Figure 5.

Transient absorption spectra of peridinin at ambient temperature taken at different time delays after excitation at 485 nm in n-hexane (upper), methyl-t-butyl ether, ethyl acetate, 2-propanol and methanol (lower). The different time delays are represented by lines of different type and color, as shown at the right. The band assignments are based on literature studies, as discussed in the text, where S₁ is the lowest-lying “2¹A_g^–” covalent state, S₂ is the strongly allowed “1¹B_u⁺” state, and S_n is a generic higher excited singlet state. The unexpected observation of an ICT state in hexane is discussed at the end of the article.