Theoretical study of absorption and emission spectra of the monomer of PFBT

Conjugated polymers (CPs) have been used as highly responsive optical sensors for chemical and biological targets. The density functional theory (DFT), the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) and the singly excited configuration interaction (CIS) approach were employed to simulate the absorption and emission spectra of a model monomer unit of the typical CP, poly[9,9′-bis-(6′-N,N,N-trimethylammonium)hexyl]fluorene-alt-4,7-(2,1,3-benzothiadiazole)] (PFBT). Various basis sets were applied in the calculations and their effects on the predictions for the optical properties of FBT are discussed. The results suggest that the TD-B3LYP method with basis sets larger than 6-311G(d,p) provides a suitable approach for investigations of the studied system.     

Relationship between orbital energy gaps and excitation energies for long‐chain systems

The difference between the excitation energies and corresponding orbital energy gaps, the exciton binding energy, is investigated based on time‐dependent (TD) density functional theory (DFT) for long‐chain systems: all‐trans polyacetylenes and linear oligoacenes. The optimized geometries of these systems indicate that bond length alternations significantly depend on long‐range exchange interactions. In TDDFT formalism, the exciton binding energy comes from the two‐electron interactions between occupied and unoccupied orbitals through the Coulomb‐exchange‐correlation integral kernels. TDDFT calculations show that the exciton binding energy is significant when long‐range exchange interactions are involved. Spin‐flip (SF) TDDFT calculations are then carried out to clarify double‐excitation effects in these excitation energies. The calculated SF‐TDDFT results indicate that double‐excitation effects significantly contribute to the excitations of long‐chain systems. The discrepancies between the vertical ionization potential minus electron affinity (IP–EA) values and the HOMO–LUMO excitation energies are also evaluated for the infinitely long polyacetylene and oligoacene using the least‐square fits to estimate the exciton binding energy of infinitely long systems. It is found that long‐range exchange interactions are required to give the exciton binding energy of the infinitely long systems. Consequently, it is concluded that long‐range exchange interactions neglected in many DFT calculations play a crucial role in the exciton binding energies of long‐chain systems, while double‐excitation correlation effects are also significant to hold the energy balance of the excitations. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

TDDFT Study of the Electronic Structure,Absorption and Emission Spectra of the Light Emitters of the Amazing Firefly Bioluminescence and Solvation Effects on the Spectra

The ground and excited state properties of luciferin (LH₂) and oxyluciferin (OxyLH₂), the bioluminescent chemicals in the firefly, have been characterized using density functional theory (DFT) and time dependent DFT (TDDFT) methods. The effects of solvation on the electronic absorption and emission spectra of luciferin and oxyluciferin were predicted with a self‐consistent isodensity polarized continuum model of the solvent using TDDFT. The S₀→S₁ vertical excitation energies in the gas phase and in water were obtained. Optimizations of the excited state geometries permitted the first predictions of the fluorescence spectra for these biologically important molecules. Shifts in both of the absorption and emission spectra on proceeding from the gas phase to aqueous solution were also predicted.     

Analysis of self‐interaction correction for describing core excited states

Core‐excitation energies are calculated by the self‐interaction‐corrected time‐dependent density functional theory (SIC‐TDDFT) and SIC‐delta‐self‐consistent field (SIC‐ΔSCF) methods. For carbon monoxide, SIC‐TDDFT severely overestimates core‐excitation energies, while the SIC‐ΔSCF method using Kohn–Sham density functional theory (KS‐DFT) slightly overestimates. These behaviors are attributed to the fact that the self‐interaction errors in the total and orbital energies considerably differ. We evaluate the difference of the self‐interaction errors for the Slater exchange functional. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2007     

Electronic structures and spectra of symmetric meso‐substituted porphyrin: DFT and TDDFT—PCM investigations

DFT and TDDFT calculations at the level of PBE0/6‐31G(d)/6‐31+G(d) were performed systematically on seven porphyrins with symmetrical meso‐substitutents. Our results show that the planarity of the free base porphyrin (BP) are affected by the introduction of substitutents at the meso‐position of the ring. Geometrical studies show that the introduction of electron‐withdrawing groups brings about in‐plane deformation in the porphyrin ring, whereas the bulky substitutents make an out‐of‐plane deformation. However, FMO's diagram shows that electron‐withdrawing groups alter the degeneracy of the HOMO and HOMO ?1 orbtial. Up on introduction of substituents at the meso‐position, the Q band FMOs transitions were the same as in the case of free BP; however, the oscillator strength is changed. Electron releasing substituted at the meso‐position shows bathochromic shift in the Q band region. However, the intensity or the hyperchromic shift is higher for the electron withdrawing groups. Solvation studies show that Q bands are blue shifted and B bands are red shifted, whereas the intensity of the B bands was highly enhanced compared with the Q bands. These theoretical studies would be helpful in designing new porphyrins for the photodynamic therapy and dye‐sensitized solar cell applications. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011     

Ground and excited states of the monomer and dimer of certain carboxylic acids

The ground-state properties of the monomer and the dimer of formic acid, acetic acid, and benzoic acid have been investigated using Hartree-Fock (HF) and density functional theory (DFT) methods using the 6-311++G(d,p) basis set. Some of the low-lying excited states have been studied using the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) with LDA and B3LYP functionals and also employing complete-active-space-self-consistent-field (CASSCF) and multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) methodologies. DFT calculations predict the ground-state geometries in quantitative agreement with the available experimental results. The computed binding energies for the three carboxylic acid dimers are also in accord with the known thermodynamic data. The TDDFT predicted wavelengths corresponding to the lowest energy n-pi* transition in formic acid (214 nm) and acetic acid (214 nm) and the pi-pi* transition in benzoic acid (255 nm) are comparable to the experimentally observed absorption maxima. In addition, TDDFT calculations predict qualitatively correctly the blue shift (4-5 nm) in the excitation energy for the pi-pi* transition in going from the monomer to the dimer of formic acid and acetic acid and the red shift (approximately 19 nm) in pi-pi* transition in going from benzoic acid monomer to dimer. This also indicates that the electronic interaction arising from the hydrogen bonds between the monomers is marginal in all three carboxylic acids investigated.     

Absorption spectra of first-row transition metal complexes of bacteriochlorins: a theoretical analysis

A theoretical study on a family of divalent transition metal bacteriochlorin complexes (M-BC, where M = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni Cu, and Zn) has been carried out to elucidate their potentialities as active molecules in photodynamic therapy (PDT). To draw a complete picture of their electronic properties, both for the ground and excited states, these complexes have been studied by the means of density functional theory (DFT). The time-dependent DFT (TDDFT) approach was used to interpret the electronic spectra, while solvent effects were taken into account by explicitly considering both two water molecules coordinated to the central metal atom and the contribution from the solvent bulk. Particular attention has been devoted to the analysis of the so-called Q bands, since these can be particularly important for medical applications. Metal substitution and environment (solvent) effects have been analyzed, and good agreement is found between computed and available UV-vis spectra. These theoretical data, especially those relative to the metallobacteriochlorins not yet completely characterized at the experimental level, could give some hints for future medical applications.     

QM/MM study of the absorption spectra of DsRed.M1 chromophores

We report geometries and vertical excitation energies for the red and green chromophores of the DsRed.M1 protein in the gas phase and in the solvated protein environment. Geometries are optimized using density functional theory (DFT, B3LYP functional) for the isolated chromophores and combined quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) methods for the protein (B3LYP/MM). Vertical excitation energies are computed using DFT/MRCI, OM2/MRCI, and TDDFT as QM methods. In the case of the red chromophore, there is a general blue shift in the excitation energies when going from the isolated chromophore to the protein, which is caused both by structural changes and by electrostatic interactions with the environment. For the lowest ππ* transition, these two factors contribute to a similar extent to the overall DFT/MRCI shift of 0.4 eV. An enlargement of the QM region to include active‐site residues does not change the DFT/MRCI excitation energies much. The DFT/MRCI results are closest to experiment for both chromophores. OM2/MRCI and TDDFT overestimate the first vertical excitation energy by 0.3–0.5 and 0.2–0.4 eV, respectively, relative to the experimental or DFT/MRCI values. The experimental gap of 0.35 eV between the lowest ππ* excitation energies of the red (cis‐acylimine) and green (trans‐peptide) forms is well reproduced by DFT/MRCI and TDDFT (0.32 and 0.37 eV, respectively). A histogram spectrum for an equal mixture of the two forms, generated by OM2/MRCI calculations on 450 snapshots along molecular dynamics trajectories, matches the experimental spectrum quite well, with a gap of 0.23 eV and an overall blue shift of about 0.3 eV. DFT/MRCI appears as an attractive choice for calculating excitation energies in fluorescent proteins, without the shortcomings of TDDFT and computationally more affordable than CASSCF‐based approaches. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2010     

手性络合物[M(bpy)_2(phen)]~(2+)和[M(phen)_2(bpy)]~(2+)(M=Ru,Os)圆二色谱的理论解析

应用密度泛函理论,在B3LYP/LanL2DZ水平上对C2对称性的混配络合物[M(bpy)2(phen)]2+和[M(phen)2(bpy)]2+(M=Ru、Os;bpy=2,2'-bipyridine;phen=1,10-phenanthroline)在水溶液中的几何构型进行了优化,并用TDDFT/B3LYP方法和相同的基组计算了其激发能、旋转强度和振子强度,绘制了相应的圆二色谱(CD).在分析有关跃迁性质的基础上,对实验圆二色谱的谱带进行了明确的解析和指认,同时讨论了短波区激子裂分的规律性.结果表明:四种络合物在长波区(λ>320nm)的CD吸收带主要是由d-π*跃迁产生的荷移谱带;短波区(λ<320nm)则是配体上平行于长轴的π-π*跃迁产生的激子耦合带,且对于Λ构型表现为正的手性激子裂分.其中,[M(bpy)2(phen)]2+只显示出正负两个激子带,分属于联吡啶和邻菲咯啉配体;而[M(phen)2(bpy)]2+则有三个激子带,其中左侧的两个(一负一正)属于邻菲咯啉配体,右侧的正带则属于联吡啶配体.此外,尽管激子耦合属于远程相互作用,但用TDDFT计算的激子裂分样式仍是正确的.这些结论对于深入理解有...     

On low‐lying excited states of extended nanographenes

Low‐lying excited states of planarly extended nanographenes are investigated using the long‐range corrected (LC) density functional theory (DFT) and the spin‐flip (SF) time‐dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) by exploring the long‐range exchange and double‐excitation correlation effects on the excitation energies, band gaps, and exciton binding energies. Optimizing the geometries of the nanographenes indicates that the long‐range exchange interaction significantly improves the C C bond lengths and amplify their bond length alternations with overall shortening the bond lengths. The calculated TDDFT excitation energies show that long‐range exchange interaction is crucial to provide accurate excitation energies of small nanographenes and dominate the exciton binding energies in the excited states of nanographenes. It is, however, also found that the present long‐range correction may cause the overestimation of the excitation energy for the infinitely wide graphene due to the discrepancy between the calculated band gaps and vertical ionization potential (IP) minus electron affinity (EA) values. Contrasting to the long‐range exchange effects, the SF‐TDDFT calculations show that the double‐excitation correlation effects are negligible in the low‐lying excitations of nanographenes, although this effect is large in the lowest excitation of benzene molecule. It is, therefore, concluded that long‐range exchange interactions should be incorporated in TDDFT calculations to quantitatively investigate the excited states of graphenes, although TDDFT using a present LC functional may provide a considerable excitation energy for the infinitely wide graphene mainly due to the discrepancy between the calculated band gaps and IP–EA values. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

酞菁基态和激发态的计算

采用DFT方法在B3LYP/6-31G水平上得到了H2Pc(酞菁)的优化结构,并在此基础上采用TDDFT方法计算了激发态.通过与H2P(卟吩)、H2Pz(四氮卟吩)和H2TBP(四苯并卟啉)的比较,研究了苯并取代以及氮杂取代对H2Pc的分子轨道和激发态的影响,上述取代效应使得H2Pc的HOMO-1(132 b1u)和HOMO-3(130 b1u)轨道发生了翻转,氮杂取代的影响尤其明显.这两种取代都使得Q带振子强度增大,在这四种化合物中,H2Pc的振子强度最大.TDDFT计算结果与实验值符合得较好.     

Computational studies of photophysical properties of porphin, tetraphenylporphyrin and tetrabenzoporphyrin

The molecular photonics of porphyrins are studied using a combination of first-principle and semi-empirical calculations. The applicability of the approach is demonstrated by calculations on free-base porphyrin, tetraphenylporphyrin, and tetrabenzoporphyrin. The method uses excitation energies and oscillator strengths calculated at the linear-response time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) or the corresponding values calculated at the linear-response approximate second-order coupled-cluster (CC2) levels. The lowest singlet excitation energies obtained in the TDDFT and CC2 calculations are 0.0-0.28 eV and 0.18-0.47 eV larger than the experimental values, respectively. The excitation energies for the first triplet state calculated at the TDDFT level are in excellent agreement with experiment, whereas the corresponding CC2 values have larger deviations from experiment of 0.420.66 eV. The matrix elements of the spin-orbit and non-adiabatic coupling operators have been calculated at the semi-empirical intermediate neglect of differential overlap (INDO) level using a spectroscopic parameterization. The calculations yield rate constants for internal conversion and intersystem crossing processes as well as quantum yields for fluorescence and phosphorescence. The main mechanism for the quenching of fluorescence in tetraphenylporphyrin and tetrabenzoporphyrin is the internal conversion, whereas for free-base porphyrin both the internal conversion and the intersystem crossing processes reduce the fluorescence intensity. The phosphorescence is quenched by a fast internal conversion from the triplet to the ground state.     

Iodinated AlIII‐Based Phthalocyanines are Promising Sensitizers for Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells; A Theoretical Comparison Between ZnII,MgII, and AlIII‐Based Phthalocyanine Sensitizers

To design efficient dyes for dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), using a Zn‐coordinated phthalocyanine (TT7) as the prototype, a series of phthalocyanine dyes (Pcs) with different metal ions and peripheral/axial groups have been investigated by means of density functional theory (DFT) and time‐dependent DFT (TDDFT) methods. Computational results show that the iodinated Al‐based dye with a peripheral amino group (Al‐I‐NH₂‐Pc) exhibits the largest redshift in the maximum absorbance (λ_max). In addition, Al‐based dyes have appropriate energy‐level arrangements of frontier orbitals to keep excellent balance between electron injection and regeneration of oxidized dyes. Further, it has been found that the intermolecular π‐staking interaction in Al‐I‐Pc molecules is weaker than the other metal‐based Pcs, which may effectively reduce dye aggregation on the semi‐conductor surface. All these results suggest iodinated Al‐based Pcs (Al‐I‐Pcs) to be potentially promising sensitizers in DSSCs.     

Density functional theory studies on structures and absorption spectra of [Au(tpy)Cl]2+ and its derivatives: Role of basis set,functional, solvent effect,and spin orbit effect

The geometries of [Au(tpy)Cl]²⁺ (tpy = 2,2′:6′,2″‐terpyridine) and its derivatives ( 1 – 4 ) were optimized using relativistic density functional theory (DFT) at both scalar and two‐component spin orbit coupling (SOC) level of theory via zero order regular approximation (ZORA). The combination of OPTX exchange, PW91c correlation functional (denoted as OP91), all‐electron ZORA TZ2P basis set was found to be the optimal combination for geometry. The results reveal that both SOC and substituents have little effect on the geometry of complexes 1 – 4 . Then, their absorption spectra were investigated by scalar relativistic time dependent DFT (TDDFT)/SAOP/TZ2P in vacuum, in CH₂Cl₂, CH₃CN solvents by means of conductor like screening model. The calculations indicate that the nature of the low‐lying spin‐allowed excited states is gold‐perturbed intraligand transition, namely charge reorganization. This fact also demonstrates that the influence of the polarity of solvent on absorption spectra of 1 – 4 is negligible. The spin orbit TDDFT was also performed to get further insight into the effect of SOC on the absorption spectra. It is found that the SOC has little influence on the simulation of electronic spectrum of complexes 1 – 4 due to no significant involvement of d‐orbitals during electronic transition. Our conclusions are reliable and are in good agreement with the previous experimental results and theoretical investigations. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2012     

Electronic structure and spectra of nitrosyl complexes with cobalt and manganese porphyrins

The DFT calculations for nitrosyl manganese and cobalt porphyrins were carried out with the use of several density functionals. The binding energy of nitrosyl ligand and spin state of nitrosyl-free manganese porphyrin were determined. The best values of binding energy are obtained from the OLYP functional. The NBO analysis of metal?Cnitrosyl bonding was performed. Electronic spectra of nitrosyl cobalt and manganese porphyrin were calculated with the TDDFT method. The calculated electronic transitions agree well with the experimental data except for the Soret band of (Por)Mn(NO), where they are 0.3?C0.5?eV higher in energy than the experimental ones.     

Structure, bonding, and linear optical properties of a series of silver and gold nanorod clusters: DFT/TDDFT studies

DFT/TDDFT calculations have been carried out for a series of silver and gold nanorod clusters (Ag(n), Au(n), n = 12-120) whose structures are of cigar-type. Pentagonal Ag(n) clusters with n = 49-121 and hexagonal Au(n) clusters with n = 14-74 were also calculated for comparison. Metal-metal distances, binding energies per atom, ionization potentials, and electron affinities were determined, and their trends with cluster size were examined. The TDDFT calculated excitation energies and oscillator strengths were fit by a Lorentz line shape modification, which gives rise to the simulated absorption spectra. The significant features of the experimental spectra for actual silver and gold nanorod particles are well reproduced by the calculations on the clusters. The calculated spectral patterns are also in agreement with previous theoretical results on different-type Ag(n) clusters. Many differences in the calculated properties are found between the Ag(n) and Au(n) clusters, which can be explained by relativistic effects.     

Efficient blue‐emitting Ir(III) complexes with phenyl‐methyl‐benzimidazolyl and picolinate ligands: A DFT and time‐dependent DFT study

The series of heteroleptic cyclometalated Ir(III) complexes for organic light‐emitting display application have been investigated theoretically to explore their electronic structures and spectroscopic properties. The geometries, electronic structures, and the lowest‐lying singlet absorptions and triplet emissions of Ir‐(pmb)₃ and theoretically designed models Ir‐(Rpmb)₂pic were investigated with density functional theory (DFT)‐based approaches, where pmb = phenyl‐methyl‐benzimidazolyl, pic = picolinate, and R = H/F. Their structures in the ground and excited states have been optimized at the DFT/B3LYP/LANL2DZ and TDDFT/B3LYP/LANL2DZ levels, and the lowest absorptions and emissions were evaluated at B3LYP and M062X level of theory, respectively. The mobility of holes and electrons were studied computationally based on the Marcus theory. Calculations of ionization potentials were used to evaluate the injection abilities of holes into these complexes. The reasons for the higher electroluminescence efficiency and phosphorescence quantum yields in Ir‐(Rpmb)₂pic than in Ir‐(pmb)₃ have been investigated. The designed moleculars are expected to be highly emissive in pure‐blue region. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.