Solvent influence on the photophysical properties of 4-methoxy-N-methyl-1,8-naphthalimide.

4-Methoxy-N-methyl-1,8-naphthalimide (1) exhibits considerable solvatochromism and its UV-vis spectral properties have been studied in several polar/non-polar and protic/aprotic solvents, as well as in ethanol-water mixtures. The results reveal a strong influence of the solvent's polarity and its hydrogen-bond donor (HBD) capability on the photophysical properties of 1. For binary ethanol/water mixtures, preferential solvation models describe the band shifts in the probe's visible absorption spectrum well, but they fail to describe the corresponding shifts of the emission maxima.