Picosecond kinetics of excited-state charge separation in 4-(dimethylamino)pyridine

Multiscale excited state lifetimes of protonated dimethyl aminopyridines

The photodynamics of protonated ortho and para dimethylaminopyridine molecules has been investigated over 9 orders of magnitude through time-resolved two-color photofragmentation spectroscopy.

Speciation, luminescence, and alkaline fluorescence quenching of 4-(2-methylbutyl)aminodipicolinic acid (H2MEBADPA)

4-(2-Methylbutyl)aminodipicolinic acid (H(2)MEBADPA) has been synthesized and fully characterized in terms of aqueous phase protonation constants (pK(a)'s) and photophysical measurements. The pK(a)'s were determined by spectrophotometric titrations, utilizing a fully sealed titration system. Photophysical measurements consisted of room temperature fluorescence and frozen solution phosphorescence as well as quantum yield determinations at various pH, which showed that only fully deprotonated MEBADPA(2-) is appreciably emissive. The fluorescence of MEBADPA(2-) has been determined to be quenched by hydroxide and methoxide anions, most likely through base-catalyzed excited-state tautomerism or proton transfer. This quenching phenomenon has been quantitatively explored through steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence measurements. Utilizing the determined pK(a)s and quenching constants, the fluorescent intensity of MEBADPA(2-) has been successfully modeled as a function of pH.

Hydrogen Bond Formation between 4-(Dimethylamino)pyridine and Aliphatic Alcohols

The photophysics of 4-(dimethylamino)pyridine (DMAP) has been investigated in different solvents in the presence of aliphatic and fluorinated aliphatic alcohols, respectively. For most systems, consecutive two-step hydrogen-bonded complex formation is observed in the presence of alcohols. Equilibrium constants are determined from UV spectroscopic results for the formation of singly and doubly complexed species. The resolved absorption and fluorescence spectra for the singly and doubly complexed DMAP are derived by means of the equilibrium constants. Exceptionally large hydrogen bond basicity values are found for the ground and singlet excited DMAP molecules. In n-hexane, as a consequence of complex formation, the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) emission becomes dominant over of the locally excited fluorescence; the fluorescence and triplet yields increase considerably with complexation. In polar solvents, both the fluorescence and triplet yields of the complex are much smaller than that of the uncomplexed DMAP. The dipole moments derived for the singly complexed species from the Lippert-Mataga analysis are much larger than those of the uncomplexed molecules. However, for the relaxed ICT excited-state one obtains different dipole moments in apolar and polar solvents. This may be explained by a conformational change of the molecule in the ICT excited state from planar geometry in apolar solvent to the perpendicular structure (characterized with bigger dipole moment) in polar solvent.

Supersonic jet studies of solvation effects on the spectroscopy and photophysics of 4-diethylaminopyridine

We present the results of spectroscopic and photophysical investigations of 4-diethylaminopyridine (DEAP) and its 1 : 1 complexes with a number of protic solvents such as water and various alcohols of different acidity isolated under supersonic jet conditions. While a double resonance vibrational spectroscopic method was employed to investigate the size and geometrical structure of jet-cooled clusters, laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy was used to examine the changes of photophysics induced by complexation of DEAP with solvent molecule(s). The results obtained from ab initio calculations enable the assignment of geometries and of the vibrational spectra of the clusters in the OH-stretch region. The comparison of the experimental and calculated vibrational spectra indicates that the solvent molecule is hydrogen-bonded to the pyridine nitrogen atom. Dual luminescence is observed only for the complexes with alcohols of relatively strong acidity.