Photoinduced proton transfer process

The second group of intermolecular reactions (2) includes [1, 2, 9, 10, 13, 14] electron transfer, exciplex and excimer formations, and proton transfer processes (Table 1). Photoinduced electron transfer (PET) is often responsible for fluorescence quenching. PET is involved in many photochemical reactions and plays... 

When this probability is equal to 1 (uniform concentration), the reaction is of pseudo-first order. This is the case, for example, in photoinduced proton transfer in aqueous solutions from an excited acid M (=AH ) (see Section 4.5) M is always within the encounter distance with a water molecule acting as a proton acceptor, and thus proton transfer occurs effectively according to a unimolecular process. This is also the case of photoinduced electron transfer in aniline or its derivatives as solvents an excited acceptor is always in the vicinity of an aniline molecule as an electron donor. In both cases, the excited-state reaction occurs under non-diffusive conditions and is of pseudo-first order. 

In almost all applications, fluorescent pH indicators are employed in a pH range around the ground state pKa (even if the excited state pK is different). Therefore, the absorption (and excitation) spectrum depends on pH in the investigated range. These indicators can be divided into three classes (see formulae in Figure 10.2) on the basis of the elementary processes (photoinduced proton transfer or electron transfer) that are involved. 

Photoinduced electron transfer from eosin and ethyl eosin to Fe(CN)g in AOT/heptane-RMs was studied and the Hfe time of the redox products in reverse micellar system was found to increase by about 300-fold compared to conventional photosystem [335]. The authors have presented a kinetic model for overall photochemical process. Kang et al. [336] reported photoinduced electron transfer from (alkoxyphenyl) triphenylporphyrines to water pool in RMs. Sarkar et al. [337] demonstrated the intramolecular excited state proton transfer and dual luminescence behavior of 3-hydroxyflavone in RMs. In combination with chemiluminescence, RMs were employed to determine gold in aqueous solutions of industrial samples containing silver alloy [338, 339]. Xie et al. [340] studied the a-naphthyl acetic acid sensitized room temperature phosphorescence of biacetyl in AOT-RMs. The intensity of phosphorescence was observed to be about 13 times higher than that seen in aqueous SDS micelles. 

Thus, a number of processes may take place within supramolecular systems, modulated by the arrangement of the components excitation energy migration, photoinduced charge separation by electron or proton transfer, perturbation of optical transitions and polarizabilities, modification of redox potentials in ground or excited states, photoregulation of binding properties, selective photochemical reactions, etc. 

Photoinduced proton transfer may be generated through the large variation in acidity or basicity of functional groups in the excited states of specific structures [8.226] and lead to photoinduced pH jumps [8.227,8.228]. Changes of optical properties by tautomerisation in the excited state [8.229] occur, for instance, in the fluorescent states of bipyridyl diols [8.230a] and form the basis of a proton transfer laser process [8.230b]. 

Of much significance is the realization of long-lived photo generated tautomeric states and long-range proton transfer (LRpT) processes. The latter could lead to proton transfer charge separated states to be put in parallel with the extensively studied charge separation by photoinduced electron transfer (see Section 8.2.3). A number of systems present photochromism on the basis of photoinduced proton transfer [8.229]. 

Deprotonation is essential in some cation radical reactions the corresponding examples will be described in Chapter 6. Scheme 1-43 depicts a photoreaction between phenan-threne and triethylamine. This reaction includes photoinduced sequential electron-transfer, proton-transfer, and radical-recombination processes (Lawson et al. 1999). 

The signature of proton transfer in solution is the red-shifted fluorescence of the deprotonated chromophore [4-7], From the transition frequencies of absorption and emission and the ground-state dissociation constant, the dissociation constant in the excited state can be calculated [4-7], The time scales of proton transfer processes generally are very short, of the order of picoseconds or below [7], Only recently has it become possible to detect the photoinduced proton transfer dynamics in solution in real time [9,10],... 

Phenol-water clusters are good models for the investigation of the photoinduced elementary processes occurring in living matter. Intracluster hydrogen transfer processes in phenol-water (Ph-W) complexes have extensively been studied in recent years, see refs [11-14] for reviews. Phenol-ammonia (Ph-A) clusters also have served as easily accessible and versatile models of intracluster hydrogen transfer dynamics [14,16]. It has been inferred by several authors that intracluster proton transfer occurs more readily in Ph-A clusters than in Ph-W clusters, but it has been a matter of debate whether the hydrogen or proton transfer occurs in the S excited state, or in the cluster cation, or in both [12,14],... 

The 17r<7 states also dominate the photoinduced processes in hydrogen-bonded chromophore-solvent clusters. The photoinduced hydrogen transfer reaction is experimentally and computationally well documented in clusters of phenol and indole with ammonia [14,16,32], There is no clear evidence for the existence of an excited-state proton transfer process in these systems [14], The same conclusion applies to bi functional chromophores solvated in finite clusters, such as 7HQ-ammonia and 7HQ-water clusters [15]. In future work, the photochemistry of larger and biologically relevant chromophores (such as tyrosine, tryptophan, or the DNA bases) should be investigated in a finite solvent environment. 

Election transfer remains one of the most important processes explored when using interfacial supramolecular assemblies and given the emerging area of molecular electronics, this trend is set to continue. Therefore, Chapter 2 outlines the fundamental theoretical principles behind the electiochemically and photochemi-cally induced processes that are important for interfacial supramolecular assemblies. In that chapter, homogeneous and heterogeneous electron transfer, photoinduced proton transfer and photoisomerizations are considered. 

Electron, energy and proton transfer or molecular rearrangements are the most important events that occur in interfacial supramolecular assemblies. In this chapter, the general theories of electron transfer, both within ISAs and across the film/electrode interface, are described. Moreover, photoinduced electron, energy and proton transfer processes are discussed. As this book focuses on supramolecular species, the treatment is restricted to intramolecular or interfacial processes without the requirement for prior diffusion of reactants. 

The most prevalent photoinduced processes in supramolecular and interfacial systems are electron transfer, energy transfer and nuclear motion, such as proton transfer and isomerization. Before discussing these processes, it is important to outline the fundamental properties of electronically excited states. 

Like proton transfer, photoisomerization is a fundamentally important photochemical process. The two most important forms of photoisomerization are valence isomerization and stereoisomerization. The latter is probably the most common photoinduced isomerization in supramolecular chemistry. It may occur in systems in which the photoactive component has unsaturated bonds which can be excited, and this effect may be exploited for optical switching applications. A number of interfacial supramolecular complexes capable of undergoing cis-trans photoisomerization have been studied from this perspective - some examples are outlined in Chapter 5. 

In terms of photophysics, electron transfer reactions create an additional non-radiative pathway, so reducing the observed emission lifetimes and quantum yields in A-L-B dyads in comparison with a model compound. However, there are other processes, such as molecular rearrangements, proton transfer and heavy-atom effects, which may decrease the radiative ability of a compound. One of the most important experimental methods for studying photoinduced processes is emission spectroscopy. Emission is relatively easy to detect and emission intensities and lifetimes are sensitive to competing processes. Studying parameters such as emission quantum yields and lifetimes for a given supramolecular species and associated... 

Lastly, electron transfer in D—[H]—A assemblies is not a perquisite of the excited states of metal complexes. Organic ensembles 38 and 39 (R = SiMe2 Bu), containing a dimethylaniline-anthracene redox pair, have been synthesized recently [124]. Preliminary time-resolved and steady-state fluorescence experiments indicate the occurrence of photoinduced electron transfer. In work related to Watson Crick base-paired systems, the excited state of the fluorescent pyrene derivative 40 is efficiently quenched (94-99 %) by 2 -deoxyguanosine (dG), 2 -deoxycytidine (dC), or 2 -deoxythymidine (dT) in aqueous solution [125]. A PCET mechanism is thought to be responsible for this process, as the thermodynamics of electron transfer are unfavorable unless coupled to a rapid proton-transfer step. The quenched lifetime of 40 in the presence of dC and dT in H2O is significantly extended by a factor of 1.5-2.0 in D2O this isotope effect is similar to that observed in the kinetics studies of 1 [70]. The invoked PCET reaction mechanism also accounts for the inability of dC and dT to quench the fluorescence of 40 in the aprotic organic solvent DMSO. 

Eichen, Y., Lehn, J.-M., Scherl, M., Haarer, D., Fischer, J., DeCian, A., Corval, A. and TrommsdorfF, H.P. (1995) Photochromism dependent on crystal packing - photoinduced and thermal proton-transfer processes in singlecrystals of 6-(2,4-dinitrobenzyl)-2,2 -bipyridine. Angela Chem., Int. Ed. Engl., 34, 2530-2533. 

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