On the analyses of fluorescence depolarisation data in the presence of electronic energy migration. Part I: Theory and general description

A new and general procedure is described for a detailed analysis of time-resolved fluorescence depolarisation data in the presence of electronic energy migration. An isotropic ensemble of bifluorophoric molecules (D(1)-R-D(2)) has been studied to demonstrate its utility. Intramolecular donor-donor energy migration occurs between the two donor groups (D), which are covalently connected to a rigid linker group (R). These groups undergo restricted reorientational motions with respect to the R group. The analysis of depolarisation data basically involves the search for best-fit parameters which describe the local reorientational motions, the intermolecular D(1)-D(2) distance, as well as the mutual orientations of the donors. For this, the analysis is partly performed on the Fourier domain and the best-fit parameters are determined by using an approach based on a Genetic Algorithm. The energy migration process has been described by using Monte Carlo simulations and an extended F?rster theory (EFT). It is found that the EFT provides the least time-consuming computational method. Since one-photon and two-photon excited fluorescence experiments can be applied for energy migration studies, a general and unified theoretical formulation is given.     

Molecular geometry and excited electronic states : Part VII. Theoretical study on conformational geometries and the dual fluorescence of styrene

Equilibrium molecular geometries of styrene in the electronic S₀, S₁, and S₂, states have been calculated within the scope of the adiabatic approximation by minimization of the total energy with respect to all molecular coordinates. Besides the most stable planar structures, some further conformers twisted about the single and/or double bonds have been found. An interpretation of the styrene dual fluorescence is given using these results.     

Donor fluorescence decay in the rhodamine 6G-malachite green system in the presence of energy migration

The decay of rhodamine 6G fluorescence in the presence of malachite green was investigated. For the systems subject to investigations the electronic excitation energy migration among rhodamine 6G molecules plays an essential role in the process of energy transfer to malachite green. The epxerimental results were compared with a theoretical formula for the fluorescence decay function.     

Transfer of electronic energy to vibrational degrees of freedom in complex molecules. Part II

A study is made of the mean of the energy operator for the n-th oscillator with respect to the wave functions of part I. This mean is found to be a highly oscillatory function of time, which implies that it is best described via a distribution function giving the time spent by the function between specified limits. The probability of dissociation at a particular bond is deduced, and the results are compared with the mass spectra produced from long-chain paraffins irradiated with fast electrons. Theory is in qualitative agreement with the observed spectra. Results obtained with C¹³ labels [9] are explained.     

Solving the spectroscopic phase: imaging excited wave packets and extracting excited state potentials from fluorescence data

We develop an inversion scheme for obtaining the signs of transition-dipole amplitudes from fluorescence line intensities. Using the amplitudes thus obtained we show how to extract highly accurate excited state potential(s) and the transition-dipole(s) as a function of inter-nuclear displacements. The same dipole amplitudes can also be used to extract the phase and amplitude of unknown time-evolving wave packets, in essentially a quantum non-demolition manner. The procedure, which is demonstrated for the A((1)∑) and B((1)Π(u)) states of the Na(2) molecule, is shown to yield reliable results even when we are given incomplete or uncertain data. We also demonstrate the success of our approach in extracting double minimum potentials. The inversion scheme is in principle applicable to any polyatomic molecule.     

Molecular geometry and excited electronic states : Part XIII. Conformational geometries of 9,10-diphenyl anthracene in different electronic states and its electronic spectral behaviour

The conformational geometries of 9,10-diphenyl anthracene in the S₀, S₁, and T₁ electronic states determined by means of the Warshel—Karplus method are presented. Based on the theoretical equilibrium geometries of the con- and dis-twisted conformations the calculated electronic transition energies and oscillator strengths are used for an interpretation of the electronic spectral behaviour in absorption and fluorescence. The corresponding theory-experiment comparison performed is satisfactory.     

Intramolecular energy migration and transfer in macromolecules. A fluorescence depolarization approach

Intramolecular energy migration and trapping by acceptor species which are an integral part of a macromolecule have been studied in three polymer systems using the techniques of fluorescence depolarization. The effect of energy migration produces depolarization of both donor and acceptor emissions. Copolymers of styrene with 1-vinylaphthalene or 2-phenyl-5-(p-vinyl)phenyloxazole have been studied. In addition, energy transfer to a terminal anthracene species has been studied in a polyvinyltoluene sample. When energy transfer occurs with unit efficiency, the depolarization of acceptor emission reflects the path length available to the migrating exciton. In cases of lesser transfer efficiency, the acceptor emission exhibits depolarization characteristics which reflect the distribution of migration lengths from the site of energy absorption.     

Non-radiative depletion of the excited electronic states of 9-cyanoanthracene in presence of tetrahydronaphthols

Both steady state and time resolved spectroscopic measurements reveal that the prime process involved in quenching mechanism of the lowest excited singlet (S1) and triplet (T1) states of the well known electron acceptor 9-Cyanoanthracene (9CNA) in presence of 5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1-naphthol (TH1N) or 5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-2-naphthol (TH2N) is H-bonding interaction. It has been confirmed that the fluorescence of 9CNA is not at all affected in presence of 5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-2-methoxy naphthalene (TH2MN) both in non-polar n-heptane (NH) and highly polar acetonitrile (ACN) media. This indicates that the H-bonding interaction is crucial for the occurrence of the quenching phenomenon observed in the present investigations with TH1N (or TH2N) donors and 9CNA acceptor. In ACN solvent both contact ion-pair (CIP) and solvent-separated (or dissociated) ions are formed due to intermolecular H-bonding interactions in the excited electronic states (both singlet and triplet). In NH environment due to stronger H-bonding interactions, the large proton shift within excited charge transfer (CT) or ion-pair complex, 1 or 3(D+-H...A-), causes the formation of the neutral radical, 3(D+H-A)*, due to the complete detachment of the H-atom. It is hinted that both TH1N and TH2N due to their excellent H-bonding ability could be used as antioxidants.     

MLCT excited states in Ru(II) complexes: Reactivity and related two-photon absorption applications in the near-infrared spectral range

This short review provides a concise summary of the current state of research on the population by two-photon absorption of the triplet metal-to-ligand ³MLCT excited state of ruthenium(II) complexes. Several effective and potential applications of this nonlinear optics phenomenon (optical power limiting in the near infrared, biological imagery and photodynamic therapy, PDT) and related linear effects will also be presented.     

Experimental investigation of the Jahn-Teller effect in the ground and excited electronic states of the tropyl radical. Part II. Vibrational analysis of the A 2E"3-X 2E"2 electronic transition

Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and laser-excited dispersed fluorescence (LEDF) spectra of the cycloheptatrienyl (tropyl) radical C7H7 have been observed under supersonic jet-cooling conditions. Assignment of the LIF excitation spectrum yields detailed information about the A-state vibronic structure. The LEDF emission was collected by pumping different vibronic bands of the A 2E"3<--X 2E"2 electronic spectrum. Analysis of the LEDF spectra yields valuable information about the vibronic levels of the X 2E"2 state. The X- and A-state vibronic structures characterize the Jahn-Teller distortion of the respective potential energy surfaces. A thorough analysis reveals observable Jahn-Teller activity in three of the four e'3 modes for the X 2E"2 state and two of the three e'1 modes for the A 2E"3 state and provides values for their deperturbed vibrational frequencies as well as linear Jahn-Teller coupling constants. The molecular parameters characterizing the Jahn-Teller interaction in the X and A states of C7H7 are compared to theoretical results and to those previously obtained for C5H5 and C6H6+.     

Conformational energy analysis of substituted diphenylethanes: Part II. Empirical energy calculations on stilbene dihalogenides

The geometry and energy of the stable conformations of the isomeric forms of 1,2-halogeno-1,2-diphenylethanes have been obtained by means of empirical energy functions. A minimization of the conformational energy with respect to the torsion angles and the valence angles around the asymmetrically substituted carbon atoms has been carried out. The evaluated populations of the stable conformations showed good agreement with available experimental data. CNDO/2 calculations on the low-energy conformations of the isomeric forms of 1,2-difluoro-, 1,2-fluorochloro-, and 1,2-dichlorodiphenylethane have been carried out. These yielded improved estimates of the dipole moments for the dichloro isomers.     

Molecular geometry and excited electronic states: Part IV. Theoretical study on molecular geometries and spectral properties of bipyrimidine compounds

The equilibrium geometry of two bipyrimidine photoproducts of nucleic acids in the electronic ground and first excited singlet states has been calculated by minimization of the total energy with respect to all molecular coordinates. Using these results and the method of configuration analysis, this paper discusses whether or not the model of individual chromophores can be invoked to rationalize the spectral properties.     

The molecular potential energy surface and vibrational energy levels of methyl fluoride. Part II

New analytical bending and stretching, ground electronic state, potential energy surfaces for CH(3)F are reported. The surfaces are expressed in bond-length, bond-angle internal coordinates. The four-dimensional stretching surface is an accurate, least squares fit to over 2000 symmetrically unique ab initio points calculated at the CCSD(T) level. Similarly, the five-dimensional bending surface is a fit to over 1200 symmetrically unique ab initio points. This is an important first stage towards a full nine-dimensional potential energy surface for the prototype CH(3)F molecule. Using these surfaces, highly excited stretching and (separately) bending vibrational energy levels of CH(3)F are calculated variationally using a finite basis representation method. The method uses the exact vibrational kinetic energy operator derived for XY(3)Z systems by Manson and Law (preceding paper, Part I, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2006, 8, DOI: 10.1039/b603106d). We use the full C(3v) symmetry and the computer codes are designed to use an arbitrary potential energy function. Ultimately, these results will be used to design a compact basis for fully coupled stretch-bend calculations of the vibrational energy levels of the CH(3)F system.     

The electrocrystallisation of nickel: Part II. comparison of models with the experimental data

Theoretical equations derived for general models of the electrocrystallisation of nickel are fitted to the deposition transients. The formation of one or more monolayers is shown to be followed by three-dimensional nucleation and growth of the bulk phase; synchronised “death” and “rebirth” processes are shown to be operative.     

Lifetime measurements of two-photon excited vibronic levels in the low pressure limit: naphthalene

Single vibronic lifetimes of two-photon excited states are measured in the low pressure limit for naphthalene. The two-photon spectrum, besides yielding new states in S₁, is also free of the interference from the neighborhood of the S₂, known from one-photon experiments, and hence unperturbed lifetimes can be measured to higher excess energies. The overall pattern of lifetimes with excess energy including both one-photon and two-photon states shows that the vibronic structure is subordinate to an overall monotonic decrease, much as found earlier for β-naphthylamine. This indicates, at least for naphthalene, that radiationless processes into triplets are dominated by Franck—Condon factors and not by vibronic inductions and promoting modes.     

Saturation of energy levels in analytical atomic fluorescence spectrometry—II. Experimental

In Part I of this investigation, a theoretical model was proposed to describe the saturation of atomic energy levels under conditions of intense but brief irradiation by a suitable excitation source. The experimental verification of that model is presented herein. In this study, the effects of dye laser-induced saturation of analyte concentration, flame composition and atomic properties of the elements were all examined and quantitated in terms of a measurable parameter, the saturation spectral power density (SSPD). The results of those studies reveal that SSPD is relatively independent of analyte concentration and flame composition but is a strong function of the nature of each particular atomic transition employed. Moreover, because of strong quenching in most analytical flames, a simple steady-state model for saturation applies even for brief (5.6 ns) pulses from a nitrogen-laser pumped dye laser. Most importantly, it is shown that reliable values for the SSPD can be obtained only through careful experimental design; considerations important in such measurements are therefore carefully detailed.     

On the excited electronic state dissociation of nitramine energetic materials and model systems

In order to elucidate the difference between nitramine energetic materials, such as RDX (1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazacyclohexane), HMX (1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetraazacyclooctane), and CL-20 (2,4,6,8,10,12-hexanitro-2,4,6,8,10,12-hexaazaisowurtzitane), and their nonenergetic model systems, including 1,4-dinitropiperazine, nitropiperidine, nitropyrrolidine, and dimethylnitramine, both nanosecond mass resolved excitation spectroscopy and femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy in the UV spectral region have been employed to investigate the mechanisms and dynamics of the excited electronic state photodissociation of these materials. The NO molecule is an initial decomposition product of all systems. The NO molecule from the decomposition of energetic materials displays cold rotational and hot vibrational spectral structures. Conversely, the NO molecule from the decomposition of model systems shows relatively hot rotational and cold vibrational spectra. In addition, the intensity of the NO ion signal from energetic materials is proportional to the number of nitramine functional groups in the molecule. Based upon experimental observations and theoretical calculations of the potential energy surface for these systems, we suggest that energetic materials dissociate from ground electronic states after internal conversion from their first excited states, and model systems dissociate from their first excited states. In both cases a nitro-nitrite isomerization is suggested to be part of the decomposition mechanism. Parent ions of dimethylnitramine and nitropyrrolidine are observed in femtosecond experiments. All the other molecules generate NO as a decomposition product even in the femtosecond time regime. The dynamics of the formation of the NO product is faster than 180 fs, which is equivalent to the time duration of our laser pulse.     

On the nature of excited electronic states in cyanine dyes: implications for visual pigment spectra

CNDO/S CI calculations are carried out on polyenes and on cyanine dyes. In contrast to polyenes, doubly excited configurations have a strong effect on the first optically allowed excited state in cyanines. Protonated Schiff bases of retinal are closely related to cyanine dyes, with important consequences for models of visual pigment spectra and photochemistry.