Room-temperature fluorescence of a charge-transfer complex of reserpine in aqueous and aqueous–ethanol media

Abstract

The room-temperature fluorescence of a charge-transfer (CT) complex different from those of the component donor/acceptor in polar organic solvent is not very common. The phenomenon is even rarer in aqueous medium. The present work demonstrates that a CT complex formed between reserpine (Res) and 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone (DDQ) in aqueous and aqueous–ethanol media exhibits fluorescence at room temperature that is entirely different from those of the components, Res and DDQ. With decreasing polarity of the medium on the addition of ethanol, the fluorescence intensity and also the fluorimetrically determined formation constant of the complex increase, but the fluorescence emission wavelength does not change significantly. The quantum yield of fluorescence of the CT complex systematically decreases with increasing ethanol content of the medium. That the observed fluorescence is due to the CT complex is established by the constancy of the assumed proportionality constant (β) between the fluorescence intensity and the complex concentration measured using different equilibrium concentrations of the complex and also by demonstrating the mirror image relationship between its excitation and emission spectra in aqueous medium. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the room-temperature fluorescence of a CT complex in aqueous solution.