An experimental and computational study of intramolecular charge transfer: Diarylamino derivatives of 7H-benzimidazo(2,1-a)benz(d,e)isoquinolin-7-ones

A novel intramolecular donor–acceptor system of four isomers consisting of 7H-benzimidazo(2,1-a)benz(d,e)isoquinolin-7-ones and diarylamine units was synthesized and characterized; the absorption and fluorescence spectra of the system in a variety of solvents were investigated. Intramolecular charge transfer was confirmed within the system by virtue of shifts in emission maximum with increasing solvent polarity; a high dipole moment for the intramolecular excited state was calculated using the Lippert equation. Shorter lifetimes were observed in polar solvents compared with those in non-polar solvents, indicating strong dipole–dipole interactions occurred. The ground-state geometry, lowest energy transition and the UV–vis spectrum of the system were studied using density functional theory and time-dependent density functional theory at B3LYP/6-31G∗ level, which showed that the calculated outcomes were in good agreement with experimental data.