DFT/TDDFT Study on the Electronic Structure and Spectral Properties of Diphenyl Azafluoranthene Derivative

Paper reports the DFT/TDDFT study on the electronic structure and spectral properties of the five-membered annulated diphenyl azafluoranthene derivative 1,3-diphenyl-3H-indeno[1,2,3-de]pyrazolo[3,4-b]quinoline (DPIPQ) by means of polarizable continuum model (PCM) and Onsager reaction field approaches at the B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) level of theory. The results of calculations are compared with the optical absorption and fluorescence spectra as well as with the cyclic voltammetry data. The DFT/TDDFT/PCM approaches exhibit rather good quantitative agreement regarding the spectral position of the first absorption band; the discrepancy between the experiment and theory is less than 0.06 eV (linear response approach) or 0.25 eV (state specific approach). As for the fluorescence emission the TDDFT/PCM calculations underestimate the transition energy on about of 0.7–0.8 eV. Such discrepancy should be attributed to insufficient quality of the TDDFT/PCM optimization in the excited state. Ignoring the geometrical relaxation in the excited state provides considerably better agreement between the experiment and theory; discrepancy is less than 0.1–0.22 eV depending on a solvent polarity. The dominant influence on the fluorescence emission results mainly from the solvent reorganization in the excited state whereas the solute relaxation is indeed weak and may be ignored.