trans-1,2-Dicyano-cyclopropane and other cyano-cyclopropane derivatives

In this work we present the experimental vibrational absorption (VA), vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) and Raman spectra for (+)-trans-1(S),2(S)-dicyanocyclopropane and its dideuterio derivative, trans-1(S),2(S)-dicyano-1(S),2(S)-dideuteriocyclopropane, along with VA, VCD, Raman and Raman optical activity (ROA) spectral simulations. Here we investigate the applicability of various local and non-local exchange-correlation (XC) functionals, hybrids and meta-hybrids to reproduce the vibrational spectra of this strained ring system, which also bears two cyano groups. At the highest level of theory, B3PW91/ aug-cc-pVTZ, we also investigated the trans-, cis- and gem-dicyanocyclopropane (trans-, cis-, and gem-DCCP), cyanocyclopropane (CCP) and the parent molecule cyclopropane (CP). In doing so we have investigated the electronic effects (coupling) between the cyano groups and the cyclopropane ring. In addition to providing an interpretation of the experimentally observed vibrational spectra for these molecules, this work also provides benchmark calculations for other methods, especially semi-empirical based wave function and density functional theory (DFT) based methods, such as SCC-DFTB and PM6. For the semi-empirical DFT based methods to be used for 3-membered ring systems, one ought to document their reliability for systems which were not used in the parameterization. The small 3- and 4-membered ring systems are good test systems because they contain non-standard bonding, which may be difficult to determine accurately with the approximations used in the SCC-DFTB and other semi-empirical methods. Like molecular mechanics force fields, semi-empirical methods, based on DFT and wave function quantum mechanics (WFQM), must be benchmarked against high level ab initio and DFT calculations and experimental data. In addition to bonding, the changes in the electric dipole moment, magnetic dipole moment, electric dipole-electric dipole polarizability, electric dipole-magnetic dipole polarizability and electric dipole-electric quadrupole polarizability with respect to nuclear displacement and nuclear velocity can be determined by the VA, VCD, Raman and ROA intensities. Hence it is important that the semi-empirical based DFT and wave function methods not only be parameterized to determine energies, gradients and Hessians, but also the electric and magnetic moments and their derivatives that determine the electronic and magnetic properties of these molecules and their interactions with matter and radiation. This will allow biochemists, biophysicists, molecular biologists, and physical biologists to use experimental and theoretical VA, VCD, Raman and ROA spectroscopies to probe biophysical and biochemical function and processes at the molecular level. Festschrift in Honor of Philip J. Stephens’ 65th Birthday.     

Anharmonic effects in IR, Raman, and Raman optical activity spectra of alanine and proline zwitterions

The difference spectroscopy of the Raman optical activity (ROA) provides extended information about molecular structure. However, interpretation of the spectra is based on complex and often inaccurate simulations. Previously, the authors attempted to make the calculations more robust by including the solvent and exploring the role of molecular flexibility for alanine and proline zwitterions. In the current study, they analyze the IR, Raman, and ROA spectra of these molecules with the emphasis on the force field modeling. Vibrational harmonic frequencies obtained with 25 ab initio methods are compared to experimental band positions. The role of anharmonic terms in the potential and intensity tensors is also systematically explored using the vibrational self-consistent field, vibrational configuration interaction (VCI), and degeneracy-corrected perturbation calculations. The harmonic approach appeared satisfactory for most of the lower-wavelength (200-1800 cm(-1)) vibrations. Modern generalized gradient approximation and hybrid density functionals, such as the common B3LYP method, provided a very good statistical agreement with the experiment. Although the inclusion of the anharmonic corrections still did not lead to complete agreement between the simulations and the experiment, occasional enhancements were achieved across the entire region of wave numbers. Not only the transitional frequencies of the C-H stretching modes were significantly improved but also Raman and ROA spectral profiles including N-H and C-H lower-frequency bending modes were more realistic after application of the VCI correction. A limited Boltzmann averaging for the lowest-frequency modes that could not be included directly in the anharmonic calculus provided a realistic inhomogeneous band broadening. The anharmonic parts of the intensity tensors (second dipole and polarizability derivatives) were found less important for the entire spectral profiles than the force field anharmonicities (third and fourth energy derivatives), except for a few weak combination bands which were dominated by the anharmonic tensor contributions.     

Role of hydration in determining the structure and vibrational spectra of L-alanine and N-acetyl L-alanine N′-methylamide in aqueous solution: a combined theoretical and experimental approach

In this work we have utilized recent density functional theory Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics simulations to determine the first principles locations of the water molecules in the first solvation shell which are responsible for stabilizing the zwitterionic structure of L-alanine. Previous works have used chemical intuition or classical molecular dynamics simulations to position the water molecules. In addition, a complete shell of water molecules was not previously used, only the water molecules which were thought to be strongly interacting (H-bonded) with the zwitterionic species. In a previous work by Tajkhorshid et al. (J Phys Chem B 102:5899) the L-alanine zwitterion was stabilized by 4 water molecules, and a subsequent work by Frimand et al. (Chem Phys 255:165) the number was increased to 9 water molecules. Here we found that 20 water molecules are necessary to fully encapsulate the zwitterionic species when the molecule is embedded within a droplet of water, while 11 water molecules are necessary to encapsulate the polar region with the methyl group exposed to the surface, where it migrates during the MD simulation. Here we present our vibrational absorption, vibrational circular dichroism and Raman and Raman optical activity simulations, which we compare to the previous simulations and experimental results. In addition, we report new VA, VCD, Raman and ROA measurements for L-alanine in aqueous solution with the latest commercially available FTIR VA/VCD instrument (Biotools, Jupiter, FL, USA) and Raman/ROA instrument (Biotools). The signal to noise of the spectra of L-alanine measured with these new instruments is significantly better than the previously reported spectra. Finally we reinvestigate the causes for the stability of the P_π structure of the alanine dipeptide, also called N-acetyl-L-alanine N′-methylamide, in aqueous solution. Previously we utilized the B3LYP/6-31G* + Onsager continuum level of theory to investigate the stability of the NALANMA4WC Han et al. (J Phys Chem B 102:2587) Here we use the B3PW91 and B3LYP hybrid exchange correlation functionals, the aug-cc-pVDZ basis set and the PCM and CPCM (COSMO) continuum solvent models, in addition to the Onsager and no continuum solvent model. Here by the comparison of the VA, VCD, Raman and ROA spectra we can confirm the stability of the NALANMA4WC due to the strong hydrogen bonding between the four water molecules and the peptide polar groups. Hence we advocate the use of explicit water molecules and continuum solvent treatment for all future spectral simulations of amino acids, peptides and proteins in aqueous solution, as even the structure (conformer) present cannot always be found without this level of theory. Festschift in Honor of Philip J. Stephens’ 65th Birthday. During the proof stage of this article a very relevant article has been published by M. Losada and Y. Xu titled “Chirality transfer through hydrogen-bonding: Experimental and ab initio analyses of vibrational circular dichroism spectra of methyl lactate in water” in Phys Chem Chem Phys 2007, 9: 3127–3135. In that work they confirm that the effects of water are seen in the VCD spectra and hence it is fundamental to include explicit water molecules in modeling studies of the vibrational spectra of biomolecules in aqueous solution.     

Theoretical determination of the vibrational Raman optical activity signatures of helical polypropylene chains.

Raman and vibrational Raman optical activity (VROA) spectra of helical conformers of polypropylene chains are simulated using ab initio methods to unravel the relationships between the vibrational signatures and the primary and secondary structures of the chains. For a polypropylene chain containing three units, conformational effects are shown to lead to more acute signatures for VROA than for Raman spectra. In addition to regular polypropylene chains, which can display right and left helicities with the same probability, chirality and therefore helicity are enforced by substituting one chain end with a phenyl group. The simulations predict that the threefold helical structures, which correspond to (TG)(N) conformations of the backbone, have a specific VROA backward signature in the form of an intense couplet around 1100 cm(-1). This couplet is associated with collective wagging and twisting motions, while most of its intensity comes from the anisotropic invariants combining normal coordinate derivatives of the electric dipole-electric dipole polarizability and of the electric dipole-magnetic dipole polarizability. A similar signature has already been found in model helical polyethylene chains, whereas it is very weak in forward VROA.     

Computations of the Raman optical activity via the sum‐over‐states expansions

A computationally convenient and reasonably accurate scheme of computation of the Raman Optical Activity (ROA) is presented and tested on model examples. Electromagnetic tensors were obtained using the sum‐over‐states (SOS) methodology, while their nuclear derivatives were estimated through numerical differentiation. An origin dependence of the results was overcome by a distributed origin gauge transformation. Becke‐3LYP functional and corresponding Kohn–Sham orbitals are used for the excited states. The method was compared to a benchmark coupled‐perturbed (CP) calculation on formamide and a standard ROA spectral simulation and experiment for α‐pinene. Spectra of four standard peptide conformations (α‐helix, 3₁₀‐helix, coil, and β‐sheet) were simulated with smaller fragments and compared to previous experimental observations. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 22: 426–435, 2001     

Experimental and ab initio theoretical vibrational Raman optical activity of tartaric acid

The vibrational Raman optical activity (ROA) spectra of (2R,3R)-(+) tartaric acid-d₀ in H₂O and (2R,3R)-(+) tartaric acid-d₄ in D₂O between 300 and 1800 cm⁻¹ measured in backscattering are reported. Ab initio Raman intensifies were evaluated using basis sets at 6-31G, 6-31G* and double zeta plus polarization (DZP) levels. Ab initio ROA intensities were obtained at two levels: in one calculation both the normal coordinates and the polarizability and optical activity tensor derivatives were evaluated with the 6-31G basis set; in a second calculation normal coordinates obtained with the DZP basis set were used to evaluate the normal coordinate derivatives of polarizability and optical activity tensors from the corresponding Cartesian derivative tensors obtained with the 6-31G basis set. Sufficiently good correlation was found between many of bands in the theoretical and experimental Raman and ROA spectra for both the -d₀ and -d₄ species to confirm that the absolute configuration of the ( + )-enantiomer is indeed (2R,3R) and to suggest that the trans COOH and trans COOD conformations are dominant. Tartaric acid-d₄ shows very similar ROA to tartaric acid itself in the range 300–800 cm⁻¹ but quite different in the range 800–1450 cm⁻¹, which provides insight into the influence of normal mode composition on ROA spectra. It was found that the normal mode compositions are much more sensitive to the level of basis set used than the polarizability and optical activity tensor derivatives.     

Vibrational spectroscopic study on the quantum chemical model and the X-ray structure of gallic acid,solvent effect on the structure and spectra

Infrared, Raman and far-IR spectra of gallic acid were recorded both in crystalline and in its dry form. Solvent effect of water was studied. The molecular and crystal structures were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. A complex system of intermolecular interactions was revealed. Optimized geometries, vibrational frequencies and infrared intensities were calculated utilizing the post-HF DFT method with the Becke3LYP functional and the 6-31G* basis set. Normal coordinate analysis was carried out. The results of the calculations were applied to simulate the infrared and Raman spectra and the full assignment of the acquired spectra is presented.     

Experimental and ab initio theoretical vibrational Raman optical activity of alanine

The vibrational Raman optical activity (ROA) spectra of l-alanine in water, 1 N NaOH and 1 N HCl between 720 and 1500 cm⁻¹ measured in backscattering are reported. Unlike the associated vibrational circular dichroism (VCD), the main ROA features are relatively insensitive to pH changes. Ab initio Raman and ROA intensities were evaluated using 6-31G and 6-31G* basis sets and found to agree remarkably well with the experimental parameters in the lower-frequency region.     

FTIR and FT Raman, molecular geometry, vibrational assignments, ab initio and density functional theory calculations for 1,5-methylnaphthalene

The FTIR and FT Raman vibrational spectra of 1,5-methylnaphthalene (1,5-MN) have been recorded using Brunker IFS 66 V Spectrometer in the range 3600-10 cm(-1) in the solid phase. A detailed vibrational spectral analysis has been carried out and assignments of the observed fundamental bands have been proposed on the basis of peak positions and relative intensities. The Optimized molecular geometry, harmonic frequencies, electronic polarizability, atomic charges, dipole moment, rotational constants and several thermodynamic parameters in the ground state were calculated using ab initio Hartree Fock (HF) and density functional B3LYP methods (DFT) with 6-311++ G(d) basis set. With the help of different scaling factors, the observed vibrational wavenumbers in FTIR and FT Raman spectra were analyzed and assigned to different normal modes of the molecule. Most of the modes have wavenumbers in the expected range. The results of the calculations were applied to simulated infrared and Raman spectra of the title compound which showed excellent agreement with the observed spectra.     

Vibrational spectra and non linear optical proprieties of L-histidine oxalate: DFT studies

This paper presents the results of our calculations on the geometric parameters, vibrational spectra and hyperpolarizability of a nonlinear optical material L-histidine oxalate. Due to the lack of sufficiently precise information on geometric structure in literature, theoretical calculations were preceded by re-determination of the crystal X-ray structure. Single crystal of L-histidine oxalate has been growing by slow evaporation of an aqueous solution at room temperature. The compound crystallizes in the non-Centro symmetric space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) of orthorhombic system. The FT-IR and Raman spectra of L-histidine oxalate were recorded and analyzed. The vibrational wave numbers were examined theoretical with the aid of Gaussian98 package of programs using the DFT//B3LYP/6-31G(d) level of theory. The data obtained from vibrational wave number calculations are used to assign vibrational bands obtained in IR and Raman spectroscopy of the studied compound. The geometrical parameters of the title compound are in agreement with the values of similar structures. To investigate microscopic second order non-linear optical NLO behaviour of the examined complex, the electric dipole μ(tot), the polarizability α(tot) and the hyperpolarizability β(tot) were computed using DFT//B3LYP/6-31G(d) method. According to our calculation, the title compound exhibits non-zero β(tot) value revealing microscopic second order NLO behaviour.     

Surface enhanced Raman optical activity of molecules on orientationally averaged substrates: theory of electromagnetic effects

We present a model for electromagnetic enhancements in surface enhanced Raman optical activity (SEROA) spectroscopy. The model extends previous treatments of SEROA to substrates, such as metal nanoparticles in solution, that are orientationally averaged with respect to the laboratory frame. Our theoretical treatment combines analytical expressions for unenhanced Raman optical activity with molecular polarizability tensors that are dressed by the substrate's electromagnetic enhancements. We evaluate enhancements from model substrates to determine preliminary scaling laws and selection rules for SEROA. We find that dipolar substrates enhance Raman optical activity (ROA) scattering less than Raman scattering. Evanescent gradient contributions to orientationally averaged ROA scale to first or higher orders in the gradient of the incident plane-wave field. These evanescent gradient contributions may be large for substrates with quadrupolar responses to the plane-wave field gradient. Some substrates may also show a ROA contribution that depends only on the molecular electric dipole-electric dipole polarizability. These conclusions are illustrated via numerical calculations of surface enhanced Raman and ROA spectra from (R)-(-)-bromochlorofluoromethane on various model substrates.     

Investigation of the frequency‐dispersion effects on the Raman spectra of small polyenes

The time‐dependent Hartree–Fock scheme is applied for determining the frequency‐dependent Raman intensities of C_2nH_2n+2 molecules with n = 1–3. This analytic scheme, recently developed and implemented in the GAMESS program (Quinet, O.; Champagne, B. J Chem Phys 2001, 115, 6293), takes advantage of the 2n + 1 rule to express the polarizability derivatives in terms of first‐order derivatives. It is found that including frequency dispersion strongly modifies the intensity activy coefficients of many vibrational normal modes and therefore changes the aspect of the spectra. On the other hand, the depolarization ratio is much less frequency dependent. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2002     

FT-IR, FT-Raman and quantum chemical calculations of (E)-N-carbamimidoyl-4-((3,4-dimethoxybenzylidene) amino) benzenesulfonamide

FT-IR and FT-Raman spectra of (E)-N-carbamimidoyl-4-((3,4-dimethoxybenzylidene) amino) benzenesulfonamide were recorded and analyzed. The vibrational wavenumbers were computed using HF/6-31G*, B3PW91/6-31G* and B3LYP/6-31G* basis. The data obtained from vibrational wavenumber calculations are used to assign vibrational bands obtained experimentally. The results indicate that the B3LYP method is able to provide satisfactory results for predicting vibrational frequencies and structural parameters. The calculated first hyperpolarizability is comparable with the reported values of similar derivatives and is an attractive object for future studies of non-linear optics. The geometrical parameters of the title compound are in agreement with that of similar derivatives.     

Vibrational spectroscopic (FTIR and FT Raman) studies, first order hyperpolarizabilities and HOMO, LUMO analysis of p-toluenesulfonyl isocyanate using ab initio HF and DFT methods

The Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and FT Raman spectra of p-toluenesulfonyl isocyanate (p-tosyl isocyanate) have been measured. The molecular geometry, vibrational frequencies, infrared intensities, Raman activities and atomic charges have been calculated by using ab initio HF and density functional theory calculation (B3LYP) with 6-311+G(d,p) basis set. Complete vibrational assignment and analysis of the fundamental modes of the compound were carried out using the observed FTIR and FT Raman data. The thermodynamic functions of the title compound were also performed with the aid of HF/6-311+G(d,p) and B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) levels of theory. Simulated FTIR and FT Raman spectra for p-tosyl isocyanate showed good agreement with the observed spectra. The calculated HOMO and LUMO energies show that charge transfer occurs within the molecule. The dipole moment (μ), polarizability (α) and the hyperpolarizability (β) values of the investigated molecule have been computed using HF and B3LYP methods.     

Vibrational assignments for 7-methyl-4-bromomethylcoumarin, as aided by RHF and B3LYP/6-31G* calculations

Infrared (4000-400 cm(-1)) and Raman (3500-50 cm(-1)) spectral measurements have been made for the solid sample of 7-methyl-4-bromomethylcoumarin. Electronic structure calculations at RHF/6-31G* and B3LYP/6-31G* levels of theory have been performed, giving equilibrium geometries, harmonic vibrational spectra and normal modes. Different orientations of bromomethyl group have yielded only two conformers, of which the most stable one lying lower from the other conformer by approximately 7.99 kJ/mol, is non-planar with no symmetry. A complete assignment of the vibrational modes, aided by the calculations, has been proposed. Coupled vibrations are manifest in many modes. Some spectral features, compared to 6-methyl-4-bromomethylcoumarin, show changes across both IR and Raman spectra, involving mainly skeletal vibrations, and to a lesser degree, methyl and bromomethyl vibrations. Low-frequency vibrations below 150 cm(-1) are assigned to lattice modes.     

Electronic spectroscopy of molecules in superfluid helium nanodroplets: an excellent sensor for intramolecular charge redistribution

Electronic spectra of molecules doped into superfluid (4)He nanodroplets reveal important details of the microsolvation in superfluid helium. The vibrational fine structure in the electronic spectra of phthalocyanine derivatives and pyrromethene dye molecules doped into superfluid helium droplets have been investigated. Together with previous studies on anthracene derivatives [J. Chem. Phys.2010, 133, 114505] and 3-hydroxyflavone [J. Chem. Phys.2009, 131, 194307], the line shapes vary between two limiting cases, namely, sharp Lorentzians and nonresolved vibrational fine structure. All different spectral signatures are initiated by the same effect, namely, the change of the electron density distribution initiated by the electronic excitation. This change can be quantified by the difference of the electrostatic moments of the molecule in the electronic ground state and the corresponding Franck-Condon point in the excited state. According to the experimental data, electronic spectroscopy suffers from drastic line broadening when accompanied by significant changes of the charge distribution, in particular, changes of the dipole moment. Vice versa, the vibrational fine structure in electronic spectra of molecules doped into helium droplets is highly sensitive to changes of the electron density distribution.     

Amide I vibrational circular dichroism of polypeptides: generalized fragmentation approximation method

Fragment analyses of vibrational circular dichroic response of dipeptides were carried out recently [Choi and Cho, J. Chem. Phys. 120, 4383 (2004)]. In the present paper, by using a minimal size unit peptide containing two chiral carbons covalently bonded to the peptide group, a generalized fragmentation approximation method is discussed and applied to the calculations of infrared-absorption and vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) intensities of amide I vibrations in various secondary structure polypeptides. Unlike the dipole strength determining IR-absorption intensity, the rotational strength is largely determined by the cross terms that are given by the inner product between the transition electric dipole and the transition magnetic dipole of two different peptides. This explains why the signs and magnitudes of VCD peaks are far more sensitive to the relative orientation and distance between different peptide bonds in a given protein. In order to test the validity of fragmentation approximation, three different segments in a globular protein ubiquitin, i.e., right-handed alpha-helix, beta-sheet, and beta-turn regions, were chosen for density-functional theory (DFT) calculations of amide I vibrational properties and the numerically simulated IR-absorption and VCD spectra by using the fragmentation method are directly compared with DFT results. It is believed that the fragmentation approximation method will be of use in numerically simulating vibrational spectra of proteins in solutions.     

Molecular structure, IR spectra of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole and 2-mercaptobenzoxazole by density functional theory and ab initio Hartree–Fock calculations

Quantum chemistry calculations have been performed using Gaussian03 program to compute optimized geometry, harmonic vibrational frequency along with intensities in IR and Raman spectra and atomic charges at RHF/6-31+G*, B3LYP/6-31+G* and B3LYP/6-31++G* levels for 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT, C₇H₅NS₂) and 2-mercaptobenzoxazole (MBO, C₇H₅NOS) in the ground state. The scaled harmonic vibrational frequencies have been compared with experimental FT-IR and FT-Raman spectra. The results show that the scaled theoretical vibrational frequencies is very good agreement with the experimental values. A detailed interpretation of the infrared and Raman spectra of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole and 2-mercaptobenzoxazole was reported. Comparison of calculated spectra with the experimental spectra provides important information about the ability of the computational method to describe the vibrational modes.     

An analytical derivative procedure for the calculation of vibrational Raman optical activity spectra

We present an analytical time-dependent Hartree-Fock algorithm for the calculation of the derivatives of the electric dipole-magnetic dipole polarizability with respect to atomic Cartesian coordinates. Combined with analogous procedures to determine the derivatives of the electric dipole-electric dipole and electric dipole-electric quadrupole polarizabilities, it enables a fully analytical evaluation of the three frequency-dependent vibrational Raman optical activity (VROA) invariants within the harmonic approximation. The procedure employs traditional non-London atomic orbitals, and the gauge-origin dependence of the VROA intensities has, therefore, been assessed for the commonly used aug-cc-pVDZ and rDPS:3-21G basis sets.     

Spectroscopic, quantum chemical DFT/HF study and synthesis of [2.2.1] hept-2'-en-2'-amino-N-azatricyclo [3.2.1.0(2,4)] octane

The compound 4-N-bicyclo [2.2.1] hept-2'-en-2'-amino-N-azatricyclo [3.2.1.0(2,4)] octane (2) has been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, UV-vis, mass and NMR. Density functional theory (DFT) and Hartree-Fock (HF) calculations have been carried out for the title compound by using the standard 6-31G* basis set. The calculated results show that the predicted geometry can well reproduce the structural parameters. Predicted vibrational frequencies have been assigned and compared with experimental IR spectra and they complement each other. The theoretical electronic absorption spectra have been calculated by using CIS, TD-DFT and ZINDO methods. The (13)C NMR and (1)H NMR of compound (2) have been calculated by means of Becke 3-Lee-Yang-Parr (B3LYP) density functional method with 6-31G* basis set. Comparison between the experimental and the theoretical results indicates that density functional B3LYP method is able to provide satisfactory results for predicting NMR properties. On the basis of vibrational analyses, the thermodynamic properties of the title compound at different temperatures have been calculated.