Spectroscopic study of harmane in micelles at 77 K using fluorescent probes

Steady-state and time-resolved emission for spectroscopic techniques at 77 K, and molecular orbital calculations using PM3-MOPAC/93 and HAM/3-CI have been used to study the two forms of harmane, the neutral (HN) and the monoprotonated (HH), in different environments. In hydrophobic media, for (HN), four species were determined and in hydrophilic medium, for (HH), we found just one species. The photophysical properties of all these species were determined, and we verified that each one of them displays distinct photophysical properties from one to another. For example, for monomer of (HN), the lowest electronic singlet state S₁ is (π,π^*) and the lowest electronic triplet state T₁ is (π,π^*), due to the phosphorescence lifetime it is t=0.8 s. For the (HH) monomer, the S₁ is (π,π^*) and T₁ is (π,π^*) and the spin–orbital coupling is inefficient. These determinations were used to characterise and to identify the harmane species that is solubilised into the interior of neutral (triton X-100), anionic (dodecyl lithium sulphate) and cationic (hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide) micelles, all of them were prepared under physiological conditions. The results indicated that active species in the interior of the micelles is a hydrogen bond complex between (HN) and micellar environments that is anchored in the aqueous region of micelles.