Oligothiophene catenanes and knots. Part II. Mono and dications. A theoretical study

Mono- and dications of catenanes and knots containing 16, 22, and 28 thiophene units have been studied at the BHandHLYP/3-21G* level of theory. The polaron localization and relaxation energies of monoionized molecules increase with dihedral angle between thiophene fragments, being higher for catenanes and knots compared to linear oligomers. Monoionization of catenanes results in the polaron localization at one macrocycle leaving another one intact. In all diionized oligomers, polaron pairs were found to be more stable than corresponding bipolarons. The energy difference between bipolaron and polaron pairs increases with the number of repeating units in oligomers for all studied molecular architectures. Singlet polaron pairs are more stable than triplet ones. The energy difference between triplet and singlet states does not exceed 7-8 kcal/mol and decreases with the number of thiophene units in oligomers. Two different singlet minima were found for diionized catenanes. In the first one (the most stable), each macrocycle loses one electron, and in the other one, the polaron pairs are located at one macrocycle, leaving another intact. The energy difference between two minima decreases with the number of repeating units in catenanes.     

Does the concept of Clar's aromatic sextet work for dicationic forms of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons?--testing the model against charged systems in singlet and triplet states

The concept of Clar's π-electron aromatic sextet was tested against a set of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in neutral and doubly charged forms. Systems containing different types of rings (in the context of Clar's concept) were chosen, including benzene, naphthalene, anthracene, phenanthrene and triphenylene. In the case of dicationic structures both singlet and triplet states were considered. It was found that for singlet state dicationic structures the concept of aromatic sextet could be applied and the local aromaticity could be discussed in the context of that model, whereas in the case of triplet state dicationic structures Clar's model rather failed. Different aromaticity indices based on various properties of molecular systems were applied for the purpose of the studies. The discussion about the interdependence between the values of different aromaticity indices applied to neutral and charged systems in singlet and triplet states is also included.     

Theoretical study of long oligothiophene dications: bipolaron vs polaron pair vs triplet state

A series of oligothiophene dications (from the sexithiophene dication to the 50-mer oligothiophene dication, nT2+, n = 6-50) were studied. Density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level and, in some cases, also at BLYP/6-31Gd, was applied to study the singlet and triplet states of the whole series. We found that the singlet state is the ground state for all oligothiophene dications up to the 20-mer, and that the singlet and triplet states are degenerate for longer oligomers. Thus, the triplet state is never a pure ground state for these dications. We found that, for short oligothiophenes dication (e.g., 6T2+), the bipolaron state is the more important state, with only a small contribution made by the polaron pair state. For medium size oligothiophene dications (e.g., 14T2+), both the bipolaron state and the polaron-pair state contribute to the electronic structure. Finally, in long oligothiophene dications, such as 30T2+ and 50T2+, the contribution from the polaron pair state becomes dominant, and these molecules can be considered as consisting of two independent cation radicals or a polaron pair. Results from isodesmic reactions show that the stability of oligothiophene cation radicals over dications is inversely proportional to chain length. Small oligothiophene dications (n = 6-12) were studied at the CASSCF(m,m)/6-31G(d) (m = 4, 6, and 10) level. The major conclusions of this paper regarding the relative energy of the singlet state versus the triplet state and regarding the relative stability of the bipolaron versus the polaron pair were also supported by CASSCF calculations.     

The frontiers of quinoidal stability in long oligothiophenes: Raman spectra of dicationic polaron pairs

The transformation of bipolarons into polaron pairs in long oligothiophene dications has been reported by Raman spectroscopy. These polaron-pair dicationic species possess singlet open-shell biradicaloid ground electronic states. The formation of biradical polaron pairs marks the end of the quinoidal stability promoted by the intrinsic proaromatic character. The quinoidal stability in TCNQ oligothiophenes in comparison with dicationic oligothiophenes has been addressed.     

Spin-dependent polaron recombination in conjugated polymers

We simulate the interchain polaron recombination process in conjugated polymer systems using a nonadiabatic molecular dynamics method, which allows for the coupled evolution of the nuclear degrees of freedom and multiconfigurational electronic wavefunctions. Within the method, the appropriate spin symmetry of the electronic wavefunction is taken into account, thus allowing us to distinguish between singlet and triplet excited states. It is found that the incident polarons can form an exciton, form a bound interchain polaron pair, or pass each other, depending on the interchain interaction strength and the strength of an external electric field. Most importantly, we found that the formation of singlet excitons is considerably easier than triplet excitons. This shows that in real organic light emitting devices, the electroluminescence quantum efficiency can exceed the statistical limitation value of 25%, in agreement with experiments.     

Thermochromism of CuI Tetrakisguanidine Complexes: Reversible Activation of Metal‐to‐Ligand Charge‐Transfer Bands

Tetranuclear, intensely blue‐coloured Cu^I complexes were synthesised in which two Cu₂X₃^? units (X=Br or I) are bridged by a dicationic GFA (guanidino‐functionalised aromatic) ligand. The UV/Vis spectra show a large metal‐to‐ligand charge‐transfer (MLCT) band around 638 nm. The tetranuclear “low‐temperature” complexes are in a temperature‐dependent equilibrium with dinuclear Cu^I “high‐temperature” complexes, which result from the reversible elimination of two CuX groups. A massive thermochromism effect results from the extinction of the strong MLCT band upon CuX elimination with increasing temperature. For all complexes, quantum chemical calculations predict a small and method‐dependent energy difference between the possible electronic structures, namely Cu^I and dicationic GFA ligand (closed‐shell singlet) versus Cu^II and neutral GFA ligand (triplet or broken‐symmetry state). The closed‐shell singlet state is disfavoured by hybrid‐DFT functionals, which mix in exact Hartree–Fock exchange, and is favoured by larger basis sets and consideration of a polar medium.     

THE EFFECTS OF AGGREGATION ON THE FLUORESCENCE and THE TRIPLET STATE YIELD OF HEMATOPORPHYRIN

Abstract— The fluorescence and triplet state yields of hematoporphyrin have been measured in wuter/methanol mixtures. There is a closely linked response of these yields to aggregation of the hematoporphyrin molecule. The monomer, which is the principal species present at high methanol content, has a triplet state yield of 0.91 and a fluorescence yield of 0.09. By contrast, hematoporphyrin solutions with a high water content containing aggregates have lower fluorescence and triplet state yields, e.g. 0.018 and 0.56, respectively, in water. Static, singlet state quenching in some of the aggregates is responsible for the reduced fluorescence yield. The results also show that in addition to these aggregates there are other types of aggregates where there is an increased singlet to ground state radiative transition probability, resulting from the interaction between transition dipoles in adjacent molecules.     

Influence of a magnetic field on delayed fluorescence of aromatic hydrocarbons in solution: I. Dependence on temperature,solvent and solute

The relative magnetic field effects on the total triplet—triplet annihilation (TTA) rate constant, on the rate constant for production of a singlet monomer and on the rate constant for production of a singlet excimer have been measured in a magnetic field range from 0 to 6000 gauss for the hydrocarbons pyrene, 3,4-benzopyrene, 1,2-benzanthracene and phenanthrene in solvents of different polarity between room temperature and 120 K. A qualitative discussion of the experimental results yields the following information on the mechanism of TTA: (i) The ratio of singlet to triplet products decreases with decreasing temperature or increasing viscosity of the solvent. (ii) The magnetic field effect depends much more on viscosity than on temperature. (iii) Singlet monomers and excimers are predominantly formed from different initial triplet—triplet pair configurations. (iv) Ionic radical pair states do not seem to play an important role in the TTA mechanism between equal molecules.     

Controlling electron transfer dynamics in donor-bridge-acceptor molecules by increasing unpaired spin density on the bridge

A t-butylphenylnitroxide (BPNO*) stable radical is attached to an electron donor-bridge-acceptor (D-B-A) system having well-defined distances between the components: MeOAn-6ANI-Ph(BPNO*)-NI, where MeOAn=p-methoxyaniline, 6ANI=4-(N-piperidinyl)naphthalene-1,8-dicarboximide, Ph=phenyl, and NI=naphthalene-1,8:4,5-bis(dicarboximide). MeOAn-6ANI, BPNO*, and NI are attached to the 1, 3, and 5 positions of the Ph bridge, respectively. Time-resolved optical and EPR spectroscopy show that BPNO* influences the spin dynamics of the photogenerated triradical states 2,4(MeOAn+*-6ANI-Ph(BPNO*)-NI-*), resulting in slower charge recombination within the triradical, as compared to the corresponding biradical lacking BPNO*. The observed spin-spin exchange interaction between the photogenerated radicals MeOAn+* and NI-* is not altered by the presence of BPNO*. However, the increased spin density on the bridge greatly increases radical pair (RP) intersystem crossing from the photogenerated singlet RP to the triplet RP. Rapid formation of the triplet RP makes it possible to observe a biexponential decay of the total RP population with components of tau=740 ps (0.75) and 104 ns (0.25). Kinetic modeling shows that the faster decay rate is due to rapid establishment of an equilibrium between the triplet RP and the neutral triplet state resulting from charge recombination, whereas the slower rate monitors recombination of the singlet RP to ground state.     

Terthiophene radical cations end-capped by bicyclo[2.2.2]octene units: formation of bent pi-dimers mutually attracted at the central position

A terthiophene fused with bicyclo[2.2.2]octene units only at both ends was newly synthesized. Since there is no steric hindrance at the central position, this terthiophene has a possibility to interact only at the central position. One-electron oxidation of this terthiophene afforded a highly stable radical-cation salt as deep blue crystals. The result of X-ray crystal structural analysis demonstrated a characteristically bent pi-dimereric structure, which is formed by mutual attraction of single radical-cation species at the central position to minimize the steric repulsion. Remarkably short intermolecular distances between the central thiophene rings of each unit of the dimeric pair, that is, 2.976(10) A for Cbeta-Cbeta, 3.091(10) A for Calpha-Calpha, and 3.779(3) A for S-S, are good indication of the existence of attracting interaction, which was confirmed by theoretical calculations. This interaction was experimentally demonstrated by the reversible formation of the pi-dimer in CH2Cl2 solution using ESR and UV-vis-NIR spectroscopy. The crystal of the pi-dimer is in its singlet state and ESR silent in the solid state at 300 K, but the signal of a triplet state of the pi-dimer was observed by heating the solid at 400 K. This indicates that this pi-dimer has a quite small triplet-singlet enegy gap and the triplet state is thermally accessible.     

The Antiferromagnetic Spin Coupling in Non‐Kekulé Acenes—Impressive Polyradical Character Revealed by High‐Level Multireference Methods

Complete active space (CASSCF) and multireference (MR‐CISD(Q) and MR‐AQCC) calculations were performed for non‐Kekulé analogues of acenes, dimethylenepolycyclobutadienes, with lengths of up to eight cyclobutadiene (CBD) units. Multireference calculations predict that the most stable energy state of the system is either triplet (if there is an odd number of CBD units) or singlet (if there is an even number of CBD units) due to antiferromagnetic spin coupling, which thus violates Hund's rule in larger molecules. We also show an impressive polyradical character in the system that increases with the size of the molecule, as witnessed by more than eleven unpaired electrons in the singlet state of the molecule with eight CBD units. Together with the small energy gap between singlet and higher multiplicity energy states even above the triplet state, this demonstrates the exceptional polyradical properties of these π‐conjugated oligomeric chains.     

La-O小团簇上超氧物种与过氧物种间的连接途径

采用密度泛函理论方法考察了La-O团簇上超氧物种与过氧物种间转化的连接途径. 单重态下, 团簇上单个超氧物种可通过一系列臭氧物种转化为过氧物种, 且转化能垒较高;三重态下, 单个超氧物种则并无与过氧物种间连接的途径. 然而, La-O团簇上两超氧物种间的相互作用及其转化也具单重态和三重态两条途径. 三重态下, 超氧物种可很容易地转化为过氧物种(O₂^- + O₂^-↔O₂^2- + O₂), 超氧物种与过氧物种处于快速的交换状态之中;单重态下, 超氧物种转化为过氧物种则需较高的活化能垒, 表明在单重态下这些氧物种具有较高的稳定性.     

Unravelling the Reaction Mechanism for the Fast Photocyclisation of 2‐Benzoylpyridine in Aqueous Solvent by Time‐Resolved Spectroscopy and Density Functional Theory Calculations

A combined femtosecond transient absorption (fs‐TA) and nanosecond time‐resolved resonance Raman (ns‐TR³) spectroscopic investigation of the photoreaction of 2‐benzoylpyridine (2‐BPy) in acetonitrile and neutral, basic and acidic aqueous solvents is reported. fs‐TA results showed that the nπ* triplet 2‐BPy is the precursor of the photocyclisation reaction in neutral and basic aqueous solvents. The cis triplet biradical and the cis singlet zwitterionic species produced during the photocyclisation reaction were initially characterised by ns‐TR³ spectroscopy. In addition, a new species was uniquely observed in basic aqueous solvent after the decay of the cis singlet zwitterionic species and this new species was tentatively assigned to the photocyclised radical anion. The ground‐state conformation of 2‐BPy in acidic aqueous solvent is the pyridine nitrogen‐protonated 2‐BPy cation (2‐BPy‐NH⁺) rather than the neutral form of 2‐BPy. After laser photolysis, the singlet excited state (S₁) of 2‐BPy‐NH⁺ is generated and evolves through excited‐state proton transfer (ESPT) and efficient intersystem crossing (ISC) processes to the triplet exited state (T₁) of the carbonyl oxygen‐protonated 2‐BPy cation (2‐BPy‐OH⁺) and then photocyclises with the lone pair of the nitrogen atom in the heterocyclic ring. Cyclisation reactions take place both in neutral/basic and acidic aqueous solvents, but the photocyclisation mechanisms in these different aqueous solvents are very different. This is likely due to the different conformation of the precursor and the influence of hydrogen‐bonding of the solvent on the reactions.     

Energy partitioning in single-electron transfer events between gaseous dications and their neutral counterparts

Electron-transfer reactions between hydrocarbon dications and neutral hydrocarbons lead to an unequal deposition of the excess energy from the reaction in the pair of monocations formed. The initial observation of this phenomenon was explained by the different states accessible upon single-electron capture by a dication compared to single-electron ejection from a neutral compound. Alternatively, however, isomeric structures of the dicationic species, pronounced Franck-Condon effects, as well as excess energy in the dicationic precursors could cause the asymmetric energy partitioning in such dication/neutral collisions. Here, the investigation of this phenomenon in an interdisciplinary cooperation is described, shedding light not only upon a possible solution of the problem at hand, but also providing an example for the synergistic benefits of international research networks applying complementary approaches.     

Cationic shape-persistent macrocycles: the unexpected formation of a nano-size supramolecular dimer

Shape-persistent macrocycles with a rigid pyridyl core and a flexible oligo-alkyl corona aggregate to some extent in nonpolar solvents to form large (tubular) aggregates. To increase the assembling tendency, the intraannular pyridyl groups of the macrocycles were alkylated. Unexpectedly, the quarternized macrocycles show no tendency at all to form tubular micellar-like structures but form well-defined dimers, as determined by X-ray and dynamic light scattering.     

Characterization of the singlet and triplet excited states of 3-chloro-4-methylumbelliferone

An extensive photophysical characterization of 3-chloro-4-methylumbelliferone (3Cl4MU) in the ground-state, S(0), first excited singlet state, S(1), and lowest triplet state, T(1), was undertaken in water, neutral ethanol, acidified ethanol, and basified ethanol. Quantitative measurements of quantum yields (fluorescence, phosphorescence, intersystem crossing, internal conversion, and singlet oxygen formation) together with lifetimes were obtained at room and low temperature in water, dioxane/water mixtures, and alcohols. The different transient species were assigned and a general kinetic scheme is presented, summarizing the excited-state multiequilibria of 3Cl4MU. In water, the equilibrium is restricted to neutral (N*) and anionic (A*) species, both in the ground (pK(a) = 7.2) and first excited singlet states (pK(a)* = 0.5). In dioxane/water mixtures (pH ca. 6), substantial changes of the kinetics of the S(1) state were observed with the appearance of an additional tautomeric T* species. In low water content mixtures (mixture 9:1 v:v), only the neutral (N*) and tautomeric (T*) forms of 3Cl4MU are observed, whereas at higher water content mixtures (water mole fraction superior to 0.45), all three species N*, T*, and A* coexist in the excited state. In the triplet state, in the nonprotic and nonpolar solvent dioxane, the observed transient signals were assigned as the triplet-triplet transition of the neutral form, N*(T(1)) → N*(T(n)). In water, two transient species were observed and are assigned as the triplets of the neutral N*(T(1)) and the anionic form, A*(T(1)) (also obtained in basified ethanol). The phosphorescence spectra and decays of 3Cl4MU, in neutral, acidified, and basified solutions, demonstrate that only these two species N*(T(1)) and A*(T(1)) exist in the lowest lying triplet state, T(1). The radiative channel was found dominant for the deactivation of the anionic species, whereas with the neutral the S(1) ? S(0) internal conversion competes with fluorescence. For both N* and A* the intersystem crossing yield represents a minor deactivation channel for S(1).     

Effect of aza substitution on the photophysical and electrochemical properties of porphycenes: Characterization of the near-IR-absorbing photosensitizers 2,7,12,17-tetrakis(p-substituted phenyl)-3,6,13,16-tetraazaporphycenes

The need for new photodynamic-therapy photosensitizers has stimulated the search of new families of compounds absorbing strongly in the 700-900 nm range, the region where tissue is most transparent to radiation capable to induce the photodynamic effect. Using computational chemistry techniques, 3,6,13,16-tetraazaporphycenes were previously identified as interesting target candidates. This work reports on the photophysical and electrochemical properties of selected members of this new family of macrocycles. Compared to porphycenes, the tetra-aza counterparts show stronger absorption in the near-infrared, lower-lying singlet and triplet excited states, and substantially larger internal conversion quantum yield (Phi(IC) = 0.93). Energy transfer to oxygen is observed, which results in the formation of the cytotoxic species singlet oxygen. The process is found to be reversible, consistent with a triplet-energy value close to that of singlet oxygen.     

Singlet and triplet potential energy surfaces of C3H2

The detailed singlet and triplet potential energy surfaces of C₃H₂ involving nine isomers and 13 transition structures are studied at the G3 level of theory. The rearrangement mechanisms and the electronic properties of various isomers in a broad energy range have been studied in both singlet and triplet states. Cyclopropenylidene and propargylene are found to be the most stable isomers in the singlet and triplet states, respectively. The singlet isomers are found to be more kinetically stable species as a result of high conversion barriers through which they pass. The calculations indicate that cyclopropyne in its triplet state is the least kinetically stable isomer. It is realized that the G3 method comprises both computational cost and accuracy and thus can be applied to investigation of potential energy surface of small molecules.     

Theoretical study on germanium cyanide radical GeCN and its ions

A detailed theoretical study is performed on the hitherto unknown germanium cyanide radical and its ions. The (2)Pi state GeCN lies 5.0 kcal/mol lower than the (2)Pi state GeNC at the coupled-cluster theory including single and double excitations and perturbative inclusion of triple excitations [CCSD(T)]/6-311++G(3df)//quadratic configuration interaction with single and double excitations (QCISD)/6-311G(d)+zero-point vibrational energy (ZPVE) level. For interconversion between them, two electronic state pathways (2)A(') and (2)A(") are located, with the latter being 0.7 kcal/mol more favorable than the former. On the (2)A(") path, the GeCN-->GeNC and GeNC-->GeCN conversion barriers are 14.5 and 9.5 kcal/mol, respectively. The detailed singlet and triplet potential-energy surfaces of both the cationic and anionic GeCN species are also investigated. On the ground-state electronic hypersurface, singlet GeNC(+) is 4.6 kcal/mol more stable than singlet GeCN(+), whereas triplet GeNC(-) is 10.0 kcal/mol less stable than triplet GeCN(-). The relative energy difference between the GeCN(0,+/-) and GeNC(0,+/-) can be well correlated with the number of vacant orbitals on the Ge atom. The stability of the neutral and ionic CGeN and cyclic cGeCN is also discussed. The predicted structures, spectroscopies, ionization, and affinity energies as well as the Renner-Teller properties are expected to provide reliable estimates for future characterization of the potential GeCN and GeNC radicals as well as their ionic counterparts both in the laboratory and in the interstellar space.     

Cyclobis(7,8‐(para‐quinodimethane)‐4,4′‐triphenylamine) and Its Cationic Species Showing Annulene‐Like Global (Anti)Aromaticity

π‐Conjugated macrocycles containing all‐benzenoid rings usually show local aromaticity, but reported herein is the macrocycle CBQT , containing alternating para‐quinodimethane and triphenylamine units displaying annulene‐like anti‐aromaticity at low temperatures as a result of structural rigidity and participation of the bridging nitrogen atoms in π‐conjugation. It was easily synthesized by intermolecular Friedel–Crafts alkylation followed by oxidative dehydrogenation. X‐ray crystallographic structures of CBQT , as well as those of its dication, trication, and tetracation were obtained. The dication and tetracation exhibited global aromaticity and antiaromaticity, respectively, as confirmed by NMR measurements and theoretical calculations. Both the dication and tetracation possess open‐shell singlet ground states, with a small singlet–triplet gap.