Time evolution of the solvated and conformationally relaxed emissive excited state of the anionic form of salophen, a Schiff base

Abstract

Salophen is a weakly fluorescent Schiff base which forms emissive co-ordination complexes with Zn2+ and Al3+. The complex with Al3+ is significantly more fluorescent than that with Zn2+, presumably because the dimeric complex with Zn2+ is associated with additional nonradiative channels. This contention has been put to test, through a careful investigation of excited state dynamics of the anionic form of salophen (Sal2−), which is the form in which the ligand exists in the complexes. The emissive excited state of the anion (Sal2−) has been found to be solvated and conformationally relaxed, over tens of picosecond. It is significantly more fluorescent than the neutral compound, with fluorescence lifetime that is longer by almost two orders of magnitude. Fluorescence lifetime of the anion is in fact longer than that of the complex with Zn2+ and slightly less than that of the complex with Al3+. So, the earlier hypothesis about additional nonradiative deactivation pathways in the Zn2+ complex gains credence from the present study.