Excited‐State Dynamics of CS2 Studied by Photoelectron Imaging with a Time Resolution of 22 fs

The ultrafast dynamics of CS₂ in the ¹B₂(¹Σ_u⁺) state was studied by photoelectron imaging with a time resolution of 22 fs. The photoelectron signal intensity exhibited clear vibrational quantum beats due to wave packet motion. The signal intensity decayed with a lifetime of about 400 fs. This decay was preceded by a lag of around 30 fs, which was considered to correspond to the time for a vibrational wave packet to propagate from the Franck–Condon region to the region where predissociation occurred. The photoelectron angular distribution remained constant when the pump–probe delay time was varied. Consequently, variation of the electronic character caused by the vibrational wave packet motion was not identified within the accuracy of our measurements.     

Nonadiabatic effects on peptide vibrational dynamics induced by conformational changes

Quantum dynamical simulations of vibrational spectroscopy have been carried out for glycine dipeptide (CH(3)-CO-NH-CH(2)-CO-NH-CH(3)). Conformational structure and dynamics are modeled in terms of the two Ramachandran dihedral angles of the molecular backbone. Potential energy surfaces and harmonic frequencies are obtained from electronic structure calculations at the density functional theory (DFT) [B3LYP/6-31+G(d)] level. The ordering of the energetically most stable isomers (C(7) and C(5)) is reversed upon inclusion of the quantum mechanical zero point vibrational energy. Vibrational spectra of various isomers show distinct differences, mainly in the region of the amide modes, thereby relating conformational structures and vibrational spectra. Conformational dynamics is modeled by propagation of quantum mechanical wave packets. Assuming a directed energy transfer to the torsional degrees of freedom, transitions between the C(7) and C(5) minimum energy structures occur on a sub-picosecond time scale (700...800 fs). Vibrationally nonadiabatic effects are investigated for the case of the coupled, fundamentally excited amide I states. Using a two state-two mode model, the resulting wave packet dynamics is found to be strongly nonadiabatic due to the presence of a seam of the two potential energy surfaces. Initially prepared adiabatic vibrational states decay upon conformational change on a time scale of 200...500 fs with population transfer of more than 50% between the coupled amide I states. Also the vibrational energy transport between localized (excitonic) amide I vibrational states is strongly influenced by torsional dynamics of the molecular backbone where both enhanced and reduced decay rates are found. All these observations should allow the detection of conformational changes by means of time-dependent vibrational spectroscopy.     

Electronic and Vibrational Coherence Dynamics in a Cyanine Dye Studied Using a Few‐Cycle Pulsed Laser

We report the relaxation times of electronic and vibrational coherence in the cyanine dye 1,1′,3,3,3′,3′‐hexamethyl‐4,4′,5,5′‐dibenzo‐2,2′‐indotricarbocyanine, measured using a 7.1 fs pulsed laser. The vibrational phase relaxation times are found to be between 380 and 680 fs in the ground and lowest excited singlet states. The vibrational dephasing times of the 294, 446, and 736 cm^?1 modes are relatively long among the six modes associated with excited‐state wave packets. The slower relaxations are explained in terms of a coupled triplet of vibrational modes, which preserves coherence by forming a tightly bound group to satisfy the condition of circa conservation of vibrational energy. Using data from the negative‐time range (i.e., when the probe pulse precedes the pump pulse), the electronic phase relaxation time is found to be 31±1 fs. The dynamic vibrational mode in the excited state (1171 cm^?1), detected in the positive‐time range, is also studied from the negative‐time traces under the same experimental conditions.     

Femtosecond Time-Resolved Stimulated Raman Spectroscopy: Application to the Ultrafast Internal Conversion in beta-Carotene

We have developed the technique of femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy (FSRS), which allows the rapid collection of high-resolution vibrational spectra on the femtosecond time scale. FSRS combines a sub-50 fs actinic pump pulse with a two-pulse stimulated Raman probe to obtain vibrational spectra whose frequency resolution limits are uncoupled from the time resolution. This allows the acquisition of spectra with <100 fs time resolution and <30 cm(-1) frequency resolution. Additionally, FSRS is unaffected by background fluorescence, provides rapid (100 ms) acquisition times, and exhibits traditional spontaneous Raman line shapes. FSRS is used here to study the relaxation dynamics of beta-carotene. Following optical excitation to S(2) (1B(u) (+)) the molecule relaxes in 160 fs to S(1) (2A(g) (-)) and then undergoes two distinct stages of intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR) with 200 and 450 fs time constants. These processes are attributed to rapid (200 fs) distribution of the internal conversion energy from the S(1) C=C modes into a restricted bath of anharmonically coupled modes followed by complete IVR in 450 fs. FSRS is a valuable new technique for studying the vibrational structure of chemical reaction intermediates and transition states.     

Superior Z→E and E→Z photoswitching dynamics of dihydrodibenzodiazocine, a bridged azobenzene, by S1(nπ*) excitation at λ = 387 and 490 nm

The ultrafast Z→E and E→Z photoisomerisation dynamics of 5,6-dihydrodibenzo[c,g][1,2]diazocine (1), the parent compound of a class of bridged azobenzene-based photochromic molecular switches with a severely constrained eight-membered heterocyclic ring as central unit, have been studied by femtosecond time-resolved spectroscopy in n-hexane as solvent and by quantum chemical calculations. The diazocine contrasts with azobenzene (AB) in that its Z rather than E isomer is the energetically more stable form. Moreover, it stands out compared to AB for the spectrally well separated S(1)(nπ*) absorption bands of its two isomers. The Z isomer absorbs at around λ = 404 nm, the E form has its absorption maximum around λ = 490 nm. The observed transient spectra following S(1)(nπ*) photoexcitation show ultrafast excited-state decays with time constants τ(1) = 70 fs for the Z and <50 fs for the E isomer reflecting very fast departures of the excited wave packets from the S(1) Franck-Condon regions and τ(2) = 270 fs (320 fs) related to the Z→E (resp. E→Z) isomerisations. Slower transient absorption changes on the time scale of τ(3) = 5 ps are due to vibrational cooling of the reaction products. The results show that the unique steric constraints in the diazocine do not hinder, but accelerate the molecular isomerisation dynamics and increase the photoswitching efficiencies, contrary to chemical intuition. The observed isomerisation times and quantum yields are rationalised on the basis of CASPT2//CASSCF calculations by a S(1)/S(0) conical intersection seam at a CNNC dihedral angle of ≈96° involving twisting and torsion of the central CNNC moiety. With improved photochromism, high quantum yields, short reaction times and good photostability, diazocine 1 and its derivatives constitute outstanding candidates for photoswitchable molecular tweezers and other applications.     

Hidden Isolated OH at the Charged Hydrophobic Interface Revealed by Two-Dimensional Heterodyne-Detected VSFG Spectroscopy

Water around hydrophobic groups mediates hydrophobic interactions that play key roles in many chemical and biological processes. Thus, the molecular-level elucidation of the properties of water in the vicinity of hydrophobic groups is important. We report on the structure and dynamics of water at two oppositely charged hydrophobic ion/water interfaces, that is, the tetraphenylborate-ion (TPB⁻)/water and tetraphenylarsonium-ion (TPA⁺)/water interfaces, which are clarified by two-dimensional heterodyne-detected vibrational sum-frequency generation (2D HD-VSFG) spectroscopy. The obtained 2D HD-VSFG spectra of the anionic TPB⁻ interface reveal the existence of distinct π-hydrogen bonded OH groups in addition to the usual hydrogen-bonded OH groups, which are hidden in the steady-state spectrum. In contrast, 2D HD-VSFG spectra of the cationic TPA⁺ interface only show the presence of usual hydrogen-bonded OH groups. The present study demonstrates that the sign of the interfacial charge governs the structure and dynamics of water molecules that face the hydrophobic region.     

Vibrational spectra and normal coordinate analysis of p-cresol and its deuterated analogs

I.r. and Raman spectra of p-cresol and its seven deuterated analogs were investigated in dilute solutions of hydrophobic solvents. Assignments of the observed i.r. and Raman bands were made on the basis of isotopic frequency shifts, Raman polarization properties, i.r. intensifies and normal coordinate calculations. The calculated normal frequencies are in good agreement with the experimental ones: the average error below 1700 cm⁻¹ is 3.8 cm⁻¹ for 164 in-plane vibrations and 3.3 cm⁻¹ for 59 out-of-plane vibrations. The calculated vibrational modes may be useful in analysing the vibrational spectra of tyrosine. It is suggested that several doublets due to Fermi resonance and a trio of Raman bands in the 1260-1160 cm⁻¹ region are potential probes for the micro-environments of tyrosine side chains in proteins.     

Caesium-tetrafluor(trifluormethyl)sulfat(IV) [1]

The preparation of Cs⁺CF₃SF₄⁻ is reported. The new salt is characterized by vibrational (IR, RA) and nuclear magnetic resonance (¹⁹F, ¹³C) spectra.     

Ab initio simulation of the photoelectron spectra of HCO− and DCO−

Large scale, vibrational CI calculations using a global ab initio potential energy surface are used to calculate multidimensional Franck-Condon overlaps from the ground vibrational state of HCO⁻ and DCO⁻ to all final bound and several quasibound vibrational states of HCO and DCO. The resulting Franck-Condon spectra are compared with recent experimental photoelectron spectra of HCO⁻ and DCO⁻.     

Molecular structure,vibrational spectra,first order hyper polarizability,NBO and HOMO–LUMO analysis of 4-amino-3(4-chlorophenyl) butanoic acid

The Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and Fourier transform Raman (FTR) spectra of 4-amino-3(4-chlorophenyl) butanoic acid were recorded in the regions 4000–400 cm⁻¹ and 4000–100 cm⁻¹, respectively, in the solid phase. Molecular electronic energy, geometrical structure, harmonic vibrational spectra, infrared intensities and Raman scattering activities, highest occupied molecular orbital, lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy, energy gaps and thermodynamical properties such as zero-point vibrational energies, rotational constants, entropies and dipole moment were computed at the Hartree–Fock/6-31G(d,p) and three parameter hybrid functional Lee–Yang–Parr/6-31G(d,p) levels of theory. The vibrational studies were interpreted in terms of potential energy distribution (PED). The results were compared with experimental values with the help of scaling procedures. Most of the modes have wave numbers in the expected range and are in good agreement with computed values. The first order hyperpolarizability (β_total) of this molecular system and related properties (β, μ, 〈α〉 and Δα) are calculated using HF/6-31G(d,p) and B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) methods based on the finite-field approach. Stability of the molecule arising from hyperconjugative interactions, charge delocalization and intramolecular hydrogen bond-like weak interaction has been analyzed using natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis by using B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) method. The results show that electron density (ED) in the σ1 and π1 antibonding orbitals and second-order delocalization energies E⁽²⁾ confirm the occurrence of intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) within the molecule.     

Vibrational analysis of the benzophenone molecule and influence of its conformation on vibrational transitions

IR and Raman spectra of benzophenone and several of its isotopomers (d_5⁻, d_l0⁻, ¹³C- and ¹³Cd₅-benzophenone) are the experimental basis for the normal coordinate analysis. The possibility of determining the conformation of the benzophenone molecule in solution from its vibrational spectrum is considered carefully. The dihedral angle between the central part of the molecule and the phenyl ring has been determined by fitting the calculated to the observed spectra. The final force field for the molecule was obtained for the dihedral angle of 35°.     

On the theory of processes in reaction centers of polyatomic molecules

Based on general principles of quantum theory of chemical transformations for polyatomic molecules, the notion of the reaction center (RC) was revised. The presence of RCs is a necessary condition for occurrence of all types of chemical transformations in complex systems. The physical picture of processes in RCs, conditions for maximum probability of transformations, the local character of a chemical reaction and its relation to the characteristic vibrations, and the methods of a priori search for RCs based on normal coordinate analysis of coupled states and on calculations of overlap integrals between vibrational wave functions were studied. Specific features of manifestation of characteristic vibrations in vibrational and vibronic spectra were investigated and the possibility of search for RCs using optical spectroscopy was considered. Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 8, pp. 1267–1273, August, 2006.     

Slow periodic oscillations in time domain dynamics of NO2

The authors investigated the time domain nonadiabatic dynamics of NO2 on the coupled X 2A1 and A 2B2 electronic states by launching wave packets on the excited electronic state and focused on the evolution at long times (t>200 fs), which has received little attention up to now. The authors showed that the initial fast spreading of the wave packets is followed at all energies by slow periodic intramolecular vibronic energy redistribution (IVER) with periods in the range of 0.3 to several tens of picoseconds. These energy transfers lead to oscillations with the same periods in the population of each electronic state. Propagation of wave packets indicates that IVER frequencies also dominate the fluctuations of the squared modulus of the autocorrelation function |A(t)|2 at energies not too high above the bottom of the conical intersection, but this is no longer the case at higher energies. For example, for initial wave packets prepared by almost vertical excitation of the vibrational ground state of the ground electronic surface, the oscillations of |A(t)|2 essentially reflect the detuning from 1:2 resonance between the frequency of the bend and that of the symmetric stretch in the excited electronic state. These theoretical results were used to discuss the possible origin of the low-frequency oscillations which were recently observed in time domain experimental spectra of NO2.     

Vibrational spectra and normal coordinate analyses of the trimethyloxonium and trimethylammonium cations

Raman and i.r. spectra of the compounds (CH₃)₃O⁺ SbCl⁻₆ and (CH₃)₃NH⁺ SbCl⁻₆ are reported and assigned. Normal coordinate calculations support the vibrational assignments for the cations Of C_3v symmetry, and yield force constants k(CO) = 4.05 mdyn·Å⁻¹ and k(CN) = 4.80 mdyn·Å⁻¹ for the trimethyloxonium ion and the trimethylammonium ion, respectively.     

Vibrational analysis of the imidazolate ring

IR and Raman spectra have been investigated for imidazolate and 4-methylimidazolate including five and three deuterated analogs, respectively. Assignment of the observed IR and Raman bands has been made on the basis of isotopic frequency shifts, Raman polarization properties, and normal coordinate calculations. The calculated normal frequencies are in good agreement with experimental ones: the average error below 1600 cm⁻¹ is 4.5 cm⁻¹ for 104 in-plane vibrations and 3.8 cm⁻¹ for 43 out-of-plane vibrations. The calculated vibrational modes are useful in analyzing the Raman bands of histidine residues in proteins.     

Quenched by ice: transient grating measurements of vibronic dynamics in bromine-doped ice

In both water and in ice, the absorption spectra of bromine are dramatically broadened and blueshifted, and all fluorescence is quenched. Time resolved, electronically resonant transient grating measurements are carried out to characterize the vibronic dynamics of the trapped molecule in its electronic B(3Pi0u) state in ice. Independent of the initial excitation energy, after the first half-period of motion, a vibrational packet is observed to oscillate near the bottom of the potential, near nu=1. The oscillations undergo a chirped decay to a terminal frequency of 169 cm(-1) on a time scale of taunu=1240 fs, to form the stationary nu=0 level. The electronic population in the B state decays in taue=1500 fs. Adiabatic following to the cage-compression coordinate is a plausible origin of the chirp. Analysis of the absorption spectrum is provided to recognize that solvent coordinates are directly excited in the process. The observed blueshift of the absorption is modeled by considering the Br2-OH2 complex. Two-dimensional simulations, that explicitly include the solvent coordinate, reproduce both the time data and the absorption spectrum. The observed sharp vibrational recursions can be explained by overdamped motion along the solvent coordinate, and wave packet focusing by fast dissipation during the first half-period of motion of the molecular coordinate.     

A reassignment of the vibrational fundamentals of sulfuryl chloride fluoride

Low temperature Raman spectroscopy has led to a significant revision in the assignment of the vibrational fundamentals of sulfuryl chloride fluoride (SO₂FCl). The fundamentals in cm⁻¹ are: (a′) 1230, 826, 632, 503, 422, 295; (a″) 1469, 476, 303. All are from gas-phase i.r. spectra except 295 cm⁻¹, which is from the liquid-phase Raman spectrum. The revised assignments are consistent with the predictions of Pfeiffer's normal coordinate calculations [Z. phys. chem., Leipzig 240, 380 (1969)].     

Nonlinear optical response of wave packets on quantized potential energy surfaces

We calculated the dynamics of nuclear wave packets in coupled electron-vibration systems and their nonlinear optical responses. We found that the quantized nature of the vibrational modes is observed in pump-probe spectra particularly in weakly interacting electron-vibration systems such as cyanine dye molecules. Calculated results based on a harmonic potential model and molecular orbital calculations are compared with experimental results, and we also found that the material parameters regarding the geometrical structure of potential energy surfaces are directly determined by accurate measurement of time-resolved spectra.     

Vibrational Predissociation Spectra of C2N− and C3N−: Bending and Stretching Vibrations

We present infrared predissociation spectra of C₂N⁻(H₂) and C ₃N⁻(H₂) in the 300–1850 cm⁻¹ range. Measurements were performed using the FELion cryogenic ion trap end user station at the Free Electron Lasers for Infrared eXperiments (FELIX) laboratory. For C₂N⁻(H₂), we detected the CCN bending and CC−N stretching vibrations. For the C₃N⁻(H₂) system, we detected the CCN bending, the CC−CN stretching, and multiple overtones and/or combination bands. The assignment and interpretation of the presented experimental spectra is validated by calculations of anharmonic spectra within the vibrational configuration interaction (VCI) approach, based on potential energy surfaces calculated at explicitly correlated coupled cluster theory (CCSD(T)-F12/cc-pVTZ−F12). The H₂ tag acts as an innocent spectator, not significantly affecting the C_2,3N⁻ bending and stretching mode positions. The recorded infrared predissociation spectra can thus be used as a proxy for the vibrational spectra of the bare anions.     

A General Strategy for Through-Bond Energy Transfer Fluorescence Probes Combining Intramolecular Charge Transfer: A Silyl Ether System for Endogenous Peroxynitrite Sensing

A general strategy is reported for developing through-bond energy transfer (TBET) fluorescence probes by combining intramolecular charge transfer (ICT). The strategy uses a coplanar donor-π-bridge-acceptor system (SiOPh-PyOH) without spirolactam. The off-on switch of TBET and ICT is controlled by coplanar structure changes in the sensing process instead of spirolactam ring-opening in traditional TBET probes. DFT calculations showed that the energy and charge transfers from SiOPh to PyOH are prohibited. Since the SiOPh has no fluorescence, the probe SiOPh-PyOH shows fluorescence properties similar to that of pyrene. After sensing ONOO⁻, the silyl ether is removed and the probe changes into ⁻OPh-PyO⁻. Electron-donating ICT from ⁻OPh to PyO⁻ induces a large redshift of emission to 594 nm (179 nm shift). TBET from ⁻OPh to PyO⁻ ensures the probe exhibits a large pseudo-Stokes shift of 213 nm. Furthermore, the probe was successfully used in endogenous ONOO⁻ detection. This study offers a new strategy for the construction of TBET probes emitting in the red region without spirolactam ring-opening, a new ONOO⁻ sensing system using silyl ether as a reaction site, and a method for the deprotection of silyl ethers with ONOOH under mild conditions.