Disymmetry indices based on optical rotational polarizability of chiral molecules

New molecular disymmetry indices are suggested based on an analysis of the moments of rotational polarizability defining optical activity. It is shown that the fourth moment of rotational polarizability coincides with the electron-kinematic index of chirality, introduced previously by one of the authors. The norm of imaginary frequency rotational polarizability is suggested for use as an additional disymmetry index. Illustrative Hartree-Fock calculations of these chirality indices with the 6-31G basis set are performed for hydrogen peroxide, water trimer, and some amino acids. Kharkov State University. Rostov State University. Translated fromZhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 319–327, March–April, 1998.     

Influence of the rotational mobility of probe molecules on their orientation factors

The influence of a small rotational mobility on the measured orientation factors f₂ and f₄ (connected with the second and fourth moments of the orientation distribution function), of uniaxial probe molecules in uniaxial polymer systems is calculated with special regard to the fluorescence polarization method. A mean angle of rotation of about 10° within the time scale of the experiment, i.e., the fluorescence lifetime, affects f₄ considerably, while it has practically no influence on f₂. On the other hand, the knowledge of the true f₄ of the sample and some assumptions on the mobility—orientation correlation make it possible to evaluate the mean rotational angle θ from the measured f₄. Moreover, the measured f₂ value can be precisely corrected. The effect of the assumptions on the reliability of f₂ and θ is analyzed. Experimental results on two partially mobile probe molecules in drawn polyethylene are discussed.     

Inertial and bias effects in the rotational brownian motion of rodlike molecules in a uniaxial potential

Inertial effects in the rotational brownian motion in space of a rigid dipolar rotator (needle) in a uniaxial potential biased by an external field giving rise to asymmetry are treated via the infinite hierarchy of differential-recurrence relations for the statistical moments (orientational correlation functions) obtained by averaging the Euler-Langevin equation over its realizations in phase space. The solutions of this infinite hierarchy for the dipole correlation function and its characteristic times are obtained using matrix continued fractions showing that the model simultaneously predicts both slow overbarrier (or interwell) relaxation at low frequencies accompanied by intermediate frequency Debye relaxation due to fast near-degenerate motion in the wells of the potential (intrawell relaxation) as well as the high frequency resonance (Poley) absorption due to librations of the dipole moments. It is further shown that the escape rate of a brownian particle from a potential well as extended to the Kramers turnover problem via the depopulation factor yields a close approximation to the longest (overbarrier) relaxation time of the system. For zero and small values of the bias field parameter h, both the dipole moment correlation time and the longest relaxation time have Arrhenius behavior (exponential increase with increasing barrier height). While at values of h in excess of a critical value however far less than that required to achieve nucleation, the Arrhenius behavior of the correlation time disappears.     

The dependence of the character of rotational motion of nitroxyl radicals on their molecular size

A method is proposed for analysing the ESR spectra of nitroxyl radicals in their “slow” rotation region which makes it possible to study the rotational motion of the radical as a function of their size.     

Nonresonant optical activity of isolated organic molecules

Cavity ring-down polarimetry (CRDP) has been exploited to interrogate the nonresonant optical activity (or circular birefringence) of prototypical organic compounds in the vapor phase, thereby revealing the intrinsic chiro-optical response evoked from isolated (solvent-free) molecules. Specific polarization rotation parameters have been measured at two distinct excitation wavelengths (355 nm and 633 nm) for a variety of gas-phase species drawn from the terpene, epoxide, and alkane/alkene families, with complementary solution-phase polarimetric studies serving to highlight the pronounced influence of solute-solvent interactions. Time-dependent linear response calculations performed at high levels of density functional theory have been enlisted to unravel the structural and electronic origins for observed behavior. Aside from elucidating the complex solvation processes that mediate chiro-optical phenomena taking place in condensed media, this study affords a critical assessment for emerging ab initio predictions of nonresonant optical activity and for their promising ability to assist in the determination of absolute molecular stereochemistry.     

The Fokker-Planck-Langevin model for rotational brownian motion. IV. Asymmetric top molecules

The general series expansion for the joint angular velocity-orientation conditional probability density for a fluid composed of asymmetric top molecules is derived, and expressions for the reorientational correlation functions, correlation times, spectral densities, and the correlation times relevant to magnetic relaxation via spin-rotation interactions are presented. The reorientational correlation times and spin-rotation functions computed using this Fokker-Planck-Langevin (FPL) model with isotropic friction tensor (τ_x = τ_y = τ_z) are compared with the corresponding times and functions computed with the J-diffusion limit of the extended diffusion (EDJ) model. The models are found to predict significantly different behaviour only in the regime where free rotation and precessional effects become important. The reorientation self- and cross-correlation times are shown to follow Hubbard relations in the limit of short τ_x, τ_y, τ_z. Numerical calculations of the FPL reorientational correlation functions, correlation times and spin-rotation functions show that these properties are sensitive to the anisotropies in the friction tensor in the rotational Langevin equation.     

Raman optical activity of tartaric acid and related molecules

The Raman optical activity spectra of (2R, 3R) (+)- and (2S,3S) (?)-tartaric acid, (2R, 3R) (+)-dimethyl tartrate, (2R,3R) (?)-2,3-butanediol and (2S, 3S) (+)-dibenzoyl tartaric acid are presented. A large couplet at about 500cm^?1 in the first three molecules, which probably originates in deformations of a chiral structural unit, might serve as an indicator of conformation and absolute configuration.     

Effect of fluorination on the electronic structure and optical excitations of pi-conjugated molecules

Fluorination of pi-conjugated organic molecules is a strategy to obtain possible n-type conducting and air-stable materials due to the lowering of the frontier molecular orbitals (MOs) by the high electronegativity of fluorine. Nevertheless, the resulting optical gaps may be widened or narrowed, depending on the molecular backbone and/or the number and position of the fluorine atoms. The authors have performed time-dependent density functional theory calculations to address the subtle influence of fluorine substitution on the absolute MO energies and the subsequent impact on the optical transitions in homologous conjugated oligomers based on thiophene and acene units.     

Polarized fluorescence and rotational brownian motion

The equations governing the transient response of the emission anisotropy to a pulse of polarized light have been derived for macromolecules undergoing rotational diffusion.     

Spin-lattice relaxation and rotational motion of aromatic triplet-state molecules in supercooled alkane solvents (part 1)

The phosphorescence of phenazine (PZ) and quinoxaline (QX) was investigated after pulsed laser excitation in the glass-transition range of several alkane solvents. Three relaxation processes of PZ and QX in the metastable triplet state, T1, were studied as a function of temperature: (1) the decay of the selective population of the strongly phosphorescent triplet substate T1x due to spin-lattice relaxation (SLR), (2) the time-dependent red shift of the phosphorescence spectrum due to the solvation of triplet-state molecules, and (3) the decay of the phosphorescence polarization due to orientational relaxation (OR). Various aspects and connections of the mechanisms governing the three relaxation phenomena are discussed. The relaxation dynamics were characterized at temperatures above the glass-transition temperature of the respective solvent, where the fundamental processes involved are strongly dependent upon the solvent viscosities. For the systems treated here, OR and solvation were satisfactorily described by a Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann temperature behavior. SLR also depends on properties of the alkane solvent above the glass transition. Upon cooling, SLR becomes independent of the specific solvent properties and is based on mechanisms that are typical for amorphous glasses or solids. (This particular aspect will be the subject of a subsequent publication, part 2).     

Long-range interactions in molecules and rotational coupling

We report a case study on Na₂ of the influence of rotational coupling for molecular states directly below the dissociation limit, where the electronic binding energy and the hyperfine interactions are of similar magnitude and the rotational energy can be varied from small to large compared to the former energies. The experimental observation and the theoretical analysis are important for obtaining precise data concerning long-range interactions and extrapolation to the dissociation limit, which are required for describing cold collisions in atomic traps. A consistent model for all observations with rotational quantum number J′ up to 41 is developed which involves few atomic parameters and demonstrates that these are sufficient to describe molecular levels few μeV below the dissociation energy.     

Dependence of the optical saturation of fluorescence on rotational diffusion

Optical saturation of fluorescence is studied taking into account the effect of rotational diffusion of molecules. It is shown that if the rotational diffusion time adopts values on the order of the fluorescence lifetime, optical saturation of the fluorescence increasingly deviates from the classical saturation curve towards lower fluorescence intensity values.     

Structure and rotational isomerism of chloroacetyl chloride molecules

The structure of chloroacetyl chloroide (CH₂ClCOCl) molecule in different conformations arising from rotation of the CH₂Cl group about the C-C bond was determined by the Hartree-Fock RHF/6-31G(d) quantum-chemical calculations. The energy difference between the two stable rotamers was estimated at 5.9 kJ mol^?1, and barriers to intramolecular reorientations of the CH₂Cl group were calculated.     

Ab initio predictions on the rotational spectra of carbon-chain carbene molecules

We predict rotational constants for the carbon-chain molecules H2C=(C=)nC, n=3-8, using ab initio computations, observed values for the earlier members in the series, H2CCC and H2CCCC with n=1 and 2, and empirical geometry corrections derived from comparison of computation and experiment on related molecules. H2CCC and H2CCCC have already been observed by radioastronomy; higher members in the series, because of their large dipole moments, which we have calculated, are candidates for astronomical searches. Our predictions can guide searches and assist in both astronomical and laboratory detection.