Structures and excitation energies of Zn–tetraarylporphyrin analogues: A theoretical study

The photophysical properties of β-substituted Zn–tetraarylporphyrin (ZnTAP) analogues used as dyes in dye-sensitized solar cells were studied using density functional theory (DFT). Singlet-excitation energy calculations of ZnTAP analogues were performed using time-dependent DFT with B3LYP, B3PW91, PBE0 exchange–correlation functionals at 6-31G(d) and 6-31+G(d) basis sets using B3LYP/6-31G(d) geometries. The PBE0 functional at 6-31+G(d) basis set provided a better correlation with the experimental data for both B- and Q-bands. The inclusion of solvation effect in the calculations provided a good agreement in terms of B:Q_ave ratio of the oscillator strengths for both analogues with the experimental values. Analogue 2 has a higher and a more balanced charge-carrier transport rates than analogue 1. In general, the addition of an electron-donating group in the meso-substituent (analogue 2) resulted in a narrower band gap, higher oscillator strength, a more red-shifted absorption spectra, and better charge-transfer characteristics than analogue 1.     

Calculation of vertical excitation energies of closed-shell molecules in the CNDO and INDO approximations

The Green's function method for the calculation of vertical excitation energies is adapted to the CNDO and INDO approximations by introducing an effective interaction into the irreducible vertex part. The computational scheme is explicitly developed for closed-shell molecules and applied to H₂O, H₂CO, HCOOH, HCONH₂.     

A DFT/TDDFT study of Li and Mg interactions with ketocyanine dye

Density Functional Theory calculations have been used to study the complexation of a ketocyanine dye with Li⁺ and Mg²⁺ ions. Structures of dye–ion complexes and singlet transition energies have been found in vacuum and in the acetonitrile solution using different DFT functionals. It has been demonstrated that accounting for the solvent effect plays crucial role in correct reproduction of electronic spectrum of complexed dye. The best agreement between calculated transition energies or spectral red shifts and experimental values has been obtained for hybrid O3LYP functional.     

A model study to carbocyclic formycin A and B analogues

An efficient synthesis of carbocyclic formycin analogues has been developed to serve as the foundation for the preparation of a variety of formycin-based antiviral agents.     

Electron affinities, excitation energies and ionization potentials of the transition metals (I) Sc and Ti

The electron affinities of the Sc and Ti atoms have been obtained by configuration interaction calculations. Energy convergence with respect to the systematic expansion of both the one-electron basis set and the configuration space was investigated for valence electrons, and the inclusion of correlation contributions from core electrons and relativistic effects gave the electron affinities of 0.181 eV and 0.163 eV for Sc and Ti, respectively. These are in excellent agreement with the observed values of 0.189 ± 0.020 eV and 0.080 eV. The same approach was applied for the first excited states and positive ions of both atoms. Excellent agreement with the experimental results was also obtained for these states. Received: 16 February 1998 / Accepted: 2 April 1998 / Published online: 23 June 1998     

A DFT/TDDFT study of porphyrazines and phthalocyanine oxo‐titanium derivatives as potential dyes in solar cells

Density functional theory and time dependent density functional theory calculations at the level of LDA/BP86/TZ2P were performed systematically on several Ti(IV) complexes of porphyrazines and one phthalocyanine. We performed an analysis of the frontier molecular orbitals of the ground state electronic structures and also discuss in particular the good concordance of our results with the experimental data, which affords to predict the geometrical and optical properties of new complexes ( 3 , 4 , and 7 ). We also emphasize the characterization of the UV–vis absorption spectra and propose transitions that contribute to the Q and B bands. Some useful calculated properties in complexes 2 , 3 , and 7 , like: high light absorption in the visible region of the spectra, transitions involved in these bands with a determined direction, charge separation, bigger highest occupied molecular orbital–lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO‐LUMO) gaps than complexes 4 and 5 , and the energy of their LUMO orbitals (that are higher than the lowest energy level of the conduction band of the TiO₂) indicate that system complexes 2 , 3 , and 7 could act as light‐harvesting sensitizers for dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSCs). These proposals were made using a model of the previously experimentally known phthalocyanine, which was used as sensitizer in DSCs devices, comparing its electronic properties with the herein proposed sensitizers. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011     

A TDDFT investigation of bay substituted perylenediimides: Absorption and intersystem crossing

The conformational structure and electronic spectra properties of a series of bay substituted perylenediimides (PDI) derivatives have been investigated by means of density functional theory (DFT) and time‐dependent DFT. The B3LYP and PBE0 hybrid exchange‐correlation functionals were applied in conjunction with the double‐ζ quality SVP basis set. These compounds are interesting for organic materials science and as photosensitizers in cancer phototherapy (PDT), because of their intense absorption in the visible region. Results show that the substitution at the bay position of the PDI parent molecule with N‐alkyl groups shifts the absorption maxima towards the red part of the visible spectrum (around 650–700 nm) as required for the applications in PDT. The main PDT action mechanisms have been investigated by computing of electron affinities, ionization potentials, triplet energies and spin‐orbit matrix elements between singlet and triplet excited states. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

MRSDCI studies of low-lying electronic states of the CF 2 + ion

Summary The equilibrium geometries, excitation energies, force constants and vibrational frequencies for four low-lying electronic statesX ² A ₁,² B ₁,² B ₂ and² A ₂ of the CF ₂ ⁺ ion have been calculated at the MRSDCI level with a double zeta plus polarization basis set. Our calculated excitation energies for these states and vibrational frequencies for the ground state are in good agreement with experimental data via photoelectron spectroscopy of the CF₂ radical (carbene). The electronic transition dipole moments, oscillator strengths for the² B ₁ X ² A ₁ and² B ₂ X ² A ₁ transitions, radiative lifetimes for the² B ₁ and² B ₂ states and the spin properties for theX ² A ₁ state are calculated based on the MRSDCI wavefunctions.     

含Pt配合物电子结构和非线性光学性质的TDDFT研究

利用含时密度泛函理论(TDDFT)对trans-(PEt3)2Pt(X)(p-Ph-NO2)的有机金属配合物进行结构优化, 并计算了电子光谱和二阶非线性光学(NLO)性质, 结果表明在1064 nm光场下, 2个分子的共振效应很强, 在远离共振的1907nm的下, 分子的一阶超极化率是尿素的40倍左右。     

Theoretical study of selenium and tellurium impurities in (ZnO)6 clusters using DFT and TDDFT

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures have attracted much interest due to their potential applications in various fields including optoelectronics, glass industries, and solar cells. These compounds hold the promise of creating new materials that can advance energy technologies. In this work, a series of (ZnO)₆ clusters with selenium and tellurium applied as substitutional impurities has been studied. The investigated structures have been produced through the doping of (ZnO)₆ clusters by replacing an oxygen atom with a selenium or a tellurium atom at each time. The ground state geometric parameters of (ZnO)₆ structures, containing selenium or tellurium atoms as substitutional impurities, were calculated using density functional theory (DFT) with B3LYP and LanL2DZ basis set. Excited state energies and absorption wavelengths were computed using time‐dependent‐DFT (TDDFT). For the calculation of emission wavelengths, Hartree–Fock configuration interaction singles (HF/CIS) has been used in order to perform the excited state geometry optimization. This work led to some important results that can be helpful for developing novel THz sensitive materials and imaging detectors that may be an alternative to x‐rays detectors for radiology as well as for the development of solar cells and electroluminescent diodes. Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures have attracted growing interest due to their potential applications in many technological fields, including optoelectronics, the glass industry, and energy. The presence of impurities, in particular selenium and tellurium, in ZnO‐based clusters can affect their structural and spectroscopic properties. Some of these doped nanostructures have favorable Terahertz emission characteristics that make them good candidates for applications in biology and medicine.     

A TDDFT study of the excited states of DNA bases and their assemblies

We present a detailed study of the optical absorption spectra of DNA bases and base pairs, carried out by means of time dependent density functional theory. The spectra for the isolated bases are compared to available theoretical and experimental data and used to assess the accuracy of the method and the quality of the exchange-correlation functional. Our approach turns out to be a reliable tool to describe the response of the nucleobases. Furthermore, we analyze in detail the impact of hydrogen bonding and pi-stacking in the calculated spectra for both Watson-Crick base pairs and Watson-Crick stacked assemblies. We show that the reduction of the UV absorption intensity (hypochromicity) for light polarized along the base-pair plane depends strongly on the type of interaction. For light polarized perpendicular to the basal plane, the hypochromicity effect is reduced, but another characteristic is found, namely a blue shift of the optical spectrum of the base-assembly compared to that of the isolated bases. The use of optical tools as fingerprints for the characterization of the structure (and type of interaction) is extensively discussed.     

Synthesis and structural study of carbocyclic analogues of 1,2-disubstituted nucleosides

The compounds (±)-cis- and (±)-trans-9-[(2-hydroxymethyl) cyclopentyl]guanine (1 and 2 respectively) were efficiently synthesized by the construction of the purine base on the primary amino group of cis- and trans-2-aminocyclopentylmethanol. The 3D structures of these two 1,2-disubstituted carbanucleosides in DMSO were determined using molecular dynamics calculations with experimental NMR restraints on the basis of the information obtained from a ROESY spectrum. These structures were compared with those obtained in vacuo using molecular dynamics and AM1 semiempirical calculations. The global structures of the two compounds are very similar in the two environments studied, meaning that the structural determination in the gas phase can be extrapolated to molecular simulation studies in solution for compounds of this type.     

Quantum chemical calculations of tryptophan → heme electron and excitation energy transfer rates in myoglobin

The development of optical multidimensional spectroscopic techniques has opened up new possibilities for the study of biological processes. Recently, ultrafast two‐dimensional ultraviolet spectroscopy experiments have determined the rates of tryptophan → heme electron transfer and excitation energy transfer for the two tryptophan residues in myoglobin (Consani et al., Science, 2013, 339, 1586). Here, we show that accurate prediction of these rates can be achieved using Marcus theory in conjunction with time‐dependent density functional theory. Key intermediate residues between the donor and acceptor are identified, and in particular the residues Val68 and Ile75 play a critical role in calculations of the electron coupling matrix elements. Our calculations demonstrate how small changes in structure can have a large effect on the rates, and show that the different rates of electron transfer are dictated by the distance between the heme and tryptophan residues, while for excitation energy transfer the orientation of the tryptophan residues relative to the heme is important. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Computational Chemistry Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Effect of substituents on the absorption properties of three pyridylindolizine derivatives: A DFT and TDDFT study

Ground state properties and the UV–Vis absorption spectra of three recently synthesized pyridylindolizine derivatives have been studied by using density functional theory (DFT) and its time-dependent counterpart TDDFT. Performances of the two widely used hybrid functionals, B3LYP and PBE0, and of four different basis sets have been compared. The two functionals yield absorption spectra which have very similar shapes and characteristics but the excitations calculated with PBE0 are obtained at slightly shorter wavelengths. Basis sets affect the appearances of the calculated absorption spectra only little. Independent of the solvent polarity, simulation of the solvent effects by COSMO induces only slight changes into the ground state properties compared to those calculated in the gas-phase and into the absorption spectra.     

Backflush HPLC for the isolation of polycyclic aromatic compounds — A comparative study

Summary Semipreparative HPLC utilizing a polar bonded phase was applied to the isolation of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAC) from complex samples using a backflush technique. Aminopropyl- and cyanopropyl-modified silica was tested. Aminopropyl-modified silica was found to be superior in achieving rapid, selective and non discriminating isolation of PAC. This was compared with the most commonly used isolation methods, dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), dimethylformamide (DMF) and nitromethane liquid-liquid extractions, and silica and SephadexLH-20 open column chromatography. Strong discrimination of alkylated PAC and polycyclic aromatic nitrogen heterocyclics (PANH) was found for the liquid-liquid extractions and the LH-20 column chromatography. These comparisions were made using both standard compounds and a sample of used crankcase oil, indicating the necessity of using a real sample for evaluation of extraction methods. Recoveries of 42 PACs are reported.     

Effect of thermal fluctuations on the electronic excitation energies of linear polyenes: A combined molecular dynamics and TD-DFT study

In the present study, thermally averaged electronic excitation energies (the so-called dynamic approach) are quantitatively assessed for a model molecular system composed of a series of increasingly longer chains of simple linear polyenes. The molecular dynamics trajectories are calculated using the semi-empirical “Geometry, Frequency, Noncovalent, eXtended Tight Binding” (GFN2-xTB) method, while TD-DFT vertical excitation energies of selected snapshots are obtained with the spin-component-scaled double hybrid density functional SCS-wPBEPP86. Boltzmann weighted average excitation energies were then calculated in order to take into account the contribution of thermal motions. Excitation energies via the dynamic approach are compared with that of the static approach in which thermal fluctuations are not considered. The differences between the dynamic and the static approaches were found to be around the range $-0.01$ to $+0.01$ eV for polyenes up to 44 carbon atoms. This range of errors is relatively small in comparison with typical errors produced by using different density functionals and/or basis sets. Therefore, the electronic excited states of small to medium lengths of linear polyenes (less than 50 carbon atoms) can be safely modeled via the static approach. However, extrapolation of the results to longer polyenes indicates that the difference between both approaches is estimated to be 0.05 eV for polyenes containing 100 carbon atoms, which suggests that considering thermal motions in the calculations of excitation energies is recommended for such long conjugated molecular systems.     

Extended mesoionic systems: synthesis and characterization of monocyclic, polycyclic and macrocyclic pyrimidinium-olate derivatives and their photochemical behavior

Mesoionic pyrimidinium-olate derivatives have been known to undergo photoreactions upon irradiation with UV light to form bis(beta-lactame) structures for about two decades. Here, new mono-, poly- and macrocyclic mesoions were prepared and their photochemical rearrangement behavior was investigated. The synthesized compounds were characterized by NMR, IR, UV/Vis spectroscopy, elemental analysis and mass spectrometry. The extension of the aromatic core leads to a significant red-shift of the absorption maximum from ∼380 to ∼430 nm, indicating a strong electronic coupling of the mesoionic base chromophore with the annellated aromatic subunit. The rigidity of the extended aromatic system prevents polycyclic mesoions from shifting to their bis(beta-lactame) isomers, while the alkyl bridge of the 16-membered macrocycle in an ansa-mesoion does not inhibit photochemical rearrangement.     

A cascade process toward the synthesis of fused polycyclic dihydropyridines

The synthesis of fused polycyclic dihydropyridines was achieved using a cascade process comprising a Suzuki coupling, a nucleophilic cyclization and a hydrogen migration. Several functional groups are tolerated in this reaction and the methodology could be applied with success to quinoline and isoquinoline derivatives.