Excited-State Proton Transfer in Indigo

Excited-state proton transfer (ESPT) in Indigo and its monohexyl-substituted derivative (Ind and NHxInd, respectively) in solution was investigated experimentally as a function of solvent viscosity, polarity, and temperature, and theoretically by time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations. Although a single emission band is observed, the fluorescence decays (collected at different wavelengths along the emission band using time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC)) are biexponential, with two identical decay times but different pre-exponential factors, which is consistent with the existence of excited-state keto and enol species. The femtosecond (fs)-transient absorption data show that two similar decay components are present, in addition to a shorter (<3 ps) component associated with vibrational relaxation. From TDDFT calculations it was shown that with both Ind and NHxInd, the reaction proceeds through a single ESPT mechanism driven by an Arrhenius-type activation through a saddle point, which is enhanced by tunneling through the barrier. From the temperature dependence of the steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence data, the activation energy for the process was found to be ～11 kJ mol^–1 for Ind and ～5 kJ mol^–1 for NHxInd, in close agreement with the values calculated by TDDFT: 12.3 kJ mol^–1 (Ind) and 3.1 kJ mol^–1 (NHxInd). From time-resolved data, the rate constants for the ESPT process in dimethyl sulfoxide were found to be 9.24 × 10¹⁰ s^–1 (Ind) and 7.12 × 10¹⁰ s^–1 (NHxInd). The proximity between the two values suggests that the proton transfer mechanism in indigo is very similar to that found in NHxInd, where a single proton is involved. In addition, with NHxInd, the TDDFT calculations, together with the viscosity dependence of the fast component, and differences in the activation energy values between the steady-state and time-resolved data indicate that an additional nonradiative process is involved, which competes with ESPT. This is attributed to rotation about the central carbon–carbon bond, which brings the system close to a conical intersection (CI). The CI is of the sloped type, where the seam is reached through an OH stretching vibration.