Spectrophotometric study of the charge transfer complex between 2-amino-4-picoline with chloranilic acid

Charge transfer complex formation between 2-amino-4-picoline (2A4P) as the electron donor with chloranilic acid (CLA) as the electron acceptor has been studied spectrophotometrically in different polar solvents included acetone (AcN), ethanol (EtOH) and acetonitrile (AN). The molecular composition of the formed complex was recognized utilizing Job’s, photometric and conductometric titration methods to be 1:1. The formation constants and molecular extinction coefficients were estimated using Benesi–Hildebrand equation; they recorded high values confirming high stability of the formed complex. Moreover, the results showed that the complex is more stable in acetone with lower electric permittivity compared with ethanol or acetonitrile of higher ones. The values of some spectroscopic physical parameters like oscillator strength f, transition dipole moment μ, resonance energy RN, charge transfer energy ECT, dissociation energy W, ionization potential IP and standard free energy ΔGo were determined and evaluated. The solid complex was isolated and its molecular composition was determined by elemental analysis to be 1:1. Furthermore, the solid complex was characterized using FTIR and 1H NMR measurements. They confirmed the presence of proton transfer beside charge transfer in the obtained complex. Molecular orbital calculations utilizing GAMESS computations were carried out to predict infrared spectra. They also confirmed the presence of proton transfer beside charge transfer in the formed complex.