Abstract
The fluorescence properties and photoisomerization behavior of 1-(9-anthryl)-2-(2-quinolinyl)ethene (2-AQE) have been investigated in various solvents. Instead of phenyl ring in 1-(9-anthryl)-2-phenylethene, the intro-duction of quinoline ring reduces not only the fluorescence yield but also the photoisomerization yield, due to competition of efficient radiationless deactivation and an increase in the torsional barrier for twisting in the singlet manifold. The S1 decay parameters were found to be solvent-dependent due to the charge-transfer character of lowest S1 state. Polar solvents reduce the activation barrier to twisting, thus slight enhancing the isomerization of t-2-AQE in the singlet manifold. As solvent polarity is increased, Φf of c-2-AQE is greatly reduced, but Φc →t is practically independent of solvent polarity. Dual fluorescence in t-2-AQE was observed and two fluorescing species could be assigned t-2-AQE and c-2-AQE, where the ratio between two species was dependent on the solvent polarity. Interestingly, in the concentration above 1×10 -4 M, the shapes of the fluorescence excitation spectra of t- and c-2-AQE are significantly altered without spectral changes of their fluorescence and absorption, probably due to the formation of excimer.