Solvent effect on fluorescence spectra of a spirooxazine

Fluorescence and excitation spectra of spironaphthoxazine (SNO) in various solvents have been investigated systematically. The fluorescence in low-polar solvents normally originated from SNO in the excited state. In protic high-polar solvents, fluorescence from an excited intermediate species (X^* _h) relaxed from a part of the excited SNO by breaking a C-O bond in the oxazine ring was also observed. It has been found that a ground-state intermediate species (X_s), transformed from a part of ground-state SNO, is directly excited to its excited state (X_s ^*), which displays fluorescence in aprotic high-polar solvents.