Reinvestigation of photoinduced intramolecular charge transfer reaction in p-Dimethylaminobenzaldehyde by spectroscopic method and Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculation

The excited state charge transfer (CT) properties of p-Dimethylaminobenzaldehyde (DMABA) have been reinvestigated spectroscopically in combination with quantum chemical calculations. The molecule having weak acceptor group (–CHO) shows weak charge transfer emission, which follows linear dependency on solvent polarity parameters and ET(30) values. However, previously reported CT emission of DMABA in ACN and in DMF solvents by Grabowski et al. (Chem. Rev. 103 (2003) 3899) and Kawski et al. (Chem. Phys. Lett. 448 (2007) 208) are ambiguous and are different from the Grabowskiʹs previous studies (Pure Appl. Chem. 55 (1983) 245) and the present results. Theoretical potential energy surfaces along both the donor and acceptor twisting motion using Density Functional Theory (DFT) with B3LYP functional and 6-311++G⁎⁎ basis set following Twisted Intramolecular Charge Transfer model support our experimental results. Time Dependent Density Functional Theory Polarization Continuum Model (TDDFT-PCM) has been used to explore the solvent effect on the emission spectra of DMABA.