Absorption, fluorescence, and semiempirical ASED-MO studies on a typical Brooker''s merocyanine dye

Solvatochromism and Solvatofluorchromism of Brooker's merocyanine 1-methyl-4- (4′-hydroxystyryl) pyridinium betaine, M, were studied in twelve polar protic and aprotic solvents. Moderate hypsochromic fluorescence energy shifts are 4.57 kcal mole⁻¹ while strong hypsochromic absorption energy shifts are 16.63 kcal mole⁻¹. Decreasing of the dipole moment of M upon excitation is the factor, which is responsible for the difference between the two energy shifts. The change of both energies rectilinearly with solvent acidity scale shows the importance of oxygen atom of M as a strong basic center. The application of the atom superposition and electron delocalization molecular orbital (ASED-MO) theory reproduces geometrical and electronic structures for M, which agree well with the experimental observations. The calculations suggest strongly that the dye has a benzenoid valence structure in the ground state and shifts towards a quinonoid one upon excitation with an observed decreasing of the dipole moment. The changing of the dipole moment is explained clearly depending upon the calculated charge distribution over the whole skeleton of the molecule. The formation of a H-bond between the water molecule and the highly negative oxycyclic oxygen atom of M has slightly effect on its dipole moment in the ground state. This leads to suggest that this kind of interaction could be represented as attacking of water with acidic character on the basic site of M. Also, the calculations predict that the formation of monohydrated complex is an exothermic, down hill reaction, which is confirmed from the stabilization of the frontier molecular orbitals, oxygen lone-pair and the HOMO levels.     

Photoinduced water splitting with oxotitanium porphyrin: a computational study

The photochemistry of the hydrogen-bonded oxotitanium porphyrin-water complex (TiOP-H(2)O) has been explored with electronic-structure calculations. It is shown that intramolecular charge-transfer processes, which are initiated by the excitation of the Soret band of TiOP, accumulate electronic charge on the oxygen atom of TiOP, which in turn abstracts a hydrogen atom from water by an exoenergetic and essentially barrierless hydrogen-transfer reaction, resulting in the TiPOH˙-OH˙ biradical. About 75% of the absorbed photon energy is thus stored as chemical energy in two ground-state radicals. Absorption of a second photon by TiPOH˙ can result in the detachment of the H˙ radical and recovery of the photocatalyzer TiOP. Again, about 75% of the photon energy is stored in the dissociation energy of TiPOH˙. Overall, a water molecule is decomposed into H˙ and OH˙ radicals by the absorption of two visible photons. Exoenergetic radical recombination reactions can yield molecular hydrogen, molecular oxygen or hydrogen peroxide as closed-shell products.     

X-Ray Spectroscopic Investigation of Chemical Bonding in Solids

When an atom is incorporated into a molecule or a crystal, its X-ray spectrum undergoes characteristic changes, the study of which leads to important information on the nature of the chemical bonding and on the electronic structure in a substance. A number of examples are given to illustrate the possibilities of the X-ray spectroscopy of bonded atoms. Special attention is given to the displacement of the Kα lines, from which conclusions can be drawn regarding the charge on a bonded atom, as well as to the investigation of the emission bands resulting from valence electron transitions, which yields information on the energy band structure of the solid. X-ray spectroscopic studies on free molecules and theoretical work on the calculation of the molecular orbitals of simple molecules are finally reported.     

Aromaticity: an ab initio evaluation of the properly cyclic delocalization energy and the pi-delocalization energy distortivity of benzene

A complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) calculation of the pi system of a conjugated molecule enables one to define optimal valence pi and pi* molecular orbitals (MOs). One may define from them a set of atom-centered orthogonal pi orbitals, one per carbon atom, and the resulting upper multiplet is used to define the pi-electron delocalization energy. This quantity is confirmed to be slightly distortive, i.e., to prefer bond-alternated geometries. One may also define strongly localized bond MOs corresponding to a Kekule structure and then perturb the associated strongly localized single determinant under the effect of the delocalization between the bonds and of the electronic correlation. The third order of perturbation introduces the contribution of the cyclic circulation of the electrons around the benzene ring, i.e. the aromatic energy contribution. Its value is about 1.5 eV. It is antidistortive, but remains important under bond alternation. The cyclic correlation effects are of minor importance.     

Theoretical and experimental investigation on the electronic properties of the shuttlecock shaped and the double-decker structured metal phthalocyanines, MPc and M(Pc)2 (M = Sn and Pb)

The molecular geometries, electronic structures, and excitation energies of tin and lead phthalocyanine compounds, SnPc, PbPc, Sn(Pc)(2), and Pb(Pc)(2), were investigated using the B3LYP method within a framework of density functional theory (DFT). The geometries of SnPc, PbPc, Sn(Pc)(2), and Pb(Pc)(2) were optimized under C(4v), C(4v), D(4d), and D(4d) molecular symmetries, respectively. The excitation energies of these molecules were computed by the time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) method. The calculated results for the excited states of three compounds other than the unknown Pb(Pc)(2) corresponded well with the experimental results of electronic absorption spectroscopy. The non-planar C(4v) molecular structure of SnPc and PbPc influences especially on the orbital energy of the HOMO-1 through mixing of the s-type atomic orbital of the central metal atom to the π system of the Pc ring in an anti-bonding way; however, the HOMO and the LUMO have little effect of the deviation from the planar structure because they have no contribution from the atomic orbital of the central metal. This orbital mixing pushes up the orbital energy of the HOMO-1, and reduces the energy of the metal-to-ligand charge transfer band of SnPc and PbPc. The calculated results also reproduced well the excitation profile of Sn(Pc)(2), which was quite different from that of SnPc. The strong interactions between the π-type orbitals of two Pc moieties altered the electronic structure resulting in the characteristic excitation profile of Sn(Pc)(2). In addition, this caused a reduction of about 0.8 eV in the ionization potential as compared to usual MPcs including SnPc, which was consistent with the experimental results.     

Optimization of molecular electronic structure calculations. 1. Local symmetry and local symmetricized orbitals

A formalism is suggested of the so-called local symmetricized orbitals to be used for the construction of a symmetricized basis in molecular electronic structure calculations. The local symmetricized orbitals are defined as additive contributions to the symmetry orbitals of a molecule that arise from symmetry operations of a corresponding atom. The local symmetricized orbitals are transformed according to the irreducible representations of the molecular symmetry group. This approach appears to be most suitable for the optimization of quantum mechanical calculations accounting for the spatial symmetry of compounds under consideration. This fact is due to the formalism of the local symmetricized orbitals that explicitly accounts for the local symmetry of basis function centers, which is essential for such optimization.     

The Fock Matrix Analysis for Atomic Orbitals in Molecular Orbitals I. A New Look on the Covalent Bond in H2?

The character of the molecular orbitals can be better accounted for in terms of molecular adapted atomic orbitals and the Fock matrix expanded in these atomic orbital sets. A clean‐cut and unique criterion for the diradicals and the covalent bonds can be given for the molecular orbitals in both restricted and unrestricted Hartree‐Fock wavefunctions. Instead of the picture that overlap charge migrates into the bonding region, the new analysis displays another picture that the charge densities for the electrons with α and β spins give rise to two opposite spin density shifts. If the α one shifts from atom A toward atom B then it is vice versa for the β one. The spin density shifts proceed until the bonding molecular orbitals form.     

Electronic charge density and mean kinetic energy of lithium orbitals in LiH,LiH+, Li2, Li2+, LiH2+, and Li2H+

The electron density near the lithium nucleus in the species LiH, LiH⁺, Li₂, Li₂⁺, LiH₂⁺, and Li₂H⁺ was analyzed by transforming the SCF molecular orbitals into a sum of atomic contribnutions, for both core and valence orbitals. These “hybrid-atomic” orbitals were used to compare: electron densities, orbital polarizations, and orbital mean kinetic energies with the corresponding lithium atom quantities. Core-orbital electron densities at the lithium nucleus were observed to increase by up to 0.5% relative to the lithium atom 1s orbital. Lithium cores also exhibited polarization but, surprisingly, in the direction away from the internuclear region. Similar dramatic changes were seen in the electron densities of the valence orbitals of lithium: The electron density at the nucleus for these orbitals increased two-fold for homonuclear species and twenty-fold for heteronuclear triatomic species relative to the electron density at the nucleus in lithium atom. The polarization of the valence orbital electronic charge, in the vicinity of the lithium nucleus, was also away from the internuclear region. The mean “hybrid-atomic” orbital kinetic energies associated with the lithium atom in the molecules also showed changes relative to the free lithium atom. Such changes, accompanying bond formation, were relatively small for the lithium core orbitals (within 0.2% of the value for lithium atom). The orbital kinetic energies for the lithium valence electrons, however, increased considerably relative to the lithium atom: By a factor of about 2 in homonuclear diatomics, by a factor of 7 in heteronuclear diatomics, and by a factor of 11 in the triatomic species. In summary, the total electronic density (core plus valence) at the lithium nucleus remained remarkably constant for all of the species studied, regardless of the effective charge on lithium. Thus, the drastic changes noted in the individual lithium orbitals occurred in a cooperative fashion so as to preserve a constant total electron density in the vicinity of the lithium nucleus. In all cases, bond formation was accompanied by an increase in the orbital kinetic energy of the lithium valence orbital. We suggest that these two observations represent important and significant features of chemical bonding which have not previously been emphasized.     

Optimal virtual orbitals to relax wave functions built up with transferred extremely localized molecular orbitals

Extremely localized molecular orbitals (ELMOs), namely orbitals strictly localized on molecular fragments, are easily transferable from one molecule to another one. Hence, they provide a natural way to set up the electronic structure of large molecules using a data base of orbitals obtained from model molecules. However, this procedure obviously increases the energy with respect to a traditional MO calculation. To gain accuracy, it is important to introduce a partial electron delocalization. This can be carried out by defining proper optimal virtual orbitals that supply an efficient set for nonorthogonal configurations to be employed in VB-like expansions.     

Bonding analysis using localized relativistic orbitals: water, the ultrarelativistic case and the heavy homologues H2X (X = Te, Po, eka-Po)

We report the implementation of Pipek-Mezey [J. Chem. Phys. 90, 4916 (1989)] localization of molecular orbitals in the framework of a four-component relativistic molecular electronic structure theory. We have used an exponential parametrization of orbital rotations which allows the use of unconstrained optimization techniques. We demonstrate the strong basis set dependence of the Pipek-Mezey localization criterion and how it can be eliminated. We have employed localization in conjunction with projection analysis to study the bonding in the water molecule and its heavy homologues. We demonstrate that in localized orbitals the repulsion between hydrogens in the water molecule is dominated by electrostatic rather than exchange interactions and that freezing the oxygen 2s orbital blocks polarization of this orbital rather than hybridization. We also point out that the bond angle of the water molecule cannot be rationalized from the potential energy alone due to the force term of the molecular virial theorem that comes into play at nonequilibrium geometries and which turns out to be crucial in order to correctly reproduce the minimum of the total energy surface. In order to rapidly assess the possible relativistic effects we have carried out the geometry optimizations of the water molecule at various reduced speed of light with and without spin-orbit interaction. At intermediate speeds, the bond angle is reduced to around 90 degrees , as is known experimentally for H(2)S and heavier homologues, although our model of ultrarelativistic water by construction does not allow any contribution from d orbitals to bonding. At low speeds of light the water molecule becomes linear which is in apparent agreement with the valence shell electron pair repulsion (VSEPR) model since the oxygen 2s12 and 2p12 orbitals both become chemically inert. However, we show that linearity is brought about by the relativistic stabilization of the (n + 1)s orbital, the same mechanism that leads to an electron affinity for eka-radon. Actual calculations on the series H2X (X = Te, Po, eka-Po) show the spin-orbit effects for the heavier species that can be rationalized by the interplay between SO-induced bond lengthening and charge transfer. Finally, we demonstrate that although both the VSEPR and the more recent ligand close packing model are presented as orbital-free models, they are sensitive to orbital input. For the series H2X (X = O, S, Se, Te) the ligand radius of the hydrogen can be obtained from the covalent radius of the central atom by the simple relation r(lig)(H) = 0.67r(cov)(X) + 27 (in picometers).     

Probing the molecular orbitals and charge redistribution in organometallic (PP)Pd(XX) complexes. A Pd K-edge XANES study

Pd K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES) is used to probe the unoccupied molecular orbitals in bidentate diphosphine Pd complexes. Complexes containing a series of bidentate diphosphine ligands (PP) are examined to study the effect of the ligand bite angle on the charge redistribution in these complexes. Different coordinating moieties (XX) have been used to induce a range of Pd oxidation states. A full interpretation of the Pd K-edge XANES data is presented. The negative second derivative of these XANES data provides direct information on the energy and electronic distribution of the different unoccupied molecular orbitals probed. The charge redistributions within the complexes, as reflected in the effective Pd oxidation state, are indicated by both the intensity of the first edge feature, the "Pd d peak", and the energy of the second edge feature, the "Pd p peak", which can be easily observed in the negative second derivative of the XANES data. Additionally, the changing covalent interaction between the Pd and coordinated moieties via the Pd p orbitals is reflected directly in the energy splitting of the "Pd p" peak. Thus, investigation of these (PP)Pd(XX) complexes, some used as catalysts in organic synthesis, with XANES spectroscopy provides new essential information on their electronic properties. Further, the XANES analysis techniques described in this paper can be applied to investigate the unoccupied molecular orbitals and charge redistributions within a wide range of samples.     

Quantum chemical analysis on hydrogenated Zn12O12 nanoclusters

We have performed a density functional theory study about adsorption of one or two hydrogen atoms on zinc oxide nanoclusters (Zn₁₂O₁₂) in terms of energetic, geometric, and electronic properties. The results showed that the first H atom strongly prefers to be adsorbed on O atoms of the cluster while preferable site for the second one is atop the Zn atoms. This finding has been rationalized using frontier molecular orbitals. The HOMO/LUMO energy gap of the cluster is dramatically reduced from 4.04 to 0.81 eV upon the adsorption of one hydrogen atom, suggesting that it is transformed to n-type semiconductor ascribed to the large charge transfer from the hydrogen to the cluster. It was found that the H adsorptions in all cases would facilitate the field electron emission from the cluster surface by shifting the Fermi level to higher energies and decreasing the work function.     

Valence-only model potential calculations on copper hydride molecule

Different sets of one-electron functions obtained according to the strong-orthogonal geminal theory (GEM) [1], the Generalized Molecular Orbital (GMO) method [2] and the exchange maximization between virtual and occupied orbitals (EVO) [3], are tested as basis for CI calculations. The efficiency of the three procedures is discussed investigating the electronic structure of the CuH molecule using an effective-core potential. The values computed for the bond length, the dissociation energy and the vibrational frequency of the ground electronic state are compared with the experimental ones. The charge distribution is examined to estimate the contribution of the d electrons to the Cu-H bond. Comparisons are made with the results obtained by other theoretical works in which the copper atom is treated as a one valence electron atom.     

Interaction of excitons with charge carriers in organic solids: charged excitonic complexes

The coupled states of molecular excitons with charge carriers are considered. In centrosymmetric crystals the attraction of excitons to charge carriers arises mainly from the increase of molecular polarizability on electronic excitation, so that the exciton energy decreases in the electric field of the charge. In noncentrosymmetric crystals, the main contribution to the energy of exciton-charge interaction comes from the change of the static dipole moment of the molecule on excitation. Some physical consequences and possible experimental observations of the above-mentioned coupled states are discussed.     

Mono- and bichromatic electron dynamics: LiH, a test case

This paper describes an electron dynamics method where the time dependence of an external oscillating electric field is the perturbing part of the Hamiltonian. Application of the electric field induces charge movement inside the molecule and electronic transitions between the molecular orbitals. The test system is the neutral LiH molecule. The method is applied to wave functions calculated using the B3LYP (hybrid) density functional, with the STO-3G and the 6-31+G basis sets. The molecule undergoes full population inversion between the HOMO and the LUMO when the electric field is in resonance with the HOMO-LUMO energy gap. The magnitude of the electric field directly affects the rate at which electronic transitions occur and the rate at which charges move between lithium and hydrogen atoms. The method is used to model both monochromatic and bichromatic multiphoton effects in LiH. Monochromatic one-, two- and three-photon transitions occur between the HOMO, LUMO and two other virtual orbitals. There is evidence of both [1+2] direct and [1+1+1] stepwise multiphoton transitions. Bichromatically, two "laser" pulses are applied at different frequencies. Electronic transitions can be fine-tuned to occur via pre-specified pathways of virtual molecular orbitals.     

Geometric and electronic structure of methane adsorbed on a Pt surface

The electronic structure of methane adsorbed on Pt(977) is investigated using angle-resolved x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) in combination with density functional theory spectrum calculations. XAS, which probes the unoccupied states atom specifically, shows the appearance of the symmetry-forbidden gas-phase lowest unoccupied molecular orbital due to s-p rehybridization. In addition new adsorption-induced states appear just above the Fermi level. A systematic investigation, where computed XA spectra are compared with the experiment, indicates elongation of the C-H bond pointing toward the surface to 1.18+/-0.05 A. The bond elongation arises due to mixing between bonding and antibonding C-H orbitals. Computed charge density difference plots show that no covalent chemical bond is formed between the adsorbate and substrate upon adsorption. The changes in electronic structure arise in order to minimize the Pauli repulsion by polarizing charge away from the surface toward the carbon atom of the methane molecule.     

分子线电子输运特性的第一性原理研究

从第一性原理出发,利用密度泛函理论研究了SH-C8H16-SH分子和金表面的相互作用,并利用分子前线轨道理论和微扰理论定量地确定了该相互作用能常数,然后,利用弹性散射格林函数方法研究了该分子与金表面形成的分子线的伏-安特性.研究结果表明,当含有硫氢官能团的有机分子化学吸附于金表面时,硫原子将与金原子形成以共价键为主的混和键,此时,扩展的分子轨道使分子线的电导呈现出欧姆特性,而对于局域的分子轨道,电子的输运只能通过隧道效应来实现.对分子线伏-安特性的计算结果显示,在零偏压附近,存在一个电流禁区,随着偏压的增加,分子线的电导呈现出平台特征.     

Ab initio study of the alternating current impedance of a molecular junction

The small-bias conductance of the C6 molecule, stretched between two metallic leads, is studied using time-dependent density functional theory within the adiabatic local density approximation. The leads are modeled by jellium slabs, the electronic density and the current density are described on a grid, whereas the core electrons and the highly oscillating valence orbitals are approximated using standard norm-conserving pseudopotentials. The jellium leads are supplemented by a complex absorbing potential that serves to absorb charge reaching the edge of the electrodes and hence mimic irreversible flow into the macroscopic metal. The system is rapidly exposed to a ramp potential directed along the C6 axis, which gives rise to the onset of charge and current oscillations. As time progresses, a fast redistribution of the molecular charge is observed, which translates into a direct current response. Accompanying the dc signal, alternating current fluctuations of charge and currents within the molecule and the metallic leads are observed. These form the complex impedance of the molecule and are especially strong at the plasmon frequency of the leads and the lowest excitation peak of C6. We study the molecular conductance in two limits: the strong coupling limit, where the edge atoms of the chain are submerged in the jellium and the weak coupling case, where the carbon atoms and the leads do not overlap spatially.     

Calcium/poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene) interaction: a theoretical study

The geometric and electronic structures of poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene) (PFO) oligomer interacting with Ca atoms were studied using M?ller-Plesset perturbation theory. A weak interaction with little charge transfer and with a relatively long Ca-C distance (about 4.0 Angstrom) was found when only one Ca atom was attached to a PFO unit. However, when two Ca atoms were adsorbed at a PFO unit, a strong interaction with a shorter Ca-C distance (about 2.67 Angstrom) took place with considerable charge transfer from the Ca atom to the PFO, resulting in significant deformation in the backbone of the PFO oligomer. In the latter case, the frontier orbitals of the PFO were modified. However, the deformed PFO and its modified frontier orbitals could be recovered when oxygen was added, which is in good agreement with experimental observation.