Near and vacuum UV polarization spectroscopy of 1,4-distyrylbenzene

The UV absorbance bands of 1,4-distyrylbenzene (1,4-Bis[(E)-2-phenylethenyl]benzene, DSB) are investigated by Synchrotron Radiation Linear Dichroism (SRLD) spectroscopy using stretched polyethylene as an anisotropic solvent. The observed polarization data provide information on the transition moment directions of the observed spectral features. The investigation covers the range 15000–58000 cm^–1 (667–172 nm), thereby providing new information on the transitions of DSB in the vacuum UV region. The observed spectrum is characterized by four main band systems centered at 27600, 41000, 49800, and 57500 cm^–1 (362, 244, 201, and 174 nm). In general, the observed bands and their polarization directions are well predicted by the results of quantum chemical calculations using Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory (TD–DFT) with the functional CAM-B3LYP, and with the semiempirical all-valence-electrons method LCOAO.