Electronic spectra and vibronic coupling of pyrazine

The absorption and fluorescence spectra of pyrazine have been observed in vapor, solution and crystal, and the vibrational structures have been analyzed in detail. The fluorescence spectrum consists of long progressions of the nontotally symmetric vibration ν₅(b_2g), and the absorption spectrum contains also the progression of the corresponding excited state vibration ν′₅(b_2g. However, the pattern of the latter progression is unusual because of the highly anharmonic nature of the potential of the ¹B^3u state, which may be expressed by a functional form containing a quadratic term in the normal coordinate. All the experimental results suggest that the known vibronic interaction between the ${}^1\text{B}{}_{\mathrm{3u}}\text{(n,π}{}^1\text{)}$ state and the ${}^1\text{B}{}_{\mathrm{1u}}\text{(π, π}{}^1\text{)}$ state through the vibration ν₂(b_2g) is strong. The vibronic coupling and the potential of the ¹B_3u state were found to be very sensitive to solvent.