New Insights into an Old Problem. Fluorescence Quenching of Sterically-Graded Pyrenes by Tertiary Aliphatic Amines

Although the quenching of singlet-excited states of aromatic molecules by amines has been studied for several decades, important aspects of the mechanism(s) remain nebulous. To address some of the unknowns, steric, and electronic factors associated with the quenching of the singlet-excited states of three electronically related aromatic molecules, pyrene, 1,3,6,8-tetraphenylpyrene (TPPy), and 1,3,6,8-tetrakis(4-methoxy-2,6-dimethylphenyl)pyrene (PyOMe), by a wide range of tertiary aliphatic amines have been assessed quantitatively. Correlations among the steric and electronic properties of the amines and the pyrenes (e.g., sizes, shapes, conformational labilities, excitation energies, and oxidation or reduction potentials) have been used in conjunction with the steady-state and dynamic fluorescence quenching data and DFT calculations on the ground and excited state complexes to make quantitative assessments of the steric and electronic factors controlling the quenching processes. PyOMe is a rather rigid bowl-like molecule that, in its electronic ground state, does not make stable complexes with amines in solution. TPPy has a shallower bowl-like shape that is much more flexible. Experiments conducted with a crystalline ground-state complex of an amine and PyOMe demonstrate (as assumed in many other studies but not shown conclusively heretofore) that the geometry needed for quenching the excited singlet state of PyOMe must place the lone-pair of electrons of the amines over the π-system of the pyrenyl group. Furthermore, there is a significant dependence on the shape and size of the amine on its ability to quench PyOMe, but not on the less conformationally constrained TPPy. The conclusions obtained from these studies are clearly applicable to a wide variety of other systems in which fluorescence from an aromatic moiety is being quenched, and they provide insights into how weak host-guest pairs interact.