Steady state and transient study of 2-naphthol-diethylamine charge transfer complexes in polar and non-polar solvents

Abstract

Hydrogen bonded complexes of 2-napthol-diethylamine were investigated in various polar and non-polar solvents. The ground state equilibrium constants and excited state Stern-Volmer quenching rates were calculated. The excitation spectra and time-resolved emission spectra indicate that, in non-polar solvents, the emission of the ground state hydrogen bonded complex is red shifted relative to that of free 2-naphthol, whereas the encounter complex formed in the excited state exhibits no emission. However, in polar solvents, the usual excited state proton transfer reaction takes place producing a risetime in the fluorescence decay curves and a large red shift in the spectra.