Theoretical investigation on the excited-state intramolecular proton transfer mechanism of 2-(2′-benzofuryl)-3-hydroxychromone

Development of three ways molecular logic gate based on water soluble phenazine fluorescent 'selective ion' sensor

New hydrophilic fluorescent selective ion sensor based on phenazine and phthalazine moieties, 1,1'-(phenazine-2,3-diyl)-bis(3-(1,4-dihydroxyphthalazin-6-yl)urea) (1), has been designed, synthesized and characterized. Interestingly, sensor 1 exhibits prominent "turn-on" and "turn-off" fluorogenic signaling at 580 nm towards Fe²⁺ & AcO^- and Sr²⁺ & Cu²⁺, respectively. The fluorescence titration experiments shed light on the nature of the interaction between 1 and guest molecules (Fe²⁺, Sr²⁺, Cu²⁺ and AcO^-), which divulge that 1 is flexible enough to orient itself according to the size of the guest molecule. Water mediated excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) and photo-induced electron transfer (PET) mechanisms are responsible for the dual behavior of 1, which binds with guest molecules in 1:1 stoichiometry. Based on the significant duplex fluorescence response of 1, a molecular logic gate keypad lock with sixteen "on" passwords for a storage system has been developed.

NLOphoric Triphenylamine Derived Donor-π-Acceptor-π-Donor Based Colorants: Synthesis, Spectroscopic, Density Functional Theory and Z-scan Studies

Three Donor-π-Acceptor-π-Donor type styryl dyes (5a-c) with different secondary donors are synthesized and characterized to study their nonlinear and linear optical properties. The structure-property relationships of the dyes are described in the light of systematic photophysical and theoretical investigations. The photophysical characteristics of 5a-c are influenced by the polarity of the medium, with an appreciable bathochromic shift in emission (5b = 81 nm) and large Stoke shifts (5b = 104-173 nm) in polar solvents. 5a-c showed intramolecular charge transfer characteristics recognized with the help of emission solvatochromism, solvent polarity graphs, natural bond orbital analysis and HOMO-LUMO energy difference. The optimized geometry and frontier molecular orbitals reveal that the electron donation takes place from secondary donors and not from a fixed donor (triphenylamine) which is more twisted. The nonlinear optical properties obtained using solvent induced spectral shift and computational methods are found within the limiting values. Z-scan results reveal saturable kind of behavior for 5a, 5b and 5c, whereas 5a and 5b show reverse saturable kind of behavior in acetone and ethanol and hence give optical limiting values. The two-photon absorption cross section described by two-level approximation is highest for 5b (251-300 GM).

Theoretical Study of the ESIPT Process for a New Natural Product Quercetin

The investigation of excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) has been carried out via the density functional theory (DFT) and the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) method for natural product quercetin in dichloromethane (DCM) solvent. For distinguishing different types of intramolecular interaction, the reduced density gradient (RDG) function also has been used. In this study, we have clearly clarified the viewpoint that two kinds of tautomeric forms (K₁, K₂)originated from ESIPT processconsist inthe first electronic excited state (S₁). The phenomenon of hydrogen bonding interaction strengtheninghas been proved by comparing the changes of infrared (IR) vibrational spectra and bond parameters of the hydrogen bonding groups in the ground state with that in the first excited state. The frontier molecular orbitals (MOs)provided visual electron density redistribution have further verified the hydrogen bond strengthening mechanism. It should be noted that the ESIPT process of the K₂ form is easier to occur than that of the K₁ form via observing the potential energy profiles. Furthermore, the RDG isosurfaces has indicated that hydrogen bonding interaction of the K₂ form is stronger than that of the K₁ formin the S₁ state, which is also the reason why the ESIPT process of the K₂ form is easier to occur.

10-Hydroxybenzo[h]quinoline: switching between single- and double-well proton transfer through structural modifications

Proton transfer in HBQ and modified compounds was investigated experimentally (steady state absorption and emission spectroscopy, NMR and chemometrics) and theoretically (DFT and TD-DFT M06-2X/TZVP calculations) in ground and excited singlet state.