Charge transfer vibronic transitions in uranyl tetrachloride compounds

The electronic and vibronic interactions of uranyl (UO(2))(2+) in three tetrachloride crystals have been investigated with spectroscopic experiments and theoretical modeling. Analysis and simulation of the absorption and photoluminescence spectra have resulted in a quantitative understanding of the charge transfer vibronic transitions of uranyl in the crystals. The spectra obtained at liquid helium temperature consist of extremely narrow zero-phonon lines (ZPL) and vibronic bands. The observed ZPLs are assigned to the first group of the excited states formed by electronic excitation from the 3σ ground state into the f(δ,?) orbitals of uranyl. The Huang-Rhys theory of vibronic coupling is modified successfully for simulating both the absorption and luminescence spectra. It is shown that only vibronic coupling to the axially symmetric stretching mode is Franck-Condon allowed, whereas other modes are involved through coupling with the symmetric stretching mode. The energies of electronic transitions, vibration frequencies of various local modes, and changes in the O═U═O bond length of uranyl in different electronic states and in different coordination geometries are evaluated in empirical simulations of the optical spectra. Multiple uranyl sites derived from the resolution of a superlattice at low temperature are resolved by crystallographic characterization and time- and energy-resolved spectroscopic studies. The present empirical simulation provides insights into fundamental understanding of uranyl electronic interactions and is useful for quantitative characterization of uranyl coordination.     

On vibronic coupling in nonradiative transitions of polyatomic molecules

The vibronic coupling between quasidegenerate adiabatic Born—Oppenheimer states has been calculated by going beyond the Condon approximation. A simplified model in which accepting modes are distorted (non-totally symmetric) and of the same frequency, has been considered. The decay rate obtained with this approach is one order of magnitude larger than in the Condon scheme and seems to be practically independent of the symmetry of the accepting modes.     

Charge-transfer transitions in triarylamine mixed-valence systems: a joint density functional theory and vibronic coupling study

A theoretical model is developed to describe the intramolecular transfer in organic mixed-valence systems. It is applied to rationalize the intervalence charge-transfer transitions in triarylamine mixed-valence compounds. The electronic coupling parameter is evaluated at the density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) levels. The shapes of the charge-transfer absorption bands are analyzed in the framework of a dynamic vibronic model. The influence on the optical properties of diagonal and nondiagonal vibronic couplings is discussed. Our results are compared to recent experimental data.     

Vibronic coupling in cyclopentadienyl radical: a method for calculation of vibronic coupling constant and vibronic coupling density analysis

A method of calculation of vibronic or electron-phonon coupling constant is presented for a Jahn-Teller molecule, cyclopentadienyl radical. It is pointed out that symmetry breaking at degenerate point and violation of Hellmann-Feynman theorem occur in the calculations based on a single Slater determinant. In order to overcome these difficulties, the electronic wave functions are calculated using generalized restricted Hartree-Fock and complete active space self-consistent-field method and the couplings are computed as matrix elements of the electronic operator of the vibronic coupling. Our result agrees well with the experimental and theoretical values. A concept of vibronic coupling density is proposed in order to explain the order of magnitude of the coupling constant from view of the electronic and vibrational structures. It illustrates the local properties of the coupling and enables us to control the interaction. It could open a way to the engineering of vibronic interactions.     

Photoelectron studies on vibronic coupling in pyrazine

Ionization pathways from the S(1) and T(1) states of pyrazine are investigated using one- and two-photon ionization of the excited state by both resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization photoelectron spectroscopy and zero electron kinetic energy pulsed field ionization techniques. For the triplet manifold, we show that two-photon ionization of T(1) is enhanced by a vibronically induced resonance for which we determine the inducing mode and the nature of the intermediate state, as well as the (3)3s(n(-1)) Rydberg state. For the singlet manifold, we identify the mode responsible for the vibronically induced intensity of a 3p Rydberg state that was previously found to greatly perturb the 1+2(') photoelectron spectrum of S(1) by a resonance at the two-photon level.     

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.     

Some aspects of vibronic coupling in circular dichroism

After a review of the quantum mechanical formulation of vibrational-electronic coupling, the adiabatic approximations for ordinary absorption dipole strength and circular dichroic absorption rotatory strength are presented and interpreted. The expressions include the effect of two vibrational quantum changes coupled to electronic excitation in addition to the more familiar concept of coupling by a one quantum change. A polarizability theory of vibronically coupled rotatory strength is presented which is comparable to the polarizability theory of rotatory strength without regard to vibration.     

The importance of higher order vibronic mechanisms in radiationless transitions

It is shown that the magnitude of the higher order vibronic couplings pertinent to radiationless transitions are comparable to that of the first order term.     

Weak and strong vibronic coupling limits in molecules and their correlation

An exactly solvable vibronic coupling model is used to improve existing definitions of strong and weak vibronic coupling limits in molecules and to derive a unique correlation between the corresponding energy levels.     

On the calculation of vibronic coupling matrix elements

The non-diagonal matrix elements in the adiabatic Born-Oppenheimer approximation are considered. The effect of the Q-dependence of the electronic energy denominator is calculated explicitly for an arbitrary initial and final state. It is shown that the inclusion of this effect does not change the relative values of the coupling matrix elements for different initial vibronic states.     

“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.     

Davydov splitting of Herzberg—Teller-induced vibronic transitions

Based on a simple dimer model of vibronic coupling it is demonstrated that, contrary to the conventional notion, the Davydov splitting of the fundamental vibronic transition in non-totally symmetric vibrations, induced by the Herzberg—Teller mechanism, does not need to be very small.     

Dominant channels of vibronic transitions in molecules with several identical modes

Weak-coupling radiationless transitions (internal conversion or inter system crossing) are studied assuming separability and symmetry over N identical modes. Franck–Condon factors control the branching ratios between exciting just one of the equivalent modes, or equally distributing the available energy. The dominant process can be predicted by an exact quantum mechanical solution if the wavefunctions are known (Gaussian initial distributions and accepting Morse or Poeschl-Teller oscillators, for example); or more generally by a Wigner phase space surface-jumping analysis based on a classical limit of the Wigner function, using only the donor distribution and the acceptor potential surface.     

Vibronic coupling and radiative transitions

A dynamical treatment of vibration-induced radiative transitions is given by considering the relevant electronic wavefunction to be dependent on both the position and the velocity of the nuclei along some specific (antisymmetrical) vibrational co-ordinate.     

Selectivity of vibronic coupling in complex molecules with benzene fragments

This paper deals with the mechanisms of localization of Franck-Condon vibronic coupling of πσ^*- or πlπ^*-orbital type in a few vibrational modes, (LVM) in excited electronic states of polyatomic molecules. The analysis of vibronic coupling uses highly symmetric basis sets (for representing MO structures and normal coordinates ξ_R) as well as simplified models that relate the shift Δ_R of the electron potential minima along the normal coordinates to the MO structure and to ξ_R in the form of analytical expressions. The modes that are active in LVM are determined from the experimental luminescence spectra. These ideas about approximately high local symmetry of vibronic coupling in benzene fragments as well as the estimates of Δ_R depending on variations in the MO structure explain the experimental results. L. Ya. Karpov Physicochemical Scientific Research Institute. Translated fromZhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 286–291, March–April, 1995. Translated by L. Smolina     

Intermolecular vibronic coupling and energy transfer in a flat molecular aggregate

Summary The migration of excitation within a small flat molecular aggregate composed of identical molecules is described using a Davidov-like model and a mechanism of excitation transfer of Förster type. We consider in this model the changes that take place in the equilibrium position of each molecule upon excitation and construct energy surfaces that describe paths, that is, conditions for excitation localization and transfer that govern, in first-order, the motion of excitation within the aggregate.Presented in part at XVIII Jornadas Chilenas de Química, Santiago, 1989     

Electronic and vibronic contributions to two-photon absorption in donor-acceptor-donor squaraine chromophores

Many squaraines have been observed to exhibit two-photon absorption at transition energies close to those of the lowest energy one-photon electronic transitions. Here, the electronic and vibronic contributions to these low-energy two-photon absorptions are elucidated by performing correlated quantum-chemical calculations on model chromophores that differ in their terminal donor groups (diarylaminothienyl, indolenylidenemethyl, dimethylaminopolyenyl, or 4-(dimethylamino)phenylpolyenyl). For squaraines with diarylaminothienyl and dimethylaminopolyenyl donors and for the longer examples of 4-(dimethylamino)phenylpolyenyl donors, the calculated energies of the lowest two-photon active states approach those of the lowest energy one-photon active (1B(u)) states. This is consistent with the existence of purely electronic channels for low-energy two-photon absorption (TPA) in these types of chromophores. On the other hand, for all squaraines containing indolinylidenemethyl donors, the calculations indicate that there are no low-lying electronic states of appropriate symmetry for TPA. Actually, we find that the lowest energy TPA transitions can be explained through coupling of the one-photon absorption (OPA) active 1B(u) state with b(u) vibrational modes. Through implementation of Herzberg-Teller theory, we are able to identify the vibrational modes responsible for the low-energy TPA peak and to reproduce, at least qualitatively, the experimental TPA spectra of several squaraines of this type.