Consequences of strong coupling between solvation and electronic structure in the excited state of a betaine dye

The electronic ground and excited-state structures of the betaine dye molecule pyridinium- N-phenoxide [4-(1-pyridinio)phenolate] are investigated both in the gas phase and in aqueous solution, using the reference interaction site model self-consistent-field (RISM-SCF) procedure within a CASSCF framework. We obtain the total free energy profiles in both the ground and excited states with respect to variation in the torsion angle between the phenoxide and pyridinium rings. We analyze the effect of solvent on the variation of the solute dipole moment and on the charge transfer character in the excited state. In the gas phase, it is shown that the potential energy profile in the excited-state decreases monotonically toward a perpendicular ring orientation and the dipole moment decreases along with decreasing charge localization. In water, the free energy surface for twisting is better characterized as nearly flat along the same coordinate for sterically accessible angles. These results are analyzed in terms of contributions of the solvation free energy, the solute electronic energy, and their coupling. Correspondingly, the dependence of the charge transfer character on solute geometry and solvation are analyzed, and the important roles in the excitation and subsequent relaxation processes for the betaine dye are discussed. It is found that there is considerable solute electronic reorganization associated with the evolution of solvation in the excited state, and it is suggested that this reorganization may contribute significantly to the early time evolution of transient spectra following photoexcitation.     

A reliable Pd-mediated hydrogenolytic deprotection of BOM group of uridine ureido nitrogen

The benzyloxymethyl (BOM) group has been utilized widely in syntheses of a variety of natural and non-natural products. The BOM group is also one of few choices to protect uridine ureido nitrogen. However, hydrogenolytic cleavage of the BOM group of uridine derivatives has been unreliably performed via heterogeneous conditions using Pd catalysts. One of the undesirable by-products formed by Pd-mediated hydrogenation conditions is the over-reduced product in which the C5-C6 double bond of the uracil moiety was saturated. To date, we have generated a wide range of uridine-containing antibacterial agents, where the BOM group has been utilized in their syntheses. In screening of deprotection conditions of the BOM group of uridine ureido nitrogen under Pd-mediated hydrogenation conditions, we realized that the addition of water to the ⁱPrOH-based hydrogenation conditions can suppress the formation of over-reduced uridine derivatives and the addition of HCO₂H (0.5%) dramatically improve the reaction rate. An optimized hydrogenation condition described here can be applicable to the BOM-deprotections of a wide range of uridine derivatives.     

Extended treatment of charge response kernel comprising the density functional theory and charge regulation procedures

We propose an extended treatment of the charge response kernel (CRK), (partial differential Q(a)/partial differential V(b)), which describes the response of partial charges on atomic sites to external electrostatic potential, on the basis of the density functional theory (DFT) via the coupled perturbed Kohn-Sham equations. The present CRK theory incorporates regulation procedures in the definition of partial charges to avoid unphysical large fluctuation of the CRK on "buried" sites. The CRKs of some alcohol and organic molecules, methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol, dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), and tetrahydrofuran (THF) were calculated, demonstrating that the new CRK model at the DFT level has greatly improved the performance of accuracy in comparison with that at the Hartree-Fock level previously proposed. The CRK model was also applied to investigate spatial nonlocality of the charge response through alkyl chain sequences. The CRK model at the DFT level enables us to construct a nonempirical strategy for polarizable molecular modeling, with practical reliability and robustness.