A theoretical and optical spectroscopic study of the mechanism of a tautomeric transformation in the 7-azaindole dimer and the 7-azaindole complex with a water molecule

Electronic, vibrational, and electronic vibrational spectra of the 7-azaindole dimer, the 7-azaindole complex with a water molecule, and their tautomers are calculated. Transition states are considered based on the analysis of frequencies and shapes of low-frequency vibrations and the Mulliken charge redistribution. The performed quantum chemical calculation of chemical reactions enabled the determination of the structure of transition states and proton transfer conditions. It is shown that in the 7-AzI dimer the proton transfer has a character consistent with the formation of a zwitterionic form. The structure of excited states is calculated and the fluorescence spectra of the first electronic transitions that can be used as a criterion of the formation of 7-AzI tautomers as a result of chemical reactions proceeding through a proton transfer in the 7-azaindole dimer and the 7-azaindole complex with a water molecule, are interpreted.     

Large shift and small broadening of Br2 valence band upon dimer formation with H2O: an ab initio study

Valence electronic excitation spectra are calculated for the H(2)O···Br(2) complex using highly correlated ab initio potentials for both the ground and the valence electronic excited states and a 2-D approximation for vibrational motion. Due to the strong interaction between the O-Br and the Br-Br stretching motions, inclusion of these vibrations is the minimum necessary for the spectrum calculation. A basis set calculation is performed to determine the vibrational wave functions for the ground electronic state and a wave packet simulation is conducted for the nuclear dynamics on the excited state surfaces. The effects of both the spin-orbit interaction and temperature on the spectra are explored. The interaction of Br(2) with a single water molecule induces nearly as large a shift in the spectrum as is observed for an aqueous solution. In contrast, complex formation has a remarkably small effect on the T = 0 K width of the valence bands due to the fast dissociation of the dihalogen bond upon excitation. We therefore conclude that the widths of the spectra in aqueous solution are mostly due to inhomogeneous broadening.     

“Proximity effects” in radiative transitions: a model study of the role of vibronic coupling and static crystal field interactions

We report the results of a model study of the influence of vibronic coupling involving non-totally symmetric vibrations and static crystal field interactions on the spectral properties of molecules with close-lying excited electronic states. The presented results suggests that “proximity effects” brought about by solvent perturbation arise from two sources: (i) alterations in the energy separation between vibronically coupled electronic states and (ii) crystal field mixing of the isolated molecular electronic states. It is shown that crystal field mixing leads to the breakdown of the vibronic coupling scheme for non-totally symmetric vibrations in isolated molecules. This breakdown is shown to have a very pronounced effect on the spectral properties of molecules with close-lying excited electronic states. The effect of environmental perturbations on excited state frequencies, the breakdown of symmetry and polarization selection rules, and vibrational intensity distributions is discussed.     

Electronic structure of benzaldehyde: A comparative study of the lowest excited singlet π* ← π and π* ← n states

VE-PPP, CNDO/2, and CNDO/s-CI methods have been used to investigate the electronic spectrum and structure of benzaldehyde. Electronic charge distributions and bond orders in the ground and lowest excited singlet π* ← π and π* ← n states of the molecule have been studied. The molecule has been shown to be nonplanar in the lowest π* ← n excited singlet state, in agreement with the conclusions drawn from the study of vibrational spectra. Dipole moments in both excited states have been shown to be larger than the ground-state value. Thus, the ambiguity in the experimental result for the π* ← π n excited singlet state dipole moment has been resolved. It has been shown that the n orbital is mainly localized on the CHO group. Furthermore, charge distributions, dipole moments, and molecular geometries are shown to be very different in the excited singlet π* ← π and π* ← n states.     

Vibrational dynamics and structural investigation of 2,2'-dipyridylketone using Raman, IR and UV-visible spectroscopy aided by ab initio and density functional theory calculation

Detailed investigation on the vibrational and electronic spectra has been carried out in order to study various properties of 2,2'-dipyridylketone molecule in its ground and excited electronic states. To get insight into the structural and symmetry features of the molecule, Raman excitation profiles of several normal modes have been analyzed. The polarized Raman spectra in different environments along with their IR counterpart have been critically surveyed and different normal modes have been assigned. The knowledge in regard to the positions of different excited electronic states has been acquired from the study of electronic absorption spectra. All the experimental observations have been substantiated and corroborated theoretically by the quantum chemical calculation. Possibility of exciton splitting of the 1La band has been explored both from theoretical and experimental points of view.     

Spectroscopic consequences of a mixed valence excited state: quantitative treatment of a dihydrazine diradical dication

A model for the quantitative treatment of molecular systems possessing mixed valence excited states is introduced and used to explain observed spectroscopic consequences. The specific example studied in this paper is 1,4-bis(2-tert-butyl-2,3-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]oct-3-yl)-2,3,5,6-tetramethylbenzene-1,4-diyl dication. The lowest energy excited state of this molecule arises from a transition from the ground state where one positive charge is associated with each of the hydrazine units, to an excited state where both charges are associated with one of the hydrazine units, that is, a Hy-to-Hy charge transfer. The resulting excited state is a Class II mixed valence molecule. The electronic emission and absorption spectra, and resonance Raman spectra, of this molecule are reported. The lowest energy absorption band is asymmetric with a weak low-energy shoulder and an intense higher energy peak. Emission is observed at low temperature. The details of the absorption and emission spectra are calculated for the coupled surfaces by using the time-dependent theory of spectroscopy. The calculations are carried out in the diabatic basis, but the nuclear kinetic energy is explicitly included and the calculations are exact quantum calculations of the model Hamiltonian. Because the transition involves the transfer of an electron from the hydrazine on one side of the molecule to the hydrazine on the other side and vice versa, the two transitions are antiparallel and the transition dipole moments have opposite signs. Upon transformation to the adiabatic basis, the dipole moment for the transition to the highest energy adiabatic surface is nonzero, but that for the transition to the lowest surface changes sign at the origin. The energy separation between the two components of the absorption spectrum is twice the coupling between the diabatic basis states. The bandwidths of the electronic spectra are caused by progressions in totally symmetric modes as well as progressions in the modes along the coupled coordinate. The totally symmetric modes are modeled as displaced harmonic oscillators; the frequencies and displacements are determined from resonance Raman spectra. The absorption, emission, and Raman spectra are fit simultaneously with one parameter set. The coupling in the excited electronic state H(ab)(ex) is 2000 cm(-1). Excited-state mixed valence is expected to be an important contributor to the electronic spectra of many organic and inorganic compounds. The energy separations and relative intensities enable the excited-state properties to be calculated as shown in this paper, and the spectra provide new information for probing and understanding coupling in mixed valence systems.     

A new possibility for determining vibration frequencies of organic molecules in the excited electronic state from fluorescence spectra

The dependence of the fluorescence spectra of some aromatic hydrocarbons and phthalocyanines in solid solutions at 4.2 K on the frequency of laser excitation has been studied. It has been found that “multiplets” exist in the fluorescence spectra in the case when laser excitation occurs in the vibronic transition region. The structure of these “multiplets” does not depend on the solvent but changes considerably with a change of laser frequency. It has been shown that by analysing the above-mentioned “multiplets” one can obtain frequencies of vibrations of the investigated molecules in excited electronic states.     

Quantum-chemical study of the structure of the acetyl fluoride molecule in the ground and lowest excited singlet and triplet electronic states

The structure of the conformationally flexible acetyl fluoride molecule (CH3CFO and CD3CFO) in the ground (S0) and lowest excited triplet (T1) and singlet (S1) electronic states was calculated by different quantum-chemical methods (RHF, UHF, MP2, CASSCF). The equilibrium geometric parameters and harmonic vibrational frequencies of the molecules in these electronic states were estimated. The calculations demonstrated that the electronic excitation causes considerable conformational changes involving the rotation of the CH3(CD3) top and a substantial deviation of the CCFO carbonyl fragment from planarity. For large-amplitude vibrations, namely, for the torsional vibration in the S0 state and the torsional and inversion (nonplanar carbonyl fragment) vibrations in the T1 and S1 states, the quantum-mechanical problems were solved in one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) approximations. The results of calculations are in good agreement with experimental data.     

A new approach to calculations of intensities of vibrational overtone transitions

A new approach to the theory of intensities of vibrational overtone transitions is formulated in terms of vibrational coupling of the molecular ground state to excited electronic states. Model calculations indicate an important role of nuclear geometry of the excited electronic states in determining overtone spectra. It is shown that the observed overtone spectrum of the CH stretching mode in benzene can be reproduced theoretically with the assumption that CH bond lengths in the e_lu electronic state are shortened relative to the ground configuration. A simple rule for qualitative prediction of the overtone spectra for diatomic molecules is proposed.     

Study of the excited states of HNO and its emission spectrum in hydrogen-based flames

INDO and configuration-interaction calculations of lower singly and doubly excited states of the gaseous HNO molecule are reported. An analysis of the HNO emission spectrum in a cool flame is also carried out. A clear symmetrical relationship among the energies of pairs of bands in the spectrum is detected, and the bands are identified as emissions from the lowest singly excited electronic state (n, π^*) invovling NO stretching and HNO bending modes of vibrations and their combinations. In addition, a single band at 756 nm appeared not to be emitted from the same electronic state. Possible origins of this band are suggested.     

Electronic spectra of paramethoxy benzyl alcohol and parachloro benzyl cyanide

The electronic absorption spectra of paramethoxy benzyl alcohol (pmba) and parachloro benzyl cyanide (pcbc) are described. The broad features of the spectra of the molecules are consistent with allowed transition forC _2v symmetry. However, the solid state and glass matrix spectra of pmba at 77K indicate possible deviation from planarity in the structure of the molecule. In pcbc, it is pointed out that intensity borrowing may be responsible for the large intensity of the vibrationally-induced part of the spectra, in which non-totally symmetric vibrations are excited.     

Resonance Raman spectra of β-carotene and its molecular structure in the excited electronic state

The resonance Raman spectra of β-carotene have been obtained at low temperature. The excitation profiles of ν₁ (1525 cm^?1) and 2ν₁ (3043 cm^?1) are analysed in terms of the Albrecht theory. The overlap integrals between the vibrational wavefunctions of the ground and the first excited electronic states are shown to be the most important factor in determining the resonance Raman intensities of this molecule. Information on the structure of the electronically excited state has been obtained.     

Laser cooling of vibrational degrees of freedom of a molecular system

We consider the cooling of vibrational degrees of freedom in a photoinduced excited electronic state of a model molecular system. For the various parameters of the potential surfaces of the ground and excited electronic states and depending on the excitation frequency of a single-mode laser light, the average energy or average vibrational temperature of the excited state passes through a minimum. The amount of cooling is quantified in terms of the overlap integral between the ground and excited electronic states of the molecule. We have given an approach to calculate the Franck-Condon factor for a multimode displaced-distorted-rotated oscillator surface of the molecular system. This is subsequently used to study the effect of displacement, distortion, and Duschinsky rotation on the vibrational cooling in the excited state. The absorption spectra and also the average energy or the effective temperature of the excited electronic state are studied for the above model molecular system. Considering the non-Condon effect for the symmetry-forbidden transitions, we have discussed the absorption spectra and average temperature in the excited-state vibrational manifold.     

Alignment, vibronic level splitting, and coherent coupling effects on the pump-probe polarization anisotropy

The pump-probe polarization anisotropy is computed for molecules with a nondegenerate ground state, two degenerate or nearly degenerate excited states with perpendicular transition dipoles, and no resonant excited-state absorption. Including finite pulse effects, the initial polarization anisotropy at zero pump-probe delay is predicted to be r(0) = 3/10 with coherent excitation. During pulse overlap, it is shown that the four-wave mixing classification of signal pathways as ground or excited state is not useful for pump-probe signals. Therefore, a reclassification useful for pump-probe experiments is proposed, and the coherent anisotropy is discussed in terms of a more general transition dipole and molecular axis alignment instead of experiment-dependent ground- versus excited-state pathways. Although coherent excitation enhances alignment of the transition dipole, the molecular axes are less aligned than for a single dipole transition, lowering the initial anisotropy. As the splitting between excited states increases beyond the laser bandwidth and absorption line width, the initial anisotropy increases from 3/10 to 4/10. Asymmetric vibrational coordinates that lift the degeneracy control the electronic energy gap and off-diagonal coupling between electronic states. These vibrations dephase coherence and equilibrate the populations of the (nearly) degenerate states, causing the anisotropy to decay (possibly with oscillations) to 1/10. Small amounts of asymmetric inhomogeneity (2 cm(-1)) cause rapid (130 fs) suppression of both vibrational and electronic anisotropy beats on the excited state, but not vibrational beats on the ground electronic state. Recent measurements of conical intersection dynamics in a silicon napthalocyanine revealed anisotropic quantum beats that had to be assigned to asymmetric vibrations on the ground electronic state only [Farrow, D. A.; J. Chem. Phys. 2008, 128, 144510]. Small environmental asymmetries likely explain the observed absence of excited-state asymmetric vibrations in those experiments.     

Integrated computational approach to vibrationally resolved electronic spectra: anisole as a test case

A new general and effective procedure to compute Franck-Condon spectra from first principles is exploited to elucidate the subtle features of the vibrationally resolved optical spectra of anisole. Methods based on the density functional theory and its time-dependent extension for electronic excited states [B3LYP6-311+G(d,p) and TD-B3LYP6-311+G(d,p)] have been applied to geometry optimizations and harmonic frequency calculations. Perturbative anharmonic frequencies [J. Chem. Phys. 122, 014108 (2005)] have been calculated for the ground state, and the Duschinsky matrix elements have been used to evaluate the corresponding anharmonic corrections for the first excited electronic state. The relative energetics of both electronic states has been refined by single point calculations at the coupled clusters (CC) level with the aug-cc-pVDZ basis set. Theoretical spectra have been evaluated using a new optimized implementation for the effective computation of Franck-Condon factors. The remarkable agreement between theoretical and experimental spectra allowed for revision of some assignments of fundamental vibrations in the S(1) state of anisole.     

Near Resonance vibronic coupling. Isoquinoline

The interaction spectrum is considered resulting from the near-resonance coupling of a small number of vibronic levels of two different electronic states. In the simple model proposed, the interactions between the near-resonance states are first explicitly considered and then the off-resonance interactions are treated by perturbation theory. The model is applied to the isoquinoline spectrum and it is shown that for isoquinoline the latter interactions may be safely ignored. Good agreement is achieved between the theoretical and experimental spectra, and many puzzling features, such as the irregular nature of the sequence structure and the ambiguous isotope effects are readily explained. The lowest excited singlet state is the nπ*, and it is located within about 1000 cm^?1 of the first excited ¹ππ*. Two vibronic levels of the ¹nπ* state, corresponding to single quanta of the out-of-plane vibrations, are in near-resonance with the vibrationless ¹ππ* level.     

Electronic and cationic states of 2-methylpropene (isobutene) studied by VUV absorption,scattered electron spectroscopy and AB initio multireference configuration interaction calculations

VUV (6.2–9 eV) and electron scattering spectra (1–9 eV) have been recorded for 2-methylpropene (isobutene). Also, electronic states of the molecule, including the ground state and cationic states, have been investigated using ab initio multi-reference configuration interaction calculations. Some Koopmans-type in the UV photoelectron spectrum are reassigned and a number of shake-up states computed. In the electronic spectrum, Rydberg excited have been assigned and a second valence excited state (σ π*) located within about 1 eV of the V(ππ*) state. The experiments show, and theory confirms, that the Rydberg R(π3s) state has a positive electron affinity. Some interesting correlations between ionisation energies, energies of shake-up state electronic excitation energies are identified.     

Theoretical Insights into Intermolecular Hydrogen-Bonding Strengthening in Fluorenone-Methanol Complexes Induced by Electronic Excitation and Bulk Solvent Effect (cited: 1)

This work presents a theoretical insight into the variation of the site-specific intermolecular hydrogen-bonding (HB), formed between C=O group of fluorenone (FN) and O?H groups of methanol (MeOL) molecules, induced by both the electronic excitation and the bulk solvent effect. Through the calculation of molecular ground- and excited-state properties, we not only demonstrate the characters of HB strengthening induced by electronic excitation and the bulk solvent effect but also reveal the underlying physical mechanism which leads to the HB variation. The strengthening of the intermolecular HB in electronically excited states and in liquid solution is characterized by the reduced HB bond-lengths and the red-shift IR spectra accompanied by the increasing intensities of IR absorption corresponding to the characteristic vibrational modes of the O-H and C=O stretching. The HB strengthening in the excited electronic states and in solution mainly arises from the charge redistribution of the FN molecule induced by the electronic excitation and bulk solvent instead of the intermolecular charge transfer. The charge redistribution of the solute molecule increases the partial dipole moment of FN molecule and the FN-MeOL intermolecular interaction, which subsequently leads to the HB strengthening. With the bulk solvent effect getting involved, the theoretical IR spectra of HBed FN-MeOL complexes agree much better with the experiments than those of gas-phase FN-MeOL dimer. All the calculations are carried out based on our developed analytical approaches for the first and second energy derivatives of excited electronic state within the time-dependent density functional theory.     

Vibronic coupling in the ground and excited states of oligoacene cations

The vibrational coupling in the ground and excited states of positively charged naphthalene, anthracene, tetracene, and pentacene molecules is studied on the basis of a joint experimental and theoretical study of ionization spectra using high-resolution gas-phase photoelectron spectroscopy and first-principles correlated quantum-mechanical calculations. Our theoretical and experimental results reveal that, while the main contribution to relaxation energy in the ground state of oligoacene systems comes from high-energy vibrations, the excited-state relaxation energies show a significant redistribution toward lower-frequency vibrations. A direct correlation is found between the nature of the vibronic interaction and the pattern of the electronic state structure.