In this short review, we attempt to unfold various aspects of excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) from the studies that are available up to date. Since Weller’s discovery of ESIPT in salicylic acid (SA) and its derivative methyl salicylate (MS), numerous studies have emerged on the topic and it has become an attractive field of research because of its manifold applications. Here, we discuss some critical aspects of ESIPT and tautomerization from the mechanistic viewpoint. We address excitation wavelength dependence, anti-Kasha ESIPT, fast and slow ESIPT, reversibility and irreversibility of ESIPT, hydrogen bonding and geometrical factors, excited-state double proton transfer (ESDPT), concerted and stepwise ESDPT.

The spectral properties of several aromatic azo dyes of fundamental importance (4-phenylazo-1-naphthol, 1-phenylazo-2-naphthol and 2-phenylazo-1-naphthol) and Schiff bases (N-(2-hydroxy-1-naphthylmethylidene)aniline and N-(1-hydroxy-2-naphthylmethylidene)aniline) are investigated at temperatures down to 100 K. The observed spectral changes are interpreted in terms of the existing tautomeric equilibrium and hydrogen-bonding (H-bonding) with the solvent. In non-polar solvents the decrease in temperature leads, in all compounds except 4-phenylazo-1-naphthol, to a full transformation of the enol tautomeric form (A) to the quinone form (H). The temperature dependence of the equilibrium A ⇌ H exhibits a shift around 240 K. In ethanol, due to intermolecular H-bonding, in the case of the azo dyes full transformation was not observed, while the behavior of the Schiff bases is the same as in non-polar solvents. The thermodynamic parameters of the equilibrium A ⇌ H were estimated in both non-polar solvent and ethanol for all investigated compounds.

In this review, we attempt to provide a brief account of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) methodology and technological developments. We also summarize various methods adopted for exploiting LIBS. Besides, a brief overview of combination of LIBS in conjunction with other methods is also given.