Isotopomeric conformational changes in the anisole-water complex: new insights from HR-UV spectroscopy and theoretical studies

Resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization and rotationally resolved S1<--S0 electronic spectra of the anisole-2H2O complex have been obtained. The experimental results are compared with high level quantum mechanical calculations and with data already available in the literature. Quite surprisingly, the equilibrium structure of the anisole-2H2O complex in the S0 state shows some non-negligible differences from that of the isotopomer anisole-1H2O complex. Actually, the structure of the deuterated complex is more similar to the corresponding structure of the anisole-1H2O complex in the S1 state. In anisole-water, two equivalent H(D) atoms exist as revealed by line splitting in the rotationally resolved spectra. It is possible to suggest a mechanism for the proton/deuteron exchange ruled by a bifurcated transition state for the exchange reaction, with both water hydrogen atoms interacting with the anisole oxygen atom. From the analysis of all of the available experimental data and of computational results, we can demonstrate that in the S1 excited state the hydrogen bond in which the water molecule acts as an acid is weaker than in the electronic ground state but is still the principal interaction between water and the anisole molecules.     

High resolution electronic spectra of anisole and anisole-water in the gas phase: hydrogen bond switching in the S1 state

Rotationally resolved S(1)<--S(0) electronic spectra of anisole and its hydrogen bonded complex containing one water molecule have been obtained. The results provide evidence for an "in-plane" complex in which the water molecule is attached via two hydrogen bonds to the anisole molecule, a donor O-H- - -O(CH(3)) bond and an acceptor H-O- - -H(ring) bond. Analysis of the subbands that appear in the spectrum of the complex suggests that hydrogen bond "switching" occurs when the complex absorbs light. The former O-H- - -O(CH(3)) bond is stronger in the ground (S(0)) state, whereas the latter H-O- - -H(ring) bond is stronger in the excited (S(1)) state. Dynamical consequences of this phenomenon are discussed.     

High resolution electronic spectra of 7-azaindole and its Ar atom van der Waals complex

Rotationally resolved fluorescence excitation spectra of the S(1)<--S(0) origin band of 7-azaindole [1H-pyrrolo(2,3-b)pyridine] and its argon atom van der Waals complex have been recorded and assigned. The derived rotational constants give information about the geometries of the two molecules in both electronic states. The equilibrium position of the argon atom in the azaindole complex is considerably different from its position in the corresponding indole complex. Furthermore, the argon atom moves when the UV photon is absorbed. There are significant differences in the intermolecular potential energy surfaces in the two electronic states. A large, vibration-state-dependent rotation of the S(1)<--S(0) electronic transition moment vector of 7-azaindole relative to that of indole suggests that these differences have their origin in S(1)/S(2) electronic state mixing in the isolated molecule, a mixing that is enhanced by nitrogen substitution in the six-membered ring.     

Rotationally resolved electronic spectra of 1,2-dimethoxybenzene and the 1,2-dimethoxybenzene-water complex

Rotationally resolved S(1) <-- S(0) electronic spectra of 1,2-dimethoxybenzene (DMB) and its water complex have been observed and assigned. The derived values of the rotational constants show that the bare molecule has a planar heavy-atom structure with trans-disposed methoxy groups in its ground and excited electronic states. The transition of DMB is polarized along the b-axis bisecting the methoxy groups, demonstrating that its S(1) state is an (1)L(b) state. Higher energy bands of DMB are also polarized along the b-axis and have been tentatively assigned to different vibrational modes of the (1)L(b) state. The water complex origin appears 127 cm(-1) to the blue of the bare molecule origin. Analyses of the high resolution spectra of DMB/H(2)O and DMB/D(2)O suggest that the water molecule is attached via two O-H...O hydrogen bonds to the methoxy groups in both electronic states. A tunneling motion of the attached water molecule is revealed by a splitting of these spectra into two subbands. Potential barriers to this motion have been determined.     

Experimentally measured permanent dipoles induced by hydrogen bonding. The Stark spectrum of indole-NH3

Hydrogen bond pairs involving the chromophore indole have been extensively studied in the gas phase. Here, we report high resolution electronic spectroscopy experiments on the indole-NH(3) hydrogen bond pair in the absence and presence of an electric field. The S(1)-S(0) origin band of this complex recorded in zero field at high resolution reveals two overlapping spectra; a consequence of NH(3) hindered internal rotation. The barrier to internal rotation is predicted by theory to be less than 20 cm(-1) in the ground state, therefore requiring a non-rigid rotor Hamiltonian to interpret the spectra. Conducting the experiment in the presence of an applied electric field further perturbs the already congested spectrum of the complex, but makes possible the measurement of the permanent electric dipole moments in its S(0) and S(1) states. These values reveal significant changes in electron distribution that arise from hydrogen bonding effects.     

Simulations of the absorption band of the D-state of Hg2 in rare gas matrices

We present molecular dynamics simulations of the absorption spectra of the Hg₂ molecule in solid neon, argon, and xenon. The simulations were performed using classical molecular dynamics (MD) and a diatomic-in-molecules (DIM) treatment of the mixing of the different states of Hg₂ induced by the environment. The experimental relative shifts of the X0_g⁺–D1_u transition band are qualitatively well reproduced. The origin of these shifts is identified as the result of two combined factors: the effect of the host onto the Hg–Hg equilibrium distances and the different interaction of each matrix with the Hg₂ electronic states.     

Rotationally resolved electronic spectroscopy of water clusters of 7-azaindole

The rotationally resolved electronic spectra of the electronic origin of the 7-azaindole-(H(2)O)(1) and of the 7-azaindole-(H(2)O)(2) clusters have been measured in a molecular beam. From the rotational constants the structures in the S(0) and S(1) electronic states were determined as cyclic with the pyrrolo NH and the pyridino N atoms being bridged by one and two water molecules, respectively. Excited state lifetimes of about 10 ns for both clusters have been found. In the spectrum of the 7-azaindole-(H(2)O)(2) cluster a splitting of the rovibronic band is observed, which can be traced back to a large amplitude motion, involving the out-of-plane hydrogen atoms of the water chain. Both the changes of the rotational constants upon electronic excitation and the orientation of the transition dipole point to a solvent induced state reversal between the L(a) and the L(b) states upon microsolvation.     

Photolysis of Phenol and para-Chlorophenol by UV Laser Excitation

The photolysis of phenol and para-chlorophenol by irradiation with the fourth harmonic of a neodymium laser was examined using electronic absorption spectroscopy, fluorescence, and quantum-chemical techniques. It was found that the introduction of a chlorine atom into the phenol molecule increases the efficiency of photolysis of para-chlorophenol by excitation in the long-wavelength absorption band. The O–H and C–Cl bonds in the test compounds are ruptured via a predissociation mechanism in triplet states localized at the breaking bonds.     

Three-dimensional ab initio potential-energy surface and rovibrational spectra of the H2-Kr complex

We report a three-dimensional ab initio potential-energy surface for the H2-Kr complex calculated using a supermolecular method. The electronic calculations were performed at the coupled-cluster singles and doubles level with noniterative inclusion of connected triples levels with a large basis set including midbond functions and the full counterpoise correction for the basis-set superposition error. The intermolecular potential energy between the H2 molecule and the Kr atom were evaluated at five potential-optimized discrete variable representation (DVR) grid points generated from the potential-energy curve of H2. The potential for other bond lengths of H2 could be deduced using polynomial interpolations. The complex is found to have a linear preferred structure with a rather flat energy barrier. The three-dimensional DVR method and the Lanczos propagation algorithm were employed to calculate the rovibrational states without separating the inter- and intramolecular nuclear motions. In addition, the rovibrational spectra from the H2 fundamental vibrational band were calculated. The calculated shift for the band origin is -1.50 cm-1, which is in good agreement with the experimental value of -1.706 cm-1, and the calculated transition frequencies in Q1(0) and S1(0) bands are within 3% of the observed values.     

Photophysics of fluorinated benzene. III. Hexafluorobenzene

A theoretical study of the photoabsorption spectroscopy of hexafluorobenzene (HFBz) is presented in this paper. The chemical effect due to fluorine atom substitution on the electronic structure of benzene (Bz) saturates in HFBz. State- of-the-art quantum chemistry calculations are carried out to establish potential energy surfaces and coupling surfaces of five energetically low-lying electronic (two of them are orbitally degenerate) states of HFBz. Coupling of these electronic states caused by the Jahn-Teller (JT) and pseudo-Jahn-Teller (PJT) type of interactions are examined. The impact of these couplings on the nuclear dynamics of the participating electronic states is thoroughly investigated by quantum mechanical methods and the results are compared with those observed in the experiments. The complex structure of the S(1) ← S(0) absorption band is found to originate from a very strong nonadiabatic coupling of the S(2) (of πσ* origin) and S(1) (of ππ* origin) state. While S(2) state is orbitally degenerate and JT active, the S(1) state is nondegenerate. These states form energetically low-lying conical intersections (CIs) in HFBz. These CIs are found to be the mechanistic bottleneck of the observed low quantum yield of fluorescence emission, non overlapping absorption, and emission bands of HFBz and contribute to the spectral width. Justification is also provided for the observed two peaks in the second absorption (the unassigned "c band") band of HFBz. The peaks observed in the third, fourth, and fifth absorption bands are also identified and assigned.     

On the excited state dynamics of vibronic transitions. High-resolution electronic spectra of acenaphthene and its argon van der Waals complex in the gas phase

Rotationally resolved fluorescence excitation spectroscopy has been used to study the dynamics, electronic distribution, and the relative orientation of the transition moment vector in several vibronic transitions of acenaphthene (ACN) and in its Ar van der Waals (vdW) complex. The 0(0)(0) band of the S(1) ← S(0) transition of ACN exhibits a transition moment orientation parallel to its a-inertial axis. However, some of the vibronic bands exhibit a transition moment orientation parallel to the b-inertial axis, suggesting a Herzberg-Teller coupling with the S(2) state. Additionally, some other vibronic bands exhibit anomalous intensity patterns in several of their rotational transitions. A Fermi resonance involving two near degenerate vibrations has been proposed to explain this behavior. The high-resolution electronic spectrum of the ACN-Ar vdW complex has also been obtained and fully analyzed. The results indicate that the weakly attached argon atom is located on top of the plane of the bare molecule at ~3.48 ? away from its center of mass in the S(0) electronic state.     

Time-dependent quantum wave-packet description of the 1pi sigma* photochemistry of phenol

The photoinduced hydrogen elimination reaction in phenol via the conical intersections of the dissociative 1pi sigma* state with the 1pi pi* state and the electronic ground state has been investigated by time-dependent quantum wave-packet calculations. A model including three intersecting electronic potential-energy surfaces (S0, 1pi sigma*, and 1pi pi*) and two nuclear degrees of freedom (OH stretching and OH torsion) has been constructed on the basis of accurate ab initio multireference electronic-structure data. The electronic population transfer processes at the conical intersections, the branching ratio between the two dissociation channels, and their dependence on the initial vibrational levels have been investigated by photoexciting phenol from different vibrational levels of its ground electronic state. The nonadiabatic transitions between the excited states and the ground state occur on a time scale of a few tens of femtoseconds if the 1pi pi*-1pi sigma* conical intersection is directly accessible, which requires the excitation of at least one quantum of the OH stretching mode in the 1pi pi* state. It is shown that the node structure, which is imposed on the nuclear wave packet by the initial preparation as well as by the transition through the first conical intersection (1pi pi*-1pi sigma*), has a profound effect on the nonadiabatic dynamics at the second conical intersection (1pi sigma*-S0). These findings suggest that laser control of the photodissociation of phenol via IR mode-specific excitation of vibrational levels in the electronic ground state should be possible.     

Structure and stability of salicylic acid-water complexes and the effect of molecular hydration on the spectral properties of salicylic acid

Density functional theory with B3LYP parametrization and 6-311++G(d,p) basis set has been used to investigate the structure and stability of salicylic acid-water complexes. The vertical excitation energies for these complexes have been computed using time-dependent density functional theory (with B3LYP parametrization and a 6-311++G(d,p) basis set). It is shown that the hydrogen bond between the carboxylic hydrogen and the oxygen of water is the strongest among all possible hydrogen bonds in the system. The hydrogen bond strength in salicylic acid-water complexes seems to be nearly additive. The change in absorption maximum (lambda(max)) corresponding to the vertical excitation energy for the first three excited singlet and triplet states of the complex with 1-3 water molecules is nominal (approximately 1-3 nm). But with the addition of the fourth water molecule, the lambda(max) for S(1) and T(1) decreases by approximately 17 nm and it increases for S(2) and S(3) by about the same amount. The decrease in lambda(max) for transition to the T(2) state on the addition of the fourth water molecule is only approximately 9 nm. There seems to be an intersystem crossing between the S(1) and T(3) states that could account for the observed fluorescence quenching of salicylic acid in water.     

Evidence for a C-H...pi type weak interaction: 1 : 1 complex of styrene with acetylene studied by mass selective high-resolution UV spectroscopy and ab initio calculations

The 1 : 1 complex of styrene with acetylene has been studied by mass selective low- and high-resolution UV resonance-enhanced two-photon ionisation (R2PI) spectroscopy combined with genetic-algorithm-based computer-aided fit of the spectra with partial rotational resolution, and high level ab initio quantum chemistry calculations. Two stable conformeric geometries of the 1 : 1 complex of styrene and acetylene have been theoretically found: one with acetylene binding to styrene as a proton donor, and one with acetylene acting as a proton acceptor. From the analysis of the vibronic structure of the S1<-- S0 spectrum and the fit of the highly resolved spectrum of the 0 origin band of the complex it is shown that the favoured conformation is the one in which acetylene binds to the benzene ring of styrene through formation of a non-conventional hydrogen bond of C-H...pi type with no marked change of the transition moment orientation of styrene. The styrene moiety remains planar and the acetylene molecule is tilted by a small angle of 4 degrees relative to the C6 symmetry axis of the benzene ring, most likely due to the reduced symmetry of the benzene ring pi electrons rather than to a direct interaction with the vinyl group.     

High-resolution electronic spectrum of the p-difluorobenzene-water complex: structure and internal rotation dynamics

The rotationally resolved S(1) <-- S(0) electronic spectrum of the water complex of p-difluorobenzene (pDFB) has been observed in the collision-free environment of a molecular beam. Analyses of these data show that water forms a planar sigma-bonded complex with pDFB via two points of attachment, a stronger F---H-O hydrogen bond and weaker H---O-H hydrogen bond, involving an ortho hydrogen atom of the ring. Despite the apparent rigidity of this structure, the water molecule also is observed to move within the complex, leading to a splitting of the spectrum into two tunneling subbands. Analyses of these data show that this motion is a combined inversion-internal rotation of the attached water, analogous to the "acceptor-switching" motion in the water dimer. The barriers to this motion are significantly different in the two electronic states owing to changes in the relative strengths of the two hydrogen bonds that hold the complex together.     

A crossed beams study of the reaction of carbon atoms, C(3Pj), with vinyl cyanide, C2H3CN(X 1A')--investigating the formation of cyano propargyl radicals

The chemical dynamics of the reaction of ground state carbon atoms, C(3Pj), with vinyl cyanide, C2H3CN(X 1A'), were examined under single collision conditions at collision energies of 29.9 and 43.9 kJ mol(-1) using the crossed molecular beams approach. The experimental studies were combined with electronic structure calculations on the triplet C4H3N potential energy surface (H. F. Su, R. I. Kaiser, A. H. H. Chang, J. Chem. Phys., 2005, 122, 074320). Our investigations suggest that the reaction follows indirect scattering dynamics via addition of the carbon atom to the carbon-carbon double bond of the vinyl cyanide molecule yielding a cyano cyclopropylidene collision complex. The latter undergoes ring opening to form cis/trans triplet cyano allene which fragments predominantly to the 1-cyano propargyl radical via tight exit transition states; the 3-cyano propargyl isomer was inferred to be formed at least a factor of two less; also, no molecular hydrogen elimination channel was observed experimentally. These results are in agreement with the computational studies predicting solely the existence of a carbon versus hydrogen atom exchange pathway and the dominance of the 1-cyano propargyl radical product. The discovery of the cyano propargyl radical in the reaction of atomic carbon with vinyl cyanide under single collision conditions implies that this molecule can be an important reaction intermediate in combustion flames and also in extraterrestrial environments (cold molecular clouds, circumstellar envelopes of carbon stars) which could lead to the formation of cyano benzene (C6H5CN) upon reaction with a propargyl radical.     

The absorption spectra of anisole-h8, anisole-d3 and anisole-d8. The assignment of fundamental vibrations in the S0 and the S1 states

The REMPI spectra of anisole-h8, anisole-d3 and anisole-d8 have been measured. The assignment of the fundamental vibrations of anisole in the S(1) state is supported by quantum chemical model calculations, the isotopic shifts, the comparison with the frequencies of corresponding vibrations in other monosubstituted benzenes, especially phenol, and the overtones, combinations and progressions observed in the spectrum of anisole-h8. The frequencies of the 42 fundamental vibrations of anisole in the S(1) state are evaluated and compared with the frequencies of the corresponding vibrations in the electronic ground state. Some assignments given earlier in the literature have been revised.     

Theoretical and experimental studies of the infrared rovibrational spectrum of He2-N2O

Rovibrational spectra of the He(2)-N(2)O complex in the nu(1) fundamental band of N(2)O (2224 cm(-1)) have been observed using a tunable infrared laser to probe a pulsed supersonic jet expansion, and calculated using five coordinates that specify the positions of the He atoms with respect to the NNO molecule, a product basis, and a Lanczos eigensolver. Vibrational dynamics of the complex are dominated by the torsional motion of the two He atoms on a ring encircling the N(2)O molecule. The resulting torsional states could be readily identified, and they are relatively uncoupled to other He motions up to at least upsilon(t) = 7. Good agreement between experiment and theory was obtained with only one adjustable parameter, the band origin. The calculated results were crucial in assigning many weaker observed transitions because the effective rotational constants depend strongly on the torsional state. The observed spectra had effective temperatures around 0.7 K and involved transitions with J < or =3, with upsilon(t) = 0 and 1, and (with one possible exception) with Deltaupsilon(t)=0. Mixing of the torsion-rotation states is small but significant: some transitions with Deltaupsilon(t) not equal 0 were predicted to have appreciable intensity even assuming that the dipole transition moment coincides perfectly with the NNO axis. One such transition was tentatively assigned in the observed spectra, but confirmation will require further work.     

Preparation and resolution of molecular states by coherent sequences of phase-locked ultrashort laser pulses

We study the application of nonlinear wave packet interferometry to the preparation and resolution of the overlaps of nonstationary nuclear wave functions evolving in an excited electronic state of a diatomic molecule. It is shown that possible experiments with two phase-locked ultrashort pulsepairs can be used to determine a specific vibrational wave packet state in terms of coherent states of the ground electronic state. We apply this scheme to an idealized molecule with harmonic potential energy surfaces and to the X <-- B transition states of the iodine molecule. Our results indicate that this scheme is very promising as a potential tool to quantum control.     

Experimental measurement of the induced dipole moment of an isolated molecule in its ground and electronically excited states: indole and indole-H2O

Reported here are measurements of the magnitude and orientation of the induced dipole moment that is produced when an indole molecule in its ground S(0) and electronically excited S(1) states is polarized by the attachment of a hydrogen bonded water molecule in the gas phase complex indole-H(2)O. For the complex, we find the permanent dipole moment values mu(IW)(S(0)) = 4.4 D and mu(IW)(S(1)) = 4.0 D, values that are substantially different from calculated values based on vector sums of the dipole moments of the component parts. From this result, we derive the induced dipole moment values mu(I) (*)(S(0)) = 0.7 D and mu(I) (*)(S(1)) = 0.5 D. The orientation of the induced moment also is significantly different in the two electronic states. These results are quantitatively reproduced by a purely electrostatic calculation based on ab initio values of multipole moments.