Electronic absorption spectra solvent effects

The long lifetimes and high redox potentials of a range of ruthenium(II) complexes and in particular [Ru(bpy)3] " have important consequences for their use as photoactive redox catalysts. This area of research is extremely active and we now focus on the decay of the excited state of [Ru(bpy)3] + ( [Ru(bpy)3] " ) and its quenching. Braterman et al. have described the electronic absorption spectrum and structure of the emitting state of [Ru(bpy3] +, and the effects of excited state asymmetry. The effects of solvent on the absorption spectrum of [Ru(bpy)3] " have been studied. In H2O, MeCN and mixtures of these solvents, the value of e(450 nm) remains the same ((4.6 0.4) x 10 dm mol cm ). The ground state spectrum is essentially independent of... 

A shift (also known as a red shift ) in a substance s electronic absorption spectrum toward longer wavelengths, as a consequence of a substituent, solvent, environment, or other effect. The opposite of a bathochromic shift is referred to as a hypsochromic shift. 

An effect observed in the spectrum of a chemical species in which a substituent, solvent, change in environment, or other effect causes the electronic absorption spectrum to shift to shorter wavelengths. The opposite effect is referred to as a bathochromic shift. The hypsochromic shift is also known as the blue shift. 

The interactions of halide ions (X , X = F, Br, I, Cl) with polar solvent molecules correspond to specific solvent-cage effects. In aqueous solutions, the ground state of halide ions is localized in solvent cavities and exhibits a strong absorption band in the ultraviolet. This electronic absorption spectrum is the signature of a charge transfer to solvent (CTTS), for which an electron interacts... 

Many other measures of solvent polarity have been developed. One of the most useful is based on shifts in the absorption spectrum of a reference dye. The positions of absorption bands are, in general, sensitive to solvent polarity because the electronic distribution, and therefore the polarity, of the excited state is different from that of the ground state. The shift in the absorption maximum reflects the effect of solvent on the energy gap between the ground-state and excited-state molecules. An empirical solvent polarity measure called y(30) is based on this concept. Some values of this measure for common solvents are given in Table 4.12 along with the dielectric constants for the solvents. It can be seen that there is a rather different order of polarity given by these two quantities. 

A further property associated with the radial displacement of charge associated with CT electronic transitions is a change in the dipolar moment of the molecule. If the electronic transition causes, for example, an increase in the dipolar moment, the energy of the CT excited state will decrease (other factors aside) with the polarity of the solvent. Therefore, the CT absorption bands will experience solvatochromic shifts of tens of nanometers. Related solvatochromic effects will be detected in the emission spectrum of CT excited states. While the solvatochromism of absorption bands is a tool for the assignment of CT transitions in the absorption spectrum of complexes, the rationalization of such effects in terms of the solvent properties, for example, the dielectric constant, is not always possible. 

Lately, quantum-classical molecular-dynamics simulations of an excess electron in water performed for wide ranges of temperature and pressure suggest that the observed red shift of the optical absorption spectrum is a density effect rather than a temperature effect. Indeed, by increasing the temperature, the mean volume of the cavity occupied by the solvated electron increases due to weakening of bonds between solvent molecules the electron is less confined in the cavity, and the potential well becomes less deep. 

The structures of the pairs have been determined by ab initio calculations. Surprisingly, while the absorption spectrum of the solvated electron presents a single band located around 2250 nm, the absorption spectra of the pairs are blue-shifted and composed of two bands (Fig. 7)7 Those spectra were interpreted as a perturbation of the solvated electron spectrum with the use of an asymptotic model. This model describes the solvated electron as a single electron trapped in a THF solvent cavity and takes into account the effects of electrostatic interaction and polarization due to the solutes that are modeled by their charge distribution. It was shown that the p-like excited states of the solvated electron can be split in the presence of molecules presenting a dipole. So, the model accounts for the results obtained with dissociated alkali and non-dissociated alkaline earth salts in THF since ionic solutes yield absorption spectra with only one absorption band, and dipolar neutral solutes yield absorption spectra with two bands (Fig. 8). ... 

Anbar M, Hart EJ. (1965) The effect of solvent and solutes on the absorption spectrum of solvated electrons. JPhys Chem 69 1244-1247. 

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