DFT/MRCI assessment of the excited-state interplay in a coumarin-schiff Mg2+ fluorescent sensor.

Fluorescent sensors with selectivity and sensitivity to metal ions are an active field in supramolecular chemistry for biochemical, analytical, and environmental problems. Mg2+ is one of the most abundant divalent ions in the cell, and it plays a critical role in many biological processes. Coumarin-based sensors are widely used as desirable fluorophore and binding moieties showing a remarkable sensitivity and fluorometric enhancement for Mg2+ . In this work, density functional theory/multireference configuration interaction (DFT/MRCI) calculations were performed in order to understand the sensing behavior of the organic fluorescent sensor 7-hydroxy-4-methyl-8-((2-(pyridin-2-yl)hydrazono)methyl)-2H-chromen-2-one (PyHC) in ethanol to solvated Mg2+ ions. The computed optical properties reproduce well-reported experimental data. Our results suggest that after photoexcitation of the free PyHC, a photo-induced electron transfer (PET) mechanism may compete with the fluorescence decay to the ground state. In contrast, this PET channel is no longer available in the complex with Mg2+ making the emissive decay more efficient. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.