Within recent years, there has been an increase in studies related to rhodamine spriolactams due to their potential photoswitching capabilities which can be used in a variety of fields, for example the creation of 3D light displays. Throughout the project, our group has been working with a separate organic chemistry lab who have synthesized a rhodamine B dimer that has two photoswitching spirolactam groups. When exposed to UV light, this Rhodamine B dimer has shown the ability to emit two different wavelengths of light--- orange and blue--- which is hypothesized to be the result of the molecule's different conformational states which we have been investigating using fluorometry. The excitation and emission wavelengths of this dimer and other control compounds that are similar to the dimer have been measured in a variety of solvents in an attempt to figure out what specifically about this compound is resulting in these behaviors. The solutions made in our lab were generated specifically to observe how the compound interacts in solvents with a range of hydrophobicity and pH values. It is the hope of our lab that understanding the conditions needed to form the specific blue or orange conformers will be a useful addition to the photoswitching industry.

Analyzing spectral data of rhodamine B dimer and related compounds

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.