In order to clarify mechanisms of excited state
interactions in hydrogen-bonded pairs, we have studied the
kinetics of dynamic quenching of singlet and triplet fluorenone by a
series of alcohols, phenols, and related compounds,
in which hydrogen-bonding power, redox potential, and acidity are
systematically varied. In addition, effects of
solvent basicity or polarity and deuteration help identify the role of
hydrogen-bonding in physical or chemical quenching
processes. Alcohols and weak acids, with high oxidation
potentials, do not quench the triplet, but quench the
singlet
at rates which parallel hydrogen-bonding power. This is attributed
to a physical mechanism, involving vibronic
coupling to the ground state via the hydrogen bond. This is much
stronger in the excited state than in the ground
state, and provides efficient energy dissipation in the radiationless
transition. Phenols, with hydrogen-bonding power
comparable to that of the alcohols but with much lower oxidation
potentials, quench both singlet and triplet by
electron or H-atom transfer, depending on potentials, acidities, and
solvent polarity, as shown by formation of anion
or neutral fluorenone radicals from the triplet. Rates increase
with both decreasing oxidation potential of the phenol
and increasing acidity of the incipient cation radical. Quenching
proceeds via a hydrogen-bonded complex and is
facilitated by proton transfer contributions to the effective excited
state redox potential.