Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 16, 2026

Isotopic Effect in Double Proton Transfer Process of Porphycene Investigated by Enhanced QM/MM Method
Published on: July 19, 2019
Molecular Seesaw: How Increased Hydrogen Bonding Can Hinder Excited-State Proton Transfer
Ralph Welsch1, Eric Driscoll2, Jahan M Dawlaty2
1Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology , 1200 East California Blvd., Pasadena, California 91125, United States.
Abstract:
A previously unexplained effect in the relative rate of excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) in related indole derivatives is investigated using both theory and experiment. Ultrafast spectroscopy [ J. Phys. Chem. A, 2015, 119, 5618-5625 ] found that although the diol 1,3-bis(2-pyridylimino)-4,7-dihydroxyisoindole exhibits two equivalent intramolecular hydrogen bonds, the ESIPT rate associated with tautomerization of either hydrogen bond is a factor of 2 slower than that of the single intramolecular hydrogen bond in the ethoxy-ol 1,3-bis(2-pyridylimino)-4-ethoxy-7-hydroxyisoindole. Excited-state electronic structure calculations suggest a resolution to this puzzle by revealing a seesaw effect in which the two hydrogen bonds of the diol are both longer than the single hydrogen bond in the ethoxy-ol. Semiclassical rate theory recovers the previously unexplained trends and leads to clear predictions regarding the relative H/D kinetic isotope effect (KIE) for ESIPT in the two systems. The theoretical KIE predictions are tested using ultrafast spectroscopy, confirming the seesaw effect.
More Related Videos
10:03Proton Transfer and Protein Conformation Dynamics in Photosensitive Proteins by Time-resolved Step-scan Fourier-transform Infrared Spectroscopy
Published on: June 27, 2014
08:04Excitonic Hamiltonians for Calculating Optical Absorption Spectra and Optoelectronic Properties of Molecular Aggregates and Solids
Published on: May 27, 2020
Related Concept Videos
¹H NMR: Complex Splitting
Splitting diagrams or splitting tree diagrams are routinely used to depict such complex couplings. While drawing splitting diagrams, the splitting with the larger coupling constant is usually applied...
Molecular Spectroscopy: Absorption and Emission
Spin–Spin Coupling Constant: Overview
Qualitatively, any spin plus-half nucleus polarizes the spins of its electrons to the minus-half state. Consequently, the paired electron in the hydrogen–carbon bond must...
¹H NMR Signal Multiplicity: Splitting Patterns
Deactivation Processes: Jablonski Diagram
Interpreting ¹H NMR Signal Splitting: The (n + 1) Rule