SPECTROSCOPIC STUDIES OF THIATRIMETHINE, PENTAMETHINE AND HEPTAMETHINE CYANINE DYES .2. INFRARED AND RESONANCE RAMAN-SPECTRA OF THIATRIMETHINE, PENTAMETHINE AND HEPTAMETHINE CYANINE DYES

Infrared (IR) and resonance Raman (RR) spectra of thiatri-, penta- and heptamethine cyanine dyes in the solid state and in solution have been measured. Most of the intense bands observed in the 1600-1100 cm-1 region of the RR spectra may be assigned to totally symmetric stretching modes of the central conjugated system of the cyanines, while most of the strong IR bands in the 1600-1300 cm-1 region are probably due to antisymmetric stretching modes. The intense RR bands do not have their counterparts in the IR spectra and vice versa. A pseudo-mutual exclusion rule seems to be operative for the cyanine vibrational spectra in the 1600-1300 cm-1 region, indicating that the central conjugated systems of the cyanines have nearly symmetrical structure, i.e. the extended all-trans forms of the methine chains and the bond orders of 1.5 of the CC and CN bonds in both the solution and solid states. The IR spectra of 3-ethyl-2-[3-(3-ethyl-2-benzothiazolinylidene)-1-propenyl]benzothiazolium iodide (NK-76) and 3-ethyl-2-[7-(3-ethyl-2-benzothiazolinylidene)-1,3,5-heptatrienyl]benzothiazolium iodide (NK-126) change little between the solid and solution states while those of 3-octadecyl-2-[3-(3-octadecyl-2-benzothiazolinylidene)-1-propenyl]benzothiazolium iodide (NK-2560) and 3-octadecyl-2-[7-(3-octadecyl-2-benzothiazolinylidene)-1,3,5-heptatrienyl]benzothiazolium perchlorate (NK-2861) alter significantly between the two states in the frequencies of bands due to the stretching modes of their central conjugated systems. The results suggest that the electronic states of the central conjugated systems of NK-2560 and NK-2861 undergo appreciable changes on going from the solid to the solution states.