Chromophore - Halochromism in Chromophores

Halochromism in Chromophores

Halochromism occurs when a substance changes color as the pH changes. This is a property of pH indicators, whose molecular structure changes upon certain changes in the surrounding pH. This change in structure affects a chromophore in the pH indicator molecule. For example, phenolphthalein is a pH indicator whose structure changes as pH changes as shown in the following table:

Structure
pH 0−8.2 8.2−12.0
Conditions acidic or near-neutral basic
Color name
colorless
pink to fuchsia
Color

In a pH range of about 0-8, the molecule has three aromatic rings all bonded to a tetrahedral sp3 hybridized carbon atom in the middle which does not make the π-bonding in the aromatic rings conjugate. Because of their limited extent, the aromatic rings only absorb light in the ultraviolet region, and so the compound appears colorless in the 0-8 pH range. However as the pH increases beyond 8.2, that central carbon becomes part of a double bond becoming sp2 hybridized and leaving a p orbital to overlap with the π-bonding in the rings. This makes the three rings conjugate together to form an extended chromophore absorbing longer wavelength visible light to show a fuchsia color. At pH ranges outside 0-12, other molecular structure changes result in other color changes; see Phenolphthalein for details.

Read more about this topic:  Chromophore