Hydrogen-Bond Dynamics in the Excited State of Coumarin 102−Aniline Hydrogen-Bonded Complex

Coumarin 102 excitation in aqueous media: contributions of vibronic coupling and hydration

For the first time, vibronic coupling was considered when analyzing the excitation of coumarin C102.

Effect of hydrogen bond on solvation dynamics of coumarin153 in cyclohexane-phenol solvent mixtures by time-resolved optical Kerr fluorescence

Time-resolved optical Kerr fluorescence system was used to investigate time-resolved red-shift of coumarin 153 in different solvent mixtures. The mixtures included four mole fractions of phenol-cyclohexane solvents (0, 0.013, 0.08, and 0.3), and anisole-cyclohexane solvents with the mole fraction of 0.3. The measured time-resolved fluorescence showed that, in the solvent mixtures containing phenol, the time-dependent frequency shift accelerated with the increase in the mole fraction of phenol-cyclohexane mixtures. However, the time-dependent red-shift in the fluorescence was not observed in the anisole-cyclohexane mixture, the solvent polarity could not influence the spectral Stokes shift compared with phenol. The results indicated that coumarin 153 formed an excited hydrogen bond with phenol, and the excited hydrogen bond was strengthened with an increase in the mole fraction of phenol. And, these processes also suggested that the increase in the phenol ratio improves a large number of hydrogen bond formed between phenol and carbonyl group of coumarin 153, the charge distribution will be faster towards lower the free energy of the system due to the stronger dipole moment. Therefore, the corresponding solvation response in phenol-cyclohexane mixtures with higher mole fractions decays very rapidly.

Excited state hydrogen atom transfer in micro-solvated dicoumarol: A TDDFT/EFP1 study

Ground (S₀) and excited (S₁) state properties of dicoumarol (DC) are investigated by applying density functional theory (DFT) and time dependent DFT (TDDFT) interfacing with the effective fragment potential (EFP) method of solvation. Benzene and pyrone rings of the each 4-hydroxy coumarin (4HC) moiety are in a plane and these planes are twisted by 180° with respect to each other. Two intra-molecular hydrogen bonds (HB) CO⋯HO exist between the carbonyl (CO) and hydroxyl (OH) groups of different 4HC moieties (4HC-1 and 4HC-2). DC(H₂O)₃ complex is formed using the original EFP model (EFP1). Four inter-molecular HBs are established by the carbonyl and hydroxyl oxygen atoms of 4HC-1 and 4HC-2 moieties; two HBs with two solvent molecules on one side of the complex and other two HBs with one solvent molecule at the other side. In S₁ state, the hydrogen atomtransfer takes place only from the hydroxyl group of 4HC-1 to the carbonyl group of 4HC-2. The natural charge analysis and the modification of HBs manifest the intra-molecular charge transfer (ICT) from one 4HC moiety to another. Theoretical and experimental studies of the absorption spectra, and the theoretical study of potential energy curves of OH bonds at both S₀ and S₁ states affirm the hydrogen atom transfer from the hydroxyl group of 4HC-1 to the carbonyl group of 4HC-2 moiety.

Hydrogen bond strengthening between o-nitroaniline and formaldehyde in electronic excited states: A theoretical study

To study the hydrogen bonds upon photoexcited, the time dependent density function method (TD DFT) was performed to investigate the excited state hydrogen bond properties of between o-nitroaniline (ONA) and formaldehyde (CH₂O). The optimized structures of the complex and the monomers both in the ground state and the electronically excited states are calculated using DFT and TD DFT method respectively. Quantum chemical calculations of the electronic and vibrational absorption spectra are also carried out by TD DFT method at the different level. The complex ONA⋯CH₂O forms the intramolecular hydrogen bond and intermolecular hydrogen bonds. Since the strength of hydrogen bonds can be measured by studying the vibrational absorption spectra of the characteristic groups on the hydrogen bonding acceptor and donor, it evidently confirms that the hydrogen bonds is strengthened in the S₁/S₂/T₁ excited states upon photoexcitation. As a result, the hydrogen bonds cause that the CH stretch frequency of the proton donor CH₂O has a blue shift, and the electron excitations leads to a frequency red shift of NO and NH stretch modes in the o-nitroaniline(ONA) and a small frequency blue shift of CH stretch mode in the formaldehyde(CH₂O) in the S₁ and S₂ excited states. The excited states S₁, S₂ and T₁ are locally excited states where only the ONA moiety is excited, but the CH₂O moiety remains in its ground state.

Solvation and hydrogen bonding aided efficient non-radiative deactivation of polar excited state of 5-aminoquinoline

The mechanism of efficient fluorescence quenching of 5-aminoquinoline in alcoholic solvents.

Two-Photon-Excited Fluorescence-Encoded Infrared Spectroscopy

We report on a method for performing ultrafast infrared (IR) vibrational spectroscopy using fluorescence detection. Vibrational dynamics on the ground electronic state driven by femtosecond mid-infrared pulses are detected by changes in fluorescence amplitude resulting from modulation of a two-photon visible transition by nuclear motion. We examine a series of coumarin dyes and study the signals as a function of solvent and excitation pulse parameters. The measured signal characterizes the relaxation of vibrational populations and coherences but yields different information than conventional IR transient absorption measurements. These differences result from the manner in which the ground-state dynamics are projected by the two-photon detection step. Extensions of this method can be adapted for a variety of increased-sensitivity IR measurements.

Exploring excited state properties of 7-hydroxy and 7-methoxy 4-methycoumarin: a combined time-dependent density functional theory/effective fragment potential study

Hydrogen bond dynamics, C–OH bond contracting, O–H bond stretching and O–H⋯O HB strengthening reveal the ESHT in 4MU at the S₁state.

Anomalous modulation of photoinduced electron transfer of coumarin 102 in aniline-dimethylaniline mixture: dominant role of hydrogen bonding

In a previous study, we reported a striking observation that photoinduced electron transfer (PET) from aniline (AN) to photoexcited coumarin 102 (C102) can be accelerated by adding an inert component (cyclohexane or toluene) to the neat electron donor solvent AN (Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2014, 16, 6159-6166). The H-bond linking the electron donor (D, AN) and the acceptor (A, C102) was proposed to dictate the PET process. To account for the unusual variation of quenching pattern with AN mole fraction, two possible reasons were cited - (1) the D-A (AN-C102) H-bonding may be modulated due to change in polarity of the medium or (2) the additional D-D (AN-AN) H-bonding may restrain the D-A H-bonding to adjust optimally for the PET. Here, we investigate the PET of C102 in an AN-dimethylaniline (DMA) mixture to negate the polarity variation. Since, both AN and DMA have similar polarities, the polarity of the mixture should remain invariant at all compositions. Nevertheless, we found that the fluorescence quantum yield and lifetime of C102 in the mixtures follows a similar unusual trend as observed earlier in the AN-toluene or AN-cyclohexane mixtures; it first decreases up to a particular mole fraction (XD) of the H-bond donor AN and, thereafter, increases on further enrichment of the donor. The observed PET modulation may be rationalized by considering efficient PET in the 1 : 1 H-bonded C102-AN complex but less efficient PET in higher order C102-(AN)n≥2 complexes, where additional D-D (AN-AN) H-bonding may influence the key C102-AN H-bonding and thus inhibit the PET process.

Faster photoinduced electron transfer in a diluted mixture than in a neat donor solvent: effect of excited-state H-bonding

In a neat electron-donating solvent (in this case aniline), photoinduced electron transfer (PET) from the solvent to an excited acceptor (e.g. a coumarin fluorophore) may be anticipated to be the most efficient because of the close contact of the acceptor with many donors. Addition of an inert component would most likely retard the PET process by replacing some donors from the neighbourhood of the acceptors. Surprisingly, we found dramatic acceleration of PET (6-10 fold enhancement compared to neat aniline), for coumarin 102 (C102) dissolved in a binary mixture of aniline and an inert solvent (cyclohexane or toluene). The PET induced fluorescence follows an anomalous trend against the mole fraction of aniline (XAN); first quenches up to certain XAN (0.075 for cyclohexane; 0.13 for toluene), thereafter, enhances with increase in XAN. Although the non-interacting component cannot directly participate in the PET process, it may modulate C102-aniline H-bonding association by changing the polarity of the medium or by disrupting the aniline-aniline H-bond. The study clearly illustrates the dominant role of hydrogen bonding in activating the electron transfer rate where standard thermodynamics predicts very weak donor-acceptor interaction.

Modulation of ultrafast photoinduced electron transfer in H-bonding environment: PET from aniline to coumarin 153 in the presence of an inert co-solvent cyclohexane

A passive component is found to boost H-bond assisted PET in a mixture using femtosecond fluorescence measurements and MD simulation.

Solvation and protonation of coumarin 102 in aqueous media: a fluorescence spectroscopic and theoretical study

The ground- and excited-state protonation of Coumarin 102 (C102), a fluorescent probe applied frequently in heterogeneous systems with an aqueous phase, has been studied in aqueous solutions by spectroscopic experiments and theoretical calculations. For the dissociation constant of the protonated form in the ground state, pKa = 1.61 was obtained from the absorption spectra; for the excited-state dissociation constant, pKa* = 2.19 was obtained from the fluorescence spectra. These values were closely reproduced by theoretical calculations via a thermodynamic cycle (the value of pKa* also by calculations via the Förster cycle) using an implicit–explicit solvation model (polarized continuum model + addition of a solvent molecule). The theoretical calculations indicated that (i) in the ground state, C102 occurs primarily as a hydrogen-bonded water complex, with the oxo group as the binding site, (ii) this hydrogen bond becomes stronger upon excitation, and (iii) in the ground state, the amino nitrogen atom is the protonation site, and in the excited state, the carboxy oxygen atom is the protonation site. A comprehensive analysis of fluorescence decay data yielded the values kpr = 3.27 × 10(10) M(–1) s(–1) for the rate constant of the excited-state protonation and kdpr = 2.78 × 10(8) s(–1) for the rate constant of the reverse process (kpr and kdpr were treated as independent parameters). This, considering the relatively long fluorescence lifetimes of neutral C102 (6.02 ns) and its protonated form (3.06 ns) in aqueous media, means that a quasi-equilibrium state of excited-state proton transfer is reached in strongly acidic solutions.

Study on the modulation of spectral properties of the formylperylene-methanol clusters by excited-state hydrogen bonding strengthening

In the present work, the charge transfer (CT) process within the formylperylene (FPe)-methanol (MeOH) systems facilitated by intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions is theoretically studied in both the ground state S0 and the first singlet excited state S1. The geometric structures, electronic spectra and the infrared spectra of the FPe monomer as well as the various hydrogen-bonded FPe-MeOH complexes in both states were calculated with the density functional theory (DFT) method and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) methods, respectively. It is demonstrated that the total effect of the intermolecular hydrogen bonding between FPe and the MeOH molecules becomes strengthened in the ground state as the number of the MeOH molecules hydrogen-bonded to the FPe molecule increases from zero to three, which induces large increases in the dipole moment as well as systemic redshifts of the absorption spectra of FPe. Furthermore, upon photoexcitation of the FPe molecule, the intermolecular hydrogen bonds formed in the various hydrogen-bonded FPe-MeOH complexes are further strengthened which leads to even larger dipole moments as well as obvious redshifts of the fluorescence spectra. The calculated electronic spectra of the various hydrogen-bonded FPe-MeOH complexes are in agreement with the steady-state absorption and fluorescence spectra of FPe observed in the binary mixed solvents with different MeOH concentration. The intermolecular hydrogen bonding strengthening in both the ground and excited states are further confirmed by the infrared spectra shifts. Moreover, the vitally important role played by the intermolecular hydrogen bonding interaction and its strengthening upon electronic excitation in the CT process is discussed.

Fluorescence of tryptophan in aqueous solution

In this work, the absorption and emission spectra of Tryptophan (Trp) in aqueous solution were studied. Moreover, a hydrogen-bonded zwitterionic Trp(H2O)9 model was proposed and its ground-state and excited-state properties were investigated using the density functional theory (DFT) and the time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) methods, respectively. All spectroscopic data in our experiments can be well explained by the hydrogen bond strengthening in the excited state of the model complex. The delocalization of electron density between indole moiety and neighboring H2O molecules in fluorescent state was proposed to be facilitated by the strengthened hydrogen-bond chain, and thus resulting in the large red-shift fluorescence of Trp in aqueous solution.

A theoretical study of hydration effects on structural stability and hydrogen-bonding dynamics of 2′-deoxyguanosine 5′-monophosphate with different negative charges

The effects of hydration on the ground-state structural stability and excited-state hydrogen-bonding dynamics of 2′-deoxyguanosine 5′-monophosphate (dGMP) carrying different negative charges were investigated with B3LYP/6–31+G(d,p) using density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) methods, respectively. Particularly, we not only considered the solvent effects by the polarizible continuum model (PCM), but also the first solvation shell was included explicitly. We demonstrated that the intramolecular hydrogen bond O2–H1···O3 will be weakened with the strengthening of the hydration. From the view of bond length, we can make a valid presumption that the site of negative charge will be the more preferable site of the hydration, and the preferable site may be changed because of the presence of other hydrogen bonds. Furthermore, we found that the first solvation shell had very little effect on the geometric structures except for the hydrogen bond P–O5···H5. By comparing the excitation energies, one important finding is that the changes in different electronic states are not obvious with the increase in n value when considering the PCM. Another finding is that the average interactions of hydrogen bonds may be strengthened with an increase of negative charge because of a decrease in excitation energies.

TIME-DEPENDENT DENSITY FUNCTIONAL THEORY STUDY ON DYNAMICS OF HYDROGEN BONDING IN EXCITED STATES OF TRANS-ACETANILIDE IN METHANOL SOLVENT

The hydrogen-bonding dynamics in both singlet and triplet excited states of the trans-acetanilide ( AA ) in methanol ( MeOH ) solvent was investigated using the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) method. Geometric optimizations of the hydrogen-bonded AA–MeOH complexes considered here as well as the isolated AA and MeOH molecules were performed using density functional theory (DFT) method. At the same time, the TDDFT method was performed to calculate the electronic transition energies and corresponding oscillation strengths of all the compounds in the low-lying electronically excited states. In this study, only the intermolecular hydrogen bonds C=O⋯H–O and N–H⋯O–H can be formed. A theoretical forecast that changes of hydrogen bonds in the low-lying electronic excited states was proposed. We discussed not only ground-state geometric structures and electronic excitation energies but also frontier molecular orbitals and electron density transition. The intermolecular hydrogen bonds between AA and MeOH molecules play an important role in the geometric structures and electronic excitation energies. Zhao et al. have put forward the relationship between the electronic spectra and hydrogen bonding dynamics for the first time. According to Zhao's rule, a redshift of the relevant electronic spectra will appear if hydrogen bond is strengthened, while the hydrogen bond weakening can make an electronic spectra shift to blue.

Solvent and pH dependent fluorescent properties of a dimethylaminostyryl borondipyrromethene dye in solution

Steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence techniques have been used to study the photophysical properties of the fluorescent BODIPY-derived dye 3-{2-[4-(dimethylamino)phenyl]ethenyl}-4,4-difluoro-8-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1,5,7-trimethyl-3a,4a-diaza-4-bora-s-indacene. This compound has been synthesized via a microwave-assisted condensation of p-N,N-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde with the appropriate 1,3,5,7-tetramethyl substituted borondipyrromethene unit. The fluorescence properties of the dye are strongly solvent dependent: increasing the solvent polarity leads to lower fluorescence quantum yields and lifetimes, and the wavelength of maximum fluorescence emission shifts to the red. The Catalán solvent scales are found to be the most suitable for describing the solvatochromic shifts of the fluorescence emission. These are dominated by polarity/polarizability effects, as confirmed by quantum-chemical calculations performed in the dielectric continuum approximation. Fluorescence decay profiles of the dye can be described by a single-exponential fit in most solvents investigated, while two decay times are found in alcohols. The dye undergoes a reversible protonation-deprotonation reaction in the acidic pH range with a pK(a) of 2.25 in acetonitrile solution. Fluorimetric titrations as a function of pH produce fluorescence emission enhancements at lower pH. The fluorescence excitation spectra show a hypsochromic shift from 600 nm for the neutral amine to 553 nm for the ammonium form, so that ratiometric measurements can be used to determine pK(a).

Site-selective photoinduced electron transfer from alcoholic solvents to the chromophore facilitated by hydrogen bonding: a new fluorescence quenching mechanism

Solute-solvent intermolecular photoinduced electron transfer (ET) reaction was proposed to account for the drastic fluorescence quenching behaviors of oxazine 750 (OX750) chromophore in protic alcoholic solvents. According to our theoretical calculations for the hydrogen-bonded OX750-(alcohol)(n) complexes using the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) method, we demonstrated that the ET reaction takes place from the alcoholic solvents to the chromophore and the intermolecular ET passing through the site-specific intermolecular hydrogen bonds exhibits an unambiguous site selectivity. In our motivated experiments of femtosecond time-resolved stimulated emission pumping fluorescence depletion spectroscopy (FS TR SEP FD), it could be noted that the ultrafast ET reaction takes place as fast as 200 fs. This ultrafast intermolecular photoinduced ET is much faster than the diffusive solvation process, and even significantly faster than the intramolecular vibrational redistribution (IVR) process of the OX750 chromophore. Therefore, the ultrafast intermolecular ET should be coupled with the hydrogen-bonding dynamics occurring in the sub-picosecond time domain. We theoretically demonstrated for the first time that the selected hydrogen bonds are transiently strengthened in the excited states for facilitating the ultrafast solute-solvent intermolecular ET reaction.

Ultrafast Hydrogen Bond Strengthening of the Photoexcited Fluorenone in Alcohols for Facilitating the Fluorescence Quenching

The time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) method was performed to investigate the excited-state hydrogen-bonding dynamics of fluorenone (FN) in hydrogen donating methanol (MeOH) solvent. The infrared spectra of the hydrogen-bonded FN-MeOH complex in both the ground state and the electronically excited states are calculated using the TDDFT method, since the ultrafast hydrogen-bonding dynamics can be investigated by monitoring the vibrational absorption spectra of some hydrogen-bonded groups in different electronic states. We demonstrated that the intermolecular hydrogen bond C=O...H-O between fluorenone and methanol molecules is significantly strengthened in the electronically excited-state upon photoexcitation of the hydrogen-bonded FM-MeOH complex. The hydrogen bond strengthening in electronically excited states can be used to explain well all the spectral features of fluorenone chromophore in alcoholic solvents. Furthermore, the radiationless deactivation via internal conversion (IC) can be facilitated by the hydrogen bond strengthening in the excited state. At the same time, quantum yields of the excited-state deactivation via fluorescence are correspondingly decreased. Therefore, the total fluorescence of fluorenone in polar protic solvents can be drastically quenched by hydrogen bonding.

Photoinduced bimolecular electron transfer investigated by femtosecond time-resolved infrared spectroscopy

Ultrafast infrared transient absorption spectroscopy is used to study the photoinduced bimolecular electron transfer reaction between perylene in the first singlet excited state and 1,4-dicyanobenzene in acetonitrile and dichloromethane. Following vibrational marker modes on both donor and acceptor sides in real time provides direct insight into the structural dynamics during the reaction. A band narrowing on a time scale of a few tens of picoseconds observed on the antisymmetric CN stretching vibration of the dicyanobenzene radical anion indicates that a substantial part of the excess energy is channeled into vibrational modes of the product, despite the fact that the reaction is weakly exergonic. An additional narrowing of the same band on a time scale of several hundreds of picoseconds observed in acetonitrile only is interpreted as a signature of the dissociation of the geminate ion pairs into free ions.

Early Time Hydrogen-Bonding Dynamics of Photoexcited Coumarin 102 in Hydrogen-Donating Solvents: Theoretical Study

To study the early time hydrogen-bonding dynamics of chromophore in hydrogen-donating solvents upon photoexcitation, the infrared spectra of the hydrogen-bonded solute-solvent complexes in electronically excited states have been calculated using the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) method. The hydrogen-bonding dynamics in electronically excited states can be widely monitored by the spectral shifts of some characteristic vibrational modes involved in the formation of hydrogen bonds. In this study, we have demonstrated that the intermolecular hydrogen bonds between coumarin 102 (C102) and hydrogen-donating solvents are strengthened in the early time of photoexcitation to the electronically excited state by theoretically monitoring the stretching modes of C=O and H-O groups. This is significantly contrasted with the ultrafast hydrogen bond cleavage taking place within a 200-fs time scale upon electronic excitation, proposed in many femtosecond time-resolved vibrational spectroscopy experiments. The transient hydrogen bond strengthening behaviors in excited states of chromophores in hydrogen-donating solvents, which we have demonstrated here for the first time, may take place widely in many other systems in solution and are very important to explain the fluorescence-quenching phenomena associated with some radiationless deactivation processes, for example, the ultrafast solute-solvent intermolecular electron transfer and the internal conversion process from the fluorescent state to the ground state.

Hydrogen Bonding Properties of Coumarin 151, 500, and 35: The Effect of Substitution at the 7-Amino Position

The steady-state spectral properties (absorption and emission) of three structurally similar Coumarin dyes, C151, C500, and C35 were investigated in 13 different solvents. A Kamlet-Taft (KT) analysis of the spectral peak frequencies reveals that, in addition to polarity, hydrogen bonding between the carbonyl oxygen and a protic solvent in the excited state imparts maximum stabilization for C151 and minimum for C35, while that for C500 lies in between. The spectral properties of the three dyes in two solvents, chloroform and THF, which have similar polarity in the KT scale but have only hydrogen-bond donor (chloroform) and hydrogen-bond acceptor (THF) properties, are seen to be sensitive to the substitution pattern at the 7-amino position. In addition, a slow emission spectral relaxation is observed for C151 and C500 having a time constant of approximately 500 ps in chloroform. For C35 this was too fast to be detected by the time resolution of our setup. The exact reason for this slow spectral relaxation in chloroform is unclear at present, and further studies are needed to understand clearly the structural effects on the hydrogen bonding dynamics of these dyes.

Ultrafast Intermolecular Hydrogen Bond Dynamics in the Excited State of Fluorenone

Steady-state fluorescence and time-resolved absorption measurements in pico- and femtosecond time domain have been used to investigate the dynamics of hydrogen bond in the excited singlet (S(1)) state of fluorenone in alcoholic solvents. A comparison of the features of the steady-state fluorescence spectra of fluorenone in various kinds of media demonstrates that two spectroscopically distinct forms of fluorenone in the S(1) state, namely the non-hydrogen-bonded (or free) molecule as well as the hydrogen-bonded complex, are responsible for the dual-fluorescence behavior of fluorenone in solutions of normal alcoholic solvents at room temperature (298 K). However, in 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE), a strong hydrogen bond donating solvent, emission from only the hydrogen-bonded complex is observed. Significant differences have also been observed in the temporal evolution of the absorption spectroscopic properties of the S(1) state of fluorenone in protic and aprotic solvents following photoexcitation using 400 nm laser pulses. An ultrafast component representing the solvent-induced vibrational energy relaxation (VER) process has been associated with the dynamics of the S(1) state of fluorenone in all kinds of solvents. However, in protic solvents, in addition to the VER process, further evolution of the spectroscopic and dynamical properties of the S(1) state have been observed because of repositioning of the hydrogen bonds around the carbonyl group. In normal alcohols, two different kinds of hydrogen-bonded complex of the fluorenone-alcohol system with different orientations of the hydrogen bond with respect to the carbonyl group and the molecular plane of fluorenone have been predicted. On the other hand, in TFE, formation of only one kind of hydrogen-bonded complex has been observed. These observations have been supported by theoretical calculations of the geometries of the hydrogen-bonded complexes in the ground and the excited states of fluorenone. Linear correlation between the lifetimes of the equilibration process occurring because of repositioning of the hydrogen bonds and Debye or longitudinal relaxation times of the normal alcoholic solvents establish the fact that, in weakly hydrogen bond donating solvents, the hydrogen bond dynamics can be described as merely a solvation process. Whereas, in TFE, hydrogen bond dynamics is better described by a process of conversion between two distinct excited states, namely, the non-hydrogen-bonded form and the hydrogen-bonded complex.

S2 Fluorescence and Ultrafast Relaxation Dynamics of the S2 and S1 States of a Ketocyanine Dye

Dynamics of the excited singlet (both the S2 and S1) states of a ketocyanine dye, namely, 2,5-bis[(2,3-dihydroindolyl)-propylene]-cyclopentanone (KCD), have been investigated in different kinds of media using steady-state absorption and emission as well as femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopic techniques. Steady-state fluorescence measurements, following photoexcitation of KCD to its second excited singlet state, reveal dual fluorescence (emission from both the S2 and S1 states) behavior. Although the intensity of the S2 --> S0 fluorescence is weaker than that of the S1 --> S0 fluorescence in solutions at room temperature (298 K), the former becomes as much as or more intense than the latter in rigid matrixes at 77 K. The lifetime of the S2 state is short and varies between 0.2 and 0.6 ps in different solvents. After its creation, the S2 state undergoes two simultaneous processes, namely, S2 --> S0 fluorescence and S2 --> S1 internal conversion. Time-resolved measurements reveal the presence of an ultrafast component in the decay dynamics of the S1 state. A good correlation between the lifetime of this component and the longitudinal relaxation times (tauL) of the solvents suggests that this component arises due to solvation in polar solvents. More significant evolution of the spectroscopic properties of the S1 state in alcoholic solvents in the ultrafast time domain has been explained by the occurrence of the repositioning of the hydrogen bonds around the carbonyl group in the excited state of KCD. In 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol, a strongly hydrogen bond donating solvent, it has even been possible to establish the existence of two distinct forms of the S1 state, namely, the non-hydrogen-bonded (or free) molecule and the hydrogen-bonded complex.

ULTRAFAST CHEMISTRY: Using Time-Resolved Vibrational Spectroscopy for Interrogation of Structural Dynamics

Time-resolved infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopy elucidates molecular structure evolution during ultrafast chemical reactions. Following vibrational marker modes in real time provides direct insight into the structural dynamics, as is evidenced in studies on intramolecular hydrogen transfer, bimolecular proton transfer, electron transfer, hydrogen bonding during solvation dynamics, bond fission in organometallic compounds and heme proteins, cis-trans isomerization in retinal proteins, and transformations in photochromic switch pairs. Femtosecond IR spectroscopy monitors the site-specific interactions in hydrogen bonds. Conversion between excited electronic states can be followed for intramolecular electron transfer by inspection of the fingerprint IR- or Raman-active vibrations in conjunction with quantum chemical calculations. Excess internal vibrational energy, generated either by optical excitation or by internal conversion from the electronic excited state to the ground state, is observable through transient frequency shifts of IR-active vibrations and through nonequilibrium populations as deduced by Raman resonances.