Exploring Unusual Confined Chemistry: Excited-State Proton Transfer Reaction in Supported Liquid Membrane with Deep Eutectic Solvents

Supported liquid membrane (SLM) incorporating ionic liquids (ILs) or deep eutectic solvents (DESs) offers a promising method for ion and (bio)chemical separations and CO₂ capture. However, a molecular understanding of whether chemical reactions occur in these confined media is crucial. We report excited-state proton transfer (ESPT) reaction of a photoacid, HPTS, in various DES-based SLMs (pore size ∼280 nm) using steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. Our findings reveal that, while the ESPT is unfavorable in bulk DESs, it occurs substantially in SLM-containing DESs. Time-resolved area normalized emission spectra (TRANES) show that ESPT time ranges from 2.6 to 7.5 ns and is greatly affected by changes in DES constituents. The results suggest that HPTS interacts with ordered DES structures formed by long-range interfacial effects in membrane pores, making it suitable for ESPT. Furthermore, it is found that the dynamics of solvent relaxation in confined DESs are significantly slower than in bulk liquids. This observation, together with a large red-edge excitation shift, supports the impact of long-range interfacial effects on the DES structure inside membrane pores. Given the task-specific properties of DESs, the incorporation of these solvents into SLM pores can be a useful strategy for investigating new chemical processes.