The deactivation process of excited 1-(dimethylamino)-9-fluorenone (1-DMAF) was investigated by means of steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. Fluorescence decay profiles for 1-DMAF, which has a relatively short lifetime (several tens of picoseconds in low viscosity solvents at ambient temperature) are much affected by the fluidity of the surrounding solvent. The lifetimes increase in glassy solvents at 77 K as well as with increasing viscosity. These results indicate that conformational relaxation by the dimethylamino group plays an important role in the deactivation process of 1-DMAF. Detailed analysis of the temperature dependence of the fluorescence lifetime revealed that the conformational relaxation process has a very small intramolecular activation barrier (5.4 kJ/mol). Results of MO calculations suggest that the dimethylamino moiety of 1-DMAF is pretwisted in the ground state and that the most stable structure in the excited state is a twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) state. 1-DMAF could be a new model molecule that exhibits the TICT phenomena.

Radiationless deactivation of 2-piperidinoanthraquinone (2PAQ) in its excited singlet state induced by an intermolecular hydrogen bond interaction was studied by picosecond and femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy in benzene. On addition of alcohol, the transient absorption of excited 2PAQ exhibited a blue shift and was effectively quenched. Kinetic analyses of the transient decay obtained by experiments using a picosecond pulse compared well with those from dynamic fluorescence studies; the observed transient absorption was confirmed as being attributed to the excited singlet state of 2PAQ. Subpicosecond transient absorption experiments indicated that even at high concentrations of ethanol (1-3 M) in benzene the primary relaxation process was almost the same as that in neat benzene. A hydrogen-bonded excited state of 2PAQ, due to an out-of-plane mode interaction with ethanol, was successfully detected for the first time. Using detailed multicomponent analyses of the transient absorption, the spectra of both the out-of-plane mode species with λ max at 570 nm and the in-plane mode species with λ max at 550 nm were obtained.

Effects of solvent, pH and hydrogen bonding with N-methylimidazole (MIm) on the photophysical properties of 1-hydroxyfluorenone (1HOF) have been studied. Fluorescence lifetime, fluorescence quantum yield and triplet yield measurements demonstrated that intersystem crossing was the dominant process in apolar media and its rate constant significantly diminished with increasing solvent polarity. The acceleration of internal conversion in alcohols paralleled the strength of intermolecular hydrogen bonding. The faster energy dissipation from the singlet-excited state in cyclohexane was attributed to intramolecular hydrogen bonding. The pK(a) of 1HOF decreased from 10.06 to 5.0 on light absorption, and H(3)O(+) quenched the singlet-excited molecules in a practically diffusion-controlled reaction. On addition of MIm in toluene, dual fluorescence was observed, which was attributed to reversible formation of excited hydrogen-bonded ion pair. Rate constants for the various deactivation pathways were derived from the combined analysis of the steady-state and the time-resolved fluorescence results.

Effects of solvent, pH and hydrogen bonding with N-methylimidazole (MIm) on the photophysical properties of l-hydroxyfluorenone (1HOF) have been studied. Fluorescence lifetime, fluorescence quantum yield and triplet yield measurements demonstrated that intersystem crossing was the dominant process in apolar media and its rate constant significantly diminished with increasing solvent polarity. The acceleration of internal conversion in alcohols paralleled the strength of intermolecular hydrogen bonding. The faster energy dissipation from the singlet-excited state in cyclohexane was attributed to intramolecular hydrogen bonding. The pK, of lHOF decreased from 10.06 to 5.0 on light absorption, and H30+ quenched the singletexcited molecules in a practically diffusion-controlled reaction. On addition of MIm in toluene, dual fluorescence was observed, which was attributed to reversible formation of excited hydrogen-bonded ion pair. Rate constants for the various deactivation pathways were derived from the combined analysis of the steady-state and the time-resolved fluorescence results.

Effects of solvent, pH and hydrogen bonding with N‐methylimidazole (MIm) on the photophysical properties of 1‐hydroxyfluorenone (1HOF) have been studied. Fluorescence lifetime, fluorescence quantum yield and triplet yield measurements demonstrated that intersystem crossing was the dominant process in apolar media and its rate constant significantly diminished with increasing solvent polarity. The acceleration of internal conversion in alcohols paralleled the strength of intermolecular hydrogen bonding. The faster energy dissipation from the singlet‐excited state in cyclohexane was attributed to intramolecular hydrogen bonding. The pKa of 1HOF decreased from 10.06 to 5.0 on light absorption, and H3O+ quenched the singletexcited molecules in a practically diffusion‐controlled reaction. On addition of MIm in toluene, dual fluorescence was observed, which was attributed to reversible formation of excited hydrogen‐bonded ion pair. Rate constants for the various deactivation pathways were derived from the combined analysis of the steady‐state and the time‐resolved fluorescence results.