Acriflavine Is More Than It Seems: Resolving Optical Properties of Multiple Isomeric Constituents at 5 K

Ion mobility spectrometry at room temperature was combined with vibrationally resolved electronic spectroscopy of mass-selected ions at 5 K to study the well-known cationic fluorophore acriflavine. One- and two-color photodepletion action spectra recorded in gas-phase (by helium tagging) as well as dispersed fluorescence spectra obtained in neon matrix (after soft-landing deposition) indicate that the primary cation mass electrosprayed from solution comprises two isomers with different optical properties. Theory at the TD-DFT level allowed full spectral assignment. The results have implications for the preparation of novel thin film photonic materials by low-energy ion beam deposition.