Spectroscopic Properties of Quercetin-3-O-rhamnoside and Quercetin-3-O-rutinoside in Aerosol-OT Reverse Micelles

The anomalous spectroscopic properties of quercetin-3-O-rhamnoside (QCRM) and quercetin-3-O-rutinoside (QCRT) in AOT reverse micelle were studied. The excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) occurs through the strong hydrogen bond between the -OH at position 5 and the carbonyl oxygen. Because the ESIPT can only happens in the $S_1$ state and the Franck-Condon factor involved in the $S_2\;{\rightarrow}\;S_1$ internal conversion is small, the $S_2\;{\rightarrow}\;S_o$ emission alone appears. Because the molecular planarity is improved at the interior of the micelle, the excited state intramolecular charge transfer in the $S_1$ state is extended, and the excited state is more tolerable for any quenching effects in the micelle. Therefore, an $S_1\;{\rightarrow}\;S_o$ emission was newly discovered under this micelle microenvironment. For the $S_2\;{\rightarrow}\;S_o$ emission, the quantum yields increase but the quantum yield of the $S_1\;{\rightarrow}\;S_o$ emission approximately decreases as the water concentration in the micelle increases.