Specifics of the photolysis of alkylated hydroxy-1,2-dihydroquinolines in water and methanol

Comparative study of photoinduced reactions of 6-and 8-hydroxy-2,2,4-trimethyl-1,2-dihydroquinolines (6-OH-DHQ and 8-OH-DHQ) in water and methanol was carried out by continuous and pulse photolysis. The products of MeOH addition to the dihydroquinolines under study were isolated and identified. The spectral and kinetic parameters of active transient species generated in the photolysis were measured. The rate constants of the transient carbocations strongly depend on the position of the hydroxy group on the aromatic ring and are an order of magnitude lower for 6-OH-DHQ than 8-OH-DHQ (80 versus 870 s^?1, respectively). Two factors that play a significant part in the photolysis mechanism were revealed, namely, an increase in the acidity of the phenolic group in the excited state and the possibility of intramolecular hydrogen bonding between phenolic and amino groups in 8-OH-DHQ, which are in close proximity. The former factor causes the formation of by-products from the deprotonated excited state of OH-DHQ, which increases substantially in water. The latter affects the structure and the composition of transient species in the case of 8-OH-DHQ.     

Influence of medium viscosity on photophysical properties of kynurenic acid and kynurenine yellow

Dependences of the fluorescence and triplet state quantum yields of kynurenic acid (1) and kynurenine yellow (2) in water—glycerol mixtures on medium viscosity have been studied. The main channel of the singlet excited state decay of compound 1 is the intersystem crossing, which rate weakly depends on the viscosity; only a small (approximately 1.5-fold) increase in the fluorescence yield was found for this compound with the increase of the solution viscosity from 0.84 cP (aqueous solution) to 78 cP (86% glycerol). The deactivation of the S₁ state of compound 2 is caused mainly by the internal conversion, and a noticeable increase of the fluorescence yield (approximately 3-fold), as well as the change in the photolysis product yields, was observed with the increasing percentage of glycerol in the mixture. The triplet state quantum yields for compounds 1 and 2 remained unchanged with the variation of the glycerol content in the mixture.     

Effect of N-pyridyl substitution and hydrogen bonding on the deactivation of singlet excited 1,2-naphthalimide

Photophysical properties of 1,2-naphthalimide (1) and N-(4-pyridyl)-1,2-naphthalimide (2) as well as the effect of their hydrogen bonding with phenols have been studied in toluene. Fluorescence emission is the dominant energy dissipation pathway of the singlet excited 1. Introduction of the 4-pyridyl substituent into the imide moiety significantly accelerates the internal conversion due to the efficient vibronic coupling between close-lying S1 and S2 excited states, however, the rate of triplet formation exhibits negligible change. In contrast with the behavior of the corresponding substituted phenyl derivatives, 2 does not emit dual fluorescence because of the less extensive conjugation within the molecule. Fluorescence quenching with phenols takes place both in dynamic and static processes. Electron transfer is slower in the hydrogen bonded complex where phenols are linked to the pyridyl moiety due to the larger distance between the electron donor and acceptor components.     

Fluorescence and intersystem crossing as a function of rotational energy on the S1 state of benzene

The effect of rotational excitation on the electronic relaxation of the S₁ state of “isolated” benzene has been studied by examination of resonance fluorescence generated when narrow-band exciting light is swept through the rotational envelopes of four S₁ ← S₀ absorption bands. To within the ten percent uncertainty in measurement, the fluorescence yields are independent of the position of the exciting light within an absorption band. Thus neither radiative decay nor intersystem crossing to the triplet state displays large sensitivity to molecular rotation, at least when excited state relaxation proceeds from rotational distributions of moderate diversity.     

Spectral and kinetic parameters of transient species in the photolysis of naphthylmethylideneiminospironaphthopyran by excitation at different wavelengths: Nano- and femtosecond laser photolysis

Intramolecular processes occurring in a photobifunctional compound (PBC) comprising the spironaphthopyran and hydroxyazomethine moieties have been studied in methanol solutions by femtosecond laser photolysis using light with wavelengths of 340 and 490 nm. At the excitation wavelength of 490 nm, the cis-trans photoisomerization in the azomethine moiety occurs in the S₁ state. In the case of PBC photolysis with 340-nm light, the opening of the spiro bond of the spiropyran moiety (formation of the X form) also takes place during relaxation of the S_n state to the S₁ state followed by isomerization to the merocyanine form. The spectral and kinetic characteristics of different electronically excited have been were determined. The data have been compared with those of nanosecond laser photolysis.     

Rotamerisation and intramolecular proton transfer of 2-(2′-hydroxyphenyl)oxazole, 2-(2′-hydroxyphenyl)imidazole and 2-(2′-hydroxyphenyl)thiazole: a theoretical study

Semi-empirical (AM1-SCI) calculations have been performed on 2-(2′-hydroxyphenyl)oxazole (HPO), 2-(2′-hydroxyphenyl)imidazole (HPI) and 2-(2′-hydroxyphenyl)thiazole (HPT) to rationalise the photophysical behaviour of the compounds exhibiting intramolecular rotation as well as excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT). The calculations reveal that there is a gradual variation in the properties from HPO to HPT through HPI so far as the existence of the rotational isomers in the ground state is concerned. While HPO gives rise to two stable rotamers (I and II) in all the common solvents, there is only one stable species for HPT in the S₀ state. For HPI, rotamer II is possible only in the isolated state and/or in solvents of low polarity, but in high polar solvents it gives rise to the normal form (I) only. For all the molecules in the series, however, intramolecular proton transfer (IPT) takes place in the lowest excited singlet (S₁) and the triplet (T₁) states. Combination of the rotamerism and ESIPT gives rise to multiple fluorescence bands for the fluorophores. Theoretical assignments have been made for the excitation, fluorescence and phosphorescence bands. Simulated potential energy curves (PEC) in different electronic states reveal that the IPT process is feasible in either of the S₁ and T₁ states but not in the ground state. The ESIPT reaction has been found to be favoured both thermodynamically and kinetically in these electronic states compared to the ground state. However, quantum mechanical tunnelling has been proposed for the prototropic reaction to proceed in the excited states.     

Exploring the Reaction Paths on the Potential Energy Surfaces of the S1 and T1 States in Methylenecyclopropane

The reaction paths of methylenecyclopropane 1 on the potential energy surfaces (PESs) of the lowest triplet (T₁) state and the lowest excited singlet (S₁) state, as well as that of the ground state (S₀), were explored by using the nudged elastic band method at the MRMP2//MCSCF/6‐31++G(d,p) and DFT(B3LYP)/6‐31++G(d,p) levels of theory. After vertical excitation of 1, three transition states on the PES of the lowest triplet state and one transition state on the S₁ PES were found along the reaction path to produce a carbene, cyclobutylidene 2. All of these transition states are lower in energy than the S₁ state produced by vertical excitation at the S₀ energy minimum in 1. Fast transition is predicted to occur from the T₁ state or from the S₁ state to the S₀ state due to strong spin‐orbit coupling or nonadiabatic coupling in the geometrical vicinity of 2. On the MRMP2 S₀ PES, the energy barriers of 5.0, 10.3 and 13.5 kcal mol^?1 were obtained for C migration reaction (backward reaction), 1,2‐H migration reaction to cyclobutene 3, and 1,3‐H migration reaction to bicyclopropane 4, respectively, started at 2. The introduction of phenyl groups makes the energy barriers smaller due to the π conjugation between the carbene center and phenyl groups.     

Fluorescence of phthalocyanines: Emission from an upper excited state

The weak (φ_f < 10³) fluorescence at around 430 nm of the S² upper excited singlet state of metal-free phthalocyanine and metallophthalocyanines is presented. Polarization measurements indicate that the emission is short-lived (< 800 ps) contrary to the intense (φ_f > 0.3) normal emission at around 700 nm originating from S¹ and having a lifetime in the 4.1 to 10.6 ns range, depending on the solvent. The short wavelength emitting S² excited state has been populated by a two photon absorption process using the excitation light at 695 nm of a pulsed ruby laser. This process is shown not to involve the triplet state but the following stepwise two photon absorption process: .     

Photochemistry of <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-substituted salicylic acid amides

The products of photolysis of N-substituted salicylic acid amides, viz., 2-hydroxy-3-tert-butyl-5-ethylbenzoic acid N-(4-hydroxy-3,5-di-tert-butylphenyl)amide (1) and 2-hydroxybenzoic acid N-[3-(4-hydroxy-3,5-di-tert-butylphenyl)prop-1-yl]amide (2), in heptane were studied by optical spectroscopy and stationary and nanosecond laser photolysis (Nd: YAG laser, 355 nm). It was shown by the method of partial deuteration of amides 1 and 2 that they exist in both the unbound state and as complexes with intraand intermolecular hydrogen bond. Amides 1 and 2 are subjected to photolysis, which results in the formation of a triplet state and phenoxyl radicals RO? presumably due to the absorption of the second photon by the excited singlet state. The formation of radical products due to N–H bond ionization was not observed. The main channel of decay of the triplet state and radicals RO? is triplet–triplet annihilation and recombination (k _r ≈ 2.3?10⁸ L mol^–1 s^–1), respectively. The UV irradiation of compounds 1 and 2 leads to the excitation of the amide groups, and no formation of radical products due to N–H bond ionization was observed.     

Theoretical studies on the electronic structure and spectral properties of versatile diarylethene-containing 1,10-phenanthroline ligands and their rhenium(I) complexes

The structures of versatile diarylethene-containing 1,10-phenanthroline ligands (L₁ and L₂) and their rhenium(I) complexes [Re(CO)₃(L)Cl] (1 and 2) in the ground and low-lying excited states have been optimized at the B3LYP functional and the ab initio configuration interaction singlets (CIS) level, respectively. The spectral properties are predicted with use of time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). As shown, the transition character of the strongest absorption band and luminescent spectrum for closed-ring complex 1 is different from that of 2, the former has ππ^∗ character and the latter has MLCT and LLCT character. We presume the second triplet excited state contributes to the phosphorescence of 1, while the lowest triplet excited state accounts for the phosphorescence of 2. Spin-orbit coupling influences the excitation energies for d(Re)-joined transitions whereas it has negligible effect on the transition character for complexes 1 and 2.     

Unravelling the Reaction Mechanism for the Fast Photocyclisation of 2‐Benzoylpyridine in Aqueous Solvent by Time‐Resolved Spectroscopy and Density Functional Theory Calculations

A combined femtosecond transient absorption (fs‐TA) and nanosecond time‐resolved resonance Raman (ns‐TR³) spectroscopic investigation of the photoreaction of 2‐benzoylpyridine (2‐BPy) in acetonitrile and neutral, basic and acidic aqueous solvents is reported. fs‐TA results showed that the nπ* triplet 2‐BPy is the precursor of the photocyclisation reaction in neutral and basic aqueous solvents. The cis triplet biradical and the cis singlet zwitterionic species produced during the photocyclisation reaction were initially characterised by ns‐TR³ spectroscopy. In addition, a new species was uniquely observed in basic aqueous solvent after the decay of the cis singlet zwitterionic species and this new species was tentatively assigned to the photocyclised radical anion. The ground‐state conformation of 2‐BPy in acidic aqueous solvent is the pyridine nitrogen‐protonated 2‐BPy cation (2‐BPy‐NH⁺) rather than the neutral form of 2‐BPy. After laser photolysis, the singlet excited state (S₁) of 2‐BPy‐NH⁺ is generated and evolves through excited‐state proton transfer (ESPT) and efficient intersystem crossing (ISC) processes to the triplet exited state (T₁) of the carbonyl oxygen‐protonated 2‐BPy cation (2‐BPy‐OH⁺) and then photocyclises with the lone pair of the nitrogen atom in the heterocyclic ring. Cyclisation reactions take place both in neutral/basic and acidic aqueous solvents, but the photocyclisation mechanisms in these different aqueous solvents are very different. This is likely due to the different conformation of the precursor and the influence of hydrogen‐bonding of the solvent on the reactions.     

Time-resolved EPR and laser photolysis investigations of photoinduced ω-bond dissociation in an aromatic carbonyl compound having triplet π,π* character

Photochemical properties of photoinduced ω-bond dissociation in p-phenylbenzoylbenzyl phenyl sulfide (PPS) having the lowest triplet state (T₁) of π,π* character in solution were investigated by time-resolved EPR and laser flash photolysis techniques. PPS was found to undergo photoinduced ω-bond cleavage in the excited lowest singlet state (S₁(n,π*)) with a quantum yield (Φ_rad) of 0.15 for the radical formation, which was independent of excitation wavelengths. Based on the facts of the observation of the absorption spectrum of triplet PPS upon triplet sensitization of xanthone, and absence of CIDEP signal, ω-cleavage was shown to be absent in the T₁(π,π*) state of PPS. Considering the electronic character of the excited and dissociative states of PPS, a schematic energy diagram for the ω-bond dissociation of PPS was shown.     

Photolysis of 6-ethoxy-2,2,4-trimethyl-8-nitro-1,2-dihydroquinoline. Unusual dependence on the irradiation wavelength

The spectral and kinetic parameters of transient species generated in the irradiation of 6-ethoxy-2,2,4-trimethyl-8-nitro-1,2-dihydroquinoline were examined by stationary and pulse photolysis in the solvents: heptane, acetonitrile, methanol, and ethanol. Upon excitation of the long-wavelength absorption band (λ_ex > 450 nm), a reversible photochemical reaction was revealed, and the spectral and kinetic parameters of three transient species observed in the photolysis were characterized (λ_max = 390, 400, and 420 nm (acetonitrile), k = 97, 500, and 2000 s⁻¹, respectively). The absorption spectra and the rate constants of the decay of transient species are almost independent of the medium polarity and the presence of oxygen in the system. The excited state generated during irradiation to the short-wavelength absorption band (290 < λ_ex < 350 nm) is inactive in the photochemical reaction and deactivates without the formation of transient species. The mechanism of the reversible photochemical reaction is suggested, which involves the opening of the heterocycle N-C bond upon photoexcitation of the long-wavelength absorption band and the thermal back reaction.     

Through bond mechanism versus exciplex formation in the photochemistry of fullerene / ferrocene donor-bridge-acceptor dyads

A systematic fluorescence and flash photolytic investigation of a series of covalently linked fullerene / ferrocene based donor-bridge-acceptor dyads is reported as a function of the nature of the bridge between the donor site and acceptor site. The fluorescence of the investigated dyads 2 (Φ_rel = 0.17 × 10^?4, 3 (Φ_rel = 0.78 × 10^?4), 4 (Φ_rel = 1.5 × 10^?4), 5 (Φ_rel = 0.7 × 10^?4), and 6 (Φ_rel = 2.9 × 10^?4) were substantially quenched, relative to N-methyl fulleropyrrolidine (1) (Φ_rel = 6.0 × 10^?4). Photolysis of N-methyl fulleropyrrolidine (1) in toluene revealed formation of the excited singlet state which was followed by a rapid intersystem crossing to the excited triplet state. On the other hand, the fate of the excited singlet state of 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 was found to be governed by rapid intramolecular quenching, with rate constants of 28×10⁹ s^?1, 6.9×10⁹ s^?1, and 3.4×10⁹ s^?1, 14×10⁹ s^?1, 2.3×10⁹ s^?1 respectively. The electron transfer process and the charge separation were confirmed by monitoring the characteristic π-radical anion bands at λ_max = 400 and 1055 nm in degassed benzonitrile with τ_1/2 = 1.8 μs (3) and 2.5 μs (4).     

Photoinduced Electron Transfer between N,N, Nr,N' ‐Tetra‐(p‐methylphenyl)‐4, 4‐diamino‐1, 1'‐diphenyl Ether (TPDAE) and Fullerenes (C60/C70) by Laser Flash Photolysis

The photoinduced electron‐transfer reaction of N, N, N', N'‐tetra‐(p‐methylphenyl)‐4,4'‐diamino‐1,1'‐diphenyl ether (TPDAE) and fullerenes (C₆₀/C₇₀) by nanosecond laser flash photolysis occurred in benzonitrile. Transient absorption spectral measurements were carried out during 532 nm laser flash photolysis of a mixture of the fullerenes (C₆₀/C₇₀) and TPDAE. The electron transfer from the TPDAE to excited triplet state of the fullerenes (C₆₀/C₇₀) quantum yields and rate constants of electron transfer from TPDAE to excited triplet state of fullerenes (C₆₀/C₇₀) in benzonitrile have been evaluated by observing the transient absorption bands in the near‐IR region where the excited triplet state, radical anion of fullerenes (C₆₀/C₇₀) and radical cations of TPDAE are expected to appear.     

Fluorescence of the antharacenes following Tn → T1 excitation studied by a double excitation method

The fluorescence from the lowest excited singlet state following excitation of the lowest triplet state was observed for anthracene, 9-methylanthracene, and 9-phenylanthracene in ethanol by a newly devised double excitation method which is essentially the combination of flash and laser photolysis. The quantum yield of intersystem crossing from the excited triplet state, T_n(n ? 2), to the lowest excited singlet state was markedly increased by methyl- and phenyl-substitution at the meso-position.     

Theoretical study of the photochemical reaction mechanism of bicyclo[4.1.0]hept‐2‐ene upon direct photolysis

Ab initio multiconfigurational CASSCF/MP2 method with the 6‐31G* basis set has been employed in studying the photochemistry of bicyclo[4.1.0]hept‐2‐ene upon direct photolysis. Our calculations involve the ground state (S₀) and excited states (S₁, T₁, and T₂). The ground‐state reaction pathways corresponding to the formation of the six products derived from bicyclo[4.1.0]hept‐2‐ene via two important diradical intermediates (D1 and D2) were mapped. It was found that there are various crossing points (conical intersections and singlet–triplet crossings) in the regions near D1 and D2. These crossing points imply that direct photolysis can lead to two possible radiationless relaxation routes: (1) S₁ → S₀, (2) S₁ → T₂ → T₁ → S₀. Computation indicates that the second route is not a competitive path with the first route during direct photolysis. The first route is initiated by barrierless cyclopropane bond cleavage to form two singlet excited diradical intermediates, followed by efficient decay to the ground‐state surface via three S₁/S₀ conical intersections in the regions near the diradical intermediates. All six ground‐state products can be formed via the three conical intersections almost without barrier after the decays. The barriers separating the diradical minima on S₁ from the S₁/S₀ conical intersections were found to be very small with respect to the vertical excitation energy, which can explain why the product distribution is independent of excitation wavelength. Triplet surfaces are not involved in the first route, which agrees with the fact that the product contribution was unchanged by the addition of naphthalene. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2005     

Fluorescence of 5-fluorouracil upon the transition from the second singlet excited state <Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis><Subscript>2</Subscript> to the ground state

Effect of the wavelength of excitation light (λ_ex) on the fluorescence excitation and emission spectra of 5-fluorouracil in acidic solution (pH 2.5) was studied upon excitation at the S ₂ ← S ₀-transition absorption band. It has been found that direct excitation at the second or the shorter wavelength absorption band results in 5-fluorouracil fluorescence that originates not only from the first excited state S ₁ but is also due the transition from the second excited state S ₂ to the ground state.     

Photophysical Properties and Photoinduced Electron Transfer between[60]Fullerene—containing Cyclic Sulphoxide [C60—C60H8SO]and Tetrathiafulvalene（TTF） by Laser Flash Photolysis

Photoinduced electron transfer(PET) processes between C60-C6H8SO and Tetrathiafulvalene(TTF) have been studied by nanosecond laser photolysis.Quantrm yiekds(φet) and rate constants of electron transfer(ket) from TTF to excited triplet state of[60] fullerene-containing cyclic sulphoxide in benzonitrile(BN) have been evaluated by observing the transient absorption bands in the NIR region.With the decay of excited triplet state of [60]fullerene-containing cyclic suplhoxide,the rise of radical anion of [60]fullerene-containing cyclic sulphoxinde is observed.     

Fullerenes (C60) versus heteroazafullerenes (C59N); a photophysical comparison of their monoadducts and hexaadducts

The singlet and triplet excited state properties of a series of fullerene derivatives (C₆₀) are compared to those of the corresponding heteroazafullerenes derivatives (C₅₉N) by employing a variety of steady-state and time-resolved photophysical assays. The most far-reaching results infer that the C₅₉N (2, 5) analogous of C₆₀ (1, 4) are characterized by shorter singlet lifetimes (1.01/0.57 ns versus 1.80/1.75 ns) and weaker fluorescence quantum yields (1.6 × 10^-4/2.1 × 10^-4 versus 6.0 × 10^-4/1.09 × 10^-3). This general conclusion applies for the monoadduct series (1, 2) and also for the highly functionalized hexaadducts (4, 5). Similarly, higher singlet energies (1.89 eV (4) versus 1.79 eV (1)) come together with higher fluorescence quantum yields for the hexaadducts than for the monoadducts.