THE LENGTH OF THE POLYMETHINE CHAIN AND THE SPECTRAL-LUMINESCENT PROPERTIES OF SYMMETRICAL CYANINE DYES

The general characteristics that relate the length of the polymethine chain of symmetrical cyanine dyes to their spectral-luminescent properties depending on the electron-donor character of the heterocycles and the nature of the solvent are formulated. For various types of symmetrical cyanines, the Stokes shifts decrease with the elongation of the polymethine chain due to weakening of the vibronic interactions. The vinylene shifts of the band maxima are essentially constant and fall within the range 100 to 130 nm depending on the nature of the heterocycles and the solvent. When the polymethine chain elongates the fluorescence quantum yields first increase and then decrease. The greater the effective length of the heterocycle the stronger the decrease. The fluorescence decay occurring when the polymethine chain gets longer is associated with intensification of the internal conversion. For symmetrical cyanines, the changes in the shapes of the electronic bands (their width, asymmetry, excess, and fine structure) as the chain elongates are governed by the competing effects of the vibronic and intermolecular interactions. The former decrease as the chain lengthens, causing the narrowing of the absorption bands for the lower vinylogs. On the other hand, the latter increase as chain lengthens, which leads to broadening of the bands for the higher vinylogs. The higher the solvent nucleophilicity and the greater the deviation of the electron-donor ability of the heterocycle from the average value the greater the broadening. Any elongation of the polymethine chain of symmetrical cyanines causes only narrowing of the bands and an increase in the asymmetry, excess, and structuring in the fluorescence spectra, which, unlike the absorption spectra, is independent of the electron-donor character of the heterocycles and the nature of the solvent. These effects are caused by the fact that, in contrast to absorption, changes in the shape of emission bands with increasing chain length are governed predominantly by vibronic rather than by intermolecular interactions.