Photophysics of Schiff bases: theoretical study of salicylidene methylamine.

The proton-transfer reaction in a model aromatic Schiff base, salicylidene methylamine (SMA), in the ground and in the lowest electronically-excited singlet states, is theoretically analyzed with the aid of second-order approximate coupled-cluster model CC2, time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) using the Becke, three-parameter Lee-Yang-Parr (B3LYP) functional, and complete active space perturbation theory CASPT2 electronic structure methods. Computed vertical-absorption spectra for the stable ground-state isomers of SMA fully confirm the photochromism of SMA. The potential-energy profiles of the ground and the lowest excited singlet state are calculated and four photophysically relevant isomeric forms of SMA; α, β, γ, and δ are discussed. The calculations indicate two S(1)/S(0) conical intersections which provide non-adiabatic gates for a radiationless decay to the ground state. The photophysical scheme which emerges from the theoretical study is related to recent experimental results obtained for SMA and its derivatives in the low-temperature argon matrices (J. Grzegorzek, A. Filarowski, Z. Mielke, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2011, 13, 16596-16605). Our results suggest that aromatic Schiff bases are potential candidates for optically driven molecular switches.