Merocyanines: polyene-polymethine transition in donor-acceptor-substituted stilbenes and polyenes

Three series of donor-acceptor-substituted conjugated compounds, namely, stilbenes, the open-chain polyenes of equivalent length, and the species of intermediate structure (polyenes terminated with only one phenyl ring) have been studied by the AM1 and HMO methods to elucidate and compare the structural prerequisites of the ideal polymethinic state (cyanine limit). The transition from polyenic to polymethinic properties has been traced in terms of bond-length (bond-order) alternation using the variation of terminal donor and acceptor substituents. Stilbenes manifest themselves as notably retarded polyenes since a larger electronic asymmetry is necessary for them to reach the same degree of polymethinic character. The ground and the excited state have been shown to differ much more strongly for stilbenes than for polyenes with respect to the position of the bond equalization point on the scale of donor-acceptor difference. For the compounds containing one phenyl ring, the features revealed are intermediate between stilbenes and polyenes. The large SO-S, discrepancy in terms of bond alternation is a general property of aromatic ring-terminated chains (stilbenes) and is related to the influence of the aromatic character which can be quantified in this way. In this context, the most relevant definition for the cyanine limit (based on the bond invariance upon excitation) was selected from the existing definitions. The major trends revealed in the polyenic/polymethinic behaviour of the molecules can be interpreted on a topological basis within HMO or even simpler models with some additional influence due to the inter-electronic repulsion which is taken into account in the AMI treatment. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.