Dearomatization of Benzenoid Arenes Triggered by Triplet Excited State Intramolecular Proton Transfer

The detailed mechanism of photoinduced dearomatization of benzenoid arenes is investigated using both the high-level ab initio method and density functional theory. The results suggest that the optically allowed singlet excited state (S₂) can quickly decay to the lowest triplet excited state (T₁) through a barrierless internal conversion and intersystem crossing. Importantly, we find a triplet excited state intramolecular proton transfer (T-ESIPT) pathway to produce a diradical triplet intermediate (³M_O-H), which can trigger the subsequent [4 + 2] dearomatization reaction. Furthermore, the diastereoselectivity of the reaction was illustrated by the rotation of the O_-H group of ³M_O-H, which could be effectively modulated by the solvent effect (arising from the strength of the intermolecular hydrogen bond) and the substituted effect (arising from the strength of the electron-donation group). This photochemical mechanism can explain well the experimental observations, and the novel T-ESIPT process can open a new door in studying the photoinduced proton transfer reactions.

Calculated linear and nonlinear optical absorption spectra of phosphine-ligated gold clusters

Although prediction of optical excitations of ligated gold clusters by time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) is relatively well-established, limitations still exist, for example in the choice of the exchange-correlation functional....

Ultrafast-response, highly-sensitive and recyclable colorimetric/fluorometric dual-channel chemical warfare agent probes

In this paper, two donor (D)-acceptor (A) type of small organic fluorescent molecules (T1 and T2) based on terpyridine group are synthesized, characterized and used as colorimetric/fluorometric dual-channel probes towards diethylchlorophosphate (DCP, the mimic of chemical warfare agent sarin) not only in solution but also in gas phase featuring instantaneous responses, excellent recyclability, high selectivity and sensitivity. Interestingly though the discriminated units of both chemosensors are terpyridine, their fluorescent responded signals are different, which is due to the different electron-donating substituents of T1 and T2 caused the different responded mechanism to DCP. And the possible sensing mechanism was proved by using nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR, ³¹P NMR) spectra and natural transition orbitals calculations. Furthermore, facile testing filter paper-constructed strips with the visualization of colorimetric/fluorometric dual-channel responses based on T1 and T2 have been fabricated for real-time, on-site high selective and sensitive, recyclable monitor of DCP vapor.