Time-resolved fluorescence studies of aminostyryl pyridinium dyes in organic solvents and surfactant solutions

Absorption, fluorescence emission spectra and fluorescence lifetimes of N-alkyl-4-(p-N,N-dimethyl aminostyryl) pyridinium dyes of varying lengths of alkyl chain have been measured in different organic solvents (protic, dipolar aprotic and aprotic) and in different surfactant solutions. The spectra for the dyes are similar in a single solvent but vary with solvent type. The Stokes shift for the dye does not vary with the solvent parameter as predicted by Lippert-Mataga equation. The fluorescence decay of the dyes shows two lifetimes in organic solvents except in a few solvents where a single or three lifetimes were obtained. The lifetime results are interpreted in terms of emission from cis and quinoid (or intramolecular charge transfer, ICT) forms of the dye in the excited state. The spectra and fluorescence lifetime results for the cis isomer (synthesized as a stable compound) in organic solvents confirmed the coexistence of multiple species. In surfactant solutions, the spectra and fluorescence lifetimes of the dyes depend upon the length of the alkyl chain of the dye and the concentration of the surfactant, namely, premicellar or post micellar. Dye-surfactant complexes were identified in a few cases in SDS and CTAB premicellar solutions. TX-100 surfactant is found to stabilize the cis isomer for all the dyes, whereas both SDS and CTAB surfactants stabilize the trans isomer predominantly. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.