Propriedades fotofísicas de substituintes aromáticos em derivados da N-metil-1,8-naftalimida: uma correlação entre dados teóricos e experimentais

Abstract

The compounds N-methyl-1,8-naphthalimide (NI), 4-phenoxy-N-methyl-1,8naphthalimide (PNI) and 4-naphthoxy-N-methyl-1,8-naphthalimide (NNI) were synthesized and characterized by usually technique for organics compounds. The steady state and time-resolved photophysical properties of the compounds were studied. Both absorption and fluorescence spectra are red-shifted when the electron donor phenoxy and naphthoxy group is introduced at C-4 position. When compared to NI, the spectral shift in acetonitrile for PNI and NNI is 27 and 28 nm for the absorption, and the fluorescence emission is 50,2 and 65,4 nm, respectively. The compounds PNI and NNI show high quantum yields in non-polar aprotic solvents (φ = 0,500,92), and low ones in polar non-protic and protic solvents (φ = 0,12-0,014), which can be assigned to stabilization of the singlet state (S1). The emission intensity of the PNI and NNI decrease by addition of water to dioxane solution, and the fluorescence quenching occurs by combination of dynamic and static contribution ascribed to specific solute–solvent interaction. The substituent donor-acceptor character has been evaluated by means of cyclical voltammetry showing that PNI in the ground state has a the higher donor character than NNI, since the reduction potentials are –1,187 and – 0,985 V, respectively. As an attempt to comprehend the behavior of these substituents, Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations were performed. These calculations suggest that the photophysical properties oh the compounds may be intrinsically related to their geometries, thus explaining the more pronounced shift on the emission spectra, as a consequence of a higher degree of conjugation between the substituent aromatic-group and naphthalimide moiety.