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The absorption and fluorescence spectral characteristics of some symmetrical ketocyanine dyes have been investigated in different solvents of various polarities using steady-state absorption and emission spectroscopic techniques. The absorption spectral features are less sensitive to the solvent characteristics than the corresponding fluorescence spectra. A large excited state dipole moment parallel to the smaller ground state dipole moment was calculated. The large dipole moment change with the strongly solvatofluorochromic behaviour, as the solvent polarity increases, demonstrates the formation of an intramolecular charge-transfer (ICT) excited state, which is confirmed by theoretical calculation using semiempirical PM3 method. Also, the effect of dye concentration on the electronic absorption spectra for the investigated dyes has been studied in ethanol. In addition, the acidochromic behaviour of these dyes has been studied using sulphuric acid at different H o values. A progressive red-shift in the absorption and emission spectra has been observed upon increasing the concentration of sulphuric acid with dramatic changes in colour. This suggests the design of potential optical sensors for probing acidity of the medium or water content in sulphuric acid. The calculated excited state protonation constants pK * a are lower than pK a values calculated for the ground state, indicating that the investigated ketocyanines become more basic in the first excited singlet state.

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The inclusion behavior of an intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) fluorescent probe namely; 2-[3-(4-dimethylamino-phenyl)-allylidene]-tetralone (DMAPT) in organized assemblies of aqueous micellar, α- and β-cyclodextrins (CDs) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) pockets have been studied using steady-state absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy. The fluorescence characteristics (energy and intensity) of DMAPT are highly sensitive to the properties of the medium. The ICT maximum is strongly blue-shifted with a great enhancement of the fluorescence intensity upon addition of different surfactants, confirming the solubilization of DMAPT in the hydrophobic micellar assembly. In addition, the fluorescence of DMAPT is more sensitive to the nature and concentration of the added CDs. In α- or β-CD solutions, the fluorescence intensity increases strongly (by 6 and 23 orders of magnitude, respectively). Upon encapsulation in the CD cavity, the molecular flexibility decreases due to the geometrical restrictions of the CD nanocavity which decreases the non radiative transition via the free rotation around the single and/or double bonds of the butadiene bridge. This was supported by finding that the fluorescence quantum yield of DMAPT increases with increasing the viscosity of the medium. The binding constants of DMAPT with micelles, α- and β-CD solutions have been calculated and were found to be highly dependent on the nature of the used surfactants or CDs. The thermodynamic parameters have been also determined and the difference in magnitude between the formed α- and β-CD-DMAPT inclusion complexes is discussed on the basis of the cavity size. Finally, the binding constant of DMAPT with bovine serum albumin was calculated, indicating the relative stability of the DMAPT-BSA complex. The energy transfer distance between BSA as a donor and DMAPT as an acceptor was obtained following the fluorescence quenching of BSA by DMAPT, via resonance mechanism as a quencher.

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