Perturbing the photophysics of a sunscreen chromophore Cate Anstöter 1 , Jacob A. Berenbeim 1 , Natalie G. K. Wong 1 , Martin C. R. Cockett 1 , Giel Berden 2 , Jos Oomens 2 , Anouk M. Rijs 2 and Caroline E. H. Dessent 1 1 University of York, UK, 2 Radboud University, The Netherlands Despite the importance of sunscreens, a fundamental understanding of the photophysics of the chromophores used as UV filters has been broadly underdeveloped. Over recent years, this has been addressed in a number of sophisticated laser spectroscopy studies in both the gas and liquid phase. Avobenzone is a very widely used UVA filter known to undergo irreversible photodegradation. In this work, the effect of the complexation of alkali metal ions on the intrinsic photophysics of avobenzone has been investigated using Laser Interfaced Mass Spectrometry. This allows us to map the effect of the various metal ions on the molecule’s intrinsic absorption profile, as well as their impact on the photophysics, and hence, photostability of the molecule. UV laser spectroscopy measurements are complemented by IR spectroscopy measrements conducted with the free electron for infrared experiments, FELIX, (600-1800 cm -1 ) to characterise the geometric structures. Advanced quantum chemical calculations are presented to interpret the experimental data, with Perturbations to the electronic structure were tracked using spin-component scaled SCS-ADC(2). The work presented provides insights into how the local chemical environment may affect the intrinsic structure and dynamics of UV filters. References 1. Berenbeim et al ., J. Phys. Chem. A2020, 124, 15, 2919–2930
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