Ultrafast excited state dynamics of pyridine N-oxide derivative in solution; femtosecond fluorescence up-conversion and theoretical calculations

In this study we have investigated 2-ethylamino-4-nitro-6-methyl pyridine N-oxide (2E6M) molecule that belongs to important group of Proton Coupled Electron Transfer (PCET) compounds where both the charge transfer (CT) and proton transfer processes in excited states may proceed. In this case, this is possible due to the donors and acceptors of electrons and protons in this system, as well as due to the presence of intramolecular {N-H… O [2,566(3) Å}, hydrogen bond.Using stationary and time-resolved spectroscopy, as well as quantum chemical calculations on the DFT and TD DFT B3LYP/6-31G (d,p) level of theory, a partial CT nature of the S₀ → S₁ transition in both tautomeric forms (N and T) has been revealed. Additionally, the excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) process shown to be more favorable in apolar and weakly polar solvents than in strongly polar acetonitrile (E_N(S1) > E_T(S1). The displacement of charge from the amine group and the ring to the nitro group has been observed on the changing shapes of the HOMO and LUMO orbitals involved in this transition what further quantitatively allowed to realize the increase in the dipole moment of both forms in the electronic excited state. The calculations show that in two solvents with radically different polarity (heptane, acetonitrile), dipole moments of both forms are very similar [in acetonitrile u_N(S₁) and u_T(S₁) are 11.0 D and 11.5 D, respectively]. Hence, in polar media both forms can be stabilized in a comparable manner. This made it difficult for us to assign a single fluorescent band in acetonitrile to one of the tautomeric forms. However, it seems that due to application of time-resolved spectroscopy, this problem has been clarified. The TCSPC decay curve in acetonitrile with an ultrafast lifetime assigned to the (N) form, along with the femtosecond up-conversion signals that demonstrated only an ultrafast decay without any rise-time of a new excited (T) species, allowed us to conclude that in 2E6M in strongly polar solvent the ESIPT does not occur.The unique fluorescence band origins from the (N) form. In protic solvents, the significant kinetic isotopic effects have provided us with conclusive evidence for the presence of the solvent-assisted ESIPT process. Furthermore, it was noticed that the fluorescence lifetime in D₂O (100-120 fs) estimated from the up-conversion signals is about 40 times shorter relative to methanol. This may suggest that the sine qua non for the ESIPT process in 2E6M in protic solvents is the formation of a complex with a solvent molecule in the hydrogen bridge between the proton donor and proton acceptor, respectively.

Luminescent excited-state intramolecular proton-transfer dyes based on 4-functionalized 6,6'-dimethyl-3,3'-dihydroxy-2,2'-bipyridine (BP(OH)2-Rs); DFT simulation study

The 4-functionalized 6,6'-dimethyl-3,3'-dihydroxy-2,2'-bipyridine dyes (BP(OH)₂-Rs) have exhibited dienol and diketo emissions. The optimum geometrical structures for ground, singlet and triplet excited states are computed by DFT/B3LYP/6-31++G that showed the planarity of BP(OH)₂-Rs structure. The emission spectra of the molecules are determined in the gas-phase at singlet and triplet excited states using CIS/6-31++G. The theoretical calculations are carried out for BP(OH)₂-Rs to understand the impact of different substituents (R = -H (I), -Br (II), -TMS (III), -C2H (IV), -terpyridine (V) and -bodipy (diazaboraindacene) (VI)) on excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) in singlet and triplet excited states. Based on the calculations, the concerted diproton transfer proceeds in the triplet excited state, in which nπ* state has a significant participation in ESIPT. The spectral variation at ESIPT emission of BP(OH)₂-Rs is influenced by the electron-acceptor ability of the substituents. The compound V revealed a higher spectral intensity compared to the others. From the comparison with the experimental data, the molecule V is almost planar agreed with the X-ray structure and trend variation of wavelengths. The molecule VI contains bodipy chromophore that excitation energy transfers completely from BP(OH)₂ core to a bodipy substituent, leading to emission from the lowest-lying bodipy substituent, and consequently, ESIPT does not occur for this dye.

NLOphoric imidazole-fused fluorescent anthraquinone dyes

The Z-scan and DFT techniques were explored to investigate the non-linear optical properties of anthraquinone fused imidazole-based D-π-A dyes. With the help of UV-visible spectral analysis, pH study, CV analysis, HOMO-LUMO interaction, MEP plots, and quinoidal character the influence of intramolecular charge transfer characteristics and H-bonding process on electronic and photophysical studies of anthraquinone derivatives were understood. The dyes 2-(4-(diethylamino)-2-hydroxyphenyl)-3H-anthra[1,2-d]imidazole-6,11-dione (AQ1) and 2-(2-hydroxynaphthalen-1-yl)-1H-anthra[1,2-d]imidazole-6,11-dione (AQ2) displayed a single emission with pronounced Stokes shift and thermal stability (upto 290 °C). The dye AQ1 exhibited strong charge transfer character which is explained by the ICT process leading to high nonlinear susceptibility χ⁽³⁾ in AQ1 3.43 × 10^-13 e.s.u relative to the dye AQ2 which has only ESIPT core. But, the dye AQ2 6.27 J cm^-2 showed better optical limiting value. The NLO properties of AQ1 and AQ2 were computed by DFT functionals based on Hartree Fork (HF) percentage exchange. The dye AQ1 exhibits noticeable NLO properties. The global hybrid functionals with HF composition beyond 50% (BHHLYP, M06-HF) and the long rang corrected functionals (CAM-B3LYP, ωB97, and ωB97X) demonstrated comparable NLO properties relative to B3LYP and PBE0. It was observed that the combined effect of ICT and the H-bonding cores enhance the NLO properties. The experimental findings (Z-scan) were successfully correlated with theoretical (DFT) results.

Crystal structure, vibrational and optic properties of 2-N-methylamino-3-methylpyridine N-oxide - Its X-ray and spectroscopic studies as well as DFT quantum chemical calculations

The crystal and molecular structure and physicochemical properties of 2-N-methylamino-3-methylpyridine N-oxide (MA3MPO) have been studied. MA3MPO was synthesized from 2-amino-3-methylpyridine by several steps to form colorless crystals suitable for crystallographic analysis. The data reveal that MA3MPO crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/n. The studied compound contains a nearly flat triply substituted pyridine skeleton whose structure is stabilized by an intramolecular N-H⋅⋅⋅O hydrogen bond. The N-oxide molecules are connected together by weak C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, an acceptor of which is the oxygen atom from the N-oxide group. This leads to creation of two-dimensional network of hydrogen bonds. Its IR, Raman, UV-Vis and luminescence spectra have been measured and analyzed on the basis of DFT and NBO quantum chemical calculations in which the B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) approach was applied. The distribution of the electron levels in the studied compound has been analyzed in terms of the possibility of its participation in the ligand-to-lanthanide ion energy transfer.

Synthesis and self-assembly of photoacid-containing block copolymers based on 1-naphthol

Photoacids experience a strong increase in acidity when absorbing light and, hence, can be considered as molecular switches. The incorporation into amphiphilic block copolymers leads to novel stimuli-responsive materials with great potential.

Shedding new light on an old molecule: quinophthalone displays uncommon N-to-O excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) between photobases

Excited state dynamics of common yellow dye quinophthalone (QPH) was probed by femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. Multi-exponential decay of the excited state and significant change of rate constants upon deuterium substitution indicate that uncommon nitrogen-to-oxygen excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) occurs. By performing density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations, we found that adiabatic surface crossing between the S₁ and S₂ states takes place in the photoreaction. Unlike most cases of ESIPT, QPH does not exhibit tautomer emission, possibly due to internal conversion or back-proton transfer. The ESIPT of QPH presents a highly interesting case also because the moieties participating in ESIPT, quinoline and aromatic carbonyl, are both traditionally considered as photobases.