Excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) in 2-(2'-hydroxyphenyl)benzoxazole and its naphthalene-fused analogs: a TD-DFT quantum chemical study.

The intramolecular proton transfer reactions in 2-(2'-hydroxyphenyl)benzoxazole (HBO) and its naphthalene-fused analogs, (HNB1-3) in both S0 and S1 states at the PBE1PBE/6-311++G(2d,2p) level of theory in the gas phase and water have been investigated to find the effects of extension of aromaticity on the intramolecular proton transfer and photophysical properties. The results show that the ground state intramolecular proton transfer (GSIPT) in the studied species is impossible. Excited states potential energy surface calculations support the existence of ESIPT process. Structural parameters, relative energy of isomers, H-bonding energy, adsorption and emission bands, vertical excitation and emission energies, oscillator strength, fluorescence rate constant, dipole moment, atomic charges and electron density at critical points were calculated. Orbital analysis shows that vertical S0→S1 transition in the studied molecules corresponds essentially to the excitation from HOMO (π) to LUMO (π(*)). The potential of HNB2 molecule as an emissive and electron transport material in designing improved organic white light emitting diodes is predicted in this work. Our calculations are also supported by the experimental observations.