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Kirk SR, Jenkins S. Tools for overcoming reliance on energy-based measures in chemistry: a tutorial review. Chem Soc Rev 2023; 52:5861-5874. [PMID: 37564018 DOI: 10.1039/d3cs00350g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/12/2023]
Abstract
The vast majority of literature in the chemical sciences describes fundamental chemical and physical phenomena using scalar measures, such as the energy, even though many phenomena are beyond the scope of scalar-based considerations. This problem exists no matter how accurately the associated energies are calculated. The solution that is explained in this work is to remove the reliance on scalar quantum chemical measures and instead utilize the vector-based and full symmetry-breaking nature of next generation quantum theory of atoms in molecules (NG-QTAIM). The connection with experiment on neutral chiral molecules is explained. A selection of non-energy-based explanations are provided: the functioning of molecular devices, why the cis-effect is the exception rather than the rule, stereochemical phenomena including chiral discrimination, quantifying chiral character of formally achiral molecules, mixed S and R stereoisomer character and the effect of an applied electric field. Current and future developments along with suggestions for future avenues of investigation are discussed. This tutorial review provides the practical details required to implement NG-QTAIM for a range of phenomena that are not accessible with energy-based measures. Step-by-step worked examples are included with data sets and instructions for use of commercial and open-source software along with examples of how to interpret the results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven R Kirk
- Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research and Key Laboratory of Resource National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for New Petro-chemical Materials and Fine Utilization of Resources, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China.
| | - Samantha Jenkins
- Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research and Key Laboratory of Resource National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for New Petro-chemical Materials and Fine Utilization of Resources, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China.
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Lu H, Azizi A, Mi XP, Wenjing Y, Peng Y, Xu T, Früchtl H, van Mourik T, Kirk SR, Jenkins S. Scoring molecular wires subject to an ultrafast laser pulse for molecular electronic devices. J Comput Chem 2023. [PMID: 37133985 DOI: 10.1002/jcc.27126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2023] [Revised: 04/19/2023] [Accepted: 04/19/2023] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
A nonionizing ultrafast laser pulse of 20-fs duration with a peak amplitude electric-field ±E = 200 × 10-4 a.u. was simulated. It was applied to the ethene molecule to consider its effect on the electron dynamics, both during the application of the laser pulse and for up to 100 fs after the pulse was switched off. Four laser pulse frequencies ω = 0.2692, 0.2808, 0.2830, and 0.2900 a.u. were chosen to correspond to excitation energies mid-way between the (S1 ,S2 ), (S2 ,S3 ), (S3 ,S4 ) and (S4 ,S5 ) electronic states, respectively. Scalar quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) was used to quantify the shifts of the C1C2 bond critical points (BCPs). Depending on the frequencies ω selected, the C1C2 BCP shifts were up to 5.8 times higher after the pulse was switched off compared with a static E-field with the same magnitude. Next generation QTAIM (NG-QTAIM) was used to visualize and quantify the directional chemical character. In particular, polarization effects and bond strengths, in the form of bond-rigidity vs. bond-flexibility, were found, for some laser pulse frequencies, to increase after the laser pulse was switched off. Our analysis demonstrates that NG-QTAIM, in partnership with ultrafast laser irradiation, is useful as a tool in the emerging field of ultrafast electron dynamics, which will be essential for the design, and control of molecular electronic devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui Lu
- Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research and Key Laboratory of Resource National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for New Petro-chemical Materials and Fine Utilization of Resources, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Alireza Azizi
- State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy, School of Materials Science & Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Xiao Peng Mi
- Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research and Key Laboratory of Resource National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for New Petro-chemical Materials and Fine Utilization of Resources, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Yu Wenjing
- Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research and Key Laboratory of Resource National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for New Petro-chemical Materials and Fine Utilization of Resources, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Yuting Peng
- Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research and Key Laboratory of Resource National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for New Petro-chemical Materials and Fine Utilization of Resources, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Tianlv Xu
- Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research and Key Laboratory of Resource National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for New Petro-chemical Materials and Fine Utilization of Resources, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Herbert Früchtl
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of Saint Andrews, Fife, Scotland, UK
| | - Tanja van Mourik
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of Saint Andrews, Fife, Scotland, UK
| | - Steven R Kirk
- Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research and Key Laboratory of Resource National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for New Petro-chemical Materials and Fine Utilization of Resources, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Samantha Jenkins
- Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research and Key Laboratory of Resource National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for New Petro-chemical Materials and Fine Utilization of Resources, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, China
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Li Z, Yang Y, Xu T, Früchtl H, van Mourik T, Paterson MJ, Shigeta Y, Kirk SR, Jenkins S. Next generation quantum theory of atoms in molecules for the design of emitters exhibiting thermally activated delayed fluorescence with laser irradiation. J Comput Chem 2022; 43:206-214. [PMID: 34787324 DOI: 10.1002/jcc.26783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2021] [Revised: 10/01/2021] [Accepted: 10/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
The effect of a static electric (E)-field and an unchirped and chirped laser pulse field on the cycl[3.3.3]azine molecule was investigated using next-generation quantum theory of atoms in molecules (NG-QTAIM). Despite the magnitude of the E-field of the laser pulses being an order of magnitude lower than for the static E-field, the variation of the energy gap between the lowest lying singlet (S1 ) and triplet (T1 ) excited states was orders of magnitude greater for the laser pulse than for the static E-field. Insights into the response of the electronic structure were captured by NG-QTAIM, where differences in the inverted singlet-triplet gap due to the laser pulses were significant larger compared to those induced by the static E-field. The response of the S1 and T1 excited states, as determined by NG-QTAIM, switched discontinuously between weak and strong chemical character for the static E-field. In contrast, the response to the laser pulses, determined by NG-QTAIM, is to induce a continuous range of chemical character, indicating the unique ability of the laser pulses to induce polarization effects in the form of "mixed" bond types. Our analysis demonstrates that NG-QTAIM is a useful tool for understanding the response to laser irradiation of the lowest-lying singlet S1 and triplet T1 excited states of emitters exhibiting thermally activated delayed fluorescence. The chirped laser pulse led to more frequent instances of the desired outcome of an inverted singlet-triplet gap than the unchirped pulse, indicating its usefulness as a tool to design more efficient organic light-emitting diode devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zi Li
- Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research, Key Laboratory of Resource National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for New Petro-chemical Materials and Fine Utilization of Resources, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China
| | - Yong Yang
- Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research, Key Laboratory of Resource National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for New Petro-chemical Materials and Fine Utilization of Resources, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China
| | - Tianlv Xu
- Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research, Key Laboratory of Resource National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for New Petro-chemical Materials and Fine Utilization of Resources, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China
| | - Herbert Früchtl
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of Saint Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland, UK
| | - Tanja van Mourik
- EaStCHEM School of Chemistry, University of Saint Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland, UK
| | - Martin J Paterson
- Institute of Chemical Sciences, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Yasuteru Shigeta
- Center for Computational Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
| | - Steven R Kirk
- Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research, Key Laboratory of Resource National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for New Petro-chemical Materials and Fine Utilization of Resources, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China
| | - Samantha Jenkins
- Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research, Key Laboratory of Resource National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for New Petro-chemical Materials and Fine Utilization of Resources, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, China
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