Pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidines-based fluorophores: a comprehensive theoretical-experimental study

Fluorescent molecules are crucial tools for studying the dynamics of intracellular processes, chemosensors, and the progress of organic materials. In this study, a family of pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidines (PPs) 4a–g has been identified as strategic compounds for optical applications due to several key characteristics such as their simpler and greener synthetic methodology (RME: 40–53%) as compared to those of BODIPYS (RME: 1.31–17.9%), and their tunable photophysical properties (going from ε = 3320 M(−1) cm(−1) and ϕ(F) = 0.01 to ε = 20 593 M(−1) cm(−1) and ϕ(F) = 0.97), in which electron-donating groups (EDGs) at position 7 on the fused ring improve both the absorption and emission behaviors. The PPs bearing simple aryl groups such as 4a (4-Py), 4b (2,4-Cl(2)Ph), 4d (Ph) and 4e (4-MeOPh), allow good solid-state emission intensities (QY(SS) = 0.18 to 0.63) in these compounds and thus, solid-state emitters can be designed by proper structural selection. The properties and stability found in 4a–g are comparable to commercial probes such as coumarin-153, prodan and rhodamine 6G. Ultimately, the electronic structure analysis based on DFT and TD-DFT calculations revealed that EDGs at position 7 on the fused ring favor large absorption/emission intensities as a result of the ICT to/from this ring; however, these intensities remain low with electron-withdrawing groups (EWGs), which is in line with the experimental data and allows us to understand the optical properties of this fluorophore family.