New fluorescent heterocyclic systems from imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine: Design, synthesis, spectral studies and quantum-chemical investigations

Abstract

Two new fluorescent heterocyclic systems dipyrido[1′,2′:1,2]imidazo[4,5-b:4,5-e]pyridine-13-carbonitrile and pyrido[1′,2′:1,2]imidazo[4,5-b]pyrido[2′,1′:2,3]imidazo[4,5-e]pyridine-13-carbonitrile were synthesized by one-pot reaction of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine with 2-(imidazo[1,2-a]pyridin-3-yl)acetonitrile and 2-(imidazo[1,2-a]pyridin-2-yl)acetonitrile, respectively, in MeOH/KOH solution via the nucleophilic substitution of hydrogen in high yields. Spectral and analytical data have confirmed the structures of the synthesized dyes. The optical and solvatochromic properties of the compounds were investigated and the results showed that they exhibited interesting photophysical properties. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations of fluorescent dyes were performed to provide the optimized geometries and relevant frontier orbitals by using the B3LYP hybrid functional and the 6–311 ++ G(d,p) basis set. Calculated electronic absorption spectra were also obtained by time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) method. In addition, electron density iso-surface map, intra- and intermolecular interactions of these fluorescent heterocyclic systems were evaluated by AIM (Atoms in Molecules) analysis.