Modulation of Excited State Proton Transfer Dynamics of a Lactim-Lactam Tautomeric System in Different Block Copolymer-Surfactant Aggregates

Regulated stepwise ESDPT mechanism associated with chalcogen substitutions in BDIBD derivatives

Inspired by the brilliant photochemical and photophysical properties of organic molecules containing chalcogenide substitutions that could be potentially applied across various disciplines, in this work, the effects of the atomic electronegativity of chalcogens (O, S, and Se) on hydrogen bond interactions and excited state proton transfer (ESPT) are mainly focused. We present characteristic oxygen-hydroxybenzazole-substituted 2,5-bis(4,5-diphenyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)benzene-1,4-diol (BDIBD) derivatives that contain intramolecular double hydrogen bonds. The main objective of this study was to explore in detail the influence of the change of chalcogen atomic electronegativity on dual hydrogen bond interaction and ESPT behavior. By comparing the structural changes and infrared (IR) vibrational spectra of BDIBD derivative (BDIBD-O, BDIBD-S and BDIBD-Se) fluorophores in S0 and S1 states, combined with the preliminary detection of hydrogen bond interaction via the core-valence bifurcation (CVB) index and predicted hydrogen bonding energy (EHB), we conclude that dual hydrogen bonds should be strengthened in the S1 state, which is favorable for the occurrence of ESPT reactions. The charge recombination behavior of hydrogen bonds, induced by photoexcitation, further illustrates this point. By constructing potential energy surfaces (PESs) based on restrictive optimization and by searching the transition state (TS) structure, we finally elucidate stepwise excited-state double proton transfer (ESDPT). Specifically, we confirm that a change in atomic electronegativity has a regulatory effect on the ESDPT behavior in BDIBD derivatives, that is, lower atomic electronegativity is more conducive to stepwise ESDPT.

Investigation of the intramolecular hydrogen bonding interactions and excited state proton transfer mechanism for both Br-BTN and CN-BTN systems

In the present work, two novel Br-BTN and CN-BTN compounds have been investigated theoretically. We in-depth explore the excited state hydrogen bonding interactions and the excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) behaviors for the Br-BTN and CN-BTN system. We firstly verify the formation of hydrogen bond effects of O–H⋯N based on reduced density gradient (RDG) versus sign(λ₂)ρ. The simulated primary bond lengths and bond angles as well as infrared (IR) vibrational spectra reveal that the hydrogen bond O–H⋯N should be strengthened in the excited state. Combining the frontier molecular orbital (MO) investigations, we infer that the charge transfer phenomenon (from HOMO to LUMO) around hydrogen bonding moieties reveals the tendency of ESIPT reaction. Particularly, the increased electronic densities around proton acceptor atoms facilitate attracting a hydrogen proton, which plays a decisive role in opening the ESIPT reaction. Via constructing potential energy curves in both S₀ and S₁ states, the ultrafast ESIPT process can be verified which explains previous experimental characteristics. Furthermore, via searching the transition state (TS) structure and constructing the intrinsic reaction coordinate (IRC) reaction path, we check and confirm the ESIPT mechanism for both Br-BTN and CN-BTN systems. We sincerely hope that our theoretical work could guide novel applications based on Br-BTN and CN-BTN compounds in future.

In the present work, two novel Br-BTN and CN-BTN compounds have been investigated theoretically.