Hydrostatic Pressure-Induced Spectral Variation of Reichardt's Dye: A Polarity/Pressure Dual Indicator

The famous solvatochromic Reichardt’s dye was applied to quantify hydrostatic pressure in media. The UV/vis spectra of the dye in various organic solvents are shifted bathochromically or hypsochromically at the shorter- or longer-wavelength band, respectively, upon hydrostatic pressurization. The ET value, determined by an absorption maximum, in ethyl acetate increases from 38.5 kcal mol–1 at 0.1 MPa to 39.2 kcal mol–1 at 300 MPa, which is mostly equal to the one in chloroform at 0.1 MPa. These spectroscopic origins were supported by the time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations. The concept and approach proposed in this paper, i.e., a dual indicator, should attract the attention of a broad spectrum in multidisciplinary science.