Femtosecond dynamics of piroxicam structures in solutions

We report on studies of femtosecond dynamics of a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, piroxicam (1), in water at three different pHs and for comparison in two aprotic solvents. An ultrafast excited-state proton-transfer (ESIPT) process takes place in neutral and cationic enol-type structures. Femtosecond emission and transient absorption experiments show that this reaction is barrierless, and the proton-transferred keto tautomer is formed in less than 100 fs in both organic solvents and acidic water. In neutral and alkaline water, the ESIPT is not present because of the prevalence of the anion structures at the ground state. For the excited anions (pH = 7, 11) and formed keto cations (pH approximately 3), an intramolecular charge-transfer process takes place in times shorter than 0.3 ps. The formed structures have a fluorescence lifetime of approximately 2-5 ps, depending on pH. In contrast, the internal twisting motion in organic solvents is slower (approximately 0.5-1 ps) and gives rotamers with lifetimes of tens of picoseconds. These results clearly show strong interactions of 1 with water, significantly distinct from those present in organic aprotic solvents. We believe that the results are important for a better understanding on short time interactions of drugs with their environment.