Dual fluorescence of 4-N,N-dimethylaminopyridine. Role of hydrogen-bonded complex in the ground state

A correlation is shown between the appearance of the dual fluorescence of 4-N,N-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP) solutions and the formation of hydrogen-bonded of complexes in the ground state. A comparative absorption study between pyridine, N,N-dimethylaniline and DMAP shows that the hydrogen-bonded complex is situated on the amino nitrogen of DMAP. A “pretwisted” conformation of DMAP in the ground state isassumed due to this hydrogen-bonded complex. Simulations by intermolecular interaction calculations and spectroscopic calculations (CNDO/s) confrim the “twisting” influence of water molecules (and/or any other hydrogen bonding) on the amine in the ground state. This “pretwisting” in the ground state by hydrogen bonding is common in many other aromatic amines. Moreover, the deforming role of hydrogen bonding in the ground state seems to be a general phenomenon in flexible aromatic molecules.