Interpretation of photoelectron spectra within the framework of the AM1 semiempirical method. 2. Pyridines

Analysis of the orbital structure of isomeric pyridines carried out using photoelectron spectroscopy and the AM1 (GF) method showed that this structure is independent of the nature of the substituent at C ²⁽⁶⁾ and C ³⁽⁵⁾ : <n<. All the possible sequences of the highest occupied MO of different symmetry (, ) are realized for 4-substituted pyridines.For previous communication, see [1].Irkutsk Institute of Organic Chemistry, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Irkutsk 664033. Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 4, pp. 872–880, April, 1992.     

AM1 studies of photoelectron spectra

Deep-lying π- and σ-orbitals of 10-alkylphenothiazines were studied by photoelectron spectroscopy and quantum-chemical AM1 calculations. It was demonstrated that in 10-ethylphenothiazine the lone electron pair of the S atom interacts with the π-system of the aromatic fragments. The π-MOs, whose energies are a function of the dihedral angle between the planes of the benzene rings of phenothiazines and are independent of the degree of pyramidality of the N atom, were found. The differences in the energy of these MOs were used for estimating equilibrium dihedral angles of tricyclic molecules in the gaseous phase. These values differ only slightly from those observed in the solid phase. The replacement of the hydrogen atom at position 10 by the methyl group leads to a decrease in the dihedral angle, leaving the orientation of the substituent unchanged. The orbital energies of phenothiazines, which were calculated by the AM1 method, adequately reflect the order of changes in the ionization potential. However, contributions of the two highest occupied π-MOs to the total charges on the N and S atoms are inconsistent with the experimental data. For Part 10, see Ref. 1. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 8, pp. 1542–1548, August, 1998.     

AM1 study of photoelectron spectra.

The -orbital structure of the monomeric form of the 2,2,4,6-tetrachloro-2,2-dihydro-1,5,2-diazaphosphorinine has been studied by photoelectron spectroscopy and using quantum-chemical calculations by the semiempirical AM1 method. It has been concluded that the electronic and energy characteristics of four higher -MOs (frontier and three next orbitals) of this compound may be interpreted in terms of semipolar bonds formed by three atoms (C, P, and N). For describing two low-lying -MOs of the ⁴,⁵-phosphorine studied, it is necessary to take into account the --interaction.For Part 8, see Ref. 1.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 4, pp. 827–831, April, 1996.     

A study of photoelectron spectra in the framework of the semiempirical AM1 method

The characteristics of photoelectron (PE) spectra of 2-phenylpyrroles and biphenyls have been correlated with the UV spectroscopy data for their radical cations. The geometric and electronic structures of the compounds and radical cations have been calculated using the AM1 method. The absorption bands of the radical cations observed in the visible region of spectrum have been found to pertain to the quasi-Koopmans type,i.e., they are realized between the doubly and partially occupied -MO, but their energies differ strongly from those calculated on the basis of PE spectra. This is explained by the distinction between the spatial structure of a molecule and that of the respective radical cation. The second cause of the discrepancy between the data of the two spectral methods consists in orbital — interactions, which are most conspicuous in the case of 4(4)-halogen-substituted compounds.For Part 4 see ref. 1.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 5, pp. 869–874, May, 1993.     

AM1 studies of photoelectron spectra

Five ionization potentials for thesp,ac andsp, sp conformers of (acetylthiomethyl)trifluorosilane MeC(O)SCH₂SiE₃ and six ionization potentials for the same conformers of (benzoylthiomethyl)trifluorosilane PhC(O)CH₂SiF₃ were calculated by the semiempirical AM1 method. The resulting values are in good agreement with the data of photoelectron spectroscopy only for thesp.ac conformers. The structure of the preferred conformer of (acetylthiomethyl)trifluorosilane was confirmed by measurement of its dipole moment in the gas phase. The influence of the long-range inductive effect (field effect) on the energy of nonbonding electrons of the carbonyl oxygen atom in the series of acetic acid derivatives was observed. For Part 9, see Ref. 1. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 2, pp. 236–241, February, 1998.     

AM1 study of photoelectron spectra

A correlation was found between the group dipole moments of substituents determined from the dipole moments of ethylene derivatives and the second ionization potentials of allene derivatives corresponding to the -MO of the C()-C() bond. It was shown that the concept of the effect of the substituent field cannot completely explain the observed phenomena, and the energies of the second ionic states of bromoallene and alkoxyallenes are lowered because of the interaction between nonbonded fragments through the systems of the compounds. It has been found that, in terms of orbital approximation, this interaction causes electronic destabilization of theanti-planar (trans) conformers of methoxyallene and methyl vinyl ether compared to theirsin-planar (cis) forms.For Part 5, see Ref. 1.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 1, pp. 48–54, January, 1995.     

Investigation of UV spectra of isomeric nitropyrazoles by the semiempirical AM1 (CI) method

The absorption bands in the UV spectra of isomeric nitropyrazoles were assigned by the calculations in the semiempirical AMI (CI) approximation. The long-wave absorption of nitropyrazoles is caused by π→π* and η₀→π* transitions. The charge-transfer band is the most intense. The π→π* transitions undergo a considerable bathochromic shift in the deprotonation. The first ionization potential (PI) of the 4-nitropyrazole anion was estimated from the empirical dependence of the energy of the excited π-state on PI of alkyl-substituted 4-nitropyrazoles. The PI of the 4-nitropyrazole anion is 3 eV lower than that of a neutral molecule. This is evidence for a substantial destabilization of the boundary β-orbital in the heterolytic cleavage of the N−H bond. The analysis of the UV and NMR spectra of 3(5)-nitropyrazole confirms the viewpoint that the 3-nitro tautomer predominates in solution. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya. No. 2, pp. 310–314, February, 1997.     

Interpretation of photoelectron spectra in terms of the semi-empirical AM1 method

Equilibrium torsional angles of 2-phenylpyrroles and their radical cations in the ground and ionized states have been estimated using UV photoelectron and electron spectroscopies, respectively, in combination with AM1 quantum-chemical calculations. A theoretical study of the internal rotation potential by means of the total energy partitioning approach has led to the following conclusions. a) In the case of molecules and radical cations of biphenyl and its heteroanalogs, the tendency to adopt a planar conformation (V ₂ barrier) is determined, in the first place, by the contribution of the two-center resonance component of the interannular bond energy. b) Non-valence interactions are vital for the stabilization of the gauche conformation. Their effect on theV ₄ barrier of biphenyls is stronger than that observed for 2-phenylpyrroles.For part 3, see ref. 1Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 2, pp. 319–323, February, 1993.     

Interpretation of photoelectron spectra using the semiempirical AM-1 method I. Nitroazoles

Use of the single particle Green's function in semiempirical calculations (AM-1) of the ionization energies of nitroazoles provides satisfactory agreement with photoelectron spectroscopy data.     

AM1 study of photoelectronic spectra

Ionization energies of four model compounds with known conformations,i.e., benzo-1,3-dioxole, 2-methoxyphenol, benzo-1,3-dioxole-5-carbaldehyde (piperonal), and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde, have been calculated by theab initio AM1 method, using the formalized scheme of configuration interactions. It has been demonstrated that this method is adequate for the study of photoelectronic spectra of methoxy(hydroxy)-substituted benzenes. The ionization energies of 1,2-dimethoxybenzene, 3,4-dimethoxybenzaldehyde, and 4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxybenzaldehyde have been calculated for various orientations of theo-methoxy(hydroxy) groups. It has been revealed that three first ionization potentials corresponding to the states with vacancies on the -MO depend on the torsion angle. It has been established by comparison of calculated and experimental ionization potentials that in gas the compounds with adjacent methoxy groups have one O-Me bond parallel with the plane of the benzene ring, while another group is nearly perpendicular to this plane. Conformations of the heavy-atom framework are planar for gaseous molecules with adjacent methoxy and hydroxy groups.For Part 7, see Ref. 1.Translated fromIzyestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 12, pp. 2365–2368, December, 1995.     

The excited-state chemistry of phycocyanobilin: a semiempirical study.

Based on previous time-resolved absorption studies, phycocyanobilin undergoes a photoreaction from an A- into a B- and C-form, with the latter two photoproducts showing absorption spectra red-shifted from A. To identify the molecular mechanism involved in the excited-state reactions, the structural origin of the red shift in the absorption spectra is investigated. Using semiempirical AM1 calculations that include configuration interaction by pair doubles excitation configuration interaction, the absorption spectra of different conformers as well as different protonation states were calculated. The results clearly indicate a pronounced red shift in the spectra of structures either protonated or deprotonated at the basic/acidic centres of the tetrapyrrole chromophore whereas, in contrast, conformational changes alone result in a blue shift. Furthermore, it is shown by quantum chemical calculations that the basicity of phycocyanobilin is much higher in the excited than in the ground state, with a decrease in the excited-state pK(B)* of approximately 9.5 units. The acidity is only slightly enhanced with a drop in pK(A)* of only approximately 1.6 units. From these findings, a reaction model for the excited-state processes in phycocyanobilin is proposed. According to this model, photoexcitation of phycocyanobilin triggers an excited-state proton transfer giving rise to the formation of a protonated species. In parallel, the local increase in the medium pH associated with protonation then forwards a deprotonation at an acidic NH-group so that in effect both protonated and deprotonated phycocyanobilin would arise from the initial photoreaction and account for the observed red shift in the spectra of the B- and C-forms.     

A fast method of large-scale serial semiempirical calculations of docking complexes

A brief survey of the state of the art in methods of calculations of protein—ligand interaction energies in docking complexes is presented. A new computational technique is proposed that allows one to fundamentally improve the performance of large-scale serial calculations of docking complexes using the AM1/PM3 semiempirical methods. The technique explicitly allows for a specific feature of docking problems, viz., the need for calculating numerous ligand complexes with a specified protein whose noninteracting part remains “frozen” during computations. The interaction energies calculated using the new method differ only slightly from the results of complete AM1 calculations and the performance attained is high enough to solve practical drug design problems. Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 9, pp. 1759–1764, September, 2008.     

Theoretical investigation of photoelectron spectra of furan,pyrrole, thiophene,and selenole

The ionization spectra of furan, pyrrole, thiophene, and selenophene have been calculated within the framework of the nonempirical quantum-chemical method with the Green's one-particle function in the approximation of the third order algebraic diagram construction [ADC(3)]. The calculated energies and the intensity of vertical transitions pertaining to the ionization of outer and inner shells are compared with the newest experimental data. The good agreement of theoretical and experimental results enabled a detailed assignment and interpretation of the observed photoelectron spectra to be carried out. Problems of disturbing the picture of orbital ionization are considered; the mechanism of formation of low-lying photoelectron satellites is explained. Certain general rules and trends of the behavior of the spectra of the systems studied are considered. Dedicated to Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences B. A. Trofimov on his 70^th jubilee. Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 9, pp. 1366–1379. September, 2008.     

AM1 calculations of O-H bond dissociation energies in polyoxides

Energies of homolytic cleavage of O-H bonds in 33 compounds of the general formula Ro _n H (n = 2, 3, and 4) were calculated by the AMI method. For hydrotrioxides and hydrotetroxides, the bond dissociation energies are virtually independent of the nature of the substituent R:D(RO _n -H) = 92.3±0.8 kcal mol^–1 (n = 3 and 4).     

Pseudo-bimolecular [2+2] cycloaddition studied by time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy

The first study of pseudo‐bimolecular cycloaddition reaction dynamics in the gas phase is presented. We used femtosecond time‐resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (TRPES) to study the [2+2] photocycloaddition in the model system pseudo‐gem‐divinyl[2.2]paracyclophane. From X‐ray crystal diffraction measurements we found that the ground‐state molecule can exist in two conformers; a reactive one in which the vinyl groups are immediately situated for [2+2] cycloaddition and a nonreactive conformer in which they point in opposite directions. From the measured S₁ lifetimes we assigned a clear relation between the conformation and the excited‐state reactivity; the reactive conformer has a lifetime of 13 ps, populating the ground state through a conical intersection leading to [2+2] cycloaddition, whereas the nonreactive conformer has a lifetime of 400 ps. Ab initio calculations were performed to locate the relevant conical intersection (CI) and calculate an excited‐state [2+2] cycloaddition reaction path. The interpretation of the results is supported by experimental results on the similar but nonreactive pseudo‐para‐divinyl[2.2]paracyclophane, which has a lifetime of more than 500 ps in the S₁ state.     

Femtosecond S3-->S1 conversion and structural reorganisation of trans-3-phenylprop-2-enaldehyde and derivatives in solution.

Photoinduced excited-state relaxation of trans-3-phenylprop-2-enaldehyde (cinnamaldehyde) and three derivatives was studied in hexane and acetonitrile with the pump-supercontinuum-probe technique. Transient spectra were measured with 50 fs resolution in the range 260-660 nm after S3<--S0 excitation at 288 nm. The early spectra reveal an ultrafast, 0.1-0.5 ps, interchange of intensity between two excited-state absorption (ESA) bands followed by a approximately 3 ps decay of ESA. This behaviour is interpreted with the help of semiempirical calculations, which indicate that the sub-picosecond evolution is consistent with S3-->S1 excited-state relaxation while the picosecond decay should be due to a structural intramolecular rearrangement. The latter may consist of a twist of the phenyl ring and rotation around the C==C bond to a perpendicular conformation which corresponds to the global energy minimum in the S1 state and serves as source for trans and cis isomers in the ground state.     

Conformational effects on circular dichroism in the photoelectron angular distribution.

The B-spline density-functional method has been applied to the conformers of the (1R, 2R)-1,2-dibromo-1,2-dichloro-1,2-difluoroethane molecule. The cross section, asymmetry, and dichroic parameters relative to core and valence orbitals, which do not change their nature along the conformational curve, have been systematically studied. While the cross section and the asymmetry parameter are weakly affected, the dichroic parameter appears to be rather sensitive to the particular conformer of the molecule, suggesting that this dynamical property could be a useful tool for conformational analysis. The computational method has also been applied to methyl rotation in methyloxirane. Unexpected and dramatic sensitivity of the dichroic-parameter profile to the methyl rotation, both in the core and valence states, has been found. Boltzmann averaging over the conformers reproduces quite closely the profiles previously obtained for the minimum-energy conformation, which is in good agreement with the experimental results.     

Chemistry of excited states. XI. Interpretation of photoelectron spectra by final state single CI method within semiempirical formalisms

The single excited doublet states of some small molecule cations calculated by CI method in the framework of semiempirical CNDO and INDO models are correlated with the photoelectron spectra of the parent molecules. The purity of the Koopmans transitions is used to discuss the one-particle interpretation of photoelectron bands by comparison with nonempirical many-body calculations. Furthermore, empirical relations are applied with respect to the evaluation of shake-up energies.     

Quantum-chemical study of the electronic structure and reactivity of 2-methyl-4H-thieno[3,2-b]pyrrole-5-carboxylic acid methyl ester

We have used the MNDO approximation to carry out a quantum-chemical study showing that the selectivity of acylation of 2-methyl-4H-thieno[3,2-b]pyrrole-5-carboxylic acid methyl ester under Friedel—Crafts reaction conditions in the presence of AlCl₃ depends more on the electron density distribution in the complexes than on the structure parameters. __________ Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 2, pp. 291–298, February, 2006.     

Quantum-chemical investigation of the mechanism of cyclocondensation of 4-hydroxy-4-methylpentan-2-one with cyanoacetamide using the AM1 method

The mechanism of formation of 4,6,6-trimethyl-2-oxo-1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridine-3-carbonitrile from 4-hydroxy-4-methylpentan-2-one and cyanoacetamide in the presence of ammonium acetate has been studied by the AM1 method. It was found that, under the reaction conditions, the amide is readily converted to an iminol tautomeric form which takes part in subsequent reaction. It was shown that the reaction is a cascade process forming two intermediates. The final product 4,6,6-trimethyl-2-oxo-1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridine-3-carbonitrile is formed from the product of a Knoevenagel condensation via an intramolecular nucleophilic substitution mechanism. On the basis of the activation energies obtained it can be deduced that the limiting stage is the deprotonation process of the cyanoacetiminol. Dedicated to Professor L. I. Belen’kii with gratitude and deep respect. __________ Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 2, pp. 209–216, February, 2006.