无辐射跃迁理论进展

在本文中,我们将介绍运用第一性原理计算包含非谐效应或势能面锥形交叉情况下内转换速率的最新工作。我们同时计算了包含非谐效应的分子吸收和发射光谱,以检验量子化学方法计算得到势能面的准确性。势能面的锥形交叉对内转换过程的影响是学界广泛关注的焦点。本文将介绍如何在内转换速率计算的过程中考虑势能面锥形交叉的影响,并将之运用于吡嗪分子。本文运用绝热近似理论处理了另外一个重要的无辐射过程,分子的振动驰豫过程,并将这个理论应用于水二聚体和苯胺的振动弛豫速率的计算。     

李远哲教授对分子反应动力学的贡献

20多年来,分子反应动力学(分子反应动态学)作为化学动力学的前沿阵地有了很大的发展。1986年诺贝尔化学奖颁给著名的分子反应动力学专家D.R.Herschbach,李远哲及J.C.Polanyi三人就是一个标志。李远哲教授是获得诺贝尔奖的第一个华裔化学家。对分子反应动力学和李远哲教授的研究成果既使做一个粗浅的介绍都非笔者能力所及。今仅就个人所知,举出在分子反应动力学发展过程中的几个事例,或许能由此窥见李教授及其研究组对分子反应动力学的贡献。     

亚微米锥形光纤的制备及硅烷化修饰

采用氢氟酸(HF)蚀刻方法制备亚微米结构的锥形光纤,考察了不同HF浓度和蚀刻时间对亚微米光纤几何构型的影响,用SEM表征光纤的几何形状.实验表明,当HF:H2O=1:1、蚀刻时间约为5h时,得到了亚微米锥形光纤,且其表面光滑.亚微米锥形光纤在甲基三氯硅烷混合溶液中进行硅烷化反应后,与吖啶橙相互作用,用其尖端的荧光强度的变化来表征亚微米光纤尖端活性基团的键合程度.该方法可用于检测光纤尖端键合的活性基团,也可以检测耦合的靶分子,这为纳米光纤生物传感器的研制奠定了基础.     

分子反应动力学在中国的兴起

分子反应动力学是化学学科中一个崭新活跃而重要的分支。虽然其难度很大,可是在短短的20年中,却得到了迅猛的发展。各发达国家都投以巨资,使得这一领域蓬勃地开展。美国著名大学的化学系几乎全都开展这方面的研究,他门推陈出新,竞相开拓出分子反应动力学最新的领域。加州理工学院 A.Zewail 教授就在当年诺贝尔奖获得者 L.Pauling 工作过     

CH与H2分子反应动力学及选态反应的理论研究

次甲基作为化学反应源曾引起广泛的兴趣.Schaefer 及其合作者于1977年对反应CH(~4Σ~-)+H_2→CH_2(~3B_1)+H 进行过量子化学研究,但是计算中限制了一些自由度.近年来,由于能量梯度方法的发展,反应途径哈密顿理论和变分过渡态理论的提出,有可能进一步对该反应进行分子反应动力学性质的研究.本文用从头算UHF/6-31G 方法和能量梯度方法首先优化出上述反应(原子编号为CH_a+H_bH_c→H_bCH_a+H_c)的过渡态;再用     

氢卟啉和镁卟啉分子溶剂效应的理论研究

采用溶剂场极化连续模型在密度泛函B3LYP/6-31G (D)水平上研究了氢卟啉和镁卟啉分子在四氢呋喃(THF)、二甲基亚砜(DMSO)、二氯甲烷(CH2Cl2)、氯仿(CHCl3)这四种不同极性的溶剂环境中的几何结构和分子轨道能级, 从而研究了溶剂效应引起的分子几何构型和轨道能级的变化. 然后采用上述溶剂环境下优化的几何结构在含时密度泛函水平上计算了它们的激发能、吸收波长、跃迁组成和振荡强度. 理论计算结果表明, 对比真空条件下的氢卟啉和镁卟啉分子的几何结构, 溶剂场中两种卟啉分子的几何结构都发生了微弱的变化, 这种变化随溶剂介电常数的增大而有所增强. 计算结果表明溶剂环境中氢卟啉和镁卟啉分子的电子吸收光谱发生了普遍的红移, 结合分子轨道理论对这种变化给出了可能的解释. 在此基础上, 对这种包含溶剂效应的理论分析方法用于检验卟啉类化合物作为染料敏化太阳能电池光敏剂的可行性作了进一步的探讨.     

台锥形液相色谱柱内谱带流型的动态可视化研究

利用自制的台锥形色谱柱内谱带流型可视化研究装置,对台锥形色谱柱内样品谱带的流型进行研究。将以有机玻璃为柱管、内填C18色谱固定相的色谱柱浸入无毒溶剂丙三醇池中,以消除圆柱或圆锥的透镜效应。当以环己烷为流动相时,即使在中心点进样的情况下也可清晰地观察到色谱柱内有色样品碘的谱带流型。流型图像的数字信号利用数码照相机获取。通过对入口内径大于出口内径的台锥形与出入口内径相同的圆柱形柱内样品谱带的流型研究发现,在相同的实验条件下,台锥形柱内呈现与圆柱形柱内样品谱带流型曲率方向相反的抛物线流型。这是由台锥形柱特殊的结     

三原子反应散射内态角分布的准经典计算

本工作利用分子反应动力学的准经典理论计算了原子与双原子分子三维反应散射产物内态振转角分布, 并得出振动分支比这一重要动态学信息。计算采用了半经验的LEPS形式的解析势能面。初始碰撞参数利用普遍使用的Monte Carlo方法确定。本文给出F+H_2(D_2)→HF(DF)+H(D)反应的计算结果, 并与最新交叉分子束实验进行了广泛的比较, 得到完全一致的规律。     

DMP与DEP在凝聚相中裂解反应理论研究∶隧道效应与溶剂效应(英文)

采用密度泛函理论(DFT)B3LYP方法,以极化连续模型(PCM)和导体反应场模型(COSMORS)的溶剂模型为基础,结合反应动力学研究了2,2-二甲氧基丙烷(DMP)与2,2-二乙氧基丙烷(DEP)在凝聚相(溶液相)中的裂解反应.结果表明,四元环过渡态裂解反应机理是DMP与DEP裂解反应的主反应通道,溶剂效应和隧道效应对液相中的裂解反应速率有较大的影响,而且溶剂效应的影响更显著.在凝聚相反应理论研究中,溶剂效应和量子隧道效应都是不能忽略的因素.     

AaDd型氢键流体的统计理论(Ⅰ): 几何相变

通过两种不同的统计方法研究了A_aD_d型氢键体系中的氢键对体系的一些物理化学特征的影响. 指出获得氢键簇合物数量分布函数的两种新方法, 得到该体系的平衡自由能以及氢键度与外界条件之间关系的解析表达式, 讨论了氢键的成键概率与相关热力学量的关系. 在平均场理论的框架下, 证明了非线性氢键体系中发生的溶胶-凝胶相转变是一类几何相变, 而非热力学相变. 进一步对氢键体系中此类几何相变与液-固热力学相变间的关系进行了初步探讨.     

Algorithms for sampling a quantum microcanonical ensemble of harmonic oscillators at potential minima and conical intersections

Algorithms are presented for sampling quantum microcanonical ensembles for a potential energy minimum and for the conical intersection at the minimum energy crossing point of two coupled electronic states. These ensembles may be used to initialize trajectories for chemical dynamics simulations. The unimolecular dynamics of a microcanonical ensemble about a potential energy minimum may be compared with the dynamics predicted by quantum Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) theory. If the dynamics is non-RRKM, it will be of particular interest to determine which states have particularly long lifetimes. Initializing a microcanonical ensemble for the electronically excited state at a conical intersection is a model for electronic nonadiabatic dynamics. The trajectory surface-hopping approach may be used to study the ensuing chemical dynamics. A strength of the model is that zero-point energy conditions are included for the initial nonadiabatic dynamics at the conical intersection.     

Geometric phase effects in the coherent control of the branching ratio of photodissociation products of phenol

Optimal control simulation is used to examine the control mechanisms in the photodissociation of phenol within a two-dimensional, three-electronic-state model with two conical intersections. This model has two channels for H-atom elimination, which correspond to the (2)pi and (2)sigma states of the phenoxyl radical. The optimal pulse that enhances (2)sigma dissociation initially generates a wave packet on the S(1) potential-energy surface of phenol. This wave packet is bifurcated at the S(2)-S(1) conical intersection into two components with opposite phases because of the geometric phase effect. The destructive interference caused by the geometric phase effect reduces the population around the S(1)-S(0) conical intersection, which in turn suppresses nonadiabatic transitions and thus enhances dissociation to the (2)sigma limit. The optimal pulse that enhances S(0) dissociation, on the other hand, creates a wave packet on the S(2) potential-energy surface of phenol via an intensity borrowing mechanism, thus avoiding geometric phase effects at the S(2)-S(1) conical intersection. This wave packet hits the S(1)-S(0) conical intersection directly, resulting in preferred dissociation to the (2)pi limit. The optimal pulse that initially prepares the wave packet on the S(1) potential-energy surface (PES) has a higher carrier frequency than the pulse that prepares the wave packet on the S(2) PES. This counterintuitive effect is explained by the energy-level structure and the S(2)-S(1) vibronic coupling mechanism.     

Comment on "Optical conversion of conical intersection to avoided crossing" by Y. Arasaki and K. Takatsuka, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2010, 12, 1239

A recent paper in this journal proposed the conversion of conical intersections to avoided crossings by lowering the symmetry with an optical field. The article also claimed that the characters of nonadiabatic transitions caused by avoided crossings and conical intersections are qualitatively different. The present comment shows that this proposal and this claim result from an incorrect appreciation of the nature of conical intersections and avoided crossings. Conical intersections are moved, not removed, by almost all perturbations. Furthermore, there is no dichotomy between avoided crossing mechanisms and conical intersection mechanisms; as the parameters of the problem change and the typical locally avoided crossing involved in nonadiabatic dynamics becomes farther from the conical intersection, there is a gradual shift in the nature of the nonadiabatic transitions, with a continuum of possible behaviors, not just two.     

Ultrafast dynamics of UV-excited imidazole

The ultrafast dynamics of UV-excited imidazole in the gas phase is investigated by theoretical nonadiabatic dynamics simulations and experimental time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. The results show that different electronic excited-state relaxation mechanisms occur, depending on the pump wavelength. When imidazole is excited at 239.6 nm, deactivation through the NH-dissociation conical intersection is observed on the sub-50 fs timescale. After 200.8 nm excitation, competition between NH-dissociation and NH-puckering conical intersections is observed. The NH-dissociation to NH-puckering branching ratio is predicted to be 21:4, and the total relaxation time is elongated by a factor of eight. A procedure for simulation of photoelectron spectra based on dynamics results is developed and employed to assign different features in the experimental spectra.     

Conical intersections in solution: formulation, algorithm, and implementation with combined quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics method

The significance of conical intersections in photophysics, photochemistry, and photodissociation of polyatomic molecules in gas phase has been demonstrated by numerous experimental and theoretical studies. Optimization of conical intersections of small- and medium-size molecules in gas phase has currently become a routine optimization process, as it has been implemented in many electronic structure packages. However, optimization of conical intersections of small- and medium-size molecules in solution or macromolecules remains inefficient, even poorly defined, due to large number of degrees of freedom and costly evaluations of gradient difference and nonadiabatic coupling vectors. In this work, based on the sequential quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics (QM/MM) and QM/MM-minimum free energy path methods, we have designed two conical intersection optimization methods for small- and medium-size molecules in solution or macromolecules. The first one is sequential QM conical intersection optimization and MM minimization for potential energy surfaces; the second one is sequential QM conical intersection optimization and MM sampling for potential of mean force surfaces, i.e., free energy surfaces. In such methods, the region where electronic structures change remarkably is placed into the QM subsystem, while the rest of the system is placed into the MM subsystem; thus, dimensionalities of gradient difference and nonadiabatic coupling vectors are decreased due to the relatively small QM subsystem. Furthermore, in comparison with the concurrent optimization scheme, sequential QM conical intersection optimization and MM minimization or sampling reduce the number of evaluations of gradient difference and nonadiabatic coupling vectors because these vectors need to be calculated only when the QM subsystem moves, independent of the MM minimization or sampling. Taken together, costly evaluations of gradient difference and nonadiabatic coupling vectors in solution or macromolecules can be reduced significantly. Test optimizations of conical intersections of cyclopropanone and acetaldehyde in aqueous solution have been carried out successfully.     

Ab initio nonadiabatic quantum dynamics of cyclohexadiene/hexatriene ultrafast photoisomerization

Reaction mechanisms of the ultrafast photoisomerization between cyclohexadiene and hexatriene have been elucidated by the quantum dynamics on the ab initio potential energy surfaces calculated by multireference configuration interaction method. In addition to the quantum wave-packet dynamics along the two-dimensional reaction coordinates, the semiclassical analyses have also been carried out to correctly estimate the nonadiabatic transition probabilities around conical intersections in the full-dimensional space. The reaction time durations of radiationless decays in the wave-packet dynamics are found to be generally consistent with the femtosecond time-resolution experimental observations. The nonadiabatic transition probabilities among the ground (S0), first (S1), and second (S2) excited states have been estimated by using the semiclassical Zhu-Nakamura formula considering the full-dimensional wave-packet density distributions in the vicinity of conical intersections under the harmonic normal mode approximation. The cyclohexadiene (CHD) ring-opening process proceeds descending on the S1(1 1B) potential after the photoexcitation. The major part of the wave-packet decays from S1(1 1B) to S1(2 1A) by the first seam line crossing along the C2-symmetry-breaking directions. The experimentally observed ultrafast S1-S0 decay can be explained by the dynamics through the S1-S0 conical intersection along the direction toward the five-membered ring. The CHD: hexatriene (HT) branching ratio is estimated to be approximately 5:5, which is in accordance with the experiment in solution. This branching ratio is found to be mainly governed by the location of the five-membered ring S1-S0 conical intersection along the ground state potential ridge between CHD and HT.     

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.     

The photochemistry of formaldehyde: internal conversion and molecular dissociation in a single step?

A novel, nonadiabatic reaction path for H2 + CO molecular dissociation of formaldehyde via an extended S1/S0 conical intersection seam has been mapped out using the CAS-SCF method with a full valence active space (10 electrons, 9 orbitals). Two conical intersection geometries have been optimized, CsCoIn, a saddle point in the intersection space, and C1CoIn, which is the lowest-energy crossing point. A minimum-energy path connecting these points along a seam has also been characterized. In addition to the conventional and "roaming-atom" mechanisms--where internal conversion takes place before ground-state dissociation--we suggest that a strictly nonadiabatic mechanism can operate, where internal conversion and dissociation take place in concert.     

Controlling product selection in the photodissociation of formaldehyde: direct quantum dynamics from the S1 barrier

Controlling the selectivity between H(2)+CO and H+HCO in the S(1)/S(0) nonadiabatic photodissociation of formaldehyde has been investigated using direct quantum dynamics. Simulations started from the S(1) transition state have suggested that a key feature for controlling the branching ratio of ground-state products is the size of the momentum given to the wavepacket along the transition vector. Our results show that letting the wavepacket fall down from the barrier to the conical intersection with no initial momentum leads to H(2)+CO, while extra momentum toward products favors the formation of H+HCO through the same conical intersection. Quantum dynamics results are interpreted in semiclassical terms with the aid of a Mulliken-like analysis of the final population distribution among both products and the reactant on each electronic state.