MS-CASPT2 calculation of excess electron transfer in stacked DNA nucleobases

Calculations using the complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) and complete active space second-order perturbation (CASPT2) methods, and the multistate formulation of CASPT2 (MS-CASPT2), are performed for the ground and excited states of radical anions consisting of two pi-stacked nucleobases. The electronic couplings for excess electron transfer (EET) in the pi-stacks are estimated by using the generalized Mulliken-Hush approach. We compare results obtained within the different methods with data derived using Koopmans' theorem approximation at the Hartree-Fock level. The results suggest that although the one-electron scheme cannot be applied to calculate electron affinities of nucleobases, it provides reasonable estimates for EET energies. The electronic couplings calculated with KTA lie between the CASPT2 and the MS-CASPT2 based values in almost all cases.     

CASSCF and CASPT2 studies on the structures, transition energies, and dipole moments of ground and excited states for azulene

The electronic structure of azulene molecule has been studied. We have obtained the optimized structures of ground and singlet excited states by using the complete active space self-consistent-field (CASSCF) method, and calculated vertical and 0-0 transition energies between the ground and excited states with second-order M?ller-Plesset perturbation theory (CASPT2). The CASPT2 calculations indicate that the bond-equalized C(2v) structure is more stable than the bond-alternating C(s) structure in the ground state. For a physical understanding of electronic structure change from C(2v) to C(s), we have performed the CASSCF calculations of Duschinsky matrix describing mixing of the b(2) vibrational mode between the ground (1A(1)) and the first excited (1B(2)) states based on the Kekule-crossing model. The CASPT2 0-0 transition energies are in fairly good agreement with experimental results within 0.1-0.3 eV. The CASSCF oscillator strengths between the ground and excited states are calculated and compared with experimental data. Furthermore, we have calculated the CASPT2 dipole moments of ground and excited states, which show good agreement with experimental values.     

Parameters for excess electron transfer in DNA. Estimation using unoccupied Kohn-Sham orbitals and TD DFT

We show that the energetics and electronic couplings for excess electron transfer (EET) can be accurately estimated by using unoccupied Kohn-Sham orbitals (UKSO) calculated for neutral pi stacks. To assess the performance of different DFT functionals, we use MS-PT2 results for seven pi stacks of nucleobases as reference data. The DFT calculations are carried out by using the local spin density approximation SVWN, two generalized gradient approximation functionals BP86 and BLYP, and two hybrid functionals B3LYP and BH&HLYP. Best estimations within the UKSO approach are obtained by the B3LYP and SVWN methods. TD DFT calculations provide less accurate values of the EET parameters as compared with the UKSO data. Also, the excess charge distribution in the radical anions is well described by the LUMOs of neutral systems. In contrast, spin-unrestricted DFT calculations of radical anions considerably overestimate delocalization of the excess electron. The excellent results obtained for the ground and excited states of the radical anions (excitation energy, transition dipole moment, electronic coupling, and excess electron distribution) by using UKSO of neutral dimers suggest an efficient strategy to calculate the EET parameters for DNA pi stacks.     

HSO自由基电子基态激发态的CAS计算研究

使用CASSCF方法和ANO-L基组优化了HSO自由基的基态和3个低占据激发态的结构, 并采用包括更多电子动态相关能的CASPT2方法进行了单点能校正. 频率计算结果表明, 优化的4个几何为势能面上的稳定点. 通过电子结构的研究合理地解释了各个激发态相对于电子基态的结构变化.     

Triplet (pi,pi) reactivity of the guanine-cytosine DNA base pair: benign deactivation versus double tautomerization via intermolecular hydrogen transfer

Ab initio computations (CASSCF/6-31G* supported by CAS-PT2 single-point calculations) are used to study the reactivity of the triplet excited state of the guanine-cytosine DNA base pair. When the triplet excitation is centered on cytosine there is a competition between benign deactivation to the ground state and a hydrogen transfer route that can trigger double tautomerization. The calculated barriers favor the benign deactivation, but this route goes through a singlet/triplet intersystem crossing with small spin-orbit coupling. Therefore, the potentially mutagenic, double tautomerization route cannot be ruled out completely, and the two paths are probably an alternative to the well-known cytidine photodimerization reaction.     

Ab initio study of phosphorescent emitters based on rare-earth complexes with organic ligands for organic electroluminescent devices

An ab initio approach is developed for calculation of low-lying excited states in Ln(3+) complexes with organic ligands. The energies of the ground and excited states are calculated using the XMCQDPT2/CASSCF approximation; the 4f electrons of the Ln(3+) ion are included in the core, and the effects of the core electrons are described by scalar quasirelativistic 4f-in-core pseudopotentials. The geometries of the complexes in the ground and triplet excited states are fully optimized at the CASSCF level, and the resulting excited states have been found to be localized on one of the ligands. The efficiency of ligand-to-lanthanide energy transfer is assessed based on the relative energies of the triplet excited states localized on the organic ligands with respect to the receiving and emitting levels of the Ln(3+) ion. It is shown that ligand relaxation in the excited state should be properly taken into account in order to adequately describe energy transfer in the complexes. It is demonstrated that the efficiency of antenna ligands for lanthanide complexes used as phosphorescent emitters in organic light-emitting devices can be reasonably predicted using the procedure suggested in this work. Hence, the best antenna ligands can be selected in silico based on theoretical calculations of ligand-localized excited energy levels.     

HO2自由基电子激发态的理论研究

采用CASPT2/CASSCF方法对HO2自由基进行统计算, 优化了三个电子态的稳定点几何构型, 得到详细的频率数据. 利用垂直激发计算确定了3个里德堡态、11个价电子态的电子结构以及在三种理论水平上(CASSCF, SS-CASPT2和MS-CASPT2)的能量信息. 计算中使用了ANO-L和ANO-L+基组, 验证了已知实验数据的同时, 通过与其它理论计算结果的对比, 揭示了应用弥散轨道系数对于该体系激发态研究的重要性.     

CASSCF study into the mechanism for predissociation of the allyl radical

A theoretical study has been carried out on the allyl radical in its ground and first excited electronic states. Complete active space self‐consistent field (CASSCF) calculations show the presence of a conical intersection between the ground and first excited electronic states (～400 cm^?1 above the adiabatic excited state energy), reached by decreasing the C? C? C angle and twisting the C? C bonds. The presence of this conical intersection provides a likely explanation for the very rapid predissociation in the excited electronic state. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2006     

Theoretical investigations on geometrical and electronic structures of silver clusters

Geometrical structures and ground and excited states of silver clusters are theoretically investigated using long-range corrected (LC) density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The discrepancy between HOMO-LUMO gaps and the vertical ionization potential minus vertical electron affinity values, which should be the same values, is explored to reveal the significance of long-range exchange effects on the electronic states of metal clusters. The difference between HOMO-LUMO gaps and HOMO-LUMO excitation energies, which is called “exciton binding energy,” is also tested. As a result, it is found that the long-range exchange effects are requisite in DFT calculations to quantitatively investigate the ground and excited states of metal clusters. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Electric properties of the water molecule in 1A1, 1B1, and 3B1 electronic states: Refined CASSCF and CASPT2 calculations

Summary The dipole moments and dipole polarizabilities of the ¹A₁, ¹B₁, and ³B₁ electronic states of the water molecule have been calculated by using the CASSCF approach followed by the evaluation of the dynamic electron correlation contribution by the second-order perturbation scheme CASPT2. All calculations have been carried out in a specifically extended ANO basis set which accounts for the Rydberg character of the two excited states. In order to estimate the correctness and accuracy of the present data a scan over a variety of different active spaces for the CASSCF wave function has been made. The present results are superior to earlier CASSCF calculations, although their qualitative features remain essentially the same. The dipole moments in ¹B₁ and ³B₁ states are predicted to be about 0.49 a.u. and 0.33 a.u., respectively, and have the opposite orientation with respect to the ground state dipole moment. The dipole polarizability tensors of the excited states are characterized by high anisotropy and are dominated by the in-plane component perpendicular to the symmetry axis. All their components are found to be about an order of magnitude larger than those of the ground state polarizability tensor. The excitation energy dependence on the choice of the active orbital space in the CASSCF reference function is also considered and the analysis of the present data concludes in the concept of what is called the mutually compatible active spaces for the two states involved in excitation. All CASPT2 results are in good agreement with the results of recent calculations carried out in the framework of the open-shell coupled cluster formalism. This agreement confirms the high efficiency of the CASSCF/CASPT2 approach to the treatment of the electron correlation effects.     

乙基硫自由基及阴、阳离子低电子激发态从头算研究

采用CASSCF方法和6-311++(3df, 3pd)基组以及Cs对称性优化了乙基硫自由基和阳、阴离子3种分子的12个电子态的几何构型. 利用二级微扰方法(CASPT2)对这12个电子态做了单点能校正. 通过比较自由基与阴阳离子的能量, 得出了绝热电子亲和势和绝热电子电离能, 与实验结果在允许误差范围内基本一致.     

Quantum chemical study of the electronic structure of NiCH2 + in its ground state and low-lying electronic excited states

The electronic structure of NiCH(2) (+), representative of transition metal carbene ions, is investigated by means of several methods of quantum chemistry. The relative stabilities of the four low-lying doublet electronic states ((2)A(1), (2)A(2), (2)B(1), and (2)B(2)) are determined at the coupled cluster singles and doubles level (CCSD) and triples level [CCSD(T) and CCSDT-3] with both a Hartree-Fock and density functional theory (Kohn-Sham) reference. The equation-of-motion coupled cluster for treatment of excited states in singles and doubles approximation (EOM-CCSD) is used to characterize the transition energies from the (2)A(1) electronic ground state to the low-lying doublet excited states. The (2)A(2) and (2)B(1) states are nearly degenerate, found to be separated by 940 cm(-1) at the EOM-CCSD level, in agreement with the CASSCF energy ordering. The (2)B(2) state is calculated to be higher in energy by more than 1.0 eV. The spin purity of the low-lying doublet and quadruplet states described by CCSD calculations based on the unrestricted open-shell Hartree-Fock reference is discussed.     

乙基溴及其阳离子的低能激发态从头算研究

应用ANO-S基组以及ECP基组在CASSCF理论水平下计算了乙基溴及其阳离子的低能激发态几何构型, 并应用CASPT2方法对动态相关能进行单点能校正. 根据乙基溴基态能量和相应阳离子电子态的能量差对光电子谱(Photoelectron spectrum)的谱线进行了理论指认. 在乙基溴的基态预测几何下, 进行了谐振频率计算, 对各个振动频率进行了理论指认. 计算结果与实验值符合得较好.     

Explicitly correlated multireference configuration interaction with multiple reference functions: avoided crossings and conical intersections

We develop an explicitly correlated multireference configuration interaction method (MRCI-F12) with multiple reference functions. It can be routinely applied to nearly degenerate molecular electronic structures near conical intersections and avoided crossings, where the reference functions are strongly mixed in the correlated wave function. This work is a generalization of the MRCI-F12 method for electronic ground states, reported earlier by Shiozaki et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 134, 034113 (2011)]. The so-called F12b approximation is used to arrive at computationally efficient formulas. The doubly external part of the wave function is expanded in terms of internally contracted configurations generated from all the reference functions. In addition, we introduce a singles correction to the CASSCF reference energies, which is applicable to multi-state calculations. As examples, we present numerical results for the avoided crossing of LiF, excited states of ozone, and the H(2)?+?OH (A(2)Σ(+)) reaction.     

Spectroscopic properties of gallium arsenide tetramers: Ga2As2, Ga2As2+ and Ga2As2-

Spectroscopic properties of the low-lying electronic states of Ga2As2 and its ions are studied using the complete active-space self-consistent field (CASSCF) and density function theory (DFT) followed by the coupled-cluster single and double substitutions (including triple excitations) (CCSD(T)) calculations. The stability of low-lying electronic states is examined by computing vibrational frequency. The energies of the ground states and a number of excited electronic states have been computed to predict the spectra of Ga2As2 and its ions. The ionization energy, electronic affinity, and atomization energy are estimated at the CCSD(T)/6-311+G(d) level and compared with the available experimental results.     

Ab initio investigation on the structures and spectra of the firefly luciferin

The ground state (S0) geometry of the firefly luciferin (LH2) was optimized by both DFT B3LYP and CASSCF methods. The vertical excitation energies (Tv) of three low-lying states (S1, S2, and S3) were calculated by TD-DFT B3LYP//CASSCF method. The S1 geometry was optimized by CASSCF method. Its Tv and the transition energy (Te) were calculated by MS-CASPT2//CASSCF method. Both the TD-DFT and MS-CASPT2 calculated S1 state Tv values agree with the experimental one. The IPEA shift greatly affects the MS-CASPT2 calculated Tv values. Some important excited states of LH2 and oxyluciferin (oxyLH2) are charge-transfer states and have more than one dominant configuration, so for deeply researching the firefly bioluminescence, the multireference calculations are desired.     

Molecular mechanics-valence bond method for planar conjugated hydrocarbon cations

We present an extension of the molecular mechanics-valence bond (MMVB) hybrid method to study ground and excited states of planar conjugated hydrocarbon cations. Currently, accurate excited state calculations on these systems are limited to expensive ab initio studies of smaller systems: up to 15 active electrons in 16 pi orbitals with complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) theory using high symmetry. The new MMVB extension provides a faster, cheaper treatment to investigate larger cation systems with more than 24 active orbitals. Extension requires both new matrix elements and new parameters: In this paper we present both, for the limited planar case. The scheme is tested for the planar radical cations of benzene, naphthalene, anthracene, and phenanthrene. Calculated MMVB relative energies are in good agreement with CASSCF results for equilibrium geometries on the ground and first excited states, and conical intersections.     

Electronic couplings in DNA pi-stacks: multistate effects

In this study, we employ a multistate generalized Mulliken-Hush approach for calculating electronic couplings V(da) for charge transfer (CT) in DNA pi-stacks consisting of three, four, and five base pairs. In these systems the guanine donor and acceptor sites are separated by several (AT) pairs. The Hartree-Fock calculations of the stacks are carried out with the standard 6-31G basis sets. All possible superexchange pathways are accounted for. We examine electronic couplings estimated using the two-state and multistate models. Although for some systems the two-state scheme provides reasonable estimates of V(da), in general this simple model fails to reproduce the electronic couplings calculated with the multistate approach. The two-state treatment of pi-stacks with a tunneling gap less than 0.3 eV, for instance, GAAG and GAAAG, may lead to invalid estimates of V(da). We consider the dependence of V(da) on the length and composition of the bridge. The calculations show that V(da) is less sensitive to the arrangement of nucleobases in the bridge, as can be predicted on the basis of electronic couplings between adjacent base pairs.     

Theoretical study of low-lying electronic states of Mn2 using a newly developed relativistic model core potential

We investigated the electronic structure of low-lying electronic states of Mn₂ using a newly developed relativistic model core potential (spdsMCP). Calculations were performed at complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) and second-order multiconfiguration quasidegenerate perturbation theory (MCQDPT2) levels. The MCQDPT2 calculations reveal that the 1Σg⁺ state is the ground state. Calculated spectroscopic constants are very similar to the results of recent all-electron calculations and experimental values, indicating that the spdsMCP works well for Mn₂, which requires a highly correlated calculation. The wave functions of low-lying states are also analyzed at the CASSCF level.