Synthesis, characterization and spectroscopic behavior of novel 2-oxo-1,4-disubstituted-1,2,5,6-tetrahydrobenzo[h]quinoline-3-carbonitrile dyes

•Synthesis of novel 2-oxo-1,4-disubstituted-1,2,5,6-tetrahydro-benzo[h]quinoline-3-carbonitriles.•Absorption and emission spectra of compounds (4–9) in various non-polar, polar aprotic and protic solvents were studied.•Photoinduced intramolecular charge transfer.

Two synthetic pathways were adopted to synthesize the target 2-oxo-1,4-disubstituted-1,2,5,6-tetrahydro-benzo[h]quinoline-3-carbonitriles. Structure of the synthesized compounds has been characterized based on FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and elemental analyses. UV–Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy measurements provided that all compounds are good absorbent and fluorescent. Fluorescence polarity study demonstrated that these compounds were sensitive to the polarity of the microenvironment provided by different solvents. In addition, spectroscopic and physicochemical parameters, including singlet absorption, extinction coefficient, Stokes shift, oscillator strength and dipole moment were investigated in order to explore the analytical potential of synthesized compounds.

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