Investigation of H-Bonding and pH on the Fluorescence Spectral Behavior of Valsartan

The photophysical properties of valsartan (VAL), a potent phenyl tetrazole derivative sartan, were investigated. Valsartan has absorption bands at 230 nm and 255 nm and a fluorescence band at about [Formula: see text] = 346 nm in butanol which is red shifted depending on the H-bonding capability of the solvent. The role of H-bonding in the excited state was approved through the linear correlation of the emission energy of VAL with Camlet-Taft acidity and basicity parameters, α and β, of polar protic solvents. The position and intensity of fluorescence emission bands of VAL are found to be pH dependent, shifting from 425 nm at pH 2 to 375 nm at pH 4 with enhancement of intermolecular H-bonding and fluorescence intensity depletion beyond pH 5 with formation of tetrazole anion. The results were supported by time-resolved fluorescence measurements which indicated the presence of different species with different lifetimes in the excited state depending on solution pH value. Computational results based on time dependent density functional methods (TDDFT) show that the tetrazole moiety is involved in the [Formula: see text] absorption transitions, while natural bond analysis (NBO) shows that VAL adopts a dimer conformation in water because of effective intermolecular H-bonding.