Theoretical insights into excited-state intramolecular and multiple intermolecular hydrogen bonds in 2-(2-Hydroxy-phenyl)-4(3H)-quinazolinone

The photophysical properties and photochemistry reactions of 2-(2-Hydroxy-phenyl)-4(3H)-quinazolinone (HPQ) system in different solutions are studied by using density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) methods. Our theoretical investigation explores that an ultrafast barrier-free excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) process occurs and the configuration twisting is found in the electronic excited state. In the polar protic methanol solution, the hydrogen-bonded complex composed by HPQ and two methanol molecules (HPQ-2M) could exist stably in the ground state. Upon photoexcitation the isolated HPQ is initially excited to the first excited state, while the HPQ-2M system is firstly excited to the S₃ state and undergoes internal conversion (IC) to the S₁ state. The intermolecular hydrogen bonds are strengthened in the excited state. The simulated electronic spectra agree well with the experimental results. The strengthening of the intermolecular hydrogen bonds is also confirmed by the calculated vibrational spectra. In addition, the intramolecular charge transfer happens in both HPQ and HPQ-2M systems from the frontier molecular orbital analysis.

Effects of hydrogen bond on 2-aminopyridine and its derivatives complexes in methanol solvent

In the present work, the time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) method was adopted to investigate the excited state hydrogen-bond dynamics of 2-aminopyridine monomer (2AP) and its derivatives in hydrogen donating methanol solvent. The calculated steady-state absorption and fluorescence spectra agree well with the experimental results. Theoretical results state that the bond lengths of both O-H and N-H bands are lengthened, while the intermolecular hydrogen bond lengths are shortened in the excited state. Further, the intermolecular hydrogen bonds are proved to be strengthened according to the calculated binding energy. As a reasonable explanation, the hydrogen bonds binding energy increases with multiple hydrogen-bonding interactions in the electronically excited state. In addition, the hydrogen bonding dynamics in the excited state were visualized by the spectral shifts of vibrational modes. The calculated infrared spectra of both O-H and N-H stretching vibrational regions revealed that the O-H and N-H stretching bands red-shift.