On the role of nuclear motions in electron and excitation transfer rates: Importance of transfer-integral dependence upon nuclear coordinate

The role of nuclear degrees of freedom in modifying the electron or exciton transfer rates between molecules is investigated. In addition to the usual Franck-Condon overlap factors which arise from the overlaps of initial and final vibrational states, we discuss a dependence of the transfer integral upon nuclear motions, a dependence which has been often cited, but nearly always ignored, in the usual dynamical theories of transfer processes. We show, within a Bom-Oppenheimer treatment, that the transfer integral dependence upon librational, rotational and vibrational modes can profoundly change both the rate itself and its functional dependences (upon temperature, upon orientation, etc.). Using a simple cosine form for the dependence of the transfer integral upon the modifying nuclear mode and a simple displaced-oscillator transformation, we obtain a closed-form solution for the transfer rate, which includes a new overlap factor arising from the dependence of the transfer integral upon nuclear coordinates. Some general remarks about the role of this dependence are made, and applications to particular transfer systems are briefly discussed.     

Molecular rectification through electric field induced conformational changes

A new approach for the design of a molecular rectifier is proposed. Using a simple model, we have shown that conformational changes induced by the electric field may lead to a rectifying junction. The simplest possible rectifier of this kind presents two almost isoenergetic conformations, with different conductances and dipole moments. A simple equation allows for the estimation of the range of molecular parameters and temperatures that lead to an effective rectification. Examples show that rectification based on this mechanism is also possible at room temperature.     

Conformational gating of long distance electron transfer through wire-like bridges in donor-bridge-acceptor molecules

A series of five donor-bridge-acceptor (DBA) molecules in which the donor is tetracene, the acceptor is pyromellitimide, and the bridge molecules are oligo-p-phenylenevinylenes (OPV) of increasing length has been shown to undergo electron transfer (ET) by means of two mechanisms. When the bridge is short, strongly distance dependent superexchange dynamics dominates, whereas when the bridge is longer, bridge-assisted hopping dynamics prevails. The latter mechanism results in relatively soft distance dependence for ET in which the OPV oligomers act effectively as molecular wires. We now report studies on the critical influence that bridge dynamics have on electron transfer through these oligomers. The temperature dependence of the charge separation (CS) rates in all five molecules does not appear to obey the predictions of standard ET theories based upon the Condon approximation. All five molecules show behavior consistent with CS being "gated" by torsional motion between the tetracene donor and the first bridge phenyl ring. This is based on the near equivalence of the CS activation energies measured for all five molecules with the frequency of a known vibrational mode in 5-phenyltetracene. In the molecule containing a trans-stilbene bridge, a competition occurs between the tetracene-phenyl torsional motion and one that occurs between the vinyl group and the phenyls linked to it. This results in complex temperature-dependent CS that exhibits both activated and negatively activated regimes. The charge recombination (CR) reactions within the molecules which have the two shortest bridges, namely phenyl and trans-stilbene, show a weaker dependence on these molecular motions. The three molecules with the longest bridges all display complex temperature dependencies in both their rates of CS and CR, most likely because of the complex torsional motions, which arise from the multiple phenyl-vinyl linkages. The data show that long-distance electron transfer and therefore wire-like behavior within conjugated bridge molecules depend critically on these low-frequency torsional motions. Molecular device designs that utilize such bridges will need to address these issues.     

Oxidation of fluoroalkyl-substituted allylic alcohols: a synthesis of fluorinated α,β-epoxyketones

Fluoroalkyl-substituted allylic alcohols are readily and selectively oxidized at the hydroxyl group with the Swern or Dess-Martin reagents to give ,-unsaturated ketones, and on treatment withm-chloroperbenzoic acid ortert-butyl hydroperoxide they are oxidized to the corresponding epoxyalcohols. The latter are oxidized by Swern or Dess-Martin reagents at the hydroxyl group to ,-epoxyketones, which form hydrates stable under the conditions of isolation.Translated fromIzvestiya Akadernii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 3, pp. 680–683, March, 1996.     

Pseudopotential calculations using the FSGO Method: Application to first-row hydrides

Various pseudopotential schemes are examined in floating spherical Gaussian orbital (FSGO) calculations on the first row hydrides to help determine which pseudopotential scheme, if any, would be most useful in the FSGO method.     

Oxidation of 3-carene with mercuric acetate

Summary The oxidation of 3-carene with mercuric acetate was studied. The oxidative acetylation of 3-carene with mercuric acetate leads to a less complex mixture of products than oxidation with lead tetraacetate. The main products are p-mentha-l,5-dien-8-ol and, in smaller amount, p-isopropenyltoluene.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 3, pp. 466–475, March, 1965     

Surface chemical and mechanical properties of plasma-polymerized N-isopropylacrylamide

Surface-immobilized poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (pNIPAM) is currently used for a wide variety of biosensor and biomaterial applications. A thorough characterization of the surface properties of pNIPAM thin films will benefit those applications. In this work, we present analysis of a plasma-polymerized NIPAM (ppNIPAM) coating by multiple surface analytical techniques, including time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), contact angle measurement, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy. ToF-SIMS data show that the plasma-deposited NIPAM polymer on the substrate is cross-linked with a good retention of the monomer integrity. Contact angle results confirm the thermoresponsive nature of the film as observed by a change of surface wettability as a function of temperature. Topographic and force-distance curve measurements by AFM further demonstrate that the grafted film shrinks or swells depending on the temperature of the aqueous environment. A clear transition of the elastic modulus is observed at 31-32 degrees C. The change of the surface wettability and mechanical properties vs temperature are attributed to different conformations taken by the polymer, which is reflected on the outmost surface as distinct side chain groups orienting outward at different temperatures as measured by SFG. The results suggest that a ppNIPAM thin film on a substrate experiences similar mechanical and chemical changes to pNIPAM bulk polymers in solution. The SFG result provides evidence supporting the current theory of the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior of pNIPAM.     

Polymer fracture—A simple model for chain scission

A simple model for calculating the fracture process for a single extended-chain molecule such as polyethylene is considered. The model consists of a chain of N coupled Morse oscillators. There exists a critical overall extension ΔL_c below which the fracture is energetically unfavorable but above which fracture is favored both energetically and kinetically. This elongation ΔL_c scales as N^1/2. For the critically stretched chain, the activation energy for rupture increases with N. Long chains must be stretched beyond this critical value to fail within experimentally meaningful times. Chains of all lengths subjected to the same force will fail with the same activation energy, provided this force is large enough to stretch each chain to ΔL > ΔL_c. Observed activation energies are less than 1/3D_e, where D_e is the bond energy.