Theoretical study of non-radiative deactivation pathways for some heterocyclic compounds. I. Pyrrolyl-izoxazole derivatives

We perform an experimental and theoretical study on some pyrrolyl-izoxazole derivatives with single bridged donor (D) and acceptor (A) moieties, potentially Twisted Intramolecular Charge Transfer (TICT) state forming compounds. The emission spectra in solvent of different polarities and at different excitation wavelengths were performed. The fluorescence quantum yield is very low and the emission band shifts towards long wavelengths in polar solvents and on increasing the excitation wavelength. Solvent dependent semiempirical calculations were performed. The ground and excited states potential energy surfaces were built in terms of the torsion angle about the single bond joining D and A. The ground states have quasiplanar geometry, but the minimum of the excited states corresponds to the orthogonal conformation, stabilised in methanol due to the large charge separation between the D and A fragments. The possibility of forming TICT excited states for the studied pyrrolyl derivatives is discussed. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.