Manifestation of the dynamics of ultrafast photoprocesses in the transient absorption spectra of diflavonoid solutions

Herein, using the femtosecond absorption spectroscopy method, the dynamics of the nonstationary induced absorption spectra of diflavonoid 3,7-dihydroxy-2,8-di(4-methoxyphenyl)-4H, 6H-pyrano[3,2-g]chromene-4,6-dione (DFV) in solvents of different polarities is studied. It is found that the rapid transformation of the transient absorption spectra of DFV in time is due to the processes of intramolecular protons transfer in excited singlet states. For a nonpolar solvent, two protons are transferred in two stages. Initially, during the sub-picosecond times, a form with a single transferred proton is formed from the Frank-Condon state. From this transition state, in a time range of about 9 ps, the second proton is transferred and the two proton transfer tautomer with a high quantum yield of fluorescence ~0.66 is formed, which has the gain band in the transient absorption spectra. For the polar solvent dimethylformamide only the short-lived form with a single proton transferred is formed also during the subpicosecond times practically the same ones as for the nonpolar solution and has a lifetime of about 20 ps. The polarity of the medium, which affects the formation of a set of the “closed” and “open” forms of DFV in the ground state, differing in relative positions in the space of hydroxyl and carbonyl groups, largely determines the mechanism of the intramolecular proton transfer process in the DFV molecule, which consists in the sequential transfer of two protons in a non-polar solvent to form a fluorescent long-lived tautomer and the transfer of one proton in polar solvents to form a short-lived non-fluorescent form.

Testing the fate of nascent holes in CdSe Nanocrystals with sub 10 fs pump-probe spectroscopy

Numerous studies have reported that transient absorption spectra in core CdSe nanocrystals do not register state filling in 1Sh, an absence which has profound consequences in light emitting applications. It...

Radiation Induced One-Electron Oxidation of 2-Thiouracil in Aqueous Solutions

Oxidative damage to 2-thiouracil (2-TU) by hydroxyl (•OH) and azide (N3) radicals produces various primary reactive intermediates. Their optical absorption spectra and kinetic characteristics were studied by pulse radiolysis with UV-vis spectrophotometric and conductivity detection and by time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) method. The transient absorption spectra recorded in the reactions of •OH with 2-TU depend on the concentration of 2-TU, however, only slightly on pH. At low concentrations, they are characterized by a broad absorption band with a weakly pronounced maxima located at λ = 325, 340 and 385 nm, whereas for high concentrations, they are dominated by an absorption band with λmax ≈ 425 nm. Based on calculations using TD-DFT method, the transient absorption spectra at low concentration of 2-TU were assigned to the ●OH-adducts to the double bond at C5 and C6 carbon atoms (3●, 4●) and 2c-3e bonded ●OH adduct to sulfur atom (1…●OH) and at high concentration of 2-TU also to the dimeric 2c-3e S-S-bonded radical in neutral form (2●). The dimeric radical (2●) is formed in the reaction of thiyl-type radical (6●) with 2-TU and both radicals are in an equilibrium with Keq = 4.2 × 103 M−1. Similar equilibrium (with Keq = 4.3 × 103 M−1) was found for pH above the pKa of 2-TU which involves admittedly the same radical (6●) but with the dimeric 2c-3e S-S bonded radical in anionic form (2●−). In turn, ●N3-induced oxidation of 2-TU occurs via radical cation with maximum spin location on the sulfur atom which subsequently undergoes deprotonation at N1 atom leading again to thiyl-type radical (6●). This radical is a direct precursor of dimeric radical (2●).