Two-photon absorption properties of two-dimensional π-conjugated chromophores: combined experimental and theoretical study

The two-photon absorption (TPA) properties of four TPEB [tetrakis(phenylethynyl)benzene] derivatives (TD, para, ortho, and meta) with different donor/acceptor substitution patterns have been investigated experimentally by the femtosecond open-aperture Z-scan method and theoretically by the time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT) method. The four compounds show relatively large TPA cross sections, and the all-donor substituted species (TD) displays the largest TPA cross-section σ(2) = 520 ± 30 GM. On the basis of the calculated electronic structure, TD shows no TPA band in the lower energy region of the spectrum because the transition density is concentrated on particular transitions due to the high symmetry of the molecular structure. The centrosymmetric donor-acceptor TPEB para shows excitations resulting from transitions centered on D-π-D and A-π-A moieties, as well as transition between the D-π-D and A-π-A moieties; this accounts for the broad nature of the TPA bands for this compound. Calculations for two noncentrosymmetric TPEBs (ortho and meta) reveal that the diminished TPA intensities of higher-energy bands result from destructive interference between the dipolar and three-state terms. The molecular orbitals (MOs) of the TPEBs are derivable with linear combinations of the MOs of the two crossing BPEB [bis(phenylethynyl)benzene] derivatives. Overall, the characteristics of the experimental spectra are well-described based on the theoretical analysis.     

Electronic excitations of fluoroethylenes

Several lowest-lying singlet electronic states of vinyl fluoride, trans-, cis-, and 1,1-difluoroethylene, trifluoroethylene, and tetrafluoroethylene were investigated by using symmetry-adapted cluster configuration interaction theory. Basis sets up to Dunning's aug-cc-pVTZ augmented with appropriate Rydberg functions were utilized for the calculations. Calculated excitation energies show a good agreement with the available experimental values. Even in the troublesome pi-->pi(*) transitions, the excitation energies obtained in the present study agree well with the experimental values except in one or two fluoroethylenes. Strong mixing between different states was noticed in a few fluoroethylenes; especially the mixing is very strong between pi-pi(*) and pi-3ppi states in trifluoroethylene. No pure pi-sigma(*) excited state was found in almost all the fluoroethylenes. Several assignments and reassignments of features in the experimental spectra were suggested. The present study does not support the existing argument that the interaction between the pi-pi(*) and sigma-sigma(*) states is the reason behind the blueshift of around 1.25 eV in the pi-pi(*) excitation energy of tetrafluoroethylene. Possible reasons, including structural changes, for this shift are discussed in detail. Several low-lying triplet excited states were also studied.     

Infrared diode laser spectroscopy of the Ne-D2O van der Waals complex: strong Coriolis and angular-radial coupling

Four internal-rotation/vibration bands of the Ne-D(2)O complex have been measured in the v(2) bend region of D(2)O using a tunable infrared diode laser spectrometer to probe a slit supersonic expansion. Three ortho bands are excited from the ground state Σ(0(00)) to the Σ and Π(1(11), υ(2) = 1) internal rotor states and the n = 1, Σ(0(00), υ(2) = 1) stretching-internal rotor combination state. Strong perturbations between the excited vibrational states are evident. The observed spectra are analyzed separately with a three-state J-dependent Coriolis plus J-independent angular-radial coupling model [M. J. Weida and D. J. Nesbitt, J. Chem. Phys. 106, 3078 (1997)] and a three-state Coriolis coupling model [R. C. Cohen and R. J. Saykally, J. Chem. Phys. 95, 7891 (1991)]. The former model works more successfully than the latter. Molecular constants for the ground and excited vibrational states of ortho (20)Ne-D(2)O isotopomer as well as the Coriolis and angular-radial coupling constants are determined accurately. The van der Waals stretching frequency is estimated to be ν(s) = 24.85 cm(-1) in the ground state and decreases to about 20.8 cm(-1) upon vibrational excitation of the D(2)O bend.     

Electronically excited states of water clusters of 7-azaindole: structures, relative energies, and electronic nature of the excited states

The geometries of 1H-7-azaindole and the 1H-7-azaindole(H(2)O)(1-2) complexes and the respective 7H tautomers in their ground and two lowest electronically excited pi-pi(*) singlet states have been optimized by using the second-order approximated coupled cluster model within the resolution-of-the-identity approximation. Based on these optimized structures, adiabatic excitation spectra were computed by using the combined density functional theory/multireference configuration interaction method. Special attention was paid to comparison of the orientation of transition dipole moments and excited state permanent dipole moments, which can be determined accurately with rotationally resolved electronic Stark spectroscopy. The electronic nature of the lowest excited state is shown to change from L(b) to L(a) upon water complexation.     

Infrared vibrational spectroscopy of cis-dichloroethene in Rydberg states

We have measured the infrared (IR) vibrational spectrum for cis-dichloroethene (cis-ClCH[Double Bond]CHCl) in excited Rydberg states with the effective principal quantum numbers n(*)=9, 13, 17, 21, 28, and 55 using the vacuum ultraviolet-IR-photoinduced Rydberg ionization (VUV-IR-PIRI) scheme. Although the IR frequencies observed for the vibrational bands nu(11) (*) (asymmetric C-H stretch) and nu(12) (*) (symmetric C-H stretch) are essentially unchanged for different n(*) states, suggesting that the IR absorption predominantly involves the ion core and that the Rydberg electron behaves as a spectator; the intensity ratio for the nu(11) (*) and nu(12) (*) bands [R(nu(11) (*)nu(12) (*))] is found to decrease smoothly as n(*) is increased. This trend is consistent with the results of a model ab initio quantum calculation of R(nu(11) (*)nu(12) (*)) for excited cis-ClCH[Double Bond]CHCl in n(*)=3-18 states and the MP26-311++G(2df,p) calculations of R(nu(11)nu(12)) and R(nu(11) (+)nu(12) (+)), where R(nu(11)nu(12))[R(nu(11) (+)nu(12) (+))] represents the intensity ratio of the nu(11)(nu(11) (+)) asymmetric C-H stretching to the nu(12)(nu(12) (+)) symmetric C-H stretching vibrational bands for cis-ClCH[Double Bond]CHCl (cis-ClCH[Double Bond]CHCl(+)). We have also measured the IR-VUV-photoion (IR-VUV-PI) and IR-VUV-pulsed field ionization-photoelectron depletion (IR-VUV-PFI-PED) spectra for cis-ClCH[Double Bond]CHCl. These spectra are consistent with ab initio calculations, indicating that the IR absorption cross section for the nu(12) band is negligibly small compared to that for the nu(11) band. While the VUV-IR-PIRI measurements have allowed the determination of nu(11) (+)=3067+/-2 cm(-1), nu(12) (+)=3090+/-2 cm(-1), and R(nu(11) (+)nu(12) (+)) approximately 1.3 for cis-ClCH=CHCl(+), the IR-VUV-PI and IR-VUV-PFI-PED measurements have provided the value nu(11)=3088.5+/-0.2 cm(-1) for cis-ClCH=CHCl.     

The role of the excited electronic states in the C+ + H2O reaction

The electronic excited states of the [COH2]+ system have been studied in order to establish their role in the dynamics of the C+ + H2O-->[COH]+ +H reaction, which is a prototypical ion-molecule reaction. The most relevant minima and saddle points of the lowest excited state have been determined and energy profiles for the lowest excited doublet and quartet electronic states have been computed along the fragmentation and isomerization coordinates. Also, nonadiabatic coupling strengths between the ground and the first excited state have been computed where they can be large. Our analysis suggests that the first excited state could play an important role in the generation of the formyl isomer, which has been detected in crossed beam experiments [D. M. Sonnenfroh et al., J. Chem. Phys. 83, 3985 (1985)], but could not be explained in quasiclassical trajectory computations [Y. Ishikawa et al., Chem. Phys. Lett. 370, 490 (2003); J. R. Flores, J. Chem. Phys. 125, 164309 (2006)].     

Effective local potentials for excited states

The constrained variational Hartree-Fock method for excited states of the same symmetry as the ground state [Chem. Phys. Lett. 287, 189 (1998)] is combined with the effective local potential (ELP) method [J. Chem. Phys. 125, 081104 (2006)] to generate Kohn-Sham-type exact-exchange potentials for singly excited states of many-electron systems. Illustrative examples include the three lowest (2)S states of the Li and Na atoms and the three lowest (3)S states of He and Be. For the systems studied, excited-state ELPs differ from the corresponding ground-state potentials in two respects: They are less negative and have small additional "bumps" in the outer electron region. The technique is general and can be used to approximate excited-state exchange-correlation potentials for other orbital-dependent functionals.     

Assessment of dressed time-dependent density-functional theory for the low-lying valence states of 28 organic chromophores

Almost all time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT) calculations of excited states make use of the adiabatic approximation, which implies a frequency-independent exchange-correlation kernel that limits applications to one-hole/one-particle states. To remedy this problem, Maitra et al. [N.T. Maitra, F. Zhang, R.J. Cave, K. Burke, Double excitations within time-dependent density functional theory linear response theory, J. Chem. Phys. 120 (2004) 5932 ] proposed dressed TDDFT (D-TDDFT), which includes explicit two-hole/two-particle states by adding a frequency-dependent term to adiabatic TDDFT. This paper offers the first extensive test of D-TDDFT, and its ability to represent excitation energies in a general fashion. We present D-TDDFT excited states for 28 chromophores and compare them with the benchmark results of Schreiber et al. [M. Schreiber, M.R. Silva-Junior, S.P.A. Sauer, W. Thiel, Benchmarks for electronically excited states: CASPT2, CC2, CCSD, and CC3, J. Chem. Phys. 128 (2008) 134110]. We find the choice of functional used for the A-TDDFT step to be critical for positioning the 1h1p states with respect to the 2h2p states. We observe that D-TDDFT without HF exchange increases the error in excitations already underestimated by A-TDDFT. This problem is largely remedied by implementation of D-TDDFT including Hartree-Fock exchange.     

Two-photon excitation of substituted enediynes

Electronic spectroscopy of nine benzannelated enediynes and a related fulvene was studied under one-photon and two-photon excitation conditions. We utilize measured absorbance and emission spectra and time-resolved fluorescence decays of these molecules to calculate their radiative lifetimes and fluorescence quantum yields. The fluorescence quantum yields for the other compounds were referenced to the fluorescence quantum yield of compound 3 and used to determine relative two-photon absorption cross-sections. Further insight into experimental studies has been achieved using time-dependent density functional (TD-DFT) computations. The probability of two-photon absorption (TPA) increases noticeably for excitation to the higher excited states. The photophysical properties of benzannelated enediynes are sensitive to substitutions at both the core and the periphery of the enediyne chromophore. Considerably enhanced two-photon absorption is observed in an enediyne with donor substitution in the middle and acceptor substitution at the termini. Excited states with B symmetry are not active in TPA spectra. From a practical point of view, this study extends the range of wavelengths applicable for activation of the enediyne moiety from 350 to 600 nm and provides a rational basis for future studies in this field. Our theoretical computations confirmed that lowest energy TPA in benzannelated enediynes involves different orbitals than lowest energy one-photon absorbance and provided further support to the notion that introduction of donor and acceptor substituents at different ends of a molecule increases TPA.     

The structure of 5-cyanoindole in the ground and the lowest electronically excited singlet states, deduced from rotationally resolved electronic spectroscopy and ab initio theory

The structure and electronic properties of the electronic ground and the lowest excited singlet states of 5-cyanoindole (5CI) were determined using rotationally resolved spectroscopy of the vibrationless electronic origin of 5CI. In contrast to most other indole derivatives, the lowest excited state of 5CI is determined to be of L(a) character. The conventional approximate coupled cluster singles and doubles model (CC2) fails to describe the geometry of the excited state correctly. Nevertheless, scaling the spin components of equal and opposite spins within the CC2 model as proposed by Hellweg et al. (Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2008, 10, 1159) resulted in very good geometry parameters for the excited state.     

Modeling of HeN+ clusters. II. Calculation of He3+ vibrational spectrum

We have computed the vibrational spectrum of the helium ionized trimer He(3)(+) using three different potential energy surfaces [D. T. Chang and G. L. Gellene, J. Chem. Phys. 119, 4694 (2003); E. Scifoni et al., ibid. 125, 164304 (2006); I. Paidarova et al., Chem. Phys. 342, 64 (2007)]. Differences in the details of these potential energy surfaces induce discrepancies between bound state energies of the order of 0.01 eV. The effects of the geometric phase induced by the conical intersection between the ground electronic potential energy surface and the first excited one are studied by computing vibrational spectra with and without this phase. The six lowest vibrational bound states are negligibly affected by the geometric phase. Indeed, they correspond to wavefunctions localized in the vicinity of the linear symmetric configurations and can be assigned well defined vibrational quantum numbers. On the other hand, higher excited states are delocalized, cannot be assigned definite vibrational quantum numbers, and the geometric phase shifts their energies by approximately 0.005 eV.     

Reactivity of aromatic amines with triplet 1,8-dihydroxyanthraquinone: a laser flash photolysis study

The property of the lowest excited triplet states of 1,8-dihydroxyanthraquinone (DHAQ) was investigated by using time-resolved laser flash photolysis at 355nm in organic solvents, i.e. acetonitrile and cyclohexane. The transient absorption spectra of the excited triplet DHAQ were obtained in acetonitrile, which have an absorption maximum at 480nm and two broad absorption bands around 350 and 650nm. 3DHAQ(*) is efficiently quenched by triphenylamine (TPA) via photoinduced electron transfer pathway, which was testified by the finding of TPA radical cation. In addition, aniline derivatives such as N,N-dimethylaniline (DMA), 3,5,N,N-tetramethylaniline (TMA), 4-dimethylaminobenzoic acid (DMABA) and dimethyl-p-toluidine (DMT) could also quench 3DHAQ(*) rapidly. Evidence for electron transfer interaction with anilines in acetonitrile was obtained from transient spectral characterization of formed radicals. Experimental k(q) values approach the diffusion-controlled rate limit, and decrease significantly from DMT (1.85x10(10)M-1s-1) to DMABA (1.95x10(9)M-1s-1). These k(q) values depend on the charge density on the "N" atom of anilines, which could be quantified by Hammett sigma constant.     

Theoretical study of solvent influence on the electronic absorption and emission spectra of kynurenine

Neutral/zwitterionic form equilibrium, excited state wave functions, absorption and emission spectra of kynurenine (KN) in various solvents (water, methanol, ethanol, and dimethylsulfoxide) have been studied theoretically. The ground electronic state geometries have been optimized by density functional theory methods; the geometries of the first two singlets excited electronic states have been optimized using the CASSCF technique. The influence of the solvent was taken into account by the calculation of the solvation free energies using the Polarizable Continuum Model (PCM). The spectra of electronic absorption and fluorescence emission have been calculated by the CS‐INDO S‐CI and SDT‐CI methods [Momicchioli, Baraldi, and Bruni, Chem Phys, 1983, 82, 229]. The calculated data reproduce the experimental positions of maxima and the solvent‐induced shifts of the absorption and emission bands well. The energy gap between the two lowest excited states of KN increases from aprotic to protic solvents. This fact suggests that the “proximity effect” cannot be responsible for the ultrafast decay of KN fluorescence in protic solvents. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011     

Two-photon absorption properties of proquinoidal D-A-D and A-D-A quadrupolar chromophores

We report the synthesis, one- and two-photon absorption spectroscopy, fluorescence, and electrochemical properties of a series of quadrupolar molecules that feature proquinoidal π-aromatic acceptors. These quadrupolar molecules possess either donor-acceptor-donor (D-A-D) or acceptor-donor-acceptor (A-D-A) electronic motifs, and feature 4-N,N-dihexylaminophenyl, 4-dodecyloxyphenyl, 4-(N,N-dihexylamino)benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazolyl or 2,5-dioctyloxyphenyl electron donor moieties and benzo[c][1,2,5]thiadiazole (BTD) or 6,7-bis(3',7'-dimethyloctyl)[1,2,5]thiadiazolo[3,4-g]quinoxaline (TDQ) electron acceptor units. These conjugated structures are highly emissive in nonpolar solvents and exhibit large spectral red-shifts of their respective lowest energy absorption bands relative to analogous reference compounds that incorporate phenylene components in place of BTD and TDQ moieties. BTD-based D-A-D and A-D-A chromophores exhibit increasing fluorescence emission red-shifts, and a concomitant decrease of the fluorescence quantum yield (Φ(f)) with increasing solvent polarity; these data indicate that electronic excitation augments benzothiadiazole electron density via an internal charge transfer mechanism. The BTD- and TDQ-containing structures exhibit blue-shifted two-photon absorption (TPA) spectra relative to their corresponding one-photon absorption (OPA) spectra, and display high TPA cross sections (>100 GM) within these spectral windows. D-A-D and A-D-A structures that feature more extensive conjugation within this series of compounds exhibit larger TPA cross sections consistent with computational simulation. Factors governing TPA properties of these quadrupolar chromophores are discussed within the context of a three-state model.     

Excitation wavelength dependence of the Raman-Stokes shift of N,N-dimethyl-p-nitroaniline

Raman spectra of N,N-dimethly-p-nitroaniline have been measured in various solvents. The Raman-Stokes shift of the band assigned to the NO2 stretching mode excited at 488 nm was found to be linearly dependent on the pi-pi* absorption band center. Furthermore, it is found that the Raman-Stokes shift of the NO2 stretching mode is dependent upon the excitation wavelength. The extent of the shift when excited at 355 versus 488 nm is almost linearly dependent on the vibrational bandwidth of the NO2 mode. The phenomenon is interpreted as the result of the solvation state selective excitation of the vibrational mode as in the case of phenol blue [Yamaguchi et al., J. Chem. Phys. 109, 9075 (1998); 109, 9084 (1998)].     

Effect of chemical substituents on the energetical landscape of a molecular photoswitch: an ab initio study

The effect of chemical substitutions on the energetical landscape of an optical molecular switch (Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2008, 10, 1243) was studied with the aid of ab initio electronic structure methods. Series of different chemical moieties were substituted into the molecular frame of 7-hydroxyquinoline as well as into the "molecular crane" at position 8 of the frame. It was shown that the π-electron-donating/withdrawing properties of substituents substantially modify the energetical landscape of the system in the ground as well as in the lowest excited ππ* and nπ* singlet states.     

Fluorescence studies of terrylene in a supersonic jet: indication of a dark electronic state below the allowed transition

Jet-cooled terrylene has been studied in helium buffer gas using a pulsed nozzle by means of laser-induced fluorescence. Fluorescence excitation and two-color depletion experiments (resulting in hole burning spectra) are presented. Analysis of the spectra leads to the conclusion that another excited electronic state is present in the vicinity of the allowed 1B1u state. Assuming (according to previous literature suggestions Karabunarliev, S.; Baumgarten, M.; Müllen, K. J. Phys. Chem. A 1998, 102, 7029) that this dark state is the 21Ag state, we discuss the vibrational structure of the fluorescence excitation spectrum in terms of two manifolds of vibronic states belonging to Sd(21Ag) and S1(1B1u) states. The anomalous shift between excitation and dispersed fluorescence spectra observed earlier for terrylene in a neon matrix is discussed as a consequence of terrylene electronic relaxation to the low-energy dark state.     

Theoretical study of singlet and triplet excitation energies in oligothiophenes

We have analyzed singlet and triplet excitation energies in oligothiophenes (up to five rings) using time-dependent density-functional theory (TD-DFT) with different exchange-correlation functionals and compared them with results from the approximate coupled-cluster singles and doubles model (CC2) and experimental data. The excitation energies have been calculated in geometries obtained by TD-DFT optimization of the lowest excited singlet state and in the ground-state geometries of the neutral and anionic systems. TD-DFT methods underestimate photoluminescence energies but the energy difference between singlet and triplet states shows trends with the chain-length similar to CC2. We find that the second triplet excited state is below the first singlet excited state for long oligomers in contrast with the previous assignment of Rentsch et al. (Phys.Chem. Chem. Phys. 1999, 1, 1707). Their photodetachment photoelectron spectroscopy measurements are better described by considering higher triplet excited states.     

Simulation of X-ray absorption near edge spectra of organometallic compounds in the ground and optically excited states

The Mg K-edge and Zn K- and L3-edge X-ray absorption near edge spectra of Mg and Zn porphyrins in the ground state and low-lying optically excited states are calculated. Also computed are X-ray absorption near edge spectra of Fe(II) spin crossover compound in its ground and low-lying optically excited states, motivated by a recent experiment (J. Phys. Chem. A 2006, 110, 38). The calculated absorption spectra of optically excited states can be used to simulate ultrafast optical pump/X-ray probe experiments.     

Simulation of the photodeactivation of formamide in the nO-pi* and pi-pi* states: an ab initio on-the-fly surface-hopping dynamics study

The short-time photodynamics (1 ps) of formamide in its low-lying singlet excited n(O)-pi(*) and pi-pi(*) states have been investigated by the direct trajectory surface-hopping method based on multiconfigurational ab initio calculations. The simulations showed that in both states, the primary deactivation process is C-N bond dissociation. In the ground state, the energy is transferred to (a) translational motion of the HCO and NH(2) fragments, (b) additional C-H dissociation from the vibrationally hot HCO fragment, or (c) formation of NH(3) and CO. In addition to the C-N dissociation pathway, C-O bond fission is found to be an additional primary deactivation path in the pi-pi(*) dynamics. From fractional occupations of trajectories, lifetimes of formamide were estimated: tau(S(1))=441 fs and tau(S(2))=66 fs.