Fluorescence Study of the Relaxation Process in Excited Hetarylthiazole Cations

The absorption and fluorescence spectra of five cations protonated at the quinolyl nitrogen atom (IH⁺–VH⁺) and one ethylated (IEt⁺) cation were investigated. For these compounds (except VH⁺) both an anomalously large fluorescence Stokes shift (up to 238 nm) and a large short-wavelength fluorescence shift (up to 145 nm) at decreasing temperatures (down to 77 K) were observed. This is not the case for unprotonated molecules. The ground-state conjugation between quinolyl and another molecular fragment was found for II, IH⁺, IIH⁺, and IEt⁺. The relaxation process of excited cations is medium viscosity and temperature dependent. The experimental results are explained in terms of excited-state structural relaxation.