Studies of the Triplet State of Carbonyl Compounds. I. Phosphorescence of β-Diketones

Abstract

The phosphorescence intensity of the diketone form and of one of the two chelated enol forms of β-diketones in solution at 77°K depends largely on the solvent used. The phosphorescence of the diketone form (seen principally in polar solvent) is similar to that of aromatic monoketones and arises from a Tnπ* state. The phosphorescence of one of the two chelated enol forms in nonpolar solvent is emitted from a Tπ π* state as suggested by the external and internal heavy atom effects. However the shortness of the phosphorescence lifetime shows that the lowest triplet state is probably mixed with some higher energy triplet state of nπ* type. The diketone form seems much more luminescent than the chelated enol form. This result is consistent with the suggestion of Lamola [A. A. Lamola and L. J. Sharp, J. Phys. Chem. 70, 2634 (1966)] that a very fast radiationless decay takes place in molecules possessing an intramolecular hydrogen bond between the carbonyl oxygen and the hydroxyl hydrogen. The comparison of chelated enol spectra with those of crotonophenone and benzalacetone indicates that phosphorescent chelated enol has structure II, the other form being nonradiatively deactivated or nonexistent. Benzoyltrifluoroacetone gives a spectrum with a long lifetime which seems to originate from a nonchelated enol form.