Bands separation in fluorescence spectra of ketocyanine dyes: evidence for their complex formation with monohydric alcohols

In the studies of binary solvent systems containing non-polar (toluene) and polar proton-donating components (monohydric alcohols) using ketocyanine dyes of 2,5-di-benzylidene-cyclopentanone-1 type as solvent polarity probes, we found that in addition to common solvent polarity-dependent shifts of fluorescence spectra, at low alcohol concentrations there appear two new well-resolved spectral bands. They are attributed to the emission of hydrogen bonded complexes of 1:1 and 1:2 type. Effective constants for hydrogen bond complex formation were estimated for them from the fluorescence titration data.