Design of molecular switching and signaling based on proton transfer in 2-hydroxy Schiff bases: a computational study.

The present work aims to exploit the possibility of using the tautomerism in 2-hydroxy Schiff bases for molecular switching. The enol imine (E)⇔ enaminone (K) tautomerization in a series of 2-hydroxy Schiff bases have been investigated theoretically at the DFT/B3LYP/6-311G** level of theory. The intramolecular proton transfer processes have been explored, transition structures have been located and characterized.