Time-dependent density functional theory study on excited state intramolecular proton transfer of 3-hydroxy-2-(pyridin-2-yl)-4H-chromen-4-one

The time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) method was carried out to investigate the excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) process of 3-hydroxy-2-(pyridin-2-yl)-4H-chromen-4-one (1a). 1a has two tautomeric forms: one is 1a(O), which is induced by intramolecular hydrogen bond O-H?O=C, and the other one is 1a(N), which is caused by intramolecular hydrogen bond O-H?N. From excited state to tautomer excited state coming from ESIPT, the hydroxyl hydrogen breaks away and the dissociated hydrogen adsorbed on pyridinic nitrogen or carbonyl oxygen formed new intramolecular HB and the corresponding bond length and bond angle varied greatly. In comparison, a similar process of proton transfer for 1a(N)H⁺ protonated 1a(N) from ground state to excited state was obtained. This detailed proton transfer mechanism was provided by molecular orbitals analysis and it may be applied to molecular switch and organic Lewis acid/base. We investigated the excited state proton transfer mechanism of the four molecules through the theoretical method for the first time and gave unambiguous geometry of excited state.     

Influence of intramolecular hydrogen bond formation sites on fluorescence mechanism

The fluorescence mechanism of HBT-HBZ is investigated in this work. A fluorescent probe is used to detect HClO content in living cells and tap water, and its structure after oxidation by HClO (HBT-ClO) is discussed based on the density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). At the same time, the influence of the probe conformation and the proton transfer site within the excited state molecule on the fluorescence mechanism are revealed. Combined with infrared vibrational spectra and atoms-in-molecules theory, the strength of intramolecular hydrogen bonds in HBT-HBZ and HBT-ClO and their isomers are demonstrated qualitatively. The relationship between the strength of intramolecular hydrogen bonds and dipole moments is discussed. The potential energy curves demonstrate the feasibility of intramolecular proton transfer. The weak fluorescence phenomenon of HBT-HBZ in solution is quantitatively explained by analyzing the frontier molecular orbital and hole electron caused by charge separation. Moreover, when strong cyan fluorescence occurs in solution, the corresponding molecular structure should be HBT-ClO(T). The influence of the intramolecular hydrogen bond formation site on the molecule as a whole is also investigated by electrostatic potential analysis.     

Fluoride-Triggered ESPT in the Binding with Sal(oph)en

In this paper, anion binding and sensing affinity of the simple and easy-to-make salen, a typical class of ligand used comprehensively in metal coordination, was investigated. Results indicated that salophen was both a colorimetric and fluorescent selective chemosensor for fluoride ion, which operated by the anion-induced conformational changes and subsequently excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESPT) process. The F(-)-induced quick response, as well as noticeable optical changes, suggested that anion-sensing mechanism maybe help to design and to synthesize the new preferential selective probes for F(-).     

A detailed DFT/TDDFT study on excited‐state intramolecular hydrogen bonding dynamics and proton‐transfer mechanism of 2‐phenanthro[9,10‐d]oxazol‐2‐yl‐phenol

In this present work, using density functional theory and time‐dependent density functional theory methods, we theoretically study the excited‐state hydrogen bonding dynamics and the excited state intramolecular proton transfer mechanism of a new 2‐phenanthro[9,10‐d]oxazol‐2‐yl‐phenol (2PYP) system. Via exploring the reduced density gradient versus sign(λ₂(r))ρ(r), we affirm that the intramolecular hydrogen bond O1‐H2?N3 is formed in the ground state. Based on photoexcitation, comparing bond lengths, bond angles, and infrared vibrational spectra involved in hydrogen bond, we confirm that the hydrogen bond O1‐H2?N3 of 2PYP should be strengthened in the S₁ state. Analyses about frontier molecular orbitals prove that charge redistribution of 2PYP facilitates excited state intramolecular proton transfer process. Via constructing potential energy curves and searching transition state structure, we clarify the excited state intramolecular proton transfer mechanism of 2PYP in detail, which may make contributions for the applications of such kinds of system in future.     

取代基对2-(2-羟基苯基)苯并噻唑分子内氢键及质子转移的影响:密度泛函理论研究

运用密度泛函(DFT)和含时密度泛函(TD DFT)理论方法研究了在2-(2-羟基苯基)苯并噻唑(HBT)苯环羟基的邻位或对位分别引入羟基和醛基后的衍生物分子内质子转移过程,考察了取代基的电子效应及取代位置对分子内氢键和质子转移反应的影响,模拟计算了各分子的IR振动光谱和电子光谱.研究发现,HBT及其衍生物分子可以形成分子内氢键,且激发态时氢键增强.基态时以醇式构型稳定存在,激发态时酮式结构为优势构象.分子的最大吸收峰和发射峰主要源于电子从前线分子轨道HOMO到LUMO之间的跃迁.基态分子内质子转移需要越过较高的能垒因而难以发生,而激发态时只需越过较低能垒就很容易发生激发态分子内质子转移.取代基的电子效应和取代位置对HBT分子氢键强度、互变异构体的相对稳定性、电子光谱及质子转移反应的能垒均有一定影响.     

Theoretical investigation of excited-state proton transfer (ESPT) for 2,5-bis(2-benzothiazolyl)hydroquinone: single or double?

ABSTRACT

In this work, the single and double proton transfer dynamic process in the first excited state of 2,5-bis(2-benzothiazolyl)hydroquinone (BBTHQ) were theoretically investigated based on the time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) method. The calculations of primary bond lengths, bond angles, IR vibrational spectra and NCI analysis reveal that two intramolecular hydrogen bonds of BBTHQ are strengthened in the first excited state, which provides a driving force for excited state proton transfer. The frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs) indicate the nature of intramolecular charge transfer. In addition, the potential energy surfaces (PESs) of the ground state and first excite state were also constructed to further elucidate the mechanism of intramolecular proton transfer of BBTHQ.     

The ESIPT mechanism of dibenzimidazolo diimine sensor: a detailed TDDFT study

Spectroscopic investigations on excited state proton transfer of a new dibenzimidazolo diimine sensor (DDS) were reported by Goswami et al. recently. In our present work, based on the time‐dependent density functional theory (TDDFT), the excited‐state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) mechanism of DDS is studied theoretically. Our calculated results reproduced absorption and fluorescence emission spectra of the previous experiment, which verifies that the TDDFT method we adopted is reasonable and effective. The calculated dominating bond lengths and bond angles involved in hydrogen bond demonstrate that the intramolecular hydrogen bond is strengthened. In addition, the phenomenon of hydrogen bond reinforce has also been testified based on infrared vibrational spectra. Further, hydrogen bonding strengthening manifests the tendency of ESIPT process. The calculated frontier molecular orbitals further demonstrate that the excited state proton transfer is likely to occur. According to the calculated results of potential energy curves along O–H coordinate, the potential energy barrier of about 5.02 kcal/mol is discovered in the S₀ state. However, a lower potential energy barrier of 0.195 kcal/mol is found in the S₁ state, which demonstrates that the proton transfer process is more likely to happen in the S₁ state than the S₀ state. In other words, the proton transfer reaction can be facilitated based on the photo‐excitation effectively. Moreover, the phenomenon of fluorescence quenching could be explained based on the ESIPT mechanism. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Theoretical investigation on the excited‐state intramolecular proton transfer mechanism of 2‐(2′‐benzofuryl)‐3‐hydroxychromone

Spectroscopic studies on excited‐state proton transfer of a new chromophore 2‐(2′‐benzofuryl)‐3‐hydroxychromone (BFHC) have been reported recently. In the present work, based on the time‐dependent density functional theory (TD‐DFT), the excited‐state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) of BFHC is investigated theoretically. The calculated primary bond lengths and angles involved in hydrogen bond demonstrate that the intramolecular hydrogen bond is strengthened. In addition, the phenomenon of hydrogen bond reinforce has also been testified based on infrared (IR) vibrational spectra as well as the calculated hydrogen bonding energies. Further, hydrogen bonding strengthening manifests the tendency of excited state proton transfer. Our calculated results reproduced absorbance and fluorescence emission spectra of experiment, which verifies that the TD‐DFT theory we used is reasonable and effective. The calculated Frontier Molecular Orbitals (MOs) further demonstrate that the excited state proton transfer is likely to occur. According to the calculated results of potential energy curves along O―H coordinate, the potential energy barrier of about 14.5 kcal/mol is discovered in the S₀ state. However, a lower potential energy barrier of 5.4 kcal/mol is found in the S₁ state, which demonstrates that the proton transfer process is more likely to happen in the S₁ state than the S₀ state. In other words, the proton transfer reaction can be facilitated based on the photo‐excitation effectively. Moreover, the phenomenon of fluorescence quenching could be explained based on the ESIPT mechanism. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ab initio investigation of excited state dual hydrogen bonding interactions and proton transfer mechanism for novel oxazoline compound

Owing to the importance of excited state dynamical relaxation, the excited state intramolecular proton transfer(ESIPT) mechanism for a novel compound containing dual hydrogen bond(abbreviated as "1-enol") is studied in this work.Using density functional theory(DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory(TDDFT) method, the experimental electronic spectra can be reproduced for 1-enol compound. We first verify the formation of dual intramolecular hydrogen bonds, and then confirm that the dual hydrogen bond should be strengthened in the first excited state. The photo-excitation process is analyzed by using frontier molecular orbital(HOMO and LUMO) for 1-enol compound. The obvious intramolecular charge transfer(ICT) provides the driving force to effectively facilitate the ESIPT process in the S1 state. Exploration of the constructed S0-state and S1-state potential energy surface(PES) reveals that only the excited state intramolecular single proton transfer occurs for 1-enol system, which makes up for the deficiencies in previous experiment.     

Dynamics of Solvent Controlled ESIPT of π-Expanded Imidazole Derivatives - pH Effect

A set of π-expanded imidazole derivatives employing excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) was designed and synthesized. The relationship between the structure and photophysical properties were thoroughly elucidated by comparing with the analogue blocked with ESIPT functionality. The compound possessing an acidic NH function as part of an intramolecular hydrogen bond system has much higher fluorescence quantum yield and Stokes shift and the π-expansion strongly influences the optical properties. The occurrence of ESIPT for imidazole tosylamide derivatives were less affected by the hydrogen-bonding ability of the solvents compared to the unprotected amine. The low pKa values for the monocation ? neutral equilibrium indicate the presence of intramolecular hydrogen bonding between the amino proton and tertiary nitrogen atom.     

水杨醛缩甲基氨基硫脲的合成及其光化学性质研究

合成了一个新的光致变色化合物水杨醛缩N(4)-甲基-氨基硫脲,用元素分析、IR、1H NMR、紫外可见光谱等方法对化合物进行了表征及结构确证,并用对化合物的变色机理进行了探讨.     

The substituent effect on the excited state intramolecular proton transfer of 3-hydroxychromone

The excited state intramolecular proton transfer of four derivatives(FM, BFM, BFBC, CCM) of 3-hydroxychromone is investigated.The geometries of different substituents are optimized to study the substituent effects on proton transfer.The mechanism of hydrogen bond enhancement is qualitatively elucidated by comparing the infrared spectra, the reduced density gradient, and the frontier molecular orbitals.The calculated electronic spectra are consistent with the experimental results.To quantify the proton transfer, the potential energy curves(PECs) of the four derivatives in S_0 and S_1 states are scanned.It is concluded that the ability of proton transfer follows the order: FM BFM BFBC CCM.     

Difference between 1H NMR signals of primary amide protons as a simple spectral index of the amide intramolecular hydrogen bond strength

The effect of the intramolecular H‐bonding of the primary amide group on the spectral properties and reactivity of this group towards electrophiles has been studied in systematic rows of 1,2,5,6,7,8‐hexahydro‐7,7‐dimethyl‐2,5‐dioxo‐1‐R‐quinoline‐3‐carboxamides and 2‐aryliminocoumarin‐3‐carboxamides using ¹H and ¹⁵N NMR spectroscopy and the kinetics of model reactions. The upfield signal of the amide proton that is not intramolecularly H‐bonded (H^a) depends on external factors such as solvent nature and concentration. At the same time, the downfield chemical shift of the H^b proton (bonded by the intramolecular hydrogen bond) depends mostly on the strength of the intramolecular H‐bond, which is affected by such internal factor as electron nature of substituent R. The substituent's influence on the H^b proton's chemical shift is more effective in deuterochloroform medium than in DMSO‐d₆ where the intramolecular hydrogen bond is less stable. The value Δδ(H) = δ(H^b) ? δ(H^a) is suggested as a simple comparative spectral index of the intramolecular hydrogen bond strength in these and similar compounds. By contrast, the effect of R on the ¹⁵N NMR chemical shift of the amide nitrogen has turned out to be too small to estimate changes of the electron density at the nitrogen. The effect of the intramolecular H‐bond on the reactivity of the amide group is twofold. When the cleavage of the H‐bond occurs on the rate limiting step it dramatically reduces the reaction rate. In the other case, the strengthening of the H‐bond favors the reaction rate because of the increase of the electron density at the amide nitrogen. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of benzo‐annelation on intermolecular hydrogen bond and proton transfer of 2‐methyl‐3‐hydroxy‐4(1H)‐quinolone in methanol: A TD‐DFT study

Excited‐state intermolecular or intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) reaction has important potential applications in biological probes. In this paper, the effect of benzo‐annelation on intermolecular hydrogen bond and proton transfer reaction of the 2‐methyl‐3‐hydroxy‐4(1H)‐quinolone (MQ) dye in methanol solvent is investigated by the density functional theory and time‐dependent density functional theory approaches. Both the primary structure parameters and infrared vibrational spectra analysis of MQ and its benzo‐analogue 2‐methyl‐3‐hydroxy‐4(1H)‐benzo‐quinolone (MBQ) show that the intermolecular hydrogen bond O₁―H₂?O₃ significantly strengthens in the excited state, whereas another intermolecular hydrogen bond O₃―H₄?O₅ weakens slightly. Simulated electron absorption and fluorescence spectra are agreement with the experimental data. The noncovalent interaction analysis displays that the intermolecular hydrogen bonds of MQ are obviously stronger than that of MBQ. Additionally, the energy profile analysis via the proton transfer reaction pathway illustrates that the ESIPT reaction of MBQ is relatively harder than that of MQ. Therefore, the effect of benzo‐annelation of the MQ dye weakens the intermolecular hydrogen bond and relatively inhibits the proton transfer reaction.     

3发色团激发态分子内质子转移机理的研究

采用密度泛函(DFT)和含时密度泛函理论(TDDFT)方法对一种新合成的发色团(3)在非质子性溶剂DMSO中的激发态分子内质子转移机制进行了理论研究.基于3发色团的基态和激发态优化结构, 计算得到了该发色团中与氢键相关的键长和键角的大小, 以及与氢键相连接的 O-H键红外振动光谱, 发现分子内氢键在激发态下有增强的趋势. 理论计算得到的吸收谱和荧光谱的峰值与实验测得的结果吻合得很好, 证明了所采用的理论方法的正确性与合理性. 最终, 通过对该发色团的分子内电荷转移与电荷分布的分析, 证实了激发态分子内质子转移发生的可能性, 并说明了其转移过程的发生机制.     

3发色团激发态分子内质子转移机理的研究

采用密度泛函(DFT)和含时密度泛函理论(TDDFT)方法对一种新合成的发色团(3)在非质子性溶剂DMSO中的激发态分子内质子转移机制进行了理论研究.基于3发色团的基态和激发态优化结构,计算得到了该发色团中与氢键相关的键长和键角的大小,以及与氢键相连接的O-H键红外振动光谱,发现分子内氢键在激发态下有增强的趋势.理论计算得到的吸收谱和荧光谱的峰值与实验测得的结果吻合得很好,证明了所采用的理论方法的正确性与合理性.最终,通过对该发色团的分子内电荷转移与电荷分布的分析,证实了激发态分子内质子转移发生的可能性,并说明了其转移过程的发生机制.     

Theoretical insight into the excited‐state behavior of a novel Compound 1: A TDDFT investigation

In the present work, using density functional theory and time‐dependent density functional theory methods, we investigated and presented the excited‐state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) mechanisms of a novel Compound 1 theoretically. Analyses of electrostatic potential surfaces and reduced density gradient (RDG) versus sign(λ₂)ρ, we confirm the existence of intramolecular hydrogen bond O1‐H2···N3 for Compound 1 in the S₀ state. Comparing the primary structural variations of Compound 1 involved in the intramolecular hydrogen bond, we find that O1‐H2···N3 should be strengthened in the S₁ state, which may facilitate the ESIPT process. Concomitantly, infrared (IR) vibrational spectra analyses further verify the stability of hydrogen bond. In addition, the role of charge transfer interaction has been addressed under the frontier molecular orbitals, which depicts the nature of electronical excited state and supports the ESIPT reaction. The theoretically scanned and optimized potential energy curves according to variational O1‐H2 coordinate demonstrate that the proton transfer process should occur spontaneously in the S₁ state. It further explains why the emission peak of Compound 1‐enol was not reported in previous experiment. This work not only presents the ESIPT mechanism of Compound 1 but also promotes the understanding of this kind of molecules for further applications in future.     

Excited state intramolecular proton transfer mechanism of o-hydroxynaphthyl phenanthroimidazole

By utilizing the density functional theory(DFT) and the time-dependent density functional theory(TDDFT), the excited state intramolecular proton transfer(ESIPT) mechanism of o-hydroxynaphthyl phenanthroimidazole(HNPI) is studied in detail. Upon photo is excited, the intramolecular hydrogen bond is obviously enhanced in the S_1 state, which thus promotes the ESIPT process. Hydrogen bond is shown to be strengthened via comparing the molecular structures and the infrared vibration spectra of the S_0 and S_1 states. Through analyzing the frontier molecular orbitals, we can conclude that the excitation is a type of the intramolecular charge transfer excitation, which also indicates the trend of proton transfer in S_1 state. The vertical excitation based on TDDFT calculation can effectively repeat the absorption and fluorescence spectra of the experiment. However, the fluorescence spectrum of normal structure, which is similar to the spectrum of isomer structure is not detected in the experiment. It can be concluded that the fluorescence measured in the experiment is attributed to both structures. In addition, by analyzing the potential energy curves(PECs) calculated by the B3 LYP functional method, it can be derived that since the molecule to cross the potential barrier in the S_1 state is smaller than in the S_0 state and the reverse proton transfer process in the S_1 state is more difficult than in the S_0 state, the ESIPT occurs in the S_1 state.     

A theoretical study on the ESPT mechanism for a novel Bis‐HPBT fluorophore

In this work, based on the density functional theory and time‐dependent density functional theory methods, the properties of the 2 intramolecular hydrogen bonds (O1‐H2···N3 and O4‐H5···N6) of a new photochemical sensor 4‐(3‐(benzo[d]thiazol‐2‐yl)‐5‐tert‐butyl‐4‐hydroxybenzyl)‐2‐(benzo[d]thiazol‐2‐yl)‐6‐tert‐butyl phenol (Bis‐HPBT) have been investigated in detail. The calculated dominating bond lengths and bond angles about these 2 hydrogen bonds (O1‐H2···N3 and O4‐H5···N6) demonstrate that the intramolecular hydrogen bonds should be strengthened in the S₁ state. In addition, the variations of hydrogen bonds of Bis‐HPBT have been also testified based on infrared vibrational spectra. Our theoretical results reproduced absorption and emission spectra of the experiment, which verifies that the theoretical level we used is reasonable and effective in this work. Further, hydrogen bonding strengthening manifests the tendency of excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) process. Frontier molecular orbitals depict the nature of electronically excited state and support the ESIPT reaction. According to the calculated results of potential energy curves along stepwise and synergetic O1‐H2 and O4‐H5 coordinates, the potential energy barrier of approximately 1.399 kcal/mol is discovered in the S₁ state, which supports the single ESIPT process along with 1 hydrogen bond of Bis‐HPBT. In other words, the proton transfer reaction can be facilitated based on the electronic excitation effectively. In turn, through the process of radiative transition, the proton‐transfer Bis‐HPBT‐SPT form regresses to the ground state with the fluorescence of 539 nm.     

Exploring excited‐state proton transfer mechanism for 9,10‐dihydroxybenzo[h]quinolone

In this work, we mainly focus on the excited‐state intramolecular proton transfer mechanism of a new molecule 9,10‐dihydroxybenzo[h]quinoline (9‐10‐HBQ). Within the framework of density functional theory and time‐dependent density functional theory methods, we have theoretically investigated its excited‐state dynamical process and our theoretical results successfully reappeared previous experimental electronic spectra. The ultrafast excited‐state intramolecular proton transfer process occurs in the first excited state (S₁ state) forming 9‐10‐HBQ‐PT1 structure without potential energy barrier along with hydrogen bond (O₃–H₄···N₅). Then the second proton may transfer via another intramolecular hydrogen bonded wire (O₁–H₂···N₃) with a moderate potential energy barrier (about 7.69 kcal/mol) in the S₁ state forming 9‐10‐HBQ‐PT2 configuration. After completing excited‐state dynamical process, the molecule on the first excited electronic state would come back to the ground state. We not only clarify the excited‐state dynamical process for 9‐10‐HBQ but also put forward new predictions and successfully explain previous experimental results.