Basic Concept of

Color effect
 • Color is a physiological sensation
associated with the wavelength of light
striking the retina of the eye. The
sensation of colour is produced when
light having a wavelength within the
visible region of electromagnetic
Colorant spectrum strikes the retina of the eye.
When white light falls on a substance,
the light may be completely reflected
and in this case substance will appear
white. If it is completely absorbed, the
substance will appear black.
 • A chromophore is the part of
a molecule responsible for its color. The
color that is seen by our eyes is the one
not absorbed within a
certain wavelength spectrum of visible
light. The chromophore is a region in
the molecule where the energy
Chromophore difference between two
separate molecular orbitals falls within
the range of the visible spectrum.
Visible light that hits the chromophore
can thus be absorbed by exciting
an electron from its ground state into
an excited state.
Chromophore

• According to the O. Witt colour theory a

dye is made up of two essential kinds of
parts, Chromophores and Auxochromes.
He designated a group that produces
colour as a chromophore (Gr, Kuroma.
colour + Phors carrier). Chromophores
are unsaturated groups. Presence of at
least one such group is essential to
produce a colour in an organic compound
and a molecule containing such a group
is called as chromogen.
 • Further auxchoromes are salt forming
groups, i.e., they are basic or acidic and
makes the coloured compound to attach
itself to the fabric, so that it is fast to light,
soap and water. Acidic auxochromes like –
OH, --COOH and – SO2H give acidic dyes
and basic auxochromes like – NH2,– NHR
Effect of auxochorme and – NR2 gives basic dyes. Auxochromes
for reaction like – SO3H group has little value as
auxochrome but it has a solublishing effect.
The halogen atom also functions as
auxochrome and the relative order of
colour intensifying effect is I>Br>Cl. It can
be observed that all the auxochromic
groups contain atoms with unshared pair of
electron.
Auxochrome

• O. Witt also observed that certain

groups, while not producing colour
themselves, are able to intensify the
colour when present in a molecule
together with a chromophore. These
are called auxochromes (Gr, auxanein =
to increase). The most effective
auxochromes.
 • An auxochrome is a functional
group of atoms attached to the
chromophore which modifies the
Auxochrome ability of the chromophore to
absorb light, altering the
wavelength or intensity of the
absorption.
Reduction of chromophore
• The chloromogens, on reduction give the
colourless compounds, for examples
azobenzene, a bright red compound, on
reduction forms the colourless
hydrazobenzene.
• Sometimes the conversion is reversible. In
this case the reduction products are called
“Lecuo compounds”.
• Sometimes reduction completely
decomposes the coloured compound, such
reduction products are called “Leuco
compounds”.
 • Like many other theories, the Witt theory has
also been replaced by modern electronic theory.
According to this theory, it is the resonance
stabilization of excited states that is responsible
for the absorption in the visible region. When
ultraviolet or visible light is absorbed by a
molecule, an electron is excited, that is, it is
Valence bond promoted to an orbital of higher energy. The
wavelength of light absorbed depends on the
approach to colour: energy difference between the excited and
ground states of the molecule. The smaller
difference between the two states, the longer is
the wavelength of the light absorbed.
• Pi bonds and sigma decide the absorption of
light. Pi bonds absorb less energy and sigma
bond absorb large energy.
Valence bond approach to colour:

• Benzene absorbs light at 2550 Å and is colourless.

Aniline, which absorbs light at about 3000 Å, is also
colourless; nitrobenzene absorbing light slightly
above 4000 Å is pale yellow and p-nitro aniline
absorbing light at 4500 Å is a yellow compound.

• Ethylene absorbs light in the ultraviolet part of the

spectrum 1800 Å. Butadiene, with two conjugated
double bonds, absorbs at 8170 Å (a wavelength
closer to visible region) and hexatriene, with three
conjugated double bonds, absorbs at 2580 Å.
However, as the number of conjugated double
bonds increases, the absorption falls in the visible
region, for example in β-carotene there are eleven
conjugated.
 • In this case benzene ring may be
considered to be chromophore, while
amino group and nitro group
auxochromes. When they are
conjugated, the longer resonance
system increases the energy gap
between the ground state and excited
Bathochromic effect: state transitions, thus producing visible
colour. All these groups, which lengthen
wavelength of absorption, are
bathochrome groups. Thus
displacements (or shift) to longer
wavelength are known as bathochromic
effects or bathochromic.
 • Hypsochromes are groups which
decrease resonance. This is done by
forcing the pi (π) orbitals out of
planarity. This is known as
hypsochromic effect. For example when
Hypsochromic alkayl group on benzene ring is ortho to
adjacent rings or chains, the molecule is
effect distorted out of planarity and resonance
is decreased. As the number of fused
rings increases, the absorption in the
visible region also increases e.g.
naphthacene absorbs in blue region and
is yellow.