Thermal and solvent effects on the triplet formation in cinnoline

Cinnoline (1,2-diazanaphthalene) is of particular interest among the diazanaphthalenes. Its triplet quantum yield upon photoexcitation depends strongly on the temperature and the solvent environment. At the beginning of this study, the properties of the lowest triplet electronic state were not understood either. To elucidate the photophysics of cinnoline, we implemented algorithms based on the time-dependent approach for calculating intersystem crossing rates and one-photon spectra of thermally equilibrated vibronic levels. Our quantum chemical investigations reveal that the triplet formation in hydrocarbon solutions at low temperatures is an El-Sayed forbidden process. At higher temperatures and in hydroxylic solutions an additional El-Sayed allowed channel opens up, increasing the intersystem crossing rate substantially. Furthermore, we have solved the old puzzle concerning the character of the lowest triplet state of cinnoline. In the gas phase the electronic structure has mainly nπ* character with additional contributions from ππ* configurations since the nuclear arrangement in the pyridazine ring is not planar. In hydroxylic solvents, the electronic structure of the T1 state is altered. The simulation of the triplet emission shows that the experimentally observed phosphorescence of cinnoline in ethanol most certainly stems from the (3)(ππ*) emission.