Evidence for significant through-space and through-bond electronic coupling in the 1,4-diphenylcyclohexane-1,4-diyl radical cation gained by absorption spectroscopy and DFT calculations

Photoinduced single-electron-transfer promoted oxidation of 2,5-diphenyl-1,5-hexadiene by using N-methylquinolinium tetrafluoroborate/biphenyl co-sensitization takes place with the formation of an intense electronic absorption band at 476 nm, which is attributed to the 1,4-diphenylcyclohexane-1,4-diyl radical cation. The absorption maximum (lambda(ob)) of this transient occurs at a longer wavelength than is expected for either the cumyl radical or the cumyl cation components. Substitution at the para positions of the phenyl groups in this radical cation by CH(3)O, CH(3), F, Cl, and Br leads to an increasingly larger redshift of lambda(ob). A comparison of the rho value, which was obtained from a Hammett plot of the electronic transition energies of the radical cations versus sigma(+), with that for the cumyl cation shows that the substituent effects on the transition energies for the 1,4-diarylcyclohexane-1,4-diyl radical cations are approximately one half of the substituent effects on the transition energies of the cumyl cation. The observed substituent-induced redshifts of lambda(ob) and the reduced sensitivity of lambda(ob) to substituent changes are in accordance with the proposal that significant through-space and -bond electronic interactions exist between the cumyl radical and the cumyl cation moieties of the 1,4-diphenylcyclohexane-1,4-diyl radical cation. This proposal gains strong support from the results of density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Moreover, the results of time-dependent DFT calculations indicate that the absorption band at 476 nm for the 1,4-diphenylcyclohexane-1,4-diyl radical cation corresponds to a SOMO-3 --> SOMO transition.     

Oxidation of formic acid and carbon monoxide on gold electrodes studied by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and DFT.

The oxidation of formic acid and carbon monoxide was studied at a gold electrode by a combination of electrochemistry, in situ surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), differential electrochemical mass spectrometry, and first-principles DFT calculations. Comparison of the SERS results and the (field-dependent) DFT calculations strongly suggests that the relevant surface-bonded intermediate during oxidation of formic acid on gold is formate HCOO- ad*. Formate reacts to form carbon dioxide via two pathways: at low potentials, with a nearby water to produce carbon dioxide and a hydronium ion; at higher potentials, with surface-bonded hydroxyl (or oxide) to give carbon dioxide and water. In the former pathway, the rate-determining step is probably related to the reaction of surface-bonded formate with water, as measurements of the reaction order imply a surface almost completely saturated with adsorbate. The potential dependence of the rate of the low-potential pathway is presumably governed by the potential dependence of formate coverage. There is no evidence for CO formation on gold during oxidation of formic acid. The oxidation of carbon monoxide must involve the carboxyhydroxyl intermediate, but SERS measurements do not reveal this intermediate during CO oxidation, most likely because of its low surface coverage, as it is formed after the rate-determining step. Based on inconclusive spectroscopic evidence for the formation of surface-bonded OH at potentials substantially below the surface oxidation region, the question whether surface-bonded carbon monoxide reacts with surface hydroxyl or with water to form carboxyhydroxyl and carbon dioxide remains open. The SERS measurements show the existence of both atop and bridge-bonded CO on gold from two distinguishable low-frequency modes that agree very well with DFT calculations.     

Density functional theory and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy studies on endocrine-disrupting chemical,dimethyl phthalate

A method to monitor endocrine-disrupting chemical contamination phthalate esters (PAEs) by surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy has been investigated. The molecular structure and assignment of the vibrations of dimethyl phthalate (DMP), forming short chains in PAEs, has been studied by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The structure of DMP with the dihedral angles of 1C-6C-11C-13O and 4C-5C-18C-20O being 133.78° and −24.00°, respectively, has the lowest energy. Theoretical vibrational frequencies using B3LYP/6-31 + G(d) (after scaling) show excellent agreement with the experimental normal Raman spectrum. In the region 200–1800 cm⁻¹, SERS spectra of DMP were measured using ordered gold nanosubstrates. All except the weak signals in the normal Raman spectrum of DMP were successfully enhanced. These results demonstrate that SERS technology could be developed as a rapid method for screening of DMP.     

The photochemistry of lipoic acid: photoionization and observation of a triplet excited state of a disulfide.

Under short-wavelength UV irradiation, lipoic acid (LipSS) and its reduced form, dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA), undergo photoionization processes through a bi- or monophotonic pathway. After ionization, the LipSS radical cation (LipSS*+) and radical anion (LipSS*-) are generated. LipSS*- can be converted to equimolar amounts of LipSS and DHLA through second-order decay. Triplet acetone can be quenched by LipSS and DHLA with a rate close to the diffusion-controlled limit. The mechanism was further confirmed by continuous irradiation experiments. When LipSS is directly irradiated with UVA light, the first excited triplet state of LipSS is observed, with a lifetime tau=75 ns. Characteristic reactions include triplet energy transfer to oxygen and beta-carotene and addition to isoprene. The lifetime of triplet LipSS is also shortened by addition of water and methanol.     

EPR studies of amine radical cations, part 1: thermal and photoinduced rearrangements of n-alkylamine radical cations to their distonic forms in low-temperature freon matrices

The thermal and photochemical transformations of primary amine radical cations (n-propyl 1.+, n-butyl 5.+) generated radiolytically in freon matrices have been investigated by using low-temperature EPR spectroscopy. Assignment of the spectra was facilitated by parallel studies on the corresponding N,N-dideuterioamines. The identifications were supported by quantum chemical calculations on the geometry, electronic structure, hyperfine splitting constants and energy levels of the observed transient radical species. The rapid generation of the primary species by a short exposure (1-2 min) to electron-beam irradiation at 77 K allowed the thermal rearrangement of 1.+ to be monitored kinetically as a first-order reaction at 125-140 K by the growth in the well-resolved EPR signal of the distonic radical cation .C(2CH2CH2NH3+. By comparison, the formation of the corresponding .CH2CH2CH2CH2NH3+ species from 5.+ is considerably more facile and already occurs within the short irradiation time. These results directly verify the intramolecular hydrogen-atom migration from carbon to nitrogen in these ionised amines, a reaction previously proposed to account for the fragmentation patterns observed in the mass spectrometry of these amines. The greater ease of the thermal rearrangement of 5.+ is in accordance with calculations on the barrier heights for these intramolecular 1,5- and 1,4-hydrogen shifts, the lower barrier for the former being associated with minimisation of the ring strain in a six-membered transition state. For 1.+, the 1,4-hydrogen shift is also brought about directly at 77 K by exposure to approximately 350 nm light, although there is also evidence for the 1,3-hydrogen shift requiring a higher energy. A more surprising result is the photochemical formation of the H2C=N. radical as a minor product under hard-matrix conditions in which diffusion is minimal. It is suggested that this occurs as a consequence of the beta-fragmentation of 1.+ to the ethyl radical and the CH2=NH2+ ion, followed by consecutive cage reactions of deprotonation and hydrogen transfer from the iminonium group. Additionally, secondary ion-molecule reactions were studied in CFCl2CF2Cl under matrix conditions that allow diffusion. The propane-1-iminyl radical CH3CH2CH=N. was detected at high concentrations of the n-propylamine substrate. Its formation is attributed to a modified reaction sequence in which 1.+ first undergoes a proton transfer within a cluster of amine molecules to yield the aminyl radical CH3CH2CH2N.H. A subsequent disproportionation of these radicals can then yield the propane-1-imine precursor CH3CH2CH=NH, which is known to easily undergo hydrogen abstraction from the nitrogen atom. The corresponding butane-1-iminyl radical was also observed.     

Binding interactions and Raman spectral properties of pyridine interacting with bimetallic silver-gold clusters.

The binding interactions between pyridine and bimetallic silver-gold clusters are investigated using density functional theory (DFT). The binding energies of pyridine-bimetallic cluster complexes indicate that the bonding depends strongly on the binding site (Au or Ag atom) and bonding molecular orbitals in a given configuration. The donation of the lone-pair electrons of the nitrogen of pyridine to an appropriate unoccupied orbital of each metal cluster plays an important role. The low-lying excited states and charge-transfer states of four stable complexes of interest are calculated on the basis of a time-dependent DFT method. In nonresonance Raman scattering processes, the influence of binding interactions on the relative Raman intensity of totally symmetric pyridine vibrational modes is discussed. These calculated relative Raman intensities are compared with observed surface-enhanced Raman spectra of pyridine adsorbed on silver-gold alloy surfaces.     

Characterization of O2-CeO2 interactions using in situ Raman spectroscopy and first-principle calculations.

Interactions between O(2) and CeO(2) are examined experimentally using in situ Raman spectroscopy and theoretically using density-functional slab-model calculations. Two distinct oxygen bands appear at 825 and 1131 cm(-1), corresponding to peroxo- and superoxo-like species, respectively, when partially reduced CeO(2) is exposed to 10 % O(2). Periodic density-functional theory (DFT) calculations aid the interpretation of spectroscopic observations and provide energetic and geometric information for the dioxygen species adsorbed on CeO(2). The O(2) adsorption energies on unreduced CeO(2) surfaces are endothermic (0.91相似文献   

Quadricyclane radical cation rearrangements: a computational study of the transformations to 1,3,5-cycloheptatriene and norbornadiene

An alternative skeletal rearrangement of the quadricyclane radical cation (Q*+) explains the side products formed in the one-electron oxidation to norbornadiene. First, the bicyclo[2.2.1]hepta-2-ene-5-yl-7-ylium radical cation, with an activation energy of 14.9 kcal mol(-1), is formed. Second, this species can further rearrange to 1,3,5-cycloheptatriene through two plausible paths, that is, a multistep mechanism with two shallow intermediates and a stepwise path in which the bicyclo[3.2.0]hepta-2,6-diene radical cation is an intermediate. The multistep rearrangement has a rate-limiting step with an estimated activation energy of 16.5 kcal mol(-1), which is 2.8 kcal mol(-1) lower in energy than the stepwise mechanism. However, the lowest activation energy is found for the Q*+ cycloreversion to norbornadiene that has a transition structure, in close correspondence with earlier studies, and an activation energy of 10.1 kcal mol(-1), which agrees well with the experimental estimate of 9.3 kcal mol(-1). The computational estimates of activation energies were done using the CCSD(T)/6-311+G(d,p) method with geometries optimized on the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) level, combined with B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) frequencies.     

A study of vitamin A radical cation generated by chemical and radiolytic oxidation

Electron transfer reaction between vitamin A (1) and tris(p-bromophenyl)aminium hexachloroautimonate (2) in dichloromethane (DCM) has been investigated by means of UV-VIS absorption and ESR spectroscopy. The title radical cation formed in the reaction was characterized by a new absorption band around 600 nm and a singlet unresolved ESR spectrum with g factor of 2.0038-2.0039 and line width of 20 G. Further studies indicated that ESR pattern and parameters of the radical cation generated by 7-irradiation of 1 in CFCl3 matrix at 77 K are consistent with that resulted in the chemical oxidation in DCM at ambient temperature.     

Structure and reactivity of the cysteine methyl ester radical cation

The structure and reactivity of the cysteine methyl ester radical cation, CysOMe^.+, have been examined in the gas phase using a combination of experiment and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. CysOMe^.+ undergoes rapid ion–molecule reactions with dimethyl disulfide, allyl bromide, and allyl iodide, but is unreactive towards allyl chloride. These reactions proceed by radical atom or group transfer and are consistent with CysOMe^.+ possessing structure 1 , in which the radical site is located on the sulfur atom and the amino group is protonated. This contrasts with DFT calculations that predict a captodative structure 2 , in which the radical site is positioned on the α carbon and the carbonyl group is protonated, and that is more stable than 1 by 13.0 kJ mol^?1. To resolve this apparent discrepancy the gas‐phase IR spectrum of CysOMe^.+ was experimentally determined and compared with the theoretically predicted IR spectra of a range of isomers. An excellent match was obtained for 1 . DFT calculations highlight that although 1 is thermodynamically less stable than 2 , it is kinetically stable with respect to rearrangement.     

Tuning of electronic properties in thienyl-phosphole pi-conjugated systems through P-functionalization monitored by Raman spectroscopy

Herein, a Raman spectroscopic study of a new family of 2,5-di(2-thienyl)phospholes and thienyl-capped 1,1'-diphospholes is presented. The Raman spectra have been carefully assigned with the help of density functional calculations. For di(2-thienyl)phospholes, two well-differentiated groups of Raman bands exist that arise either from the central phosphole ring or from the outer thiophene substituents. These data reveal a segmentation of the electronic structure. This paper reports interesting relationships between geometrical data such as the BLA (bond-length alternation) parameter and Raman band wavenumbers. These correlations are unprecedented in the chemistry of phospholes and have been used to interpret the evolution of the electronic structure (aromaticity=pi-conjugation) upon 1) substitution of the central sulfur atom of terthiophene by phosphorus and 2) P-functionalization. Increasing the coordination number of the phosphole ring results in intramolecular charge transfer. The best scenario for phosphole aromaticity is found for 1,1'-diphospholes.     

Optical properties of gas-phase tryptophan-silver cations: charge transfer from the indole ring to the silver atom.

We present a joint experimental and theoretical investigation of the electronic excitation spectra of the tryptophan-silver complex. The photodissociation spectrum of gas-phase [Trp-Ag]+ was measured from 215 to 330 nm using a quadrupole ion trap coupled to an optical parametric-oscillator laser. The calculated time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) absorption spectra for different prototypes of structures are presented. Low-energy transitions that are experimentally observed are only calculated for the charge-solvation (CS) structures. These transitions are a signature of the metal-pi interaction in [Trp-Ag]+. The recorded spectrum is compared to a Boltzmann average of the absorption spectrum obtained from direct molecular dynamics (MD) simulations involving simultaneous transitions to excited states based on semiempirical configuration interaction (CI) calculations. The results demonstrate that charge transfer can be photoinduced from the indole ring to the silver atom.     

Low‐Energy‐Barrier Proton Transfer Induced by Electron Attachment to the Guanine⋅⋅⋅Cytosine Base Pair

The photoelectron spectrum of the anion of the guanine ??? cytosine base apair (GC)^.? is recorded for the first time. The observed variation in the spectral peak‐height ratios with the source conditions suggests the presence of two or more anionic isomers. Two maxima of the broad bands in the photoelectron spectrum were measured at about 1.9 and about 2.6 eV. These values are very well reproduced by the vertical detachment energies of the B3LYP/6‐31++G(d,p) calculated low‐energy anionic structures, which are 1) the Watson–Crick base‐pair anion with proton transferred from N1 of guanine to N3 of cytosine, 2) its analogue in which the proton is transferred from N9 of guanine to N7 of guanine, and 3) the global minimum geometry, which is formed from the latter anion by rotation of guanine about the axis approximately defined by C2 of guanine and C4 of cytosine. Furthermore, a minor difference in the stabilities of the two lowest energy anions explains the experimentally observed source (temperature) dependence of the PES spectrum. A rational procedure, based on the chemistry involved in the formation of anionic dimers, which enables the low‐energy anions populated in the photoelectron spectrum to be identified is proposed. In contrast to the alternative combinatorial approach, which in the studied case would lead to carrying out quantum chemical calculations for 2000–2500 structures, the procedure described here reduces the computational problem to only 15 geometries.     

Ionization-induced proton transfer in model DNA base pairs: a theoretical study of the radical ions of the 7-azaindole dimer.

Proton-transfer reactions of the radical anion and cation of the 7-Azaindole (7AI) dimer were investigated by means of density functional theory (DFT). The calculated results for the dimer anion and cation were very similar. Three equilibrium structures, which correspond to the non-proton-transferred (normal), the single-proton-transferred (SPT) and the double-proton-transferred (tautomeric) forms, were found. The transition states for proton-transfer reactions were also located. The calculations showed that the first proton-transfer reaction (normal-->SPT) is exothermic and almost barrier-free; therefore, it should occur spontaneously in the period of a vibration. In contrast, the second proton-transfer reaction (SPT-->tautomer) was found to be far less-probable in terms of reaction energy and barrier. Hence, it was concluded that both (7Al)2*- and (7Al)2*+ exist in the SPT form. The conclusion was further confirmed by the calculated electron vertical detachment energy (VDE) of the SPT form of (7Al)2*-, 1.33 eV, which is very close to the experimental measurement of 1.35 eV. The calculated VDEs of the normal and tautomeric (7Al)2*- forms were too small compared to the experimental value. The proton transfer process was found to be multidimensional in nature involving not only proton motion but also intermolecular rocking motion. In addition, IR spectra were calculated and reported. The spectra of the three structures showed very different features and, therefore, can be considered as fingerprints for future experimental identifications. The implications of these results to biology and spectroscopy are also briefly discussed.     

Long‐Lived Radical Cation Salts Obtained by Interaction of Monocyclic Arenes with Niobium and Tantalum Pentahalides at Room Temperature: EPR and DFT Studies

The 1:3 reactions of the alkoxy arenes 1,4‐(MeO)₂C₆H₄ and 1,4‐F₂‐2,5‐(MeO)₂C₆H₂ with TaF₅ in chloroform at 40–50 °C resulted in formation in about 35 % yield of the long‐lived radical cation salts [1,4‐(MeO)₂C₆H₄][Ta₂F₁₁] ( 2 a ) and [1,4‐F₂‐2,5‐(MeO)₂C₆H₂][Ta₂F₁₁] ( 2 b ), respectively. The non‐alkoxy‐substituted [arene][M₂X₁₁] [M=Ta, X=F: arene=C₆H₅Me ( 2 c ), 1,4‐C₆H₄Me₂ ( 2 d ), C₆H₅F ( 2 e ), C₆H₅NO₂ ( 2 f ); M=Nb, X=F: arene=C₆H₅Me ( 4 a ), 1,4‐C₆H₄Me₂ ( 4 b ), C₆H₅F ( 4 c ), C₆H₅NO₂ ( 4 d ); M=Ta, X=Cl: arene=1,4‐C₆H₄Me₂ ( 5 )] were obtained from the 3:1 reactions of MX₅ with the appropriate arene in chloroform at temperatures in the range 40–90 °C. Compounds 2 – 5 were detected by EPR spectroscopy (in CHCl₃) at room temperature, and their gas‐phase structures were optimized by DFT calculations. Formation of the M^IV species [MX₄(NCMe)₂] [M=Ta, X=F ( 3 a ); M=Nb, X=F ( 3 b ); M=Ta, X=Cl ( 3 c )] was ascertained by EPR spectroscopy on solutions obtained by treatment of the reaction mixtures with acetonitrile. Non‐selective reactions occurred upon combination of 1,4‐F₂‐2,5‐(MeO)₂C₆H₂ with AgNbF₆ (in CH₂Cl₂) and 1,4‐(MeO)₂C₆H₄ with SbF₅.