THE ORIENTATION OF THE TRANSITION DIPOLE MOMENTS OF CHLOROPHYLL a and PHEOPHYTIN a IN THEIR MOLECULAR FRAME

Abstract— In this paper we describe the determination of the orientation of the absorption and emission transition dipoles of chlorophyll a and pheophytin a in their molecular frame. For this purpose we have embedded the pigments in anhydrous nitrocellulose films with a concentration of 2 × 10^-7 mol/g. We have shown previously that under these conditions the pigments are in a purely monomeric state, are distributed uniformly both before and after stretching and that no intermolecular energy transfer among the molecules takes place.
Using a combination of steady-state anisotropy experiments on unstretched films and angle-resolved fluorescence depolarization measurements on stretched films, we obtain the orientation of the transition dipole moments of both pigments in their molecular frame and the orientational distribution function of the molecules relative to the stretching direction of the film.
The steady-state anisotropy measurements indicate that chlorophyll a has two distinct emission dipole moments and that excitation in the Soret-region results in simultaneous excitation of two or more absorption transition dipole moments. On the other hand, excitation in the Q_Y-band involves only a single dipole moment. The directions of the transition dipole moments in the molecular frame are obtained from the angle-resolved measurements. Pheophytin a also exhibits two emission dipole moments, but the angle between them is much smaller than that between the corresponding dipoles for chlorophyll a . As a consequence the dipole moments contributing to the Soret-region could not be resolved and only an effective absorption transition dipole moment in the Soret-region is extracted.     

Optical imaging of excited-state tautomerization in single molecules

Tautomerism process of single fluorescent molecules was studied by means of confocal microscopy in combination with azimuthally or radially polarized laser beams. During a tautomerism process the transition dipole moment (TDM) of a molecule changes its orientation which can be visualized by the fluorescence excitation image of the molecule. We present experimental and theoretical studies of two porphyrazine-type molecules and one type of porphyrin molecule: a symmetrically substituted metal-free phthalocyanine and porphyrin, and nonsymmetrically substituted porphyrazine. In the case of phthalocyanine the fluorescence excitation patterns show that the angle between the transition dipole moments of the two tautomeric forms is near 90°, in agreement with quantum chemical calculations. For porphyrazine we find that the orientation change of the TDM is less than 60° or larger than 120°, as theoretically predicted. Most of the porphyrin molecules show no photoinduced tautomerization, while for 7% of the total number of investigated molecules we observed excitation patterns of two different trans forms of the same single molecule. We demonstrate for the first time that a molecule, undergoing a tautomerism process stays in one tautomeric trans conformation during a time comparable with the acquisition time of one excitation pattern. This allowed us to visualize the existence of each of the two trans forms of one single porphyrin molecule, as well as the sudden switching between these tautomers.     

Single dibenzoterrylene molecules in an anthracene crystal: main insertion sites.

We present a spectroscopic study of the properties of the two principal insertion sites (at 785.1 and 794.3 nm) of single dibenzoterrylene molecules in anthracene single crystals at cryogenic temperatures. We measured the temperature dependence of the line width, the orientation of the transition dipole moments, and the Stark effect. We performed molecular dynamics simulations, which show that one dibenzoterrylene molecule preferably replaces three anthracene molecules. From simulated annealing, we derive the molecular conformations in the most stable insertion sites and the orientations of the transition dipole moments. The good agreement between the spectroscopic results and the simulations allows us to propose unambiguous structures for the two principal spectroscopic sites.     

Optical excitations in star-shaped fluorene molecules

A detailed study of the low-energy optical transitions in two families of star-shaped molecules is presented. Both families have 3-fold rotational symmetry with oligofluorene arms attached to a central core. In one family, the core of the molecule is a rigid meta-linked truxene, while the other is a meta-linked benzene moiety. The low-energy transitions were studied both experimentally and using time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT). The optical transitions of these new star-shaped molecules were compared with corresponding linear oligofluorenes. Both families of star-shaped molecules showed higher absorption and fluorescence dipoles and photoluminescence quantum yields than straight chain oligofluorenes. TD-DFT calculations show that absorption takes place across the entire molecule, and after excited state relaxation, the emission results from a single arm. In both theory and experiment the transition dipole moments show an approximate n(0.5) dependence on the number of fluorene units in each arm.     

Photoinduced intramolecular charge transfer to meta position of benzene ring in 6-aminophthalides

Substitution of non-fluorescent phthalide (Pd) with amino group at meta (6) position in relation to the electron-accepting part of the lactone ring completely changes Pd photophysics: a new long-wavelength absorption band arises and the molecule becomes highly fluorescent. The experimental data and the analysis of vertical electronic transitions with TDDFT method indicate that the first absorption band in 6-aminophthalides (6-APds) comprises a single CT transition to the S1 state. Almost equal absorption and emission transition dipole moments indicate that S0 <--> S1 transition in all 6-APds is not affected by any mixing with other electronic states, the excited-state vibrational relaxation is not accompanied by significant conformational changes and the Stokes shifts reflect mainly solvation energetics of these molecules. Excited state dipole moments obtained from solvatochromic plots and from CASSCF calculations confirm large charge displacement from amino group towards the meta position of the benzene ring upon excitation of 6-APds to S1 state. Long fluorescence lifetimes and high fluorescence quantum yields demonstrate efficient and stable excited state charge separation in 6-APds. Taken together with sensitivity of 6-APds to polarity and proticity of the environment these properties make them good candidates for fluorescent probes of long-time scale molecular dynamics.     

Dipole moments,transition moments,oscillator strengths,radiative lifetimes,and overtone intensities for CH and CH+ as computed by quasi-degenerate many-body perturbation theory

The correlated, size-consistent, ab initio effective valence-shell dipole operator (μ^v) method is used to calculate dipole moments and transition dipole moments of the CH molecule and transition dipole moments of the CH⁺ ion as a function of internuclear distance. The dipole and transition dipole moments computed here compare well with those of other accurate ab initio methods. The transition dipole moments are then used to calculate oscillator strengths and radiative lifetimes for the A → X and B → A transitions of the CH⁺ ion and the A → X transition of the CH molecule. Comparisons are made with the best available theoretical and experimental lifetimes. Finally, the CH ground-state dipole moment function is used to evaluate overtone intensities and to examine simple models of the CH overtone intensities in polyatomic molecules.     

Dipole moment functions of van der waals complexes of HF and HCl with rare gas atoms

A simple electrostatic model based on a single-centre multipole expansion is applied to derive the dipole moment functions of complexes formed by the HF (DF) and HCl (DCl) molecules with rare gas atoms. Vibrationally averaged ground state dipole moments agree quite well with the available experimental data. Some transition dipole moments for the internal modes of complexes are also estimated.     

Solvent effects on the absorption and fluorescence spectra of coumarins 6 and 7 molecules: determination of ground and excited state dipole moment

Absorption and fluorescence emission spectra of coumarins 6 and 7 were recorded in solvents with different solvent parameters, viz., dielectric constant epsilon and refractive index n. The fluorescence lifetime of these dyes were measured in butanol at higher values of viscosity over temperature. Experimental ground and excited state dipole moments are determined by means of solvatochromic shift method and also the excited state dipole moments are determined in combination with ground state dipole moments. It was determined that dipole moments of the excited state were higher than those of the ground state in both the molecules.     

First-order model potential for optical dipole transitions: Application to the lithium isoelectronic sequence

We have constructed two first-order model potentials which were designed to yield dipole transition moments, and have applied them to the lithium isoelectronic sequence. The models contain two or three adjustable parameters, chosen so as to reproduce selected transition moment data on a single ion of the sequence. With negligible computational effort, they both yield other transition moments of high accuracy.     

Influence of solvent and substituent on excited state characteristics of laser grade coumarin dyes

Absorption and fluorescence emission of 4 and 7 substituted coumarins viz. C 440, C 490, C 485 and C 311 have been studied in various polar and non-polar organic solvents. These coumarin dyes are substituted with alkyl, amine and fluorine groups at 4- and 7-positions. They give different absorption and emission spectra in different solvents. The study leads to a possible assignment of energy level scheme for such coumarins including the effect on ground state and excited state dipole moments due to substitutions. Excited state dipole moments of these dyes are calculated by solvetochromic data experimentally and theoretically these are calculated by PM 3 method. The dipole moments in excited state, for all molecules investigated here, are higher than the corresponding values in the ground state. The increase in dipole moment has been explained in terms of the nature of excited state and resonance structure.     

Time-resolved fluorescence studied at dielectric interfaces

Luminescence spectra, fluorescence decay curves and time-resolved emission spectra of aromatic molecules and aromatics with proton donating or accepting groups adsorbed on low activated dielectric metal oxides have been investigated. The non-exponential decay is assigned to a superposition of monomer and aggregate fluorescence, to different orientation of the transition dipole moments relative to the dielectric surface, and to different chemical nature of the adsorbed species. According to the extremely prolongation of the decay times of aromatics with proton donating and accepting groups it is assumed that these molecules are adsorbed perpendicular to the surface while pure aromatics are flat adsorbed via their aromatic π-system.     

Excited state dipole moments and polarizabilities of centrosymmetric and dimeric molecules. II. Polyenes, polyynes and cumulenes

Electro-optical absorption spectra are measured for a series of polyenes, polyynes and cumulenes with centrosymmetric π-chromophores in cyclohexane solution at 298 K. For all molecules the long-axis component of the polarizability tensor is considerably larger in the first dipole-allowed singlet state compared to the ground state. The transition moments are found to be parallel to the long molecular axis. All polyenes and one cumulene show a linear Stark component indicating a long-axis excited state dipole moment. Both the dipole moments and the polarizabilities are corrected within the extended Onsager model for solvent cavity and reaction field effects. It is suggested that symmetry lowering solvent perturbations are the reason for the apparent excited state dipole moments.     

Electronic transition dipole moment directions of reduced anionic flavin in stretched poly(vinyl alcohol) films

The IR and UV/vis linear dichroic spectra of reduced anionic flavin mononucleotide (FMNH-) partially oriented in poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) films have been measured to determine the direction of the major electronic transition dipole moments. The IR linear dichroism (LD) was measured in the 1750-1350 cm(-1) region to provide the overall molecular orientation of the FMNH- in the stretched films. Time-dependent density functional theory using the B3LYP functional was used to calculate the normal modes and the transition dipole moments of reduced lumiflavin. The calculated normal modes assisted in IR band assignments and in the determination of the IR transition dipole moment directions which were required for the determination of the orientation parameters for FMNH- in PVA films. The UV/vis LD spectrum was measured over the 200-700 nm region and was resolved into contributions from three pi-->pi* transitions. The directions of the transitions are 90 degrees+/-4 degrees at 440 nm, 79 degrees+/-4 degrees at 350 nm, and 93 degrees+/-4 degrees at 290 nm with counterclockwise rotations with respect to the N5-N10 axis. Comparison of the calculated and experimentally determined transition dipole moments allowed for refined assignment of the transition dipole moment directions. To our knowledge, this is the first experimental evidence that the 350-450 nm absorption arises from two unique transitions. Remarkably, the two lowest energy transition dipole moments for FMNH- are nearly parallel to those obtained in prior studies for both oxidized and semiquinone flavin.     

Chiroptical properties of an optically pure dicopper(I) trefoil knot and its enantioselectivity in luminescence quenching reactions

Chiroptical spectroscopy is used to investigate the properties of an optically pure dinuclear copper(I) trefoil knot. For the metal-to-ligand charge tranfer (MLCT) transition in the visible region (520 nm), the electric and magnetic transition dipole moments are determined from absorption and circular dichroism spectra: 2.8 Debye and 0.5 Bohr magneton (muB). Circular polarization in the luminescence (CPL) of the knot is determined and this allows the electric and magnetic transition dipole moments in emission to be calculated: 0.02 Debye and 0.003 muB. The large difference between the moments in absorption and emission shows that the emission observed does not originate directly from the 1MLCT state. Given the low probability for radiative decay we assign the long-lived emitting excited state to a 3MLCT state. The copper(I) trefoil knot is found to quench the emission from TbIII and EuIII(dpa)3(3)-(dpa = pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylate) with a bimolecular rate constant of 3.2 and 3.3 x 10(7)M(-1)S(-1), respectively, at room temperature in water-acetonitrile (1:1 by volume). Experimental results indicate that the (lambda)-knot preferentially quenches the lambda enantiomer of the lanthanide complex with an enantioselectivity (ratio of quenching rate constants for lambda and lambda: kqlambda/kqdelta) of 1.012+/-0.002 for EuIII and 1.0180+/-0.003 for TbIII.     

Electronic coherences and vibrational wave-packets in single molecules studied with femtosecond phase-controlled spectroscopy

Employing femtosecond pulse-shaping techniques we investigate ultrafast, coherent and incoherent dynamics in single molecules at room temperature. In first experiments single molecules are excited into their purely electronic 0-0 transition by phase-locked double-pulse sequences with pulse durations of 75 fs and 20 nm spectral band width. Their femtosecond kinetics can then be understood in terms of a 2-level system and modelled with the optical Bloch equations. We find that we observe the coherence decay in single molecules, and the purely electronic dephasing times can be retrieved directly in the time domain. In addition, the Rabi-frequencies and thus the transition dipole moments of single molecules are determined from these data. Upon excitation of single molecules into a vibrational level of the electronically excited state also incoherent intra-molecular vibrational relaxation is recorded. Increasing the spectral band width of the excitation pulses to up to 120 nm (resulting in a transform-limited pulse width of 15 fs) coherent superpositions of excited state vibrational modes, i.e. vibrational wave packets, are excited. The wave-packet oscillations in the excited state potential energy surface are followed in time by a phase-controlled pump-probe scheme, which permits to record wave packet interference, and to determine the energies of vibrational modes and their coupling strengths to the electronic transition.     

Dipole moments of nitro derivatives of indazole

The dipole moments of indazole and a number of its nitro derivatives in dioxane solution were measured. The directions of the vectors of the dipole moments of indazole in the tautomeric 1-H and 2-H forms were determined to solve the problems associated with the tautomerism and the position of the substituents in the molecules. The experimental values of the dipole moments, of the investigated compounds were compared with the values calculated via a vector additive scheme. As a result it was shown that the mononitro and dinitro derivatives of indazole exist primarily in the 1-H tautomeric form, whereas the trinitro and tetranitroindazoles exist in the 2-H tautomeric form. The ratios of the isomers were calculated for compounds that have dipole moments intermediate between the 1-H and 2-H forms. A deviation between the experimental and calculated dipole moments of compounds containing two nitro groups in the ortho position was established; this may be explained by disruption of the coplanarity of the molecules or by deviation from additivity because of the introduction of strong electron-acceptor substituents.Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 12, pp. 1669–1671, December, 1977.     

Dielectric behaviour of binary dual-frequency nematics with low crossover frequencies

Binary dual-frequency nematic liquid crystals synthesised at the Military University of Technology were measured by dielectric means. All the investigated materials exhibit low crossover frequency. They were composed of only two molecules with longitudinal and transverse dipole moments. The main difference is the molecular weight of the molecules. Results of relaxation parameters of detected mode and crossover frequency are shown. The influence of structure on ion conductivity is discussed. The broad phase transition from an isotropic phase to a nematic one was observed.     

Electrochromism and Solvatochromism

The position and the intensity of electronic bands are influenced by an electric field. Pronounced changes in the position of absorption bands are mainly due to the dipole moment of the molecule in the ground state and the change in the dipole moment during the excitation process, and pronounced changes in intensity are due to the field dependence of the transition moment, which can be described by the transition polarizability. The effect of an external electric field on the optical absorption (electrochromism) of suitable molecules can be used to determine the dipole moment in the ground state, the change in dipole moment during the excitation process, the direction of the transition moment of the electronic band, and certain components of the transition polarizability tensor. These data largely determine the strong solvatochromism (solvent-dependence of the position and intensity of electronic bands), which is observed in particular with molecules having large dipole moments. Smaller contributions to solvatochromism result from dispersion interactions, which predominate in the case of nonpolar molecules. The models developed have been experimentally checked and verified by a combination of electro-optical absorption measurements (influence of an external electric field on absorption) and investigation of the solvent-dependence of the electronic bands.     

SPECTROSCOPIC AND ORIENTATIONAL PROPERTIES OF CHLOROPHYLL a AND CHLOROPHYLL b IN LIPID MEMBRANES

Abstract
Linear dichroism and fluorescence depolarization measurements on chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b molecules incorporated into macroscopically oriented multibilayers of the plant lipid digalactosyldiacylglycerol (DGDG) are presented. The results are combined with measurements of fluorescence anisotropy to obtain both the order parameters describing the orientational statistics and the directions of the absorption and emission transition moments in the frame of the molecules. The problem presented by the overlapping nature of the absorption and emission bands is overcome by determining the fluorescence depolarization at the two maxima of the emission spectrum.