Classical trajectory calculations of intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution. II. Phenol-water complex

Ab initio classical trajectory calculations have been applied to the intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution process of an O-H stretching vibration for phenol cation, [phenol]+, and its hydrogen-bonded water complex, [phenol-water]+. In phenol cation, a single narrow peak in the power spectrum, obtained by Fourier transformation of the autocorrelation function of its total momentum, indicates that the initial energy given to the O-H stretching oscillator of the phenol moiety is conserved and no energy flow occurs. On the other hand, for phenol-water cation, the calculated broadened power spectrum implies that the initial energy is not conserved and the energy flow causes an energy redistribution among various vibrational modes.     

Quasi-classical trajectory simulations of intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution in HONO2 and DONO2

By use of an analytic potential energy surface developed in this work for nitric acid, the quasi-classical trajectory method was used to simulate intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR). A method was developed for monitoring the average vibrational energy in the OH (or OD) mode that uses the mean-square displacement of the bond length calculated during the trajectories. This method is effective for both rotating and nonrotating molecules. The calculated IVR time constant for HONO(2) decreases exponentially with increasing excitation energy, is almost independent of rotational temperature, and is in excellent agreement with the experimental determination (Bingemann, D.; Gorman, M. P.; King, A. M.; Crim, F. F. J. Chem.Phys. 1997, 107, 661). In DONO(2), the IVR time constants show more complicated behavior with increasing excitation energy, apparently due to 2:1 Fermi-resonance coupling with lower frequency modes. This effect should be measurable in experiments.     

Solvent-hindered intramolecular vibrational redistribution

Ultrafast two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations of Mn(2)(CO)(10) in a series of linear alcohols reveal that the rate of intramolecular vibrational redistribution among the terminal carbonyl stretches is dictated by the average number of hydrogen bonds formed between the solute and solvent. The presence of hydrogen bonds was found to hinder vibrational redistribution between eigenstates, while leaving the overall T(1) relaxation rate unchanged.     

Theoretical investigation of intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution in highly excited HFCO

The present paper is devoted to the simulations of the intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR) in HFCO initiated by an excitation of the out-of-plane bending vibration [nnu(6)=2,4,6,...,18,20]. Using a full six-dimensional ab initio potential energy, the multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree (MCTDH) method was exploited to propagate the corresponding six-dimensional wave packets. This study emphasizes the stability of highly excited states of the out-of-plane bending mode which exist even above the dissociation threshold. More strikingly, the structure of the IVR during the first step of the dynamics is very stable for initial excitations ranging from 2nu(6) to 20nu(6). This latter result is consistent with the analysis of the eigenstates obtained, up to 10nu(6), with the aid of the Davidson algorithm in a foregoing paper [Iung and Ribeiro, J. Chem. Phys. 121, 174105 (2005)]. The present study can be considered as complementary to this previous investigation. This paper also shows how MCTDH can be used to predict the dynamical behavior of a strongly excited system and to determine the energies of the corresponding highly excited states.     

Manifestation of intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution on electronic relaxation in large molecules

Some universal characteristics are discussed of the decay lifetimes and fluorescence quantum yields from the S₁ manifold of large molecules, which originate from the coupling between intrastate vibrational energy redistribution and interstate electronic relaxation. The time-resolved total fluorescence decay from the S₁ state of jet-cooled 9-cyanoanthracene exhibits non-exponential decay in the energy range E_v= 1200–1740 cm⁻¹ above the S₁ origin, which does not originate from dephasing but rather manifests the effects of intrastate intermediate level structure for vibrational energy redistribution on intersystem crossing.     

Ultrafast dynamics through conical intersections and intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution in styrene

We report a femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (TRPES) investigation of internal conversion in the first two excited singlet electronic states of styrene. We find that radiationless decay through an S(1)/S(0) conical intersection occurs on a timescale of ～4 ps following direct excitation to S(1) with 0.6 eV excess energy, but that the same process is significantly slower (～20 ps) if it follows internal conversion from S(2) to S(1) after excitation to S(2) with 0.3 eV excess energy (0.9 eV excess energy in S(1)).     

The intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution threshold in S(1) deuterated p-difluorobenzene

The intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR) in S(1) deuterated p-difluorobenzene (pDFB-d(4) or -d(4)) has been studied to determine the IVR threshold. For this, the S(1) <-- S(0) fluorescence excitation (FE) spectrum of jet-cooled d(4) was investigated in the 2000-3250 cm(-1) vibronic energy range of the S(1) electronic state, and single vibronic level fluorescence (SVLF) spectra have been acquired by exciting selected levels lying between 750 and 2850 cm(-1) in vibrational energy in the S(1) excited state. Congestion of the dispersed fluorescence in this molecule first appears as the vibrational level energy climbs above 2000 cm(-1). By comparing the SVLF spectra of pDFB-d(4) with those of p-difluorobenzene (pDFB or -h(4)), it is obvious that IVR threshold in -d(4) is localized with a few hundreds cm(-1) lower than that in pDFB. This decrease is entirely due to the increase in vibrational state density due to deuteration.     

Conformational dependence of intramolecular vibrational redistribution in methanol

Previous state-selected spectra of methanol in the 5nu(1) OH stretch overtone region [O. V. Boyarkin, T. R. Rizzo, and D. S. Perry, J. Chem. Phys. 110, 11346 (1999)] revealed a structure indicating an intramolecular vibrational redistribution on three time scales. Whereas in that work, methanol in the 5nu(1) bright state was prepared close to the staggered conformation, methanol in the "partially eclipsed" conformation is prepared here by double resonance excitation through a torsionally excited intermediate state. The excited molecules are detected by infrared laser assisted photofragment spectroscopy. In partially eclipsed methanol, the strong coupling of the nu(1) OH stretch to the nu(2) CH stretch becomes weaker, but the coupling responsible for the widths of the narrowest features becomes stronger.     

On modeling the pressure-dependent photoisomerization of trans-stilbene by including slow intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution

Experimental data for the photoisomerization of trans-stilbene (S(1)) in thermal bath gases at pressures up to 20 bar obtained previously by Meyer, Schroeder, and Troe (J. Phys. Chem. A 1999, 103, 10528-10539) are modeled by using a full collisional-reaction master equation that includes non-RRKM (Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus) effects due to slow intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR). The slow IVR effects are modeled by incorporating the theoretical results obtained recently by Leitner et al. (J. Phys. Chem. A 2003, 107, 10706-10716), who used the local random matrix theory. The present results show that the experimental rate constants of Meyer et al. are described to within about a factor of 2 over much of the experimental pressure range. However, a number of assumptions and areas of disagreement will require further investigation. These include a discrepancy between the calculated and experimental thermal rate constants near zero pressure, a leveling off of the experimental rate constants that is not predicted by theory and which depends on the identity of the collider gas, the need to use rate constants for collision-induced IVR that are larger than the estimated total collision rate constants, and the choice of barrier-crossing frequency. Despite these unsettled issues, the theory of Leitner et al. shows great promise for accounting for possible non-RRKM effects in an important class of reactions.     

Threshold energy dependence of intramolecular vibrational redistribution (IVR) rates of isolated polyatomic molecules

A thermodynamic Green's function technique is successfully applied to the calculation of IVR rates of polyatomic molecules. The energy dependence of IVR rates has interesting threshold features: rates are zero below some critical energy E_c, and non-zero for higher energies. This dependence can be understood as a transition from regular to chaotic intramolecular motion.     

Overlapping resonances in the control of intramolecular vibrational redistribution

Coherent control of bound state processes via the interfering overlapping resonance scenario [Christopher et al., J. Chem. Phys. 123, 064313 (2006)] is developed to control intramolecular vibrational redistribution (IVR). The approach is applied to the flow of population between bonds in a model of chaotic OCS vibrational dynamics, showing the ability to significantly alter the extent and rate of IVR by varying quantum interference contributions.     

Fluorescence polarization and intramolecular vibrational redistribution in pyrimidine vapor

The fluorescence emitted from the initially prepared vibronic level (IPL) in S₁ of pyrimidine vapor is polarized and the degree of polarization varies remarkably for excitation along the rotational contour of various vibronic absorption bands, whereas the broad fluorescence emitted from levels to which the molecule is transferred from the IPL as a result of intramolecular vibrational redistribution (IVR) is nearly depolarized. On the basis of these results, the role of molecular rotation in IVR is discussed.     

Fluorescence spectra and intramolecular vibrational redistribution in jet-cooled perylene

The jet-cooled fluorescence spectra of perylene excited to the S₁ state with E_vib = 0–1600 cm^?1 are recorded and analyzed. For E_vib <800 cm^?1 only the resonant fluorescence was detected. Ground- and excited-state frequencies of 14 low-frequency normal modes are determined. A drastic change in frequency of the “butterfly” modes upon electronic excitation shows that perylene slightly deviates from planarity in its ground state and is more rigid in the excited singlet state. For a number of levels in the E_vib = 800–1600 cm^?1 range, the fluorescence is composed of the resonant emission and of non-resonant (“‘relaxed’”) bands. It is shown that apparently single bands in the fluorescence-excitation spectrum correspond to ovelapping bands pumping different molecular eigenstates resulting from the intrastate coupling. The relative role of the anharmonicity and of the Coriolis interaction are discussed. The data are treated in terms of a selective coupling between doorway and hallway states with the coupling constant rapidly decreasing with the difference in the overall vibrational quantum number between initial and final state.     

Coriolis interactions and intramolecular vibrational redistribution in jet-cooled pyrimidine

Evidence is presented which indicate that the second-order Coriolis interaction play an important role in intramolecular vibrational redistribution.     

Quantum dynamics study of fulvene double bond photoisomerization: the role of intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution and excitation energy

The double bond photoisomerization of fulvene has been studied with quantum dynamics calculations using the multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree method. Fulvene is a test case to develop optical control strategies based on the knowledge of the excited state decay mechanism. The decay takes place on a time scale of several hundred femtoseconds, and the potential energy surface is centered around a conical intersection seam between the ground and excited state. The competition between unreactive decay and photoisomerization depends on the region of the seam accessed during the decay. The dynamics are carried out on a four-dimensional model surface, parametrized from complete active space self-consistent field calculations, that captures the main features of the seam (energy and locus of the seam and associated branching space vectors). Wave packet propagations initiated by single laser pulses of 5-25 fs duration and 1.85-4 eV excitation energy show the principal characteristics of the first 150 fs of the photodynamics. Initially, the excitation energy is transferred to a bond stretching mode that leads the wave packet to the seam, inducing the regeneration of the reactant. The photoisomerization starts after the vibrational energy has flowed from the bond stretching to the torsional mode. In our propagations, intramolecular energy redistribution (IVR) is accelerated for higher excess energies along the bond stretch mode. Thus, the competition between unreactive decay and isomerization depends on the rate of IVR between the bond stretch and torsion coordinates, which in turn depends on the excitation energy. These results set the ground for the development of future optical control strategies.     

Iridium metal complexes as an unambiguous probe of intramolecular vibrational redistribution

Ultrafast luminescence spectroscopy has been undertaken on three iridium cored phosphorescent complexes, with the Ir(ppy)3 molecule being compared with two Ir(ppy)3 cored dendrimers. Energy dissipation by intramolecular vibrational redistribution (IVR) and cooling shows as a luminescence decay because it decreases the admixture of singlet character to the emitting triplet state. A larger amount of vibrational energy dissipates by IVR in dendrimer complexes. We have therefore found a methodology of obtaining unambiguous information on the IVR process and show its potential to study IVR rates as a function of vibrational energy.     

Direct observation of intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution under white light excitation. II. Fluorescence spectra of fluorobenzene derivatives by controlled electron impact

The low-resolution (resolution: 0.6 nm) fluorescence spectra of fluorobenzene derivatives, o-, m- and p-fluorotoluene (o-, m- and p-FT) were observed to investigate intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR) under controlled electron impact. The o- and m-FT spectra mainly consisted of unstructured emission from optically inactive states (bath modes) populated through IVR. The p-FT spectrum consisted of structured emission from optically active states and unstructured emission. The high-resolution (resolution: 0.15 nm) fluorescence spectrum of p-FT was measured to estimate the fraction of the structured emission intensity to the total emission intensity. The IVR rate of p-FT under electron impact excitation was faster than that under laser excitation. The fraction did not depend on the incident energy of electrons from 20 to 200 eV, and thus the IVR acceleration is not attributable to breakdown of the Born approximation.     

Effects of rapid intramolecular vibrational redistribution on molecular spectra at microwave frequencies

Some molecules with more than 10 atoms and more than two torsional degrees of freedom have state densities sufficient for rapid (10¹⁰ s^?1) intramolecular vibrational redistribution at energies as low as 0.25 kcal/mol. Predicted features of low-resolution microwave (LRMW) band spectra of rapidly relaxing polar prolate molecules are discussed and compared with LRMW spectra of ethyl esters.     

Exploring the effects of intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution on the operation of the proton wire in green fluorescent protein

The operation of the proton wire in Green Fluorescent Protein has been simulated by quantum dynamics and considering the coupling to the protein environment by means of a bath of harmonic oscillators. The simulation consists of 36 explicit and fully quantum degrees of freedom: 6 degrees of freedom represent the configuration of the proton wire, which are coupled to 30 bath coordinates. Regimes of weak and strong coupling have been studied. It is found that presence of the bath induces a fast energy transfer from the proton wire to the bath, with characteristic times under 400 fs. This internal vibrational redistribution happens at the expense of the potential energy content of the proton wire, deformed through the interaction to the bath from its uncoupled state. Strong coupling induces a slowing-down of the operation of the wire because it hinders to some extent the approaching of donor and acceptor atoms to distances in which proton transfer can occur. Internal vibrational energy redistribution affects the dynamics, but from our simulations we conclude that it cannot be the only cause responsible for the experimentally reported fluorescence rise times.     

Theoretical investigation of highly excited vibrational states in DFCO: calculation of the out-of-plane bending states and simulation of the intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution

A previously developed modified Davidson scheme [C. Iung and F. Ribeiro, J. Chem. Phys. 121, 174105 (2005)] is applied to compute and analyze highly excited (nu2,nu6) eigenstates in DFCO. The present paper is also devoted to the simulations of the intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR) initiated by an excitation of the out-of-plane bending vibration (nnu6, n=2,4,6, . . . ,18, and 20). The multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree method is exploited to propagate the corresponding six-dimensional wave packets. A comprehensive comparison with experimental data as well as with previous simulations of IVR in HFCO [G. Pasin et al. J. Chem. Phys. 124, 194304 (2006)] is presented.