Near-infrared-emitting phthalocyanines. A combined experimental and density functional theory study of the structural, optical, and photophysical properties of Pd(II) and Pt(II) α-butoxyphthalocyanines

The structural, optical, and photophysical properties of 1,4,8,11,15,18,22,25-octabutoxyphthalocyaninato-palladium(II), PdPc(OBu)(8), and the newly synthesized platinum analogue PtPc(OBu)(8) are investigated combining X-ray crystallography, static and transient absorption spectroscopy, and relativistic zeroth-order regular approximation (ZORA) Density Functional Theory (DFT)/Time Dependent DFT (TDDFT) calculations where spin-orbit coupling (SOC) effects are explicitly considered. The results are compared to those previously reported for NiPc(OBu)(8) (J. Phys. Chem. A 2005, 109, 2078) in an effort to highlight the effect of the central metal on the structural and photophysical properties of the group 10 transition metal octabutoxyphthalocyanines. Different from the nickel analogue, PdPc(OBu)(8) and PtPc(OBu)(8) show a modest and irregular saddling distortion of the macrocycle, but share with the first member of the group similar UV-vis spectra, with the deep red and intense Q-band absorption experiencing a blue shift down the group, as observed in virtually all tetrapyrrolic complexes of this triad. The blue shift of the Q-band along the MPc(OBu)(8) (M = Ni, Pd, Pt) series is interpreted on the basis of the metal-induced electronic structure changes. Besides the intense deep red absorption, the title complexes exhibit a distinct near-infrared (NIR) absorption due to a transition to the double-group 1E (π,π*) state, which is dominated by the lowest single-group (3)E (π,π*) state. Unlike NiPc(OBu)(8), which is nonluminescent, PdPc(OBu)(8) and PtPc(OBu)(8) show both deep red fluorescence emission and NIR phosphorescence emission. Transient absorption experiments and relativistic spin-orbit TDDFT calculations consistently indicate that fluorescence and phosphorescence emissions occur from the S(1)(π,π*) and T(1)(π,π*) states, respectively, the latter being directly populated from the former, and the triplet state decays directly to the S(0) surface (the triplet lifetime in deaerated benzene solution was 3.04 μs for Pd and 0.55 μs for Pt). Owing to their triplet properties, PdPc(OBu)(8) and PtPc(OBu)(8) have potential for use in photodynamic therapy (PDT) and are potential candidates for NIR light emitting diodes or NIR emitting probes.     

Metal cation dependence of interactions with amino acids: bond energies of Cs+ to Gly, Pro, Ser, Thr, and Cys

The interactions of cesium cations with five amino acids (AA) including glycine (Gly), proline (Pro), serine (Ser), threonine (Thr), and cysteine (Cys) are examined in detail. Experimentally, the bond dissociation energies (BDEs) are determined using threshold collision-induced dissociation of the Cs(+)(AA) complexes with xenon in a guided ion beam tandem mass spectrometer. Analyses of the energy-dependent cross sections include consideration of unimolecular decay rates, internal energy of the reactant ions, and multiple ion-neutral collisions. Bond dissociation energies (0 K) of 93.3 ± 2.5, 107.9 ± 4.6, 102.3 ± 4.1, 105.4 ± 4.3, and 96.8 ± 4.2 kJ/mol are determined for complexes of Cs(+) with Gly, Pro, Ser, Thr, and Cys, respectively. Quantum chemical calculations are conducted at the B3LYP, B3P86, MP2(full), and M06 levels of theory with geometries and zero-point energies calculated at the B3LYP level using both HW*/6-311+G(2d,2p) and def2-TZVPPD basis sets. Results obtained using the former basis sets are systematically low compared to the experimental bond energies, whereas the latter basis sets show good agreement. For Cs(+)(Gly), theory predicts the ground-state conformer has the cesium cation binding to the carbonyl group of the carboxylic acid. For Cs(+)(Pro), the secondary nitrogen accepts the carboxylic acid hydrogen to form the zwitterionic structure, and the metal cation binds to both oxygens. Cs(+)(Ser), Cs(+)(Thr), and Cs(+)(Cys) are found to have tridentate binding at the MP2(full) level, whereas the density functional approaches slightly prefer bidentate binding of Cs(+) at the carboxylic acid moiety. Comparison of these results to those for the smaller alkali cations provides insight into the trends in binding affinities and structures associated with metal cation variations.     

Structural and Energetic Effects in the Molecular Recognition of Acetylated Amino Acids by 18-Crown-6

Absolute 18-crown-6 (18C6) binding affinities of four protonated acetylated amino acids (AcAAs) are determined using guided ion beam tandem mass spectrometry techniques. The AcAAs examined in this work include: N-terminal acetylated lysine (N_???CAcLys), histidine (N_???CAcHis), and arginine (N_???CAcArg) as well as side chain acetylated lysine (N_???CAcLys). The kinetic-energy-dependent cross sections for collision-induced dissociation (CID) of the (AcAA)H⁺(18C6) complexes are analyzed using an empirical threshold law to extract absolute 0 and 298?K (AcAA)H⁺?18C6 bond dissociation energies (BDEs) after accounting for the effects of multiple collisions, kinetic and internal energy distributions of the reactants, and unimolecular dissociation lifetimes. Theoretical electronic structure calculations are performed to determine stable geometries and energetics for neutral and protonated 18C6 and the AcAAs as well as the proton bound complexes of these species, (AcAA)H⁺(18C6), at the B3LYP/6-311+G(2d,2p)//B3LYP/6-31?G* and M06/6-311+G(2d,2p)//B3LYP/6-31G* levels of theory. For all four (AcAA)H⁺(18C6) complexes, loss of neutral 18C6 corresponds to the most favorable dissociation pathway. At elevated energies, products arising from sequential dissociation of the primary CID product, H⁺(AcAA), are also observed. Protonated N_???CAcLys exhibits a greater 18C6 binding affinity than other protonated N_???CAcAAs, suggesting that the side chains of Lys residues are the preferred binding sites for 18C6 complexation to peptides and proteins. N_???CAcLys exhibits a greater 18C6 binding affinity than N_???CAcLys, suggesting that binding of 18C6 to the side chain of Lys residues is more favorable than to the N-terminal amino group of Lys.     

Sodium Cation Affinities of Commonly Used MALDI Matrices Determined by Guided Ion Beam Tandem Mass Spectrometry

The sodium cation affinities of six commonly used MALDI matrices are determined here using guided ion beam tandem mass spectrometry techniques. The collision-induced dissociation behavior of six sodium cationized MALDI matrices, Na⁺(MALDI), with Xe is studied as a function of kinetic energy. The MALDI matrices examined here include: nicotinic acid, quinoline, 3-aminoquinoline, 4-nitroaniline, picolinic acid, and 3-hydroxypicolinic acid. In all cases, the primary dissociation pathway corresponds to endothermic loss of the intact MALDI matrix. The cross section thresholds are interpreted to yield zero and 298 K Na⁺−MALDI bond dissociation energies (BDEs), or sodium cation affinities, after accounting for the effects of multiple ion-neutral collisions, the kinetic and internal energy distributions of the reactants, and dissociation lifetimes. Density functional theory calculations at the B3LYP/6-311+G(2d,2p)//B3LYP/6-31G* and MP2(full)/6-311+G(2d,2p)//B3LYP/6-31G* levels of theory are used to characterized the structures and energetics for these systems. The calculated BDEs exhibit very good agreement with the measured values for most systems. The experimental and theoretical Na⁺−MALDI BDEs determined here are compared with those previously measured by cation transfer equilibrium methods.     

Characterization of oil sands naphthenic acids treated with ultraviolet and microwave radiation by negative ion electrospray Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry

Naphthenic acids (NAs) are concentrated in oil sand process water (OSPW) as a result of caustic oil sands extraction processes. There is considerable interest in methods for treatment of NAs in OSPW. Earlier work has shown that the combination of ultraviolet (UV) and microwave treatments in the laboratory was effective in reducing the concentration of classical NAs. Here we apply Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT‐ICR MS) to further characterize NAs treated with (a) UV (254 nm) in the presence of TiO₂ catalyst; and/or (b) microwave irradiation (2.45 GHz). FT‐ICR MS was used to characterize the NA fraction before and after treatment. Acidic oxygen‐containing classes were most abundant in all samples whereas other heteroatomic classes were least abundant or not present in some samples. For example, the SO₂‐containing species were absent in UV‐ or combined UV‐ and microwave‐treated samples. The O₂ class was dominant in all samples, indicative of NAs. However, samples treated with UV and microwave radiation have a lower relative abundance of other heteroatomic classes. We observed O₂, S₁O₂, O₃, S₁O₃, O₄, O₅, and O₆ classes, whereas the species with relatively high O_n content, namely, the O₃, O₅, and O₆ classes, were present only in UV‐ and microwave‐treated samples. The relatively high O_n content is consistent with oxidation of the parent acids in treated samples. There may thus be potential implications for environmental forensics. For example, the monitoring of the ratio of SO₂:O₂ or tracking the relative abundances of O₂, O₃, O₄, O₅, and O₆ classes may provide insights for distinguishing naturally derived oil sands components from those that are process‐related in aquatic environments. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of temperature and surfactant structure on the microviscosity at the micelle-water interface: isomeric alkylbenzenesulfonates used as their own probe

We investigated the effect of temperature and surfactant structure on the microviscosity in aqueous micellar solutions formed by isomeric hexadecylbenzenesulfonates (xphiC16, where x=4-6 and indicates the position of the benzene ring [phi] along the alkyl chain) by fluorescence polarization and excimer emission spectroscopy. For a given isomer, the degree of polarization (p) was found to decrease with increasing temperature, with no evidence for changes in micellar structure. etaint/tau ratios, where etaint is the microviscosity of the benzene environment in micelles and tau its natural lifetime, were derived from fluorescence polarization measurements and showed a similar temperature behavior to that observed with the degree of polarization, suggesting that a thermal effect is the determinant factor in the variation of etaint. Interestingly, the microviscosity around the benzene ring was found to depend on the isomer structure in the entire range of temperatures investigated (8-60 degrees C) and is mainly determined by the orientation of the surfactant at the micelle-water interface in which the short alkyl chain is preferentially located at the interface and the long alkyl chain in the micellar core. This micelle conformation was found to prevail in the entire range of temperatures. In contrast to the dependence of p with temperature, excimer to monomer maximum emission ratios (IE/IM) were found to increase with increasing temperature, showing that when IE/IM is high (strong excimer emission), the degree of polarization is low (low microviscosity) and vice versa. Thus, the two independent measurements (IE/IM and p) yield the same information, namely, that the benzene moiety in all xphiC16 aqueous micelles resists both translational and rotational diffusion in a similar manner in the entire range of temperatures investigated (approximately 8-60 degrees C).     

The synthetic teammate project

The main objective of the Synthetic Teammate project is to develop language and task enabled synthetic agents capable of being integrated into team training simulations. To achieve this goal, the agents must be able to closely match human behavior. The initial application for the synthetic teammate research is creation of an agent able to perform the functions of a pilot for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) simulation as part of a three-person team. The agent, or synthetic teammate, is being developed in the ACT-R cognitive architecture. The major components include: language comprehension and generation, dialog management, agent-environment interaction, and situation assessment. Initial empirical results suggest that the agent-environment interaction is a good approximation to human behavior in the UAV environment, and we are planning further empirical tests of the synthetic teammate operating with human teammates. This paper covers the project’s modeling approach, challenges faced, progress made toward an integrated synthetic teammate, and lessons learned during development.     

THE LIFETIME OF THE EXCITED SINGLET STATE OF β-CAROTENE: CONSEQUENCES TO PHOTOSYNTHETIC LIGHT HARVESTING

Abstract The mechanism of singlet-singlet energy transfer to chlorophyll from carotenoid auxiliary pigments in photosynthetic apparatus is considered. Transmittance studies and resonance-enhanced Raman spectroscopy on a picosecond time scale lead to the conclusion that the de–excitation lifetime of the β-carotene singlet state is not greater than one picosecond. This would require close contiguity on the part of the transferring partners.