Pyrene and its selected 1-substituted derivatives revisited: A combined spectroscopic and computational investigation

Abstract

Pyrene and its OH, NH2, and CN substituted derivatives were investigated experimentally by using UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy, steady state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy in different polarity solvents. The computational part includes investigation of Pyrene and derivatives in excited S1 state in gas phase and in solution. Calculations were carried out with density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) at B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level. Both ground and excited state geometries were fully optimized in gas phase and in solution. Solution calculations were carried out with Polarizable Continuum Model (PCM). Current results indicate that solvent polarity did not affect Py and its derivatives except PyNH2. Solvent has minor effects on PyCN and PyOH. Although PyNH2 has he smallest HOMO-LUMO energy gap, it is not the best candidate due to its shortest fluorescence lifetime. On the other hand, PyOH and PyCN have longer lifetimes. Therefore, it is concluded that investigated molecules are appropriate candidates for photosensitive applications in the order of PyNH2<PyOH < PyCN < Py.