Excited-State Intramolecular Proton Transfer in a Blue Fluorescence Chromophore Induces Dual Emission

Compared with green fluorescence protein (GFP) chromophores, the recently synthesized blue fluorescence protein (BFP) chromophore variant presents intriguing photochemical properties, for example, dual fluorescence emission, enhanced fluorescence quantum yield, and ultra-slow excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT; J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 2014, 5, 92); however, its photochemical mechanism is still elusive. Herein we have employed the CASSCF and CASPT2 methods to study the mechanistic photochemistry of a truncated BFP chromophore variant in the S0 and S1 states. Based on the optimized minima, conical intersections, and minimum-energy paths (ESIPT, photoisomerization, and deactivation), we have found that the system has two competitive S1 relaxation pathways from the Franck-Condon point of the BFP chromophore variant. One is the ESIPT path to generate an S1 tautomer that exhibits a large Stokes shift in experiments. The generated S1 tautomer can further evolve toward the nearby S1 /S0 conical intersection and then jumps down to the S0 state. The other is the photoisomerization path along the rotation of the central double bond. Along this path, the S1 system runs into an S1 /S0 conical intersection region and eventually hops to the S0 state. The two energetically allowed S1 excited-state deactivation pathways are responsible for the in-part loss of fluorescence quantum yield. The considerable S1 ESIPT barrier and the sizable barriers that separate the S1 tautomers from the S1 /S0 conical intersections make these two tautomers establish a kinetic equilibrium in the S1 state, which thus results in dual fluorescence emission.