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Liu S, Lee Y, Chen L, Deng J, Ma T, Barbatti M, Bai S. Unexpected longer T 1 lifetime of 6-sulfur guanine than 6-selenium guanine: the solvent effect of hydrogen bonds to brake the triplet decay. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2024; 26:13965-13972. [PMID: 38669188 PMCID: PMC11078201 DOI: 10.1039/d4cp00875h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2024] [Accepted: 04/14/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024]
Abstract
The decay of the T1 state to the ground state is an essential property of photosensitizers because it decides the lifetime of excited states and, thus, the time window for sensitization. The sulfur/selenium substitution of carbonyl groups can red-shift absorption spectra and enhance the triplet yield because of the large spin-orbit coupling, modifying nucleobases to potential photosensitizers for various applications. However, replacing sulfur with selenium will also cause a much shorter T1 lifetime. Experimental studies found that the triplet decay rate of 6-seleno guanine (6SeGua) is 835 times faster than that of 6-thio guanine (6tGua) in aqueous solution. In this work, we reveal the mechanism of the T1 decay difference between 6SeGua and 6tGua by computing the activation energy and spin-orbit coupling for rate calculation. The solvent effect of water is treated with explicit microsolvation and implicit solvent models. We find that the hydrogen bond between the sulfur atom of 6tGua and the water molecule can brake the triplet decay, which is weaker in 6SeGua. This difference is crucial to explain the relatively long T1 lifetime of 6tGua in an aqueous solution. This insight emphasizes the role of solvents in modulating the excited state dynamics and the efficiency of photosensitizers, particularly in aqueous environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaoting Liu
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China.
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
| | - Yuhsuan Lee
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Lingfang Chen
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Jingheng Deng
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
| | - Tongmei Ma
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China.
| | - Mario Barbatti
- Aix Marseille University, CNRS, ICR, 13397 Marseille, France.
- Institut Universitaire de France, Paris 75231, France
| | - Shuming Bai
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory for Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
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2
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Iuzzolino G, Perrella F, Valadan M, Petrone A, Altucci C, Rega N. Photophysics of a nucleic acid-protein crosslinking model strongly depends on solvation dynamics: an experimental and theoretical study. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2024; 26:11755-11769. [PMID: 38563904 DOI: 10.1039/d3cp06254f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
We present a combined experimental and theoretical study of the photophysics of 5-benzyluracil (5BU) in methanol, which is a model system for interactions between nucleic acids and proteins. A molecular dynamics study of 5BU in solution through efficient DFT-based hybrid ab initio potentials revealed a remarkable conformational flexibility - allowing the population of two main conformers - as well as specific solute-solvent interactions, which both appear as relevant factors for the observed 5BU optical absorption properties. The simulated absorption spectrum, calculated on such an ensemble, enabled a molecular interpretation of the experimental UV-Vis lowest energy band, which is also involved in the induced photo-reactivity upon irradiation. In particular, the first two excited states (mainly involving the uracil moiety) both contribute to the 5BU lowest energy absorption. Moreover, as a key finding, the nature and brightness of such electronic transitions are strongly influenced by 5BU conformation and the microsolvation of its heteroatoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriele Iuzzolino
- Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Largo San Marcellino 10, Napoli I-80138, Italy
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, via Cintia 21, Napoli I-80126, Italy.
| | - Fulvio Perrella
- Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Largo San Marcellino 10, Napoli I-80138, Italy
| | - Mohammadhassan Valadan
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche Avanzate, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, via Pansini 5, Napoli I-80131, Italy
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Unità di Napoli, via Cintia 21, Napoli I-80126, Italy
| | - Alessio Petrone
- Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Largo San Marcellino 10, Napoli I-80138, Italy
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, via Cintia 21, Napoli I-80126, Italy.
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Unità di Napoli, via Cintia 21, Napoli I-80126, Italy
| | - Carlo Altucci
- Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche Avanzate, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, via Pansini 5, Napoli I-80131, Italy
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Unità di Napoli, via Cintia 21, Napoli I-80126, Italy
- Istituto di Scienze Applicate e Sistemi Intelligenti "Eduardo Caianiello", URT UNINA, via Cintia 21, Napoli I-80126, Italy
| | - Nadia Rega
- Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Largo San Marcellino 10, Napoli I-80138, Italy
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, via Cintia 21, Napoli I-80126, Italy.
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Unità di Napoli, via Cintia 21, Napoli I-80126, Italy
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3
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Perrella F, Coppola F, Rega N, Petrone A. An Expedited Route to Optical and Electronic Properties at Finite Temperature via Unsupervised Learning. Molecules 2023; 28:3411. [PMID: 37110644 PMCID: PMC10144358 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28083411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2023] [Revised: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 04/07/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Electronic properties and absorption spectra are the grounds to investigate molecular electronic states and their interactions with the environment. Modeling and computations are required for the molecular understanding and design strategies of photo-active materials and sensors. However, the interpretation of such properties demands expensive computations and dealing with the interplay of electronic excited states with the conformational freedom of the chromophores in complex matrices (i.e., solvents, biomolecules, crystals) at finite temperature. Computational protocols combining time dependent density functional theory and ab initio molecular dynamics (MD) have become very powerful in this field, although they require still a large number of computations for a detailed reproduction of electronic properties, such as band shapes. Besides the ongoing research in more traditional computational chemistry fields, data analysis and machine learning methods have been increasingly employed as complementary approaches for efficient data exploration, prediction and model development, starting from the data resulting from MD simulations and electronic structure calculations. In this work, dataset reduction capabilities by unsupervised clustering techniques applied to MD trajectories are proposed and tested for the ab initio modeling of electronic absorption spectra of two challenging case studies: a non-covalent charge-transfer dimer and a ruthenium complex in solution at room temperature. The K-medoids clustering technique is applied and is proven to be able to reduce by ∼100 times the total cost of excited state calculations on an MD sampling with no loss in the accuracy and it also provides an easier understanding of the representative structures (medoids) to be analyzed on the molecular scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fulvio Perrella
- Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Largo San Marcellino 10, I-80138 Napoli, Italy; (F.P.); (F.C.); (N.R.)
| | - Federico Coppola
- Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Largo San Marcellino 10, I-80138 Napoli, Italy; (F.P.); (F.C.); (N.R.)
| | - Nadia Rega
- Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Largo San Marcellino 10, I-80138 Napoli, Italy; (F.P.); (F.C.); (N.R.)
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, via Cintia 21, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Napoli, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo ed. 6, via Cintia 21, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
| | - Alessio Petrone
- Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Largo San Marcellino 10, I-80138 Napoli, Italy; (F.P.); (F.C.); (N.R.)
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, via Cintia 21, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Napoli, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo ed. 6, via Cintia 21, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
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Chiariello MG, Raucci U, Donati G, Rega N. Water-Mediated Excited State Proton Transfer of Pyranine-Acetate in Aqueous Solution: Vibrational Fingerprints from Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics. J Phys Chem A 2021; 125:3569-3578. [PMID: 33900071 PMCID: PMC8279639 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.1c00692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
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In this work, we
simulate the excited state proton transfer (ESPT)
reaction involving the pyranine photoacid and an acetate molecule
as proton acceptor, connected by a bridge water molecule. We employ
ab initio molecular dynamics combined with an hybrid quantum/molecular
mechanics (QM/MM) framework. Furthermore, a time-resolved vibrational
analysis based on the wavelet-transform allows one to identify two
low frequency vibrational modes that are fingerprints of the ESPT
event: a ring wagging and ring breathing. Their composition suggests
their key role in optimizing the structure of the proton donor–acceptor
couple and promoting the ESPT event. We find that the choice of the
QM/MM partition dramatically affects the photoinduced reactivity of
the system. The QM subspace was gradually extended including the water
molecules directly interacting with the pyranine–water–acetate
system. Indeed, the ESPT reaction takes place when the hydrogen bond
network around the reactive system is taken into account at full QM
level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Gabriella Chiariello
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, via Cintia, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
| | - Umberto Raucci
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, via Cintia, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
| | - Greta Donati
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, via Cintia, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
| | - Nadia Rega
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, via Cintia, I-80126 Napoli, Italy.,Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca sui Biomateriali (CRIB) Piazzale Tecchio, Largo Barsanti e Matteucci, I-80125 Napoli, Italy
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5
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Segalina A, Cerezo J, Prampolini G, Santoro F, Pastore M. Accounting for Vibronic Features through a Mixed Quantum-Classical Scheme: Structure, Dynamics, and Absorption Spectra of a Perylene Diimide Dye in Solution. J Chem Theory Comput 2020; 16:7061-7077. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.0c00919] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Alekos Segalina
- Université de Lorraine & CNRS, LPCT, UMR 7019, F-54000 Nancy, France
| | - Javier Cerezo
- Departamento de Química and Institute for Advanced Research in Chemical Sciences (IAdChem), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Giacomo Prampolini
- Istituto di Chimica dei Composti Organo Metallici, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, (ICCOM-CNR) SS di Pisa, Area della Ricerca, via G. Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Fabrizio Santoro
- Istituto di Chimica dei Composti Organo Metallici, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, (ICCOM-CNR) SS di Pisa, Area della Ricerca, via G. Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa, Italy
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6
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Donati G, Petrone A, Rega N. Multiresolution continuous wavelet transform for studying coupled solute-solvent vibrations via ab initio molecular dynamics. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2020; 22:22645-22661. [PMID: 33015693 DOI: 10.1039/d0cp02495c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Vibrational analysis in solution and the theoretical determination of infrared and Raman spectra are of key importance in many fields of chemical interest. Vibrational band dynamics of molecules and their sensitivity to the environment can also be captured by these spectroscopies in their time dependent version. However, it is often difficult to provide an interpretation of the experimental data at the molecular scale, such as molecular mechanisms or the processes hidden behind them. In this work, we present a theoretical-computational protocol based on ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and a combination of normal-like (generalized) mode analysis of solute-solvent clusters with a wavelet transform, for the first time. The case study is the vibrational dynamics of N-methyl-acetamide (NMA) in water solution, a well-known model of hydration of peptides and proteins. Amide modes are typical bands of peptide and protein backbone, and their couplings with the environment are very challenging in terms of the accurate prediction of solvent induced intensity and frequency shifts. The contribution of water molecules surrounding NMA to the composition of generalized and time resolved modes is introduced in our vibrational analysis, showing unequivocally its influence on the amide mode spectra. It is also shown that such mode compositions need the inclusion of the first shell solvent molecules to be accurately described. The wavelet analysis is proven to be strongly recommended to follow the time evolution of the spectra, and to capture vibrational band couplings and frequency shifts over time, preserving at the same time a well-balanced time-frequency resolution. This peculiar feature also allows one to perform a combined structural-vibrational analysis, where the different strengths of hydrogen bond interactions can quantitatively affect the amide bands over time at finite temperature. The proposed method allows for the direct connection between vibrational modes and local structural changes, providing a link from the spectroscopic observable to the structure, in this case the peptide backbone, and its hydration layouts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Greta Donati
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M. S. Angelo, Via Cintia, I-80126 Napoli, Italy.
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7
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Raucci U, Perrella F, Donati G, Zoppi M, Petrone A, Rega N. Ab-initio molecular dynamics and hybrid explicit-implicit solvation model for aqueous and nonaqueous solvents: GFP chromophore in water and methanol solution as case study. J Comput Chem 2020; 41:2228-2239. [PMID: 32770577 DOI: 10.1002/jcc.26384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2020] [Revised: 06/21/2020] [Accepted: 06/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Solute-solvent interactions are proxies for understanding how the electronic density of a chromophore interacts with the environment in a more exhaustive way. The subtle balance between polarization, electrostatic, and non-bonded interactions need to be accurately described to obtain good agreement between simulations and experiments. First principles approaches providing accurate configurational sampling through molecular dynamics may be a suitable choice to describe solvent effects on solute chemical-physical properties and spectroscopic features, such as optical absorption of dyes. In this context, accurate energy potentials, obtained by hybrid implicit/explicit solvation methods along with employing nonperiodic boundary conditions, are required to represent bulk solvent around a large solute-solvent cluster. In this work, a novel strategy to simulate methanol solutions is proposed combining ab initio molecular dynamics, a hybrid implicit/explicit flexible solvent model, nonperiodic boundary conditions, and time dependent density functional theory. As case study, the robustness of the proposed protocol has been gauged by investigating the microsolvation and electronic absorption of the anionic green fluorescent protein chromophore in methanol and aqueous solution. Satisfactory results are obtained, reproducing the microsolvation layout of the chromophore and, as a consequence, the experimental trends shown by the optical absorption in different solvents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Umberto Raucci
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, Naples, Italy
| | - Fulvio Perrella
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, Naples, Italy
| | - Greta Donati
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, Naples, Italy.,Dipartimento di Chimica e Biologia "Adolfo Zambelli", Università di Salerno, Fisciano, Italy
| | - Maria Zoppi
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, Naples, Italy
| | - Alessio Petrone
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, Naples, Italy
| | - Nadia Rega
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, Naples, Italy.,Center for Advanced Biomaterials for Healthcare@CRIB, Naples, Italy
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8
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Provorse Long MR, Isborn CM. Combining Explicit Quantum Solvent with a Polarizable Continuum Model. J Phys Chem B 2017; 121:10105-10117. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.7b06693] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Christine M. Isborn
- Chemistry
and Chemical Biology, University of California Merced, Merced, California 95343, United States
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