Rotational Isomerism of an Amide Substituted Squaraine Dye: A Combined Spectroscopic and Computational Study

The conformational analysis of a 2,4-bis­(4-dialkylamino-2-amido)­phenyl squaraine dye revealed the presence of two rotational isomers at room temperature. Combination of spectroscopic and computational techniques showed that the rotational barrier is influenced by hydrogen bonds between the amido substituents and the oxygen atoms at the quadratic core. Even small amounts of trifluoroacetic acid interfered with the intramolecular hydrogen bond formation and accelerated the interconversion of the conformers.