Molecular rotors, a type of fluorescent molecule, are sensitive to their environment. These molecules form twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) states, and once excited they return to ground state following one of two deexcitation pathways: nonradiative intramolec- ular rotation or fluorescence emission. Temperature and solvent viscosity effects on the quantum yields of six rotors have been observed. In consideration of the power-law rela- tionship between viscosity and quantum yield, the purpose of this study is to investigate the intrinsic temperature-dependent behavior that governs the molecular rotors quantum yield. The TICT formation has been hypothesized to be temperature-dependent, and the power-law behavior has yet to be thoroughly examined. We have found that the temperature-dependent change in solvent viscosity accounts for the change in quantum yield, where temperature- dependent behavior of C and x have little influence.
