title: Solvent effect on the singlet excited-state dynamics of 5-fluorouracil in acetonitrile as compared with water.
abstract: The excited-state dynamics of 5-fluorouracil in acetonitrile has been investigated by femtosecond fluorescence upconversion spectroscopy in combination with quantum chemistry TD-DFT calculations ((PCM/TD-PBE0). Experimentally, it was found that when going from water to acetonitrile solution the fluorescence decay of 5FU becomes much faster. The calculations show that this is related to the opening of an additional decay channel in acetonitrile solution since the dark n/pi* excited state becomes near degenerate with the bright pi/pi* state, forming a conical intersection close to the Franck-Condon region. In both solvents, a S1-S0 conical intersection, governed by the out-of-plane motion of the fluorine atom, is active, allowing an ultrafast internal conversion to the ground state.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gustavsson
authors.forename: Nilmoni
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sarkar
authors.forename: Elodie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lazzarotto
authors.forename: Dimitra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Markovitsi
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Barone
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Improta
mesh_terms: D000097:Acetonitriles / Q000737:chemistry*; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000097:Acetonitriles; D014867:Water; D005472:Fluorouracil; C032159:acetonitrile