Effect of the chain length on the excited state properties of α-naphthyl,ω-phenyl-polyenes

Three stereoisomers (EEE, EZE and ZEE) of 1-(1′-naphthyl),6-phenyl-hexatriene have been prepared by standard procedures and characterized by spectrophotometry and NMR spectroscopy. The properties of their lowest excited states of singlet and triplet multiplicity have been investigated by fluorimetry, laser flash photolysis and conventional photochemical techniques, and compared with those of the symmetric 1,6-diphenyl-hexatriene and the shorter chain analogues.