Strong Photoacid Research Articles

Ultrafast Excited-State Proton Transfer in 4-Nitrocatechol: Implications for the Photochemistry of Nitrophenols.

Nitrophenols are a class of environmental contaminants that exhibit strong absorption at atmospherically relevant wavelengths, prompting many studies of their photochemical degradation rates and mechanisms. Despite the importance of photochemical reactions of nitrophenols in the environment, the ultrafast processes in electronically excited nitrophenols are not well understood. Here, we present an experimental study of ultrafast electron dynamics in 4-nitrocatechol (4NC), a common product of biomass burning and fossil fuel combustion. The experiments are accompanied by time-dependent quantum mechanical calculations to help assign the observed transitions in static and transient absorption spectra and to estimate the rates of singlet-to-triplet intersystem crossing. Our results suggest that electronic triplet states are not efficiently populated upon 340 nm excitation, as efficient proton transfer occurs in the excited state on a time scale of a few picoseconds in water and tens of picoseconds in 2-propanol. This suggests that triplet states do not play a significant role in the photochemical reactions of 4NC in the environment and, by extension, in nitrophenols in general. Instead, consideration should be given to the idea that this class of molecules may serve as strong photoacids.

Observing Aqueous Proton-Uptake Reactions Triggered by Light.

Proton-transfer reactions in water are essential to chemistry and biology. Earlier studies reported on aqueous proton-transfer mechanisms by observing light-triggered reactions of strong (photo)acids and weak bases. Similar studies on strong (photo)base-weak acid reactions would also be of interest because earlier theoretical works found evidence for mechanistic differences between aqueous H+ and OH- transfer. In this work, we study the reaction of actinoquinol, a water-soluble strong photobase, with the water solvent and the weak acid succinimide. We find that in aqueous solutions containing succinimide, the proton-transfer reaction proceeds via two parallel and competing reaction channels. In the first channel, actinoquinol extracts a proton from water, after which the newly generated hydroxide ion is scavenged by succinimide. In the second channel, succinimide forms a hydrogen-bonded complex with actinoquinol and the proton is transferred directly. Interestingly, we do not observe proton conduction in water-separated actinoquinol-succinimide complexes, which makes the newly studied strong base-weak acid reaction essentially different from previously studied strong acid-weak base reactions.

Computational investigation of explicit solvent effects and specific interactions of hydroxypyrene photoacids in acetone, DMSO, and water.

This work employs the correlated wavefunction-based methods ADC(2) and CC2 in combination with the implicit solvent model COSMO to calculate the UV/Vis absorption and fluorescence emission energies of particularly strong hydroxypyrene photoacids in acetone. According to the Förster cycle, the electronic transition energies are first used to compute , i.e., the pKa change upon excitation and then the excited-state pKa (labeled ) with ground-state pKa values based on COSMO-RS as additional inputs. Furthermore, for the strongest photoacid of that class, namely tris(1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoropropan-2-yl)-8-hydroxypyrene-1,3,6-trisulfonate, the need to go beyond implicit solvation and to account for explicit solvent effects on the electronic transition energies and the resulting ΔpKa is investigated in the solvents acetone, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), and water. For this, a hybrid implicit-explicit approach is followed by comparing micro-solvated structures that are generated based on Kamlet-Taft considerations. While implicit solvent effects are mostly sufficient for the aprotic solvent acetone, one explicit solvent molecule seems relevant for DMSO due to its stronger hydrogen-bond (HB) acceptance and hence larger interaction with the photoacid OH group as a HB donor. For the protic solvent water, the situation is more complicated, involving at least one water molecule at the OH group and up to three water molecules at the O- group of the corresponding base. Finally, these results are used to rationalize the experimentally observed spectral evolution of the photoacid absorption band in acetone-water solvent mixtures.

Quantification of Excited-State Brønsted–Lowry Acidity of Weak Photoacids Using Steady-State Photoluminescence Spectroscopy and a Driving-Force-Dependent Kinetic Theory

Photoacids and photobases constitute a class of molecules that upon absorption of light undergoes a reversible change in acidity, i.e. pKa. Knowledge of the excited-state pKa value, pKa*, is critical for predicting excited-state proton-transfer behavior. A reasonable approximation of pKa* is possible using the Förster cycle analysis, but only when the ground-state pKa is known. This poses a challenge for the study of weak photoacids (photobases) with less acidic (basic) excited states (pKa* (pKb*) > 7), because ground-state pKa (pKb) values are >14, making it difficult to quantify them accurately in water. Another method to determine pKa* relies on acid-base titrations with photoluminescence detection and Henderson-Hasselbalch analysis. This method requires that the acid dissociation reaction involving the thermally equilibrated electronic excited state reaches chemical quasi-equilibrium, which does not occur for weak photoacids (photobases) due to slow rates of excited-state proton transfer. Herein, we report a method to overcome these limitations. We demonstrate that liquid water and aqueous hydroxide are unique proton-accepting quenchers of excited-state photoacids. We determine that Stern-Volmer quenching analysis is appropriate to extract rate constants for excited-state proton transfer in aqueous solutions from a weak photoacid, 5-aminonaphthalene-1-sulfonate, to a series of proton-accepting quenchers. Analysis of these data by Marcus-Cohen bond-energy-bond-order theory yields an accurate value for pKa* of 5-aminonaphthalene-1-sulfonate. Our method is broadly accessible because it only requires readily available steady-state photoluminescence spectroscopy. Moreover, our results for weak photoacids are consistent with those from previous studies of strong photoacids, each showing the applicability of kinetic theories to interpret driving-force-dependent rate constants for proton-transfer reactions.

Acid–base reaction of a super‐photoacid with a cooperative amide hydrogen‐bonded chain

AbstractThe excited‐state proton transfer (ESPT) of the strong photoacid, N‐methyl‐7‐hydroxyquinolium (NM7HQ+), was studied in the presence of N‐methylbenzamide (NMB) as a base in the aprotic polar solvent, acetonitrile. According to the Benesi–Hildebrand relation, it was revealed that the hydrogen (H)‐bonded complex of NM7HQ+ and NMB exists in the ground state in a 1:1 stoichiometry with the association constant of 22.2 ± 1.7 M−1. The fluorescence quenching of the 1:1 complex was observed to follow the Stern–Volmer relation with the molecularity of one for NMB indicating that the ESPT of NM7HQ+ occurs with the H‐bonded chain of two NMB molecules. Our study highlights the cooperative nature of H‐bonding in the chemical reactivity of amide in acid–base reactions as has already been reported for alcohol.

Contrasting pKa shift and fluorescence modulation of 6-cyano-2-naphthol within α- and β-cyclodextrin

Herein, we investigate the interaction between a strong photoacid 6-cyano-2-naphthol (6CN-2OH) and a macrocyclic host α- cyclodextrin (α-CD) with a combination of molecular fluorescence and molecular dynamics simulations. Interestingly, we observe very different pKa shift and fluorescence modulation within α-CD compared to β- cyclodextrin (β-CD). While β-CD inclusion lowers pKa and pKa* of 6CN-2OH, α-CD inclusion raises them. Moreover, in contrast to negligible fluorescence change in the β-CD inclusion case, we observe a remarkable fluorescence modulation for the α-CD-inclusion case. Fluorescence transient measurements confirm significant suppression of excited-state proton transfer (ESPT) dynamics in the presence of α-CD but almost none for the β-CD complex. Isothermal calorimetry (ITC) measurements reveal that 6CN-2OH forms a 1:1 inclusion complex with β-CD with a moderate binding constant of 580 M−1; whereas it forms a 1:2 inclusion complex with α-CD with a high binding constant of 5.0 × 104 M−2. Fluorescence anisotropy decay measurements also support the different binding stoichiometry of the photoacid with the two CDs; the rotational relaxation is significantly slower in the α-CD complex than in the β-CD. Molecular dynamics simulation shows that 6CN-2OH remains entirely trapped inside the hydrophobic cavity formed by two α -CD molecules, which results in the severe depletion of water molecules from the proton-donating hydroxyl site of the 6CN-2OH molecule in the 6CN-2OH:(α-CD)2 complex than in the 6CN-2OH:β-CD complex.

Catalyst-Free Spontaneous Polymerization with 100% Atom Economy: Facile Synthesis of Photoresponsive Polysulfonates with Multifunctionalities.

Photoresponsive polymers have attracted extensive attention due to their tunable functionalities and advanced applications; thus, it is significant to develop facile in situ synthesis strategies, extend polymers family, and establish various applications for photoresponsive polymers. Herein, we develop a catalyst-free spontaneous polymerization of dihaloalkynes and disulfonic acids without photosensitive monomers for the in situ synthesis of photoresponsive polysulfonates at room temperature in air with 100% atom economy in high yields. The resulting polysulfonates could undergo visible photodegradation with strong photoacid generation, leading to various applications including dual-emissive or 3D photopatterning, and practical broad-spectrum antibacterial activity. The halogen-rich polysulfonates also exhibit a high and photoswitched refractive index and could undergo efficient postfunctionalizations to further expand the variety and functionality of photoresponsive heteroatom-containing polyesters.

Clarification of mechanisms of protonic photovoltaic action initiated by photoexcitation of strong photoacids covalently bound to hydrated Nafion cation-exchange membranes wetted by aqueous electrolytes

Junctions formed from materials that contain mobile charged species and fixed counterions can assist in photo-induced charge separation and lead to photovoltaic action, irrespective of whether the mobile charges are electronic or protonic.

Excited State Proton Transfer of Quinone Cyanine 9: Implications on the Origin of Super‐Photoacidity

AbstractQuinone cyanine 9 (QCy9) is one of the strongest photoacids known to date. The origin of “super”‐photoacidity was investigated via time‐resolved fluorescence (TF) with high time resolution to accurately resolve the ultrafast dynamics of the excited‐state proton transfer (ESPT) to solvent. The ESPT of QCy9 in water is found to proceed fully by two ultrafast time constants of 40 fs (65 %) and 200 fs (35 %). More importantly, the initially created base form of QCy9 in the excited state undergoes a significant dynamic red shift of over 2700 cm−1 by solvation. We suggest that the entirely ultrafast reaction rate and the massive solvation of the conjugate base could make QCy9 a particularly strong photoacid. Quantum chemical calculations show that structural diversity leads to the nonexponential behavior of the ESPT dynamics.

Firefly luciferin precursor 2-cyano-6-hydroxybenzothiazole: Fluorescence à la carte controlled by solvent and acidity

2-Cyano-6-hydroxybenzothiazole (CBTOH) is a key intermediate in the biosynthesis of D-luciferin, also used for its chemical synthesis and as luciferin bioluminescence precursor for chemical analysis. We characterized CBTOH and its O-methylated derivative by UV–vis absorption, by steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy, and by density functional theory (DFT) quantum mechanical calculations. Both the acidity of the hydroxyl group and the basicity of the thiazole nitrogen strongly increase upon electronic excitation, triggering solvent- and acidity-dependent deprotonation and protonation processes, with concomitant changes in the fluorescence properties. DFT and time-dependent DFT calculations revealed the existence of a charge displacement that takes place in the excited state from the phenol moiety to the cyanothiazole group for the neutral and the cationic forms of CBTOH. This study reveals CBTOH as the first member of a new class of small dyes with strong photoacid and photobase character, its rich excited-state behavior allowing modulation of its fluorescence properties through solvent and acidity changes. These features make CBTOH a potentially useful fluorescent probe.

Synergistic Configuration of Diols as Brønsted Bases.

As viscous hydroxylic organic compounds, diols are of interest for their functional molecular conformation, which is based on inter- and intramolecular hydrogen (H)-bonds. By utilising steady-state electronic and vibrational spectroscopy, time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy, and computational analyses, we report the association of the hydroxyl groups of diols via intra- or intermolecular H-bonds to enhance their reactivity as a base. Whereas the formation of an intermolecularly H-bonded dimer is requisite for diols of weak intramolecular H-bond to extract a proton from a model strong photoacid, a well-configured single diol molecule with an optimised intramolecular H-bond is revealed to serve as an effective Brønsted base with increased basicity. This observation highlights the collective role of H-bonding in acid-base reactions, and provides mechanistic backgrounds to understand the reactivity of polyols in the acid-catalysed dehydration for the synthesis of cyclic ethers at the molecular level.

Photoinduced strong acid–weak base reactions in a polar aprotic solvent

The excited-state proton transfer (ESPT) of the strong photoacid, N-methyl-7-hydroxyquinolinium, was studied in the presence of different weak bases such as methanol, ethanol, and dimethyl sulfoxide in an aprotic solvent of acetonitrile. Here, we present chemical kinetics analysis of the ESPT mechanism to explain biphasic fluorescence decay of the parent photoacid and the sign reversal of the rise and decay of the resulting conjugate-base fluorescence. The ESPT of the free photoacid showed a molecularity of 2 with reacting alcohol molecules. In the ground state, it was found that a fraction of the photoacid formed 1 : 2 hydrogen-bonded complexes with the residual water present in the aprotic solvent or 1 : 1 complexes with the additive alcohols. In the excited state, these adducts underwent proton transfer when complexed further with diffusing alcohol molecules.

Excited-state proton transfer of 4-hydroxyl-1, 8-naphthalimide derivatives: A combined experimental and theoretical investigation

The photophysical properties of N-butyl-4-hydroxyl-1, 8-naphthalimide (BOH) and N-(morpholinoethyl)−4-hydroxy-1, 8-naphthalimide (MOH) in various solvents are presented and the density functional theory (DFT)/time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) methods at the B3LYP/TZVP theoretical level are adopted to investigate the UV–visible absorption and emission data. An efficient intermolecular excited-state proton transfer (ESPT) reaction occurs for both compounds in DMSO, methanol and water. In aqueous solution, both BOH and MOH can be used as ratiometric pH probes and perform as strong photoacids with pKa*=−2.2, −2.4, respectively. Most interestingly, in the steady-state fluorescence spectra of BOH and MOH in concentrated HCl, an unexpected blue-shifted band is observed and assumed to originate from the contact ion pair (CIP) formed by hydronium ion and the anionic form of the photoacid resulted from ESPT. Theoretical calculations are used to simulate the CIP in the case of BOH, which afford reasonable results compared with the experimental data.

On the different strength of photoacids

In spite of the detailed information provided by advanced time-resolved spectroscopy, the understanding of the excited-state proton transfer (ESPT) reactivity remains difficult to obtain at molecular level. In this work we studied three photoacids showing different strength: the 8-hydroxy-1,3,6-pyrenetrisulfonate weak photoacid, the N-methyl-6-hydroxyquinolinium strong photoacid and the phenol-carboxyether dipicolinium cyanine (QCy9) superphotoacid, focusing on the intermolecular ESPT toward a solvent molecule or a base molecule in aqueous solution. To this aim, the ground and the first singlet excited-state potential energy surfaces of the three systems were characterized by means of the time-dependent density functional theory and a hybrid implicit/explicit model of the solvent. Main structural and photophysical features of the photoacids were assessed and satisfactorily compared with the experimental data. Energy profiles along the PT coordinate were analyzed in both the electronic states. We reproduced many important features of the photoacidity experimentally observed. The results suggest that the relative strength is mainly due to the different extent of charge transfer caused by the electronic transition in proximity of the acid group. Remarkably, we found that even in the case of the strongest photoacid (QCy9), showing a ESPT rate as rapid as to escape the solvent dynamics control, the PT is modulated and supported by the first solvation shell of the proton-accepting molecule. However, a complete understanding of this fascinating field needs the full account for the electronic and the molecular dynamics in play at different timescales.

Alcohol Dimer is Requisite to Form an Alkyl Oxonium Ion in the Proton Transfer of a Strong (Photo)Acid to Alcohol

AbstractInvited for the cover of this issue is the group of Oh‐Hoon Kwon at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology and the Institute for Basic Science in Ulsan. The image depicts a two‐pan balance representing the enhancement of an alcohol's basicity by hydrogen‐bonded clustering, as investigated by time‐resolved fluorescence quenching of a strong Brønsted photoacid. Read the full text of the article at 10.1002/chem.201503948.

Cover Picture: Alcohol Dimer is Requisite to Form an Alkyl Oxonium Ion in the Proton Transfer of a Strong (Photo)Acid to Alcohol (Chem. Eur. J. 13/2016)

Cover Picture: Alcohol Dimer is Requisite to Form an Alkyl Oxonium Ion in the Proton Transfer of a Strong (Photo)Acid to Alcohol (Chem. Eur. J. 13/2016)

Alcohol Dimer is Requisite to Form an Alkyl Oxonium Ion in the Proton Transfer of a Strong (Photo)Acid to Alcohol

Alcohols, the simplest amphiprotic organic compounds, can exhibit either acidic or basic behavior by donating or accepting a proton. In this study, proton dissociation of a model photoacid in solution is explored by using time-resolved spectroscopy, revealing quantitatively for the first time that alcohol acts as a Brønsted base because of H-bonded cluster formation to enhance the reactivity. The protonated alcohol cluster, the alkyl oxonium ion, can be regarded as a key reaction intermediate in the well-established alcohol dehydration reaction. This finding signifies, as in water, the cooperativity of protic solvent molecules to facilitate nonaqueous acid-base reactions.

Excited-state proton and charge transfer in protonated amino and methylated derivatives of 2-(2'-hydroxyphenyl)benzimidazole.

We studied the excited-state behavior of a family of mono- and diprotonated derivatives of 2-phenylbenzimidazole in different solvents, using steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. The species investigated were 2-(4'-amino-2'-hydroxyphenyl)benzimidazole (1), the diethylamino analogue 2-(4'-N,N-diethylamino-2'-hydroxyphenyl)benzimidazole (2) and its N-methylated derivative 1-methyl-2-(4'-N,N-diethylamino-2'-hydroxyphenyl)benzimidazole (3). The O-methoxy derivatives of 2 and 3 (2-OMe and 3-OMe), and the simpler models 2-phenylbenzimidazole (4) and its 4'-amino (5) and 4'-dimethylamino (6) derivatives were also studied. We found that the dications of 1, 2, and 3 (protonated at the benzimidazole N3 and at the amino group) were strong photoacids, which were deprotonated at the hydroxyl group upon excitation in aqueous solution (totally for 2 and 3) to give a tautomer of the ground-state monocation. In contrast, no photodissociation was observed for the monocations of these species. Instead, some of the monocations studied behaved as molecular rotors, for which electronic excitation led to a twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) state. The monocations of 2, 3, 2-OMe, 3-OMe, and 6, protonated at the benzimidazole N3, experienced a polarity- and viscosity-dependent radiationless deactivation associated with a large-amplitude rotational motion. We propose that this process is connected to an intramolecular charge transfer from the dimethylaminophenyl or diethylaminophenyl moiety (donor) to the protonated benzimidazole group (acceptor) of the excited monocation, which yields a twisted charge-transfer species. No fluorescence from this species was detected except for 3 and 3-OMe in low-viscosity solvents.

Moderately Strong Photoacid Dissociates in Alcohols with High Transient Concentration of the Proton-Transfer Contact Pair.

Proton transfer from strong photoacids to hydroxylic solvents is much under debate. Experimentally, the main issue stems from relaxation and diffusion processes that are concomitant with ultrafast proton transfer and blur population dynamics. To overcome this, we propose a fast photodissociation reaction that, however, proceeds slower than solvent relaxation. Fluorescence spectroscopy of the cationic photoacid 2-(1'-hydroxy-2'-naphtyl)benzimidazolium reveals a two-stage mechanism: (a) reversible elementary proton transfer inside the solvent shell and (b) irreversible contact-pair splitting. The time evolution of the fluorescence signal is complex, yet this is explained quantitatively by simultaneous, spectrally overlapping emission of the acid, the conjugate base, and the contact proton-transfer pair. The latter attains high transient concentration in linear alcohols. Microscopic rate constants of dissociation are determined.

Solvent dependence of excited-state proton transfer from pyranine-derived photoacids

Steady-state and time-resolved techniques were employed to study the excited-state proton-transfer (ESPT) rate of two newly synthesized 8-hydroxy-1,3,6-pyrenetrisulfonate (pyranine, HPTS) derived photoacids in three protic solvents, water, methanol and ethanol. The ESPT rate constant k(PT) of tris(1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoropropan-2-yl)-8-hydroxypyrene-1,3,6-trisulfonate, 1a, whose pK(a)* ~ -4, in water, methanol and ethanol is 3 × 10(11) s(-1), 8 × 10(9) s(-1) and 5 × 10(9) s(-1) respectively. (8-Hydroxy-N1,N3,N6-tris(2-hydroxyethyl)-N1,N3,N6-trimethylpyrene-1,3,6 trisulfonamide, 1b) is a weaker acid than 1a but still a strong photoacid with pK(a)* ~ -1 and the ESPT rate in water, methanol and ethanol is 7 × 10(10) s(-1), 4 × 10(8) s(-1) and 2 × 10(8) s(-1). We qualitatively explain our kinetic results by a Marcus-like free-energy correlation which was found to have a general form suitable for describing proton transfer reactions in both the proton-adiabatic and the proton-non-adiabatic limits.