fluorescence decay surface with the use of model compounds

The excited-state processes of the halato-telechelic polymer bis[(N,N-dimethyl-N-[3-(1-Phenyl)propyl]ammonio)trifluoromethanesulfonate]-end-capped poly(tetrahydrofuran) at low concentrations are investigated by time-resolved fluorescence. The photophysical processes can be described by an intramolecular three-state excited-state model. Such a system is not identifiable in the absence of a priori information. It is possible to perform a global compartmental analysis of the fluorescence decay surface using the scanning technique, based on model compound data previously obtained [Hermans et al., J. Phys. Chem. 1994, 98, 13583 and Hermans et al. Macromolecules 1995, 28, 3380]. The value boundaries on the rate constant for ring closure of the chain ends show that this process is close to diffusion-controlled.