Long Range Electron Transfer Quenching in Polyamine Chains Bearing a Terminal Naphthalene Unit

Abstract

The fluorescence emission of a naphthalene unit attached to a polyamine chain is quenched by intramolecular electron transfer from the deprotonated amines to the excited fluorophore. Measurements of the respective quenching rate constants as a function of the distance, reveal an exponential dependence with β = 0.45 Å-1. Identical measurements carried out in deuterated water have shown a similar dependence with the distance β = 0.49 Å-1 but an average reduction of the absolute values of the rate constants of ca. 1.2. The polyamine chains seem to constitute a bridge through which the electron can find a route to its movement, more efficiently than through space.