Modulation of dual fluorescence in a 3-hydroxyquinolone dye by perturbation of its intramolecular proton transfer with solvent polarity and basicity.

A representative of a new class of dyes with dual fluorescence due to an excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) reaction, namely 1-methyl-2-(4-methoxy)phenyl-3-hydroxy-4(1H)-quinolone (QMOM), has been studied in a series of solvents covering a large range of polarity and basicity. A linear dependence of the logarithm of its two bands intensity ratio, log(I(N*)/I(T*)), upon the solvent polarity expressed as a function of the dielectric constant, (epsilon- 1)/(2epsilon + 1), is observed for a series of protic solvents. A linear dependence for log(I(N*)/I(T*)) is also found in aprotic solvents after taking into account the solvent basicity. In contrast, the positions of the absorption and the two emission bands of QMOM do not noticeably depend on the solvent polarity and basicity, indicating relatively small changes in the transition moment of QMOM upon excitation and emission. Time-resolved experiments in acetonitrile, ethyl acetate and dimethylformamide suggest an irreversible ESIPT reaction for this dye. According to the time-resolved data, an increase of solvent basicity results in a dramatic decrease of the ESIPT rate constant, probably due to the disruption of the intramolecular H-bond of the dye by the basic solvent. Due to this new sensor property, 3-hydroxyquinolones are promising candidates for the development of a new generation of environment-sensitive fluorescence dyes for probing interactions of biomolecules.