Density functional theory study of 1,2‐dioxetanone decomposition in condensed phase

The decomposition of 1,2‐dioxetanone into a CO₂ molecule and into an excited state formaldehyde molecule was studied in condensed phase, using a density functional theory approach. Singlet and triplet ground and excited states were all included in the calculations. The calculations revealed a novel mechanism for the chemiluminescence of this compound. The triplet excitation can be explained by two intersystem crossings (ISCs) with the ground state, while the singlet excitation can be accounted by an ISC with the triplet state. The experimentally verified small excitation yield can then be explained by the presence of an energy barrier present in the potential energy surface of the triplet excited state, which will govern both triplet and singlet excitation. It was also found that the triplet ground state interacts with both the triplet excited and singlet ground states. A MPWB1K/mPWKCIS approach provided results in agreement with the existent literature. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

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.     

Singlet-singlet intermolecular optical energy transfer from naphthalene to benzophenone in the vapor phase

By using the exothermic energy transfer as a function of pressure, the rate constant for diffusion was evaluated for benzophenone/naphthalene and naphthalene/benzophenone systems. In principle the optical energy absorbed by a complex molecule raises that molecule to one of its excited states, and afterwards this excitation energy decays through the different relaxation channels. Initially, electronically excited naphthalene "S1" state emits photons in the fluorescence band of naphthalene and these emitted photons, as a stream of particles, are absorbed by the acceptor molecule benzophenone, then excited benzophenone fluoresces. In this investigation, sensitized fluorescence decay times in different conditions were measured for naphthalene-benzophenone system in the vapor phase, and found to be 12+/-1 ns. The ultraviolet-visible spectra of the system in the vapor phase at room temperature conditions were broad and structureless.     

Coupling Effect of Non-Ignition Impact and Heat on the Decay of FOX-7

Non-ignition impact and heat stimuli are the most common external stimuli loaded on energetic materials. Nevertheless, there is thereby an urgent need, but it is still a significant challenge to comprehend their coupling effects on the decay and safety mechanisms of energetic materials. Then, reactive molecular dynamics simulation was employed to mimic practical situations and reveal the impact heat coupling effect on the decay mechanism of FOX-7. The temperature and the degree of compression of the crystal caused by the impact are considered variables in the simulation. Both increasing the degree of compression and elevating the temperature promotes the decay of FOX-7. However, their underlying response mechanism is not the same. The acceleration of decomposition is due to the elevated potential energy of the FOX-7 molecules because of elevating the temperature. In addition to the elevated potential energy of the molecule, the main contribution to the decomposition from the compression is to change the decomposition path. The results of the analysis show that compression reduces the stability of the C=C bond, so that chemical reactions related to the double bond occur. In addition, interestingly, the compression along the c direction has an almost equal effect on the final product as the compression along the b direction. Finally, the decay reaction networks are proposed to provide insights into the decomposition mechanism on atomic level. All these findings are expected to pave a way to understand the underlying response mechanism for the FOX-7 against external stimuli.     

Chemical effects of low energy electron impact on hydrocarbons in the gas phase: III. Cyclopropane

The simulated radiolysis of cyclopropane with low energy electrons (3.5 to 15.0 eV) was investigated. The setup used for the irradiations has been described previously. Appearance curves of the various products formed under electron impact were determined. The features observed on these curves yield various indications.(1) Some products arise from the dissociation of excited molecules. Contributing states are the following ones: a triplet state at 7.4 eV, singlet states at 6.7 and/or 7.7 eV, at 8.55 eV, at 9.4 and/or 9.95 eV and superexcited states lying around 10.2 eV. As in other hydrocarbons studied, the electron impact excitation cross section shows a steep increase at the ionization potential. (2) Other products result from ion fragmentation and ion—molecule reactions.A reaction scheme was proposed to account for the chemical effects associated with excited states and the yields of excited molecules in dissociating states were derived from experimental data. The observations relative to excited molecule fragmentation are in conformity with photolysis data. Additional information on the decomposition processes of molecules excited in the triplet state at 7.4 eV, in the singlet states at 6.7 and/or 7.7 eV and in the superexcited states were obtained.Owing to the complexity of ionic mechanisms it was not possible to distinguish between the contributions of ionization and excitation. Only the radiation chemical yield of products, G(products), was evaluated. The values found for G(products) just above the ionization potential are close to the data obtained in conventional radiolysis which could indicate that secondary electrons having such energies play an important role in radiation chemistry.     

气相中Y＋, Zr＋, Nb＋与CO2反应的理论研究

以Y^＋, Zr^＋, Nb^＋与CO₂反应作为第二前过渡金属离子与CO₂反应的范例体系. 采用密度泛函UB3LYP方法, 对于Y, Zr, Nb采用Stuttgart赝势基组, 对于CO₂采用6-311＋G(2d)基组, 计算研究了三种金属离子在基态和激发态时与CO₂气相反应的机理. 结果表明三种金属离子与CO₂反应以高自旋进入反应通道, 在反应过程中发生系间窜越, 以低自旋中间体和最终产物离开反应通道. 用内禀坐标单点垂直激发计算的方法找到了势能面交叉点, 并作了相应的讨论. 因为有金属离子的参与, 使单分子CO₂的强吸热分解反应变为生成CO和MO^＋的放热过程.     

Synthesis and characterization of a new cadmium complex based on 1,1-diamino-2,2-dinitroethylene

A new cadmium complex of 1,1-diamino-2,2-dinitroethylene (FOX-7) was synthesized and structurally determined. Central Cd²⁺ is coordinated by six nitrogens from four NH₃ molecules and two FOX-7^? anions to form an octahedral structure. The thermal decomposition of Cd(NH₃)₄(FOX-7)₂ was studied with differential scanning calorimeter and TG–DTG methods. The apparent activation energy and pre-exponential constant of the exothermic process are 220.6 kJ M^?1 and 10^17.86 s^?1, respectively. Cd(NH₃)₄(FOX-7)₂ is sensitive.     

Theoretical investigations of the perylene electronic structure: Monomer,dimers, and excimers

The structural and electronic properties of perylene molecule, dimers, and excimers have been computationally studied. The present work represents the first systematic study of perylene molecule and dimer forms by means of long‐range corrected time‐dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) approaches. Initially, the study explores the photophysical properties of the molecular species. Vertical transitions to many excited singlet states have been computed and rationalized with different exchange‐correlation functionals. Differences between excitation energies are discussed and compared to the absorption spectrum of perylene in gas phase and diluted solution. De‐excitation energy from the relaxed geometry of the lowest excited singlet is in good agreement with the experimental fluorescence emission. Optimization of several coplanar forms of the perylene pair prove that, contrary to generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and hybrid exchange‐correlation functionals, corrected TDDFT is able to bind the perylene dimer in the ground state. Excitation energies from different dimer conformers point to dimer formation prior to photoexcitation. The fully relaxed excimer geometry belongs to the perfectly eclipsed conformation with D_2h symmetry. The excimer equilibrium intermolecular distance is shorter than the separation found for the ground state, which is an indication of stronger interchromophore interaction in the excimer state. Excimer de‐excitation energy is in rather good agreement with the excimer band of perylene in concentrated solution. The study also scans the energy profiles of the ground and lowest excited states along several geometrical distortions. The nature of the interactions responsible for the excimer stabilization is explored in terms of excitonic and charge resonance contributions. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Structural Characterization and Thermal Properties of 1-Amino-1-ethylamino-2,2-dinitroethylene

1-amino-1-ethylamino-2,2-dinitroethylene (AEFOX-7) was synthesized by the reaction of 1,1-diamino-2,2-dinitroethylene (FOX-7) and ethylamine aqueous solution at 92 oC. The the-oretical investigation on AEFOX-7 was carried out by B3LYP/6-311++G^**method. The IR frequencies and NMR chemical shifts were performed and compared with the experi-mental results. The thermal behavior of AEFOX-7 was studied with differential scanning calorimetry and thermal gravity-derivative thermogravimetry methods, and can be divided into a melting process and an exothermic decomposition process. The enthalpy, apparent activation energy and pre-exponential factor of the exothermic decomposition reaction were obtained as 374.88 kJ/mol, 169.7 kJ/mol, and 10^19.24 s^-1, respectively. The critical temper-ature of thermal explosion of AEFOX-7 is 145.2 oC. The specific heat capacity of AEFOX-7 was determined with micro-DSC method and theoretical calculation method, and the molar heat capacity is 214.50 J/(mol K) at 298.15 K. The adiabatic time-to-explosion of AEFOX-7 was calculated to be a certain value between 1.38-1.40 s. The thermal stability of AEFOX-7 is much lower than that of FOX-7.     

Excited electronic state decomposition of furazan based energetic materials: 3,3'-diamino-4,4'-azoxyfurazan and its model systems, diaminofurazan and furazan

We report the first experimental and theoretical study of gas phase excited electronic state decomposition of a furazan based, high nitrogen content energetic material, 3,3'-diamino-4,4'-azoxyfurazan (DAAF), and its model systems, diaminofurazan (DAF) and furazan (C2H2N2O). DAAF has received major attention as an insensitive high energy explosive; however, the mechanism and dynamics of the decomposition of this material are not clear yet. In order to understand the initial decomposition mechanism of DAAF and those of its model systems, nanosecond energy resolved and femtosecond time resolved spectroscopies and complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) calculations have been employed to investigate the excited electronic state decomposition of these materials. The NO molecule is observed as an initial decomposition product from DAAF and its model systems at three UV excitation wavelengths (226, 236, and 248 nm) with a pulse duration of 8 ns. Energies of the three excitation wavelengths coincide with the (0-0), (0-1), and (0-2) vibronic bands of the NO A 2Sigma+<--X 2Pi electronic transition, respectively. A unique excitation wavelength independent dissociation channel is observed for DAAF, which generates the NO product with a rotationally cold (20 K) and a vibrationally hot (1265 K) distribution. On the contrary, excitation wavelength dependent dissociation channels are observed for the model systems, which generate the NO product with both rotationally cold and hot distributions depending on the excitation wavelengths. Potential energy surface calculations at the CASSCF level of theory illustrates that two conical intersections between the excited and ground electronic states are involved in two different excitation wavelength dependent dissociation channels for the model systems. Femtosecond pump-probe experiments at 226 nm reveal that the NO molecule is still the main observed decomposition product from the materials of interest and that the formation dynamics of the NO product is faster than 180 fs. Two additional fragments are observed from furazan with mass of 40 amu (C2H2N) and 28 amu (CH2N) employing femtosecond laser ionization. This observation suggests a five-membered heterocyclic furazan ring opening mechanism with rupture of a CN and a NO bond, yielding NO as a major decomposition product. NH2 is not observed as a secondary decomposition product of DAAF and DAF.     

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.     

A Theoretical Study on Hydrogen‐Bonded Complex of Proflavine Cation and Water: The Site‐dependent Feature of Hydrogen Bond Strengthening and Weakening

The intermolecular hydrogen‐bonds between proflavine cation (PC) and water molecules are investigated by density functional theory (DFT) and time‐dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) methods. The ground‐state geometry optimizations, electronic excitation energies and corresponding oscillation strengths of the low‐lying electronically excited states for the isolated proflavine cation, the hydrogen‐bonded PC–H2O dimer and PC–(H2O)2 trimer are calculated. Intermolecular hydrogen bonds at the central site of proflavine molecule are found to be stronger than the peripheral site. The hydrogen bond N–H???O for the hydrogen‐bonded dimer are indicated to be weakened in the excited states, since the excitation energy is increased slightly comparing to the monomer. Hydrogen bonds of PC–(H2O)2 trimer with the same type as the dimer are strengthened in the excited state, which is demonstrated by the decrease of the excited energies. Thus, hydrogen bond strengthening and weakening are observed to reveal site dependent feature in proflavine molecule. Furthermore, the hydrogen bond at central site induces the blue‐shift of the absorption spectrum, while the ones at peripheral site induce red‐shift. Hydrogen bonds with the same type at peripheral and central sites of proflavine molecule provide different effects on the photochemical and photophysical properties of proflavine.     

Dissociative Excitation of Strontium upon e–SrCl2Collisions

Dissociative excitation of the strontium atom and singly charged ion in collisions of slow, monoenergetic electrons with strontium dichloride molecules was experimentally studied. The efficiency of excitation of the SrI resonance line is much lower than that in electron–atom collisions. The greatest cross sections of dissociative excitation were found for spectral lines of the singly charged strontium ion. Possible reactions responsible for the formation of excited atoms and singly charged ions of strontium in e–SrCl₂collisions are discussed.     

Theoretical aspects of the radiation effects of polymers

The Millar–Wall–Charlesby empirical rule of radiation effects on polymers was theoretically examined. The theoretically calculated adiabatic potential curves of the main chain scission and side chain cleavage revealed that the effects of radiation on polymers are clearly interpreted as chemical reactions in the excited states; namely, that degradation occurs when little or no activation energy is required in the main chain cleavage reaction in the excited states, or, in other words, stabilization of the excited polymer molecule leads to the main chain cleavage. Crosslinking occurs when moderate or large activation energy is required in the main chain cleavage reaction in any electronic state and little or no activation energy is needed in the C? H bond cleavage reaction in the excited states. Therefore stabilization of the excited polymer molecule leads to the formation of a polymer radical that crosslinks. It was concluded that Millar–Wall–Charlesby's rule is exact only when the shape of the adiabatic potential curve in the ground state reflects those in the excited states.     

Coupling effects of high temperature and pressure on the decomposition mechanisms of 1,1-diamino-2,2-dinitroehethe crystal: Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations

Recently, Dreger et al. experimentally investigated the phase diagram and decomposition of 1,1-diamino-2,2-dinitroethene (FOX-7) single crystal compressed hydrostatically up to 10 GPa and heated over a range of 293–750 K (J. Phys. Chem. C 2016 , 120, 11092–11098). As a continuation, we performed ab initio molecular dynamic simulations to study the initiation mechanisms and subsequent decomposition of FOX-7 at a temperature of 504 K (initial decomposition temperature) coupled with a pressure of 1–5 GPa, 604 K at 5GPa, and 704 K at 5 GPa. However, our two compressing ways are different: the former is static hydrostatical compression, while our way is dynamic compression. Our results indicate that the initial decomposition mechanism was dependent on the temperature but independent of the pressure. The initial decomposition step is the bimolecular intermolecular hydrogen transfer. The subsequent decomposition of FOX-7 is sensitive to both the temperature and pressure. At 504 K, the decomposition of FOX-7 was accelerated from 1 to 2 GPa and from 3 to 5 GPa but decelerated from 2 to 3 GPa. The temperature exhibits a positive effect on the decomposition. Overall, the temperature and pressure have great cooperative effects on the decomposition of FOX-7. Our study may provide new insight into understanding the initial mechanisms and decomposition reactions of energetic materials at relatively low temperatures coupled with different pressures in atomic detail.     

Radiative electronic energy transfer-time studies of naphthalene-biacetyl system by one and two-photon excitation, and optical antenna mechanism

In principle, the optical energy absorbed by a complex molecule raises that molecule to one of its excited states, and afterwards this excitation energy decays through the relaxation channels. Initially, electronically excited naphthalene emits photons and these emitted photons are absorbed by the acceptor molecule biacetyl, then excited biacetyl fluoresces. In this investigation radiative energy transfer-time is measured in cyclohexane by one and two-photon excitations. The UV-vis spectrum of biacetyl vapor at room temperature conditions was broad and structureless.     

A theoretical and optical spectroscopic study of the mechanism of a tautomeric transformation in the 7-azaindole dimer and the 7-azaindole complex with a water molecule

Electronic, vibrational, and electronic vibrational spectra of the 7-azaindole dimer, the 7-azaindole complex with a water molecule, and their tautomers are calculated. Transition states are considered based on the analysis of frequencies and shapes of low-frequency vibrations and the Mulliken charge redistribution. The performed quantum chemical calculation of chemical reactions enabled the determination of the structure of transition states and proton transfer conditions. It is shown that in the 7-AzI dimer the proton transfer has a character consistent with the formation of a zwitterionic form. The structure of excited states is calculated and the fluorescence spectra of the first electronic transitions that can be used as a criterion of the formation of 7-AzI tautomers as a result of chemical reactions proceeding through a proton transfer in the 7-azaindole dimer and the 7-azaindole complex with a water molecule, are interpreted.     

Spiro[4.4]nonatetraene and its Positive and Negative Radical Ions: Molectronic Structure Investigations

The electronic structure of spiro[4.4]nonatetraene 1 as well as that of its radical anion and cation were studied by different spectroscopies. The electron‐energy‐loss spectrum in the gas phase revealed the lowest triplet state at 2.98 eV and a group of three overlapping triplet states in the 4.5 – 5.0 eV range, as well as a number of valence and Rydberg singlet excited states. Electron‐impact excitation functions of pure vibrational and triplet states identified various states of the negative ion, in particular the ground state with an attachment energy of 0.8 eV, an excited state corresponding to a temporary electron attachment to the 2b₁ MO at an attachment energy of 2.7 eV, and a core excited state at 4.0 eV. Electronic‐absorption spectroscopy in cryogenic matrices revealed several states of the positive ion, in particular a richly structured first band at 1.27 eV, and the first electronic transition of the radical anion. Vibrations of the ground state of the cation were probed by IR spectroscopy in a cryogenic matrix. The results are discussed on the basis of density‐functional and CASSCF/CASPT2 quantum‐chemical calculations. In their various forms, the calculations successfully rationalized the triplet and the singlet (valence and Rydberg) excitation energies of the neutral molecule, the excitation energies of the radical cation, its IR spectrum, the vibrations excited in the first electronic absorption band, and the energies of the ground and the first excited states of the anion. The difference of the anion excitation energies in the gas and condensed phases was rationalized by a calculation of the Jahn‐Teller distortion of the anion ground state. Contrary to expectations based on a single‐configuration model for the electronic states of 1 , it is found that the gap between the first two excited states is different in the singlet and the triplet manifold. This finding can be traced to the different importance of configuration interaction in the two multiplicity manifolds.     

Potential-energy surfaces of local excited states from subsystem- and selective Kohn-Sham-TDDFT

Calculating excited-state potential-energy surfaces for systems with a large number of close-lying excited states requires the identification of the relevant electronic transitions for several geometric structures. Time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) is very efficient in such calculations, but the assignment of local excited states of the active molecule can be difficult. We compare the results of the frozen-density embedding (FDE) method with those of standard Kohn-Sham density-functional theory (KS-DFT) and simpler QM/MM-type methods. The FDE results are found to be more accurate for the geometry dependence of excitation energies than classical models. We also discuss how selective iterative diagonalization schemes can be exploited to directly target specific excitations for different structures. Problems due to strongly interacting orbital transitions and possible solutions are discussed. Finally, we apply FDE and the selective KS-TDDFT to investigate the potential energy surface of a high-lying π → π^∗ excitation in a pyridine molecule approaching a silver cluster.