Laser Flash Photolysis of 1,2-Diketopyracene and a Theoretical Study of the Phenolic Hydrogen Abstraction by the Triplet State of Cyclic α-Diketones

Laser flash photolysis (LFP) studies, atoms in molecules (AIM) studies, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations have been performed in order to study the mechanism of the hydrogen abstraction by alpha-diketones in the presence of phenols. Laser irradiation of a degassed solution of 1,2-diketopyracene in acetonitrile resulted in the formation of a readily detectable transient with absorption at 610 nm, but with very low absorptivity. This transient decays with a lifetime of around 2 micros. The quenching rate constant for substituted phenols, kq, ranged from 1.10x10(8) L mol-1 s-1 (4-cyanophenol) to 3.87x10(9) L mol-1 s-1 (4-hydroxyphenol). The Hammett plot for the reaction of the triplet of 1,2-diketopyracene with phenols gave a reaction constant rho=-0.9. DFT calculations (UB3LYP/6-311++G**//UB3LYP/6-31G*) of the triplet complex ketone-phenol revealed that hydrogen transfer has predominantly occurred and that the reaction with alpha-diketones are generally 7 kcal/mol less endothermic than the respective reactions of the monoketones. These results together with the geometries obtained from the DFT calculations, natural bond order (NBO) analysis, and AIM results indicate that hydrogen abstraction for alpha-diketones is facilitated by the electrophilicity of the ketone, instead of neighboring group participation by the second carbonyl group.

Photophysical studies of 9,10-phenanthrenequinones

The characterization of the excited states of 9,10-phenanthrenequinone (PQ) and its derivatives substituted in the 3 and 6 positions with methoxy (PQ1), chloro (PQ2), methyl (PQ3) and fluoro (PQ3) was carried out using steady-state UV-Visible absorption spectroscopy and phosphorescence emission spectroscopy at room temperature and at 77 K. Nanosecond laser flash photolysis was used to obtain the time resolved spectra from the triplet emission decays. The compounds presented phosphorescence in benzene, chlorobenzene and acetonitrile solutions at room temperature and at 77 K. The phosphorescence of the methoxy derivative, however, was observed only at low temperature. The derivatives showed a slightly higher triplet energy than PQ. The Hammett plots were applied to correlate singlet and triplet energies with sigma values that account for resonance and the radical character. It is observed that singlet and triplet energies increase with electron donating groups.

Electronic structure of the lowest excited triplet state of 5,12-naphthacenequinone

Continuous-wave time-resolved EPR (cw-TREPR) and pulsed electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) studies have been carried out to clarify the electronic structure of the lowest excited triplet (Tl) state of 5,12-naphthacenequinone (5,12-NpQ) as well as 1,4-anthraquinone (1,4-AQ) and 6,13-pentacenequinone (6,13-PeQ). The Tl energy level and the D value of the zero-field splitting (ZFS) parameters only slightly decreased with the increasing pi-conjugated system. The Tl states of these linear para-acenequinones were assigned to the pi pi* character. In triplet 5,12-naphthacenequinone, more than 80% of the unpaired electron spins are localized on the naphthalene aromatic sub-system.

Gas-phase luminescence of aromatic carbonyl compounds in excited nitrogen at atmospheric pressure

Certain types of aroyl compounds such as benzaldehyde, acetophenone, benzophenone, and anthraquinone produce intense gas-phase luminescence in excited nitrogen at atmospheric pressure. This luminescence was measured in pressure ranges of 1.00–1.67 atm and temperature ranges of 343–473 K. A novel, radioactively (Ni-63) stimulated, high-voltage( [Formula: see text]1750 V/mm), low-current ( [Formula: see text]35 nA) discharge in high-purity nitrogen was used for gas chromatographic detection and spectral excitation. The gas-phase luminescence spectra of about sixty aroyl compounds - introduced as gas chromatographic peaks - could thus be measured and compared with literature spectra obtained by conventional excitation in condensed phases. Only a few gas-phase spectra are available from the literature, and these did agree well with the spectra of this study. A speculative luminescence mechanism is proposed, in which ground-state N2 becomes excited by collision with fast electrons. This is followed by efficient triplet-triplet energy transfer from N2(A 3Σu+) to the n–>π* excited aroyl compound. Key words: aroyl phosphorescence, excited-nitrogen excitation, aroyl triplet-triplet excitation, aroyl luminescence detection, gas-phase phosphorescence spectra, gas-phase aroyl detection.