Intramolecular excitation transfer. The lowest n →π* transitions in pyrazine

Abstract

In the pyrazine molecule, which has filled non-bonding orbitals para to each other, two orbitally degenerate n→π* transitions are expected, one symmetry forbidden and one symmetry allowed. Interelectronic interactions remove this degeneracy. The lowest pair of (n, π*) triplet states and the corresponding pair of singlet states are studied with a view towards determining the magnitude of such interactions and the ordering of the forbidden and allowed components. Absorption spectra are obtained of pyrazine in crystalline hydrogen and rare gases at 4·2°k, of pure crystalline pyrazine at 4·2°k, and of 42 metres of pyrazine vapour at various pressures. The phosphorescence spectrum of pyrazine in crystalline rare gases at 4·2°k also is studied. The splitting between the two singlet components is found to be approximately 435 cm⁻¹ with the forbidden component lying lowest. The forbidden singlet-singlet transition gains some of its intensity through vibronic mixing with a (π, π*) state, but vibronic coupling between the two (n, π*) states also may be present. The strongest part of the singlet-triplet absorption spectrum is found to involve the same upper state as the phosphorescence spectrum, and the transition is shown to be symmetry allowed. It is strongly suggested that the ordering of the allowed and forbidden components of the triplet state is inverted from that of the singlet, or the two states may lie very close together. Using an ‘independent systems’ model, a calculation of the splitting, with the inclusion of exchange is made. The theory indicates that the singlet states are indeed split by a coulomb term having roughly the expected magnitude with the forbidden component lying lowest; in addition, there is a very small exchange term with the opposite sign. The splitting between the triplets is shown to involve only the small exchange term, and the order of the allowed and forbidden components becomes reversed. There is no indication of pyrazine fluorescence at 4·2°k in any of the solids used. This fact illustrates the high efficiency of the singlet-triplet radiationless process even under these conditions where the rate might be expected to be a minimum for condensed phases. An interesting alternation of spacing has been discovered in the first few quantum levels of the 600 cm⁻¹ a _1g ring-bending vibration of the ground electronic state of the molecule.