Interplay between Dual-State and Aggregation-Induced Emission with ESIPT Scaffolds Containing Triphenylamine Substituents: Experimental and Theoretical Studies

J Org Chem. 2023 Jul 7;88(13):9225-9236. doi: 10.1021/acs.joc.3c00806. Epub 2023 Jun 27.

Abstract

We detail the synthesis of a series of fluorophores containing triphenylamine derivatives along with their photophysical, electrochemical, and electronic structure properties. These compounds include molecular structures derived from imino-phenol (anil) and hydroxybenzoxazole scaffolds originating from similar salicylaldehyde derivatives and display excited-state intramolecular proton transfer. We show that depending on the nature of the π-conjugated scaffold, different photophysical processes are observed: aggregation-induced emission or dual-state emission, with a modulation of the fluorescence color and redox properties. The photophysical properties are further rationalized with the help of ab initio calculations.