Impact of the computational method on the geometric and electronic properties of oligo(phenylene vinylene) radical cations

We report on a quantum-chemical study of the electronic and optical properties of unsubstituted oligo(phenylene vinylene) (OPV) radical cations. Our goal is to distinguish the impact of the choice of molecular geometry from the impact of the choice of quantum-chemical method, on the calculated optical transition energies. The geometry modifications upon ionization of the OPV chains are found to depend critically on the theoretical formalism: Hartree-Fock (HF) geometry optimizations lead to self-localization of the charged defects while pure density functional theory (DFT) results in a complete delocalization of the geometric modifications over the whole conjugated backbone. The electronic structure and vertical transition energy associated with the lowest excited state of the radical cations have been calculated at the post-Hartree-Fock level within a configuration interaction (HF-CI) scheme and using the time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) formalism for different radical cation geometries. Interestingly, the changes in the calculated optical properties obtained when using different geometric structures are less important within a given method than the differences between methods for a given structure. The optical excitation is localized with HF-CI and delocalized with TD-DFT, almost irrespective of the molecular geometry; as a result, HF-CI excitation energies tend to saturate as the chain length increases, in contrast to the results from TD-DFT.     

Time-dependent density functional theory calculations of the photoabsorption of fluorinated alkanes

Time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations of the transition energies and oscillator strengths of fluorinated alkanes have been performed. The TD-DFT method with the non-local B3LYP potential yields transition energies for the methanes, which are smaller by about 10% as compared to the experimental values. An empirical linear correlation was found between the calculated and experimental transition energies both at the B3LYP/DZ+Ryd(C, F) and B3LYP/cc-pVTZ+Ryd(C, F, H) levels for a total of 19 transitions of the fluorinated methanes with linear correlation coefficients of 0.987 for the former and 0.988 for the latter. This empirical correlation for fluorinated methane molecules is found to agree well with the previously obtained empirical correlations between calculated and experimental values for non-fluorinated molecules. The results show that a single empirical-correlation relationship can be used for both non-fluorinated and fluorinated molecules to predict transition energies. This linear relationship is then used to predict the photoabsorption spectra of ethane, propane, butane, and partially and fully fluorinated derivatives. A key result of these calculations is the dominance of Rydberg transitions in the spectral region of interest.     

稠环芳烃菲电子激发态的含时密度泛函理论研究

用含时密度泛函理论TD-DFT及组态相关CIS、含时TD-HF方法对菲的UV光谱进行了理论研究,在几何构型优化的基础上,计算了其垂直电子激发能．计算表明,基函数的选择对激发能的计算影响较大,而不同的密度泛函交换一相关势对其影响较小,这和轨道能级的系统误差相互抵消有关．对菲的电子跃迁能的计算,与实验结果比较相一致,理论与实验的误差和不同的实验之间的误差在同一个数量级之内,显示TD-DFT方法比CIS,TD-HF方法更适合电子激发能的计算．     

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.     

Theoretical investigation of the mechanism and dynamics of intramolecular coherent resonance energy transfer in soft molecules: a case study of dithia-anthracenophane

A computational study is conducted on dithia-anthracenophane (DTA), for which there is experimental evidence for coherent resonance energy transfer dynamics, and on dimethylanthracene (DMA), a molecule representing the energy donor and the acceptor in DTA. Electronic excitation energies are calculated by configuration interaction singles (CIS) and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) methods and are compared to experimental ones. Electronic coupling constants are calculated between two DMAs embedded into the ground-state structure of DTA employing methods based on transition densities. The resulting values of electronic coupling provide a more consistent interpretation of experiments than those based on one-half the level spacing of DTA excitation energies. Solvation effects are studied based on the polarizable continuum model (PCM). Solvent-induced polarization and screening effects are shown to make opposite contributions, and the net electronic coupling is little different from the value in a vacuum. The likelihood of coherent population transfer is assessed on the basis of a recently developed theory of coherent resonance energy transfer. The time scale of bath is shown to have an important role in sustaining the quantum coherence. The combination of quantum chemical and dynamical data suggests that the electronic coupling in DTA is in the range of 50-100 cm(-1). The presence of oscillatory excitation population dynamics can be understood from the picture of polaronic excitation moderately dressed with dispersive vibrational modes. The effect of torsional modulation on the excitation energies of DTA and electronic coupling is examined on the basis of optimized structures with the torsional angle constrained. The result suggests that inelastic effect due to torsional motion cannot be disregarded in DTA.     

Stable superhydrophobic fluorine containing polyfluorenes

Fluorene-based polymers containing perfluorooctyl moieties were designed and synthesized.The high electronegativity and F…H-C interactions are present in the fluorinated polymers,which slightly induce blue-shift of UV-Vis absorption in film.The fluoropolymer films prepared from fluorinated solvents show lager contact angles than those prepared in non-fluorinated solvents.     

Ab initio DFT study of Z–E isomerization pathways of <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>–benzylideneaniline

The ground state properties and absorption spectra of N-benzylideneaniline (NBA) have been studied at the density functional (DFT) and at the time-dependent density functional (TD-DFT) level of the theory. The equilibrium geometries of the E and Z isomers in the ground state and their vibrational frequencies have been computed. Furthermore, the excitation energies of the lowest excited singlet and triplet states and the potential energy curves along the torsion and the inversion isomerization coordinates were evaluated. The results are discussed in light of the available experimental data.     

Photostability and Spectral Properties of Fluorinated Fluoresceins and their Biarsenical Derivatives: A Combined Experimental and Theoretical Study

New fluorinated biarsenical derivatives with improved optical properties based on highly photostable analogs of fluorescein were recently introduced. The photophysical parameters of the triplet excited states as well as photosensitized oxidation reactions of these dyes were determined in order to investigate the influence of molecular structure on the exceptional photostability of these fluorophores. The lack of correspondence between triplet quantum yields and lifetimes with the photobleaching rates of some of the fluorophores of the series suggests that differential reactivities of the excited states with ground state oxygen accounts for the different photodegradation resistances. The UV–visible absorption and emission spectra of the fluorinated fluoresceins and their biarsenical derivatives were evaluated using a TD-DFT/BP86/6-31G** approach, taking bulk solvent effects into account by means of the polarizable continuum model. The calculated properties are in good agreement with experimental data. The S₀→S₁ vertical excitation energies in the gas phase and in water were obtained with the optimized geometries of the excited states. This type of calculation could be used in the rational design of new dyes.     

Quasiclassical trajectory study of energy transfer and collision-induced dissociation in hyperthermal Ar + CH4 and Ar + CF4 collisions

We present a study of energy transfer in collisions of Ar with methane and perfluoromethane at hyperthermal energies (E(coll) = 4-10 eV). Quasiclassical trajectory calculations of Ar + CX(4) (X = H, F) collisions indicate that energy transfer from reagents' translation to internal modes of the alkane molecule is greatly enhanced by fluorination. The reasons for the enhancement of energy transfer upon fluorination are shown to emerge from a decrease in the hydrocarbon vibrational frequencies of the CX(4) molecule with increasing the mass of the X atom, and to an increase of the steepness of the Ar-CX(4) intermolecular potential. At high collision energies, we find that the cross section of Ar + CF(4) collisions in which the amount of energy transfer is larger than needed to break a C-F bond is at least 1 order of magnitude larger than the cross sections of Ar + CH(4) collisions producing CH(4) with energy above the dissociation limit. In addition, collision-induced dissociation is detected in short time scales in the case of the fluorinated species at E(coll) = 10 eV. These results suggest that the cross section for degradation of fluorinated hydrocarbon polymers under the action of nonreactive hyperthermal gas-phase species might be significantly larger than that of hydrogenated hydrocarbon polymers. We also illustrate a practical way to derive intramolecular potential energy surfaces for bond-breaking collisions by improving semiempirical Hamiltonians based on grids of high-quality ab initio calculations.     

Effects of fluorination on iridium(III) complex phosphorescence: magnetic circular dichroism and relativistic time-dependent density functional theory

We use a combination of low temperature, high field magnetic circular dichroism, absorption, and emission spectroscopy with relativistic time-dependent density functional calculations to reveal a subtle interplay between the effects of chemical substitution and spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in a family of iridium(III) complexes. Fluorination at the ortho and para positions of the phenyl group of fac-tris(1-methyl-5-phenyl-3-n-propyl-[1,2,4]triazolyl)iridium(III) cause changes that are independent of whether the other position is fluorinated or protonated. This is demonstrated by a simple linear relationship found for a range of measured and calculated properties of these complexes. Further, we show that the phosphorescent radiative rate, k(r), is determined by the degree to which SOC is able to hybridize T(1) to S(3) and that k(r) is proportional to the inverse fourth power of the energy gap between these excitations. We show that fluorination in the para position leads to a much larger increase of the energy gap than fluorination at the ortho position. Theory is used to trace this back to the fact that fluorination at the para position increases the difference in electron density between the phenyl and triazolyl groups, which distorts the complex further from octahedral symmetry, and increases the energy separation between the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the HOMO-1. This provides a new design criterion for phosphorescent iridium(III) complexes for organic optoelectronic applications. In contrast, the nonradiative rate is greatly enhanced by fluorination at the ortho position. This may be connected to a significant redistribution of spectral weight. We also show that the lowest energy excitation, 1A, has almost no oscillator strength; therefore, the second lowest excitation, 2E, is the dominant emissive state at room temperature. Nevertheless the mirror image rule between absorption and emission is obeyed, as 2E is responsible for both absorption and emission at all but very low (<10 K) temperatures.     

Relaxation of photo-excitations in films of oligo- and poly-(para-phenylene vinylene) derivatives

The photo-luminescence from solid films of poly(para-phenylene vinylene) polymers and an oligomeric model system, consisting of seven repeat units, are investigated at low temperature (8 K) using time-resolved spectroscopic techniques. Results are compared to those for the materials in solution. In the case of the oligomer, the shape of the visible absorption band observed for the film is quite different from the band shape for the polymer in frozen solution and is characteristic of H-type aggregates. Theoretical models are presented describing the dependence of the band shape of absorption and emission spectra on intermolecular excited state interactions, electron-vibration coupling and disorder represented by distributions of the molecular excitation and intermolecular interaction energies. Using these models, it is concluded that intermolecular interactions in the film of the oligomer are strong (1400 cm⁻¹), and the disorder low, implying delocalization of the excitation over several molecules. In accordance with these models the fluorescence lifetime for the film (2 ns) is considerably longer than for isolated molecules in solution (0.45 ns). The emission spectra of the film, taken early after excitation, are consistent with delocalization of the excitation over several molecules. A time-dependent red shift of the fluorescence band is observed and interpreted in terms of migration of localized excitations between disorder induced trap sites, which exist in the low energy tail of the density of excited states. For the polymers, differences between the shape of the absorption bands of solid film and frozen solution are smaller than for the oligomer indicating that interchain interactions that are, on average, weaker than for the oligomer. For the polymer films, a time-dependent red shift of the emission is observed and fluorescence depolarization measurements provide direct evidence for migration of the photo-excitations between trap sites. For one polymer, a time dependent change in the band shape of the fluorescence after pulsed excitation is observed with the band shape of the long-lived emission being compatible with that expected for an excitation delocalized over at least two, nearly parallel aligned, chains. For a second polymer, the emission band shape and its time evolution indicate that the major part of the fluorescence originates from disorder induced luminescent sites. These results indicate that the spectroscopic properties of films of π-conjugated polymer critically depend on parameters such as density of defects and excited state interchain interaction energy.     

Theoretical and experimental investigation on the electronic properties of the shuttlecock shaped and the double-decker structured metal phthalocyanines, MPc and M(Pc)2 (M = Sn and Pb)

The molecular geometries, electronic structures, and excitation energies of tin and lead phthalocyanine compounds, SnPc, PbPc, Sn(Pc)(2), and Pb(Pc)(2), were investigated using the B3LYP method within a framework of density functional theory (DFT). The geometries of SnPc, PbPc, Sn(Pc)(2), and Pb(Pc)(2) were optimized under C(4v), C(4v), D(4d), and D(4d) molecular symmetries, respectively. The excitation energies of these molecules were computed by the time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) method. The calculated results for the excited states of three compounds other than the unknown Pb(Pc)(2) corresponded well with the experimental results of electronic absorption spectroscopy. The non-planar C(4v) molecular structure of SnPc and PbPc influences especially on the orbital energy of the HOMO-1 through mixing of the s-type atomic orbital of the central metal atom to the π system of the Pc ring in an anti-bonding way; however, the HOMO and the LUMO have little effect of the deviation from the planar structure because they have no contribution from the atomic orbital of the central metal. This orbital mixing pushes up the orbital energy of the HOMO-1, and reduces the energy of the metal-to-ligand charge transfer band of SnPc and PbPc. The calculated results also reproduced well the excitation profile of Sn(Pc)(2), which was quite different from that of SnPc. The strong interactions between the π-type orbitals of two Pc moieties altered the electronic structure resulting in the characteristic excitation profile of Sn(Pc)(2). In addition, this caused a reduction of about 0.8 eV in the ionization potential as compared to usual MPcs including SnPc, which was consistent with the experimental results.     

Blue/red-shift of the p-Phenylene-ethynylene Oligomers Absorption Spectra

The absorption spectra of the p-phenylene-ethynylene(p-PPE) oligomers(up to n = 12) were estimated by DFT and TD-DFT methods. The effective conjugation length(ECL) of the corresponding polymer was obtained by extrapolating the first excitation energies of the oligmers to infinite chain length with an alternative exponential function. The absorption spectral red-shift mainly depends on the ?-conjugation segment of oligomers resulting from the planarization of the backbone. The excitation mechanism of the rotamer has been investigated sufficiently by analyzing the orbital density variation upon the conformational rotations around the cylindrical triple-bonded carbon which is believed to impact significantly on the optical spectrum. The calculated results further indicate that rotation about the cylindrical triple bond interrupts the conjugation of rod-like oligomers to lead an angle-dependence of the corresponding excitation energy. The results are helpful to interpret the conformational-dependent spectroscopic phenomena of p-phenyleneethynylene and derivatives oligomers and polymers observed in ensemble and single molecule spectroscopy.     

3,9-咔唑聚合物基态和激发态性质的理论研究

用密度泛函B3LYP方法对3,9-咔唑低聚物[(3,9-carbazole)n(n=1,2,3,4,6,8)]体系进行了全优化, 计算得到电离能、电子亲合势、空穴抽取能及电子抽取能等相关能量, 用ZINDO和TD-DFT方法计算得到吸收光谱; 分析了各种能量的变化及光谱规律. 用外推法由低聚物分子的各种性质与聚合度n相联系得到高聚物的性质, 将所得结果与2,7-咔唑(2,7-carbazole)及类似聚合物进行了比较分析. 结果表明, 3,9位聚合的咔唑整体共轭程度降低, 光谱蓝移, 其IP值和聚芴相近, 可以作为空穴接受材料应用于多层电子荧光器件的空穴传输层. 用CIS方法进行优化得到部分分子的S1激发态结构, 用ZINDO和TD-DFT方法得到对应的发射光谱.     

Effect of surface fluorination on the electrochemical behavior of petroleum cokes for lithium ion battery

Surface structure change and electrochemical behavior of fluorinated petroleum coke samples (petroleum cokes: petroleum coke and those heat-treated at 1860 °C, 2300 °C and 2800 °C, abbreviated to PC, PC1860, PC2300 and PC2800, respectively) have been investigated. Surface oxygen of petroleum coke was decreased by the fluorination using elemental fluorine. Raman and EPR spectroscopies revealed that surface fluorination increased surface disorder and lattice defects. ¹⁹F NMR spectrum suggests that distribution of fluorine atoms in PC fluorinated 300 °C was similar to that in graphite fluoride with covalent CF bonds. Surface areas of fluorinated petroleum cokes were nearly the same as those of non-fluorinated ones or only slightly increased by fluorination, except PC fluorinated at 300 °C. It is noted that first coulombic efficiencies of PC2300 and PC2800 were highly increased to 80-84% by the fluorination at 300 °C. These values of 80-84% were 12-18% higher than those of non-fluorinated PC2300 and PC2800.     

Synthesis of perfluorinated carboxylic acid membrane monomers by utilizing liquid-phase direct fluorination

A new synthetic procedure for the preparation of perfluorinated carboxylic acid membrane monomers from non-fluorinated compounds has been developed. A key step in the synthetic route is liquid-phase direct fluorination reaction with elemental fluorine. Direct fluorination of a partially fluorinated diester, which was prepared from a hydrocarbon diol and a perfluorinated acyl fluoride, followed by thermal elimination, gave a perfluorinated diacyl fluoride, which is a precursor of a perfluorinated carboxylic acid membrane monomer.     

Computations on the A-X transition of isoprene-OH-O2 peroxy radicals

Calculations are carried out on the A state of HO2, CH3O2, and CH3CH2O2 and 10 isomers and conformers of the isoprene-OH-O2 peroxy radicals derived from OH addition to isoprene (2-methyl-1,3-butadiene). In addition to calculating vertical and adiabatic excitation energies, we consider the effect of excitation on molecular structure, and examine the OO stretching frequencies, which are known to be major features in the absorption spectra of the A states of the smaller radicals. The two methods used are the configuration interaction with single excitations (CIS) method and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT), both with a range of basis sets up to 6-311++G(2df,2pd). TD-DFT overestimates excitation energies considerably, while CIS tends to underestimate them slightly. TD-DFT does seem to capture the trend in excitation energy vs. size for the smaller peroxy radicals. Conformation and configuration strongly affect the excitation energies of the peroxy radicals from isoprene. CIS calculations indicate that the intramolecular OH--O hydrogen bonds, present in the ground state of some peroxy radicals from isoprene, are weakened or broken in the excited state, while TD-DFT calculations suggest they are retained.     

Theoretical investigation of structures and electronic states of a series of phenyl-capped oligothiophenes

The structures and electronic states of a series of phenyl-capped oligothiophenes (PnTs) and their ionic species were investigated by means of the density functional theory (DFT). The calculations were performed on the oligomers formed by n repeating units, where n ranges from 2 to 6, using the B3LYP/6-31G** level of theory. The results obtained show that the end-substitution plays a fine-tuning effect on the geometries, electronics, and excitation states. It was found that the oligomers in the doped state have more satisfactory structural and electronic characteristics for the conducting polymers. The conjugated system in the doped oligomers has more aromaticity, with expanded and planar chains. The calculated energy gap values between the frontal molecular orbitals for the PnTs indicate that with increasing the oligomer chain length, the conductive band gap decreases. The calculated ?rst excitation energies of the PnTs at the TD-B3LYP/6-31G** level reveal that the doped PnTs have lower excitation energies than the neutral states. The oligomer chains with a phenyl ring as the end-capped group display red shifts in their absorption spectra. The end-caped substituted oligothiophenes display better characteristics than the unsubstituted ones. It could be anticipated that the phenyl-caped substitution would be helpful to charge-carrier hopings between chains, and thereby, enhance the conductivity.     

低聚芴及其衍生物吸收和发射光谱性质的量子化学研究

用DFT/B3LYP方法对低聚物(PF)_2n和(PFDBO)_n(n=1-4)体系进行了全优化,计算得到两个系列低聚物的电离能P_I(v,a)、电子亲和势E_A(v,a)、空穴抽取能E_{HP和电子抽取能EEP等相关能量,并用ZINDO和TD-DFT方法计算其吸收光谱,分析了两系列总能量和HOMO-LUMO能隙随n递增的变化规律及对低聚物稳定性和光谱性质的影响,推断高聚物的发光性质.用CIS方法优化低聚物的S1激发态结构并分析其与发射光谱的关系.计算结果表明,这两个系列低聚物激发态结构中都有使所有骨架原子共平面的趋势.由于插入CH2OCH2,使PFDBO的七元环部分发生较大的扭曲(两个苯环间成42.5°±0.5°的二面角),致使有效共轭链被破坏、能带带隙变宽、吸收发射光谱波长变短.}     

Theoretical investigation of the energies and geometries of photoexcited uranyl(VI) ion: a comparison between wave-function theory and density functional theory

In order to assess the accuracy of wave-function and density functional theory (DFT) based methods for excited states of the uranyl(VI) UO2(2+) molecule excitation energies and geometries of states originating from excitation from the sigma(u), sigma(g), pi(u), and pi(g) orbitals to the nonbonding 5f(delta) and 5f(phi) have been calculated with different methods. The investigation included linear-response CCSD (LR-CCSD), multiconfigurational perturbation theory (CASSCFCASPT2), size-extensivity corrected multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) and AQCC, and the DFT based methods time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) with different functionals and the hybrid DFTMRCI method. Excellent agreement between all nonperturbative wave-function based methods was obtained. CASPT2 does not give energies in agreement with the nonperturbative wave-function based methods, and neither does TD-DFT, in particular, for the higher excitations. The CAM-B3LYP functional, which has a corrected asymptotic behavior, improves the accuracy especially in the higher region of the electronic spectrum. The hybrid DFTMRCI method performs better than TD-DFT, again compared to the nonperturbative wave-function based results. However, TD-DFT, with common functionals such as B3LYP, yields acceptable geometries and relaxation energies for all excited states compared to LR-CCSD. The structure of excited states corresponding to excitation out of the highest occupied sigma(u) orbital are symmetric while that arising from excitations out of the pi(u) orbitals have asymmetric structures. The distant oxygen atom acquires a radical character and likely becomes a strong proton acceptor. These electronic states may play an important role in photoinduced proton exchange with a water molecule of the aqueous environment.