TDDFT calculations and time-resolved transient absorption (TA) studies of the low-lying excited states of 4-dimethylaminobenzaldehyde (4-DMABA) and 4-dimethylaminoacetophenone (4-DMAAP) have been carried out to probe the mechanism of photoinduced intramolecular charge transfer (ICT). In polar acetonitrile, where dual fluorescence appears, both 4-DMABA and 4-DMAAP exhibit a TA band at about 510 nm and 490 nm, which correspond to the absorption spectra of the twisted ICT (TICT) state, with spectral characteristics that correspond to the radical anion absorptions of benzaldehyde or acetophenone. The decay time of the TICT-state absorption corresponds to that of the ICT fluorescence, indicating that the fluorescent ICT state is the TICT states. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.