Article
DOI: 10.1002/bkcs.10381
BULLETIN OF THE
J. U. Kim et al.
KOREAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
A Thermodynamic Study on Phthalide-Type dyes in Aqueous
Alcohol Solutions
*
Jae-Uk Kim, Jeong-Yeol Yoo, and Jong-Gyu Kim
Department of Chemistry, Dankook University, Cheonan 330-714, Korea. *E-mail: jkim16@dankook.ac.kr
Received February 26, 2015, Accepted April 7, 2015, Published online July 24, 2015
Phthalide-type dyes in aqueous variable alcohol solution were studied by UV–vis absorption spectroscopy. In
this study, 7-[4-(diethylamino)-2-ethoxyphenyl]-7-(1-ethyl-2-methyl-1H-indol-3-yl)furo[3,4-b]pyridin-5
(7H)-one(“Blue-63”)wasused. Generally, ablueshiftisobservedfromdyesinhigher-carbon-number-alcohol
solvents. The results indicated the dye equilibrium constant in aqueous alcohol solutions. The equilibrium con-
stant (K), Gibbs energy change (ΔG), enthalpy change (ΔH), and entropy change (ΔS) of the dye, depending on
temperature change, were also calculated using UV absorbance.
Keywords: Thermochromism, Phthalide-type color, Thermodynamic property, Leuco dye,
Equilibrium constant
Introduction
for both physical chemistry and introductory chemistry
laboratories.
Thermochromism is a reversible color change resulting from
variation in temperature. Thermochromism has been observed
in many substances: inorganic, organic, metal-organic, and
macromolecular compounds. It can appear both in solution
and solid state.1
LeucodyeBlue-63exhibitsseveralinterestingequilibria. In
solution, the spectrum of the dye depends on temperature, sol-
vent, and concentration.17 In alcohol solvents, Blue-63 exists
as an equilibrium mixture of a colorless lactone [L] and a col-
ored zwitterion [Z] (Scheme 1).
Phthalide-type dyes, also known as leuco dyes, are thermo-
chromic dyes. These dyes, being intermolecular donor-
acceptor systems, are capable of changing their spectral and
luminescent properties considerably under electronic excita-
tion. For this reason, these dyes are widely used in various
fields of science and engineering2–4 with applications that
include biological stains and water-tracing agents,5 laser
dyes,6 pH indicators,7 photosensitizers,8 quantum counters,9
and anticancer agents.10
Reaction of the electron-donating colorless phthalide (color
former of the dye precursor) with an electron-accepting
color developer results in reversible opening of the lactone
ring, yielding the resonance-stabilized cationic dye. Thus, it
is obvious that the properties of the color former are also
dependent on those of the developer, but this is a complex
problem and beyond the scope of this article. However, where
important differences arise, the developer dependence will
be referred to; it is necessary to briefly mention the various
types of developers used in present-day carbonless copying
papers.11
The formation of the equilibrium depends on both solvent
hydrogen bond donating ability and solvent dielectric/polariz-
ability characteristics.18,19
In this study, structural changes in the lactone/zwitterion
form in variable alcohol solutions were investigated to
clarify the lactone/zwitterion reaction of phthalide dyes. The
synthesis of 7-[4-(diethylamino)-2-ethoxyphynyl]-7-(1-
ethyl-2-methyl-1H-indol-3-yl)furo[3,4-b]pyridin-5(7H)-one
(Blue-63) is reported as the condensation of quinolinic anhy-
dride, N-ethyl-2-methylindoline, N,N-diethyl-3-phenetidine,
acetic anhydride, acetic acid, ammonium hydroxide, and
zinc chloride as a Friedel-Crafts catalyst. Blue-63 was studied
by means of UV–vis spectroscopy methods, and the equilib-
rium constant (K), enthalpy change (ΔH), entropy change
(ΔS), and Gibbs energy change (ΔG) were determined in var-
iable alcohol solutions (concentration range 10−3 to 10−5 M) at
20.0-60.0 ꢀC. The effects of the dye molecular structure on
(K), (ΔG), (ΔH), and (ΔS) are discussed.
Experimental
Thermochromic color change provides an excellent
opportunity to study thermodynamic properties because the
color changes involved allow one to follow the progress of
the transformation with temperature. Earlier reports have
described thermochromic systems.12–15 An experiment to
derive thermodynamic values from a thermochromic equilib-
rium has also been reported.16 In the present report, an exper-
iment that uses a phthalide-type dye (Blue-63) and a simple,
double-beam spectrophotometer is described; it is suitable
Synthesis of 7-[4-(diethylamino)-2-ethoxyphynyl]-7-(1-
ethyl-2-methyl-1H-indol-3-yl)furo[3,4-b]pyridin-5(7H)-
one (Blue-63). There are several reports on the synthesis of
Blue-63.20 As described in scheme 2, quinolinic anhydride
1.02 g (149.10 g/mol, 7.5 mM, 1.1 eqiv), N-ethyl-2-
methylindoline 1 g (161.24 g/mol, 6.20 mM), and zinc chlo-
ride 0.14 g (136.29 g/mol, 1.03 mM) in 5 mL acetic acid were
mixedatroomtemperature for3 h. N,N-Diethyl-3-phenetidine
Bull. Korean Chem. Soc. 2015, Vol. 36, 1980–1984
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