Combined Self-Consistent-Field and Spin-Flip Tamm-Dancoff Density Functional Approach to Potential Energy Surfaces for Photochemistry

We present a new approach to calculating potential energy surfaces for photochemical reactions by combining self-consistent-field calculations for single-reference ground and excited states with symmetry-corrected spin-flip Tamm-Dancoff approximation calculations for multireference electronic states. The method is illustrated by an application with the M05-2X exchange-correlation functional to cis-trans isomerization of the penta-2,4-dieniminium cation, which is a model (with three conjugated double bonds) of the protonated Schiff base of retinal. We find good agreement with multireference configuration interaction-plus-quadruples (MRCISD+Q) wave function calculations along three key paths in the strong-interaction region of the ground and first excited singlet states.

Toward a stable α-cycloalkyl amino acid with a photoswitchable cationic side chain

The N-alkylated indanylidenepyrroline (NAIP) Schiff base 3 is an unnatural α-amino acid precursor potentially useful for the preparation of semisynthetic peptides and proteins incorporating charged side chains whose structure can be modulated via Z/E photoisomerization. Here we report that the heteroallylic protons of 3 led to partial loss of ethanol accompanied by formation of the novel heterocyclic system 4 during attempted deprotection. We also show that the same protons catalyze the thermal isomerization of 3, making the light-driven conformational control concept ineffective for times longer than a few hours. These problems are not present in the previously unreported compound 5 where the acidic methyl group is replaced by an H atom. Therefore, 5, rather than 3, constitutes a promising prototype for the design of building blocks capable to modulate the electrostatic potential of a protein in specific locations via light irradiation.

Linear dichroism amplification: adapting a long-known technique for ultrasensitive femtosecond IR spectroscopy

We demonstrate strong amplification of polarization-sensitive transient IR signals using a pseudo-null crossed polarizer technique first proposed by Keston and Lospalluto [Fed. Proc. 10, 207 (1951)] and applied for nanosecond flash photolysis in the visible by Che et al. [Chem. Phys. Lett. 224, 145 (1994)]. We adapted the technique to ultrafast pulsed laser spectroscopy in the infrared using photoelastic modulators, which allow us to measure amplified linear dichroism at kilohertz repetition rates. The method was applied to a photoswitch of the N-alkylated Schiff base family in order to demonstrate its potential of strongly enhancing sensitivity and signal to noise in ultrafast transient IR experiments, to simplify spectra and to determine intramolecular transition dipole orientations.

Modeling, preparation, and characterization of a dipole moment switch driven by Z/E photoisomerization

We report the results of a multidisciplinary research effort where the methods of computational photochemistry and retrosynthetic analysis/synthesis have contributed to the preparation of a novel N-alkylated indanylidene-pyrroline Schiff base featuring an exocyclic double bond and a permanent zwitterionic head. We show that, due to its large dipole moment and efficient photoisomerization, such a system may constitute the prototype of a novel generation of electrostatic switches achieving a reversible light-induced dipole moment change on the order of 30 D. The modeling of a peptide fragment incorporating the zwitterionic head into a conformationally rigid side chain shows that the switch can effectively modulate the fluorescence of a tryptophan probe.

Coherent ultrafast torsional motion and isomerization of a biomimetic dipolar photoswitch

Femtosecond fluorescence up-conversion, UV-Vis and IR transient absorption spectroscopy are used to study the photo-isomerization dynamics of a new type of zwitterionic photoswitch based on a N-alkylated indanylidene pyrroline Schiff base framework (ZW-NAIP). The system is biomimetic, as it mimics the photophysics of retinal, in coupling excited state charge translocation and isomerization. While the fluorescence lifetime is 140 fs, excited state absorption persists over 230 fs in the form of a vibrational wavepacket according to twisting of the isomerizing double bond. After a short "dark" time window in the UV-visible spectra, which we associate with the passage through a conical intersection (CI), the wavepacket appears on the ground state potential energy surface, as evidenced by the transient mid-IR data. This allows for a precise timing of the photoreaction all the way from the initial Franck-Condon region, through the CI and into both ground state isomers, until incoherent vibrational relaxation dominates the dynamics. The photo-reaction dynamics remarkably follow those observed for retinal in rhodopsin, with the additional benefit that in ZW-NAIP the conformational change reverses the zwitterion dipole moment direction. Last, the pronounced low-frequency coherences make these molecules ideal systems for investigating wavepacket dynamics in the vicinity of a CI and for coherent control experiments.

Computational Photobiology and Beyond

In this paper we review the results of a group of computational studies of the spectroscopy and photochemistry of light-responsive proteins. We focus on the use of quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics protocols based on a multiconfigurational quantum chemical treatment. More specifically, we discuss the use, limitations, and application of the ab initio CASPT2//CASSCF protocol that, presently, constitutes the method of choice for the investigation of excited state organic molecules, most notably, biological chromophores and fluorophores. At the end of this Review we will also see how the computational investigation of the visual photoreceptor rhodopsin is providing the basis for the design of light-driven artificial molecular devices.