Photophysics of inter- and intra-molecularly hydrogen-bonded systems: Computational studies on the pyrrole–pyridine complex and 2(2′-pyridyl)pyrrole

The role of electron and proton transfer processes in the photophysics of hydrogen-bonded molecular systems has been investigated with ab initio electronic-structure calculations. We discuss generic mechanisms of the photophysics of a hydrogen-bonded aromatic pair (pyrrole–pyridine), as well as an intra-molecularly hydrogen-bonded π system composed of the same molecular sub-units (2(2′-pyridyl)pyrrole). The reaction mechanisms are discussed in terms of excited-state minimum-energy paths, conical intersections and the properties of frontier orbitals. A common feature of the photochemistry of these systems is the electron-driven proton transfer (EDPT) mechanism. In the hydrogen-bonded complex, a highly polar charge transfer state of ¹ππ^* character drives the proton transfer, which leads to a conical intersection of the S₁ and S₀ surfaces and thus ultrafast internal conversion. In 2(2′-pyridyl)pyrrole, out-of-plane torsion is additionally needed for barrierless access to the S₁–S₀ conical intersection. It is pointed out that the EDPT process plays an essential role in the fluorescence quenching in hydrogen-bonded aromatic complexes, the function of organic photostabilizers, and the photostability of biological molecules.     

Theoretical study of intermolecular spin alignments through hydrogen bonding of the carboxy group

Intermolecular magnetic interactions through hydrogen bonding of the carboxy group for dimers of allyl, benzyl, and chlorinated benzyl radicals have been investigated as model systems by the ab initio molecular orbital (MO) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. It is found possible to propagate magnetic interaction through hydrogen bonding, although the effect is small. The spin densities of π- and σ-electrons have shown that antiferromagnetic coupling exists between the two intermolecular oxygen atoms in the ground state. This behavior is consistent with McConnell’s model, being applied to the planar configuration of the two hydrogen-bonded carboxy groups.     

Competition between cation-pi interactions and intermolecular hydrogen bonds in alkali metal ion-phenol clusters. I. Phenol dimer

The competition between ion-molecule and molecule-molecule interactions was investigated in M+(phenol)2 cluster ions for M=Li, Na, K, and Cs. Infrared predissociation spectroscopy in the O-H stretch region was used to characterize the structure of the cluster ions. By adjusting the experimental conditions, it was possible to generate species where argon was additionally bound in order to investigate cold cluster ions. The spectra showed the presence of hydrogen bonding in the colder M+(phenol)2Ar cluster ions but the absence of hydrogen bonding in the warmer M+(phenol)2 species. For the cold species, the IR spectra were compared with minimum-energy ab initio calculations to elucidate the hydrogen-bonded structures. In the dominant hydrogen-bonded configurations observed experimentally, the phenol molecules form hydrogen-bonded dimers and the alkali-metal ions bind to the phenol via a cation-pi interaction with the aromatic ring. Increasing the strength of the cation-pi interaction by decreasing the ion size forces the distance between the phenol O-H groups to increase, thus weakening the intermolecular hydrogen bond. Free-energy differences of different configurations relative to the ground state demonstrate that hydrogen-bonded structures are enthalpically favored, while non-hydrogen-bonded structures are entropically favored and are thus observed in the warm cluster ions.     

Kosmotrope character of maltose in water mixtures

It is well known that water plays a fundamental role for living beings, because the nature of water transformations provides for the ability to preserve biostructures. Solute can be classified as “kosmotropes” or “chaotropes” depending on the interaction strength with water. In the case of solutes destroying the natural hydrogen bonded network of water, called “kosmotropes” or “structure-makers”, the denaturation processes can be inhibited.

The aim of this work is to investigate the vibrational behaviour of maltose/H₂O mixtures in order to characterise the changes induced by the sugar on the H₂O hydrogen-bonded network. The obtained findings point out that maltose has a destructuring effect on the water tetrahedral network and emphasise its kosmotrope character.     

Analysis of the diffuse bands near 6100 Å in the fluorescence spectrum of Cs2

The diffuse bands near 6100 Å in the laser-induced fluorescence spectrum of Cs₂ are analyzed through quantum-mechanical spectral simulations. These bands are interpreted as bound-free emission to the vibrational continuum of the ground state from an excited state of ion-pair character. The lower region of this state, which we have labeled E′, is described approximately by the spectroscopic constants, T_e = 19400 cm⁻¹, R_e = 9 Å, and ω_e = 13 cm⁻¹. Experiments with a single-mode Ar⁺ laser as excitation source clearly reveal fine structure in the E′ → X spectrum, which was not evident for multimode laser excitation. This fine structure confirms our analysis and supports our suggestion that extensive averaging over initial (υ′, J′) levels is responsible for the absence of fine structure in the spectra excited by a multimode laser. Various averaging mechanisms are investigated in the spectral calculations. The paper includes a brief review of other work on “structured continua” in diatomic spectra, and a semiclassical treatment of such structure, with emphasis on the distinction between “reflection” structure and “interference” structure.     

Theoretical study of the changes in the vibrational characteristics arising from the hydrogen bonding between Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) and H2O

The vibrational characteristics (vibrational frequencies, infrared intensities and Raman activities) for the hydrogen-bonded system of Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) with five water molecules have been predicted using ab initio SCF/6-31G(d,p) calculations and DFT (BLYP) calculations with 6-31G(d,p) and 6-31++G(d,p) basis sets. The changes in the vibrational characteristics from free monomers to a complex have been calculated. The ab initio and BLYP calculations show that the complexation between Vitamin C and five water molecules leads to large red shifts of the stretching vibrations for the monomer bonds involved in the hydrogen bonding and very strong increase in their IR intensity. The predicted frequency shifts for the stretching vibrations from Vitamin C taking part in the hydrogen bonding are up to -508 cm(-1). The magnitude of the wavenumber shifts is indicative of relatively strong OH...H hydrogen-bonded interactions. In the same time the IR intensity and Raman activity of these vibrations increase upon complexation. The IR intensity increases dramatically (up to 12 times) and Raman activity increases up to three times. The ab initio and BLYP calculations show, that the symmetric OH vibrations of water molecules are more sensitive to the complexation. The hydrogen bonding leads to very large red shifts of these vibrations and very strong increase in their IR intensity. The asymmetric OH stretching vibrations of water, free from hydrogen bonding are less sensitive to the complexation than the hydrogen-bonded symmetric OH stretching vibrations. The increases of the IR intensities for these vibrations are lower and red shifts are negligible.     

Spectrophotometric and voltammetric study of the interaction between iodine and poly[bis(p-tolylamino)]phosphazene in methylene chloride

The reaction between iodine and poly[bis(p-tolylamino)]phosphazene (PTAP) in methylene chloride was investigated and attributed to a charge-transfer interaction between the imine donor sites of the polymer and the halogen molecules. The mechanism of this process seems to be similar to that already proposed for the charge transfer between p-toluidine and iodine. In particular, the formation of a polar “inner” complex is strongly favoured when a polar substance, such as tetrabutylammonium perchlorate (TBAP), is added to the polymer-iodine system. Even if experimental evidence was not obtained, iodination of the aromatic ring, following the “inner” complex formation, cannot be excluded.     

Intramolecular hydrogen bonding and calixarene-like structures in p-cresol/formaldehyde resins

The nature of the strong hydrogen bonds found in p-cresol/formaldehyde (PCF) resins, compared to ordinary phenolic compounds, is studied. The evidence from FTIR spectroscopy indicates that this strong interaction is due to intramolecular hydrogen bonding from “calixarene-like” structures. The formation of this structure in PCF is enabled by its “linear” (all-ortho-linkage) structure, which is not present in branched resins. Additionally, a transition is observed at around 175 to 200°C where the intramolecular hydrogen bonded structure is lost. This structure cannot be recovered upon cooling or annealing due to restrictions on conformational rotations that are coupled to a new pattern of intermolecular hydrogen bonding. However, the structure is reformed by dissolving the resin in solution and casting new films.     

Theoretical study of photoacidity of HCN: the effect of complexation with water

The character of the hydrogen bonding and the excited state proton transfer (ESPT) in the model system HCN...H(2)O is investigated. The PES of the two lowest excited states of the H(2)O...HCN complex was calculated using the CASPT2 method. The nonadiabatic coupling of the two states of the (pi-->pi*) and (pi-->sigma*) character is responsible for the excited state proton/hydrogen transfer. Compared to the ground state, the barrier for this process is significantly smaller. An increased number of water molecules in the complex with cyclic hydrogen-bonded network causes a large blue shift of the state of the (pi-->sigma*) character. The question of the dissociation of the complex in its excited state is also addressed.     

Semiempirical molecular orbital studies on p-quinodimethane. Electronic structure assignments based on total energies and comparisons with photoelectron and absorption spectra

The electronic structure of p-quinodimethane has been investigated using both CNDO/S and INDO molecular orbital approximations. It is found that the energetically favorable configuration is a “quinoid” construction leading to a spin-paired singlet ground state. Comparisons of the calculated excitation energies and orbital orderings with optical and photoemission measurements are consistent with this assignment. The “quinoid” configuration is found to be energetically unfavorable toward the formation of a low-lying triplet or “biradical”-like state. Charge density distributions, however, suggest a high ground state chemical reactivity.     

Can triorganoboroxins exist in a “monomeric” R---B=O form? MNDO calculations and ebulliometric molecular weight determination

MNDO calculations were made for triethylboroxin (EtBO)₃ and triphenylboroxin (PhBO)₃ using both X-ray determined and optimized geometry of these molecules. The results were compared with hypothetical “monomeric” molecules R---B=O. Calculated energies of trimerization are about −200 kJ mol⁻¹ for both compounds and confirm the much higher stability of the “trimer”. Ebulliometric determination of molecular weight of triphenylboroxin in 2-pentanone confirms its trimeric character.     

Ab initio and DFT studies of the vibrational spectra of hydrogen-bonded PhOH...(H2O)4 complexes

The vibrational characteristics (vibrational frequencies and infrared intensities) for the hydrogen-bonded complex of phenol with four water molecules PhOH...(H2O)4 (structure 4A) have been predicted using ab initio and DFT (B3LYP) calculations with 6-31G(d,p) basis set. The changes in the vibrational characteristics from free monomers to a complex have been calculated. The ab initio and B3LYP calculations show that the observed four intense bands at 3299, 3341, 3386 and 3430 cm(-1) can be assigned to the hydrogen-bonded OH stretching vibrations in the complex PhOH...(H2O)4 (4A). The complexation leads to very large red shifts of these vibrations and very strong increase in their IR intensity. The predicted red shifts for these vibrations with B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) calculations are in very good agreement with the experimentally observed. It was established that the phenolic OH stretching vibration is the most sensitive to the hydrogen bonding. The predicted red-shift with the B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) calculations for the most stable ring structure 4A (-590 cm(-1)) is in better agreement with the experimentally observed than the red-shift, predicted with SCF/6-31G(d,p) calculations. The magnitude of the wavenumber shift is indicative of relatively strong OH...H hydrogen-bonded interaction. The complexation between phenol and four water molecules leads to strong increase of the IR intensity of the phenolic OH stretching vibration (up to 38 times).     

Ultrafast hydrogen bond strengthening of the photoexcited fluorenone in alcohols for facilitating the fluorescence quenching

The time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) method was performed to investigate the excited-state hydrogen-bonding dynamics of fluorenone (FN) in hydrogen donating methanol (MeOH) solvent. The infrared spectra of the hydrogen-bonded FN-MeOH complex in both the ground state and the electronically excited states are calculated using the TDDFT method, since the ultrafast hydrogen-bonding dynamics can be investigated by monitoring the vibrational absorption spectra of some hydrogen-bonded groups in different electronic states. We demonstrated that the intermolecular hydrogen bond C=O...H-O between fluorenone and methanol molecules is significantly strengthened in the electronically excited-state upon photoexcitation of the hydrogen-bonded FM-MeOH complex. The hydrogen bond strengthening in electronically excited states can be used to explain well all the spectral features of fluorenone chromophore in alcoholic solvents. Furthermore, the radiationless deactivation via internal conversion (IC) can be facilitated by the hydrogen bond strengthening in the excited state. At the same time, quantum yields of the excited-state deactivation via fluorescence are correspondingly decreased. Therefore, the total fluorescence of fluorenone in polar protic solvents can be drastically quenched by hydrogen bonding.     

Theoretical study of the structures and vibrational spectra of the hydrogen-bonded systems of 4-cyanophenol with N-bases

The structural and vibrational features of the hydrogen bonded complexes of 1,5,7-triazabicyclo [4.4.0] dec-5-ene (TBD) with one and two 4-CNPhOH molecules have been studied extensively by ab initio SCF/6-31G(d,p) and BLYP calculations with various basis sets: 6-31G(d,p), 6-31+G(d,p) and 6-31++G(d,p). Full geometry optimization was made for the complexes studied. The nature of the hydrogen bonding and the influence of the hydrogen bonding on the structural and vibrational characteristics of the monomers have been investigated. The corrected values of the dissociation energy for the hydrogen-bonded complexes have been calculated in order to estimate their stability. The calculated values of the dissociation energy per phenol molecule indicate that the complex: TBD: 4-CNPhOH (1:1) is more stable than the complex: TBD: 4-CNPhOH (1:2). The changes in the structural and vibrational characteristics upon hydrogen bonding depend on the strength of the hydrogen bonds. In agreement with the experiment, the calculations show that the complexation between TBD and 4-CNPhOH leads to considerably changes in the vibrational characteristics of the stretching O-H vibration. The vibrational frequency of the O-H stretching vibration is shifted to lower wave numbers upon hydrogen bonding. The predicted frequency shifts Deltanu(O-H) for the complexes--TBD: 4-CNPhOH (1:1) and TBD: 4-CNPhOH (1:2) are in the range from -190 cm(-1) to -586 cm(-1). In the same time the IR intensity of the O-H stretching vibration increases dramatically in the hydrogen-bonded complexes.     

Hydrogen bond formation between 4-(dimethylamino)pyridine and aliphatic alcohols

The photophysics of 4-(dimethylamino)pyridine (DMAP) has been investigated in different solvents in the presence of aliphatic and fluorinated aliphatic alcohols, respectively. For most systems, consecutive two-step hydrogen-bonded complex formation is observed in the presence of alcohols. Equilibrium constants are determined from UV spectroscopic results for the formation of singly and doubly complexed species. The resolved absorption and fluorescence spectra for the singly and doubly complexed DMAP are derived by means of the equilibrium constants. Exceptionally large hydrogen bond basicity values are found for the ground and singlet excited DMAP molecules. In n-hexane, as a consequence of complex formation, the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) emission becomes dominant over of the locally excited fluorescence; the fluorescence and triplet yields increase considerably with complexation. In polar solvents, both the fluorescence and triplet yields of the complex are much smaller than that of the uncomplexed DMAP. The dipole moments derived for the singly complexed species from the Lippert-Mataga analysis are much larger than those of the uncomplexed molecules. However, for the relaxed ICT excited-state one obtains different dipole moments in apolar and polar solvents. This may be explained by a conformational change of the molecule in the ICT excited state from planar geometry in apolar solvent to the perpendicular structure (characterized with bigger dipole moment) in polar solvent.     

Hydrogen-bonded architecture based on p-sulfonatothiacalix[6]arene complex with dysprosium(III) cations and water molecules

The structure of p-sulfonatothiacalix[6]arene (1) inclusion complex with two octa-aqua dysprosium metal cations and 15 water molecules was examined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. The complex showed a 2D hydrogen-bonded polymer with hydrogen bonding interactions between aquo ligands of dysprosium metal cations and sulfonate groups of thiacalixarene. In addition, it shows direct evidence for hydrogen bonding between the imbedded water and the aromatic π electrons.     

Benzyl alcohol-ammonia (1:1) cluster structure investigated by combined IR-UV double resonance spectroscopy in jet and ab initio calculation

Laser-induced fluorescence excitation and IR-UV double resonance spectroscopy have been used to determine the hydrogen-bonded structure of benzyl alcohol-ammonia (1:1) cluster in a jet-cooled molecular beam. In addition,ab initio quantum chemical calculations have been performed at HF/6-31G and HF/6-31G(d,p) levels for different ground state equilibrium structures of the cluster to correlate the calculated OH and NH frequencies and their intensities with experimental results. The broad red-shifted OH-stretching mode in the IR-UV double resonance spectrum suggests strong hydrogen bonding between the hydroxyl hydrogen and the lone pair of the ammonia nitrogen. The position and intensity distribution of the calculated NH and OH modes for the minimum-energy gauche form at HF/6-31G level have better correlation with the experimental results compared to other calculated ground state equilibrium conformers. These results lead to the conclusion that the minimum energy gauche form of the cluster is populated in the jet-cooled condition.     

The dimers of cyanamide

Ab initio calculations have been performed on various dimeric forms of cyanamide. The “nondissociative” dimerization of cyanamide leads to cyclic molecules all of which are unstable with respect to cyanamide. However, the molecules produced by “dissociative” dimerization are stable relative to cyanamide. Dicyandiamide is found to be the most stable of nine dimeric configurations.     

Spectres de rotation de la molécule de chlorobenzéne : I. Variétés isotopiques monosubstituées et structure rs

The microwave spectra of chlorobenzene “(1)-³⁵Cl”, all eight mono-[“(1)-³⁷Cl”, “(1)-³⁵Cl, (2)D”, “(1)-³⁵Cl, (3)D”, “(1)-³⁵Cl, (4)D”, “(1)-³⁵Cl, (1)-¹³C”, “(1)-³⁵Cl, (2)-¹³C”, “(1)-³⁵Cl, (3)-¹³C”, “(1)-³⁵Cl, (4)-¹³C”], one di[“(1)-³⁵Cl, (2,6)D₂,”] and one trisubstituted species [“(1)-³⁷Cl, (2,6)D₂”] have been investigated. From the moments of inertia of the vibrational ground state the r_s structure was derived. The reliability of the two small a coordinates could be enhanced through use of the multiply substituted species. The errors of the moments of inertia were propagated to the structural parameters. It could be shown that the benzene ring is deformed. However the quantitative deformation could not be established due to the rather large errors of some structural parameters.     

n-sigma charge-transfer interaction and molecular and electronic structural properties in the hydrogen-bonding systems consisting of p-quinone dianions and methyl alcohol

Molecular and electronic structural properties of the hydrogen-bonded complexes of p-quinone dianions (PQ(2)(-)) were investigated by electrochemistry and spectroelectrochemistry of PQ in MeCN combined with ab initio MO calculations. Hydrogen bonding between PQ(2)(-) and MeOH was measured as the continuous positive shift of the apparent second half-wave reduction potentials with increasing concentrations of MeOH. Detailed analyses of the behavior reveal that PQ(2)(-) forms the 1:2 hydrogen-bonded complexes at low concentrations of MeOH and the 1:4 complexes at high concentrations, yielding the formation constants. Temperature dependence of the formation constants allows us to yield the formation energy as 76.6 and 118.9 kJ mol(-)(1) for the 1:2 and 1:4 complex formation of the 1,4-benzoquinone dianion (BQ(2)(-)) with MeOH, respectively. These results show that the pi-dianions involving the quinone carbonyl groups exhibit very strong hydrogen-accepting ability. The longest wavelength band of the spectra of BQ(2)(-) and the chloranil dianion (CL(2)(-)) is assigned to the (1)B(3u) <-- (1)A(g) band mainly contributed from an intramolecular charge-transfer (CT) configuration. Hydrogen bonding allows the band of BQ(2)(-) and CL(2)(-) to be blue-shifted, depending on the strength of the hydrogen bonds. CNDO/S-CI calculations reveal that the blue shift is ascribed to stabilization of the ground state by the hydrogen bonding involving strong n-sigma-type CT interaction. The HF/6-31G(d) calculation results show that the structure of PQ(2)(-) is characterized by a lengthening of the C=O bonds and a benzenoid ring. The geometrical properties of the hydrogen-bonded complexes of PQ(2)(-) are a slight lengthening of the C=O bonds and a short distance of the hydrogen bonds. It is demonstrated that this situation is due to the strong n-sigma CT interaction in the hydrogen bonds. The results suggest that the differing functions and properties of biological quinones are conferred by the n-sigma CT interaction through hydrogen bonding of the dianions with their protein environment.