No abstract

No abstract

Intramolecular processes of deactivation of 1,3-dimethyl-4-thiouracil (DMTU) from the second excited singlet (S2) (pi, pi*) and the lowest excited triplet (T1) (pi, pi*) states have been studied using perfluoro-1,3-dimethylcyclohexane (PFDMCH) as a solvent. The spectral and photophysical (PP) properties of DMTU in CCl4, hexane and water have also been described. For the first time, the fluorescence from S2 state DMTU has been observed. The picosecond lifetime of DMTU in the S2 state (tau(S2)) in PFDMCH has been proposed to be determined by a very fast intramolecular reversible process of hydrogen abstraction from the ortho methyl group by the thiocarbonyl group. The shortening of tau(S2) in CCl4 is interpreted to be caused by the intermolecular interactions between DMTU (S2) and the solvent. Results of the phosphorescence decay as a function of DMTU concentration were analyzed using the Stern-Volmer formalism, which enabled determination of the intrinsic lifetime of the T1 state (tau0(T1)) and rate constants of self-quenching (k(sq)). The lifetimes, tau0(T1), of DMTU in PFDMCH and CCl4 are much longer than the values hitherto obtained in more reactive solvents. The PP properties of DMTU both in the S2 and T1 states have been shown to be determined by the thiocarbonyl group.

A novel solvatochromic betaine dye has been synthesized from xanthosine and characterized spectroscopically by UV-vis in a broad range of solvents. The dye 9-(2',3',5'-tri-O-acetyl-beta-d-ribofuranosyl)-2-(pyridinium-1-yl)-9H-purin-6-olate, 1a, exhibits solvent-induced spectral band shifts that are (2)/(3) as large as that of the betaine known as Reichardt's dye, which forms the basis of the E(T)(30) solvent polarity scale. Moreover, the dye 1a is a ribonucleoside and hence has the potential application as a polarity probe for application in RNA oligonucleotides. The isomeric dye 6-(pyridinium-1)-yl-9H-purin-2-olate, 2a, has also been synthesized and exhibits slightly smaller solvatochromic band shifts. The new betaine dyes have also been studied by comparing the experimental and calculated solvatochromic shifts based on the calculation of the UV/vis absorption spectra, using a combination of methods with density functional theory (DFT). The COSMO continuum dielectric method, an applied electric field term in the Hamiltonian, and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) methods were used to obtain absorption energies, ground-state dipole moments, and the difference dipole moment between the ground and excited states. The calculations predict a lower energy absorption band of charge-transfer character that is highly solvatochromic, and a higher energy absorption band that has pi-pi character which is not solvatochromic, in agreement with the experimental data. For Reichardt's dye the difference dipole moment between the ground and excited state (Deltamu = mu(e) - mu(g)) was also calculated and compared to experiment: Deltamu(calcd) = -6 D and Deltamu(exptl) = -9 +/- 1 D.(1) The ground-state dipole moment was found to be mu(g)(calcd) = 18 D and mu(g)(exptl) = 14.8 +/- 1.2 D.(1).

The absorption, phosphorescence and phosphorescence excitation spectra, phosphorescence quantum yields, and T(1) excited state lifetimes of four 4-thiouracil derivatives were measured for the first time in chemically inert and very weakly interacting perfluoro-1,3-dimethylcyclohexane at room temperature. The set of the 4-thiouracil derivatives comprises 1-propyl-4-thiouracil (PTU) and the related compounds having a methyl substituent at the position α to the thiocarbonyl group, namely 1-propyl-4-thiothymine (PTT), 1,3-dimethyl-4-thiouracil (DMTU), and 1-methyl-3-trideuteriomethyl-4-thiouracil ([D(3)]DMTU). Quantitative information on the intramolecular decay of the T(1) excited state of the four 4-thiouracil derivatives is presented, and the mechanism and dynamics of this process are discussed. In the absence of self quenching and solvent induced deactivation, the T(1) decay of the four 4-thiouracil derivatives was dominated by intramolecular nonradiative processes (NR). The values of the rate constant k(NR) in DMTU and [D(3)]DMTU are about 4 times larger than that in PTT and about 3 times larger than that in PTU. The reasons for the enhanced nonradiative rate constant in DMTU are discussed. It is concluded that the faster rate of the nonradiative processes in DMTU is related to a larger contribution from mixing of the T(2) (nπ*) state into the lowest energy T(1) (ππ*) state, as compared to the analogous coupling in PTU and PTT. This conclusion is supported by ab initio calculations performed at the EOM-CC2/aug-cc-pVDZ level of theory. The energy spacing between the T(2) (nπ*) and T(1) (ππ*) states is estimated to be about 500, 1100, and 2000 cm(-1) for DMTU, PTU, and PTT, respectively. Among the three compounds in question, the predicted energy spacing is thus the smallest for DMTU.