Substituent Effect on AIE Mechanism of Two Coumarin Derivatives: Uncommon TICT Fluorescence in Aggregation State

Two coumarin derivatives, 7-diethylamino-3-(4-nitrophenyl)coumarin (DNC) and 7-hydroxy-3-(4-nitrophenyl)coumarin (HNC), were synthesized via Knoevenagel condensation of salicylaldehyde derivatives with 4-nitrophenylacetonitrile and then cyclization reaction. Both of them were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The molecules of DNC are stacked via π-π interaction, while the hydrogen bond interactions instead of π-π interaction were observed in the crystal packing of HNC. Both of DNC and HNC showed solvatochromic properties and aggregation-induced emission (AIE) activities, but the AIE characteristics of them were entirely different. HNC exhibited an AIE phenomenon as the result of the restriction of twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT), while DNC emited peculiar dual fluorescence which was assigned to the emission based on the inhibition of TICT state formation and the emission from the TICT state respectively.

Aggregation-induced emission spectra of triphenylamine salicylaldehyde derivatives via excited-state intramolecular proton transfer revealed by molecular spectral and dynamics simulations

The emission spectra of triphenylamine salicylaldehyde derivatives are weak in solution and strong in the crystal, as interpreted by molecular spectral and dynamics simulations.

Synthesis and crystal structures of some bis(3-methyl-1H-indol-2-yl)(salicyl)methanes

Four 2,2′-bisindolylmethanes (BIMs), a useful class of polyindolyl species joined to a central carbon, were synthesized using salicylaldehyde derivatives and simple acid catalysis; these are 2-[bis(3-methyl-1H-indol-2-yl)methyl]-6-methylphenol, (IIa), 2-[bis(3-methyl-1H-indol-2-yl)methyl]-4,6-dichlorophenol, (IIb), 2-[bis(3-methyl-1H-indol-2-yl)methyl]-4-nitrophenol, (IIc), and 2-[bis(3-methyl-1H-indol-2-yl)methyl]-4,6-di-tert-butylphenol, (IId). BIMs (IIa) and (IIb) were characterized crystallographically as the dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) disolvates, i.e. C26H24N2O·2C2H6OS and C25H20Cl2N2O·2C2H6OS, respectively. Both form strikingly similar one-dimensional hydrogen-bonding chain motifs with the DMSO solvent molecules. BIM (IIa) packs into double layers of chains whose orientations alternate every double layer, while (IIb) forms more simply packed chains along the a axis. BIM (IIa) has a remarkably long c axis.