Photophysical Properties and Conformational Equilibrium of trans-6-Styrylquinoxaline

Abstract

The wavelength dependent fluorescence spectra and bi-exponential fluorescence decays of trans-6-styrylquinoxaline (6-StQx) indicate that two conformers exist in equilibrium in solution. When comparing the conformationally restricted analogues (5Me-6-StQx and 7Me-6-StQx) with 6-StQx, the short-wavelength absorbing conformer of 6-StQx can be assigned to conformer(A) and the long-wavelength absorbing component to conformer(B). The temperature effects on the fluorescence lifetime indicate that the short-lived conformer(A) is the more stable conformer in non-polar solvents, while the long-lived conformer(B) is the stable component in polar solvents. The results of semiempirical AM1 and CNDO/S CI calculations on both the ground and excited states are consistent with the conclusions drawn from the spectral data.