Nature of the lowest electron transitions in styryl bases benzothiazole derivatives and analogues bearing para-methoxy and -trifluoromethyl substituents in phenylyne moiety

Combined quantum-chemical and spectral investigation of cyanine bases derivatives of thiastyryls as well as their analogues with dimethylamino, metoxy and trifluorine-methyl substituents has been fulfilled. The calculations have shown that going from cationic styryl/metoxystyryl to the corresponding neutral bases is accompanied by substantial change of the equilibrium molecular geometry and charge distribution at atoms, while the experimental absorption band undergoes the essential hypsochromic shift. It is established that introducing on the donor groups in the bases causes negligible change of the carbon-carbon bond and atomic charges in the main chromophore, in contrast to the substantial changes of the magnitude and direction state dipole moments in both ground and excited states. It is found that the bases with the donor groups in benzthiazole moiety and with acceptor CF3 substituent demonstrate the inversion of the direction of the dipole moment. Based on the spectral and quantum-chemical study, one has proposed that some widening of the spectral bands is connected with the vibronic interaction, not with the second electron transition.