Vibronically-induced change in the chiral response of molecules revealed by electronic circular dichroism spectroscopy

A Chiral Dual-Core Organoboron Structure Realizes Dual-Channel Enhanced Ultrapure Blue Emission and Highly Efficient Circularly Polarized Electroluminescence

The realization of luminescent materials with narrowband and circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) is of great significance for the development of future optical and photonic devices. Herein, through a steric-hindrance-assisted dual-core strategy, two pairs of chiral dual-core multiple resonance thermally activated delayed fluorescence (MR-TADF) materials (R/S-DOBN and R/S-DOBNT) are directly constructed by the bonding of two organoboron MR-TADF monocores (SOBN and SOBNT) with carbazole/3,6-di-tert-butyl-9H-carbazole and phenol derivative as donors, realizing obvious CPL and narrowband emissions. Furthermore, the dual-core effect in the prepared R/S-DOBN and R/S-DOBNT increases the transition oscillator strength two times more than that of a monocore structure, while maintaining the ultrapure blue emissions peaking at 453 and 459 nm with a narrower full-width at half-maximum of 21 nm through reorganization energy reduction. The circularly polarized organic light-emitting diodes based on the enantiomers exhibit ultrapure blue emission with Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.14, 0.10) and (0.13, 0.12), high maximum external quantum efficiencies of 23.9% and 25.6%, and obvious circularly polarized electroluminescence with dissymmetry factors (|g_EL |) ≈ 10^-3 .

Vibronic Spectra of π-Conjugated Systems with a Multitude of Coupled States: A Protocol Based on Linear Vibronic Coupling Models and Quantum Dynamics Tested on Hexahelicene

Hexahelicene is a prototype of an extended π-conjugated system with axial chirality. Its absorption (ABS) and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra show vibronic features and strong nonadiabatic effects, challenging currently available computational methods. Here, we compute the nonadiabatic ABS and ECD vibronic spectra of hexahelicene in the full energy range, covering ∼2 eV and 14-18 coupled electronic states, including all of the relevant nuclear coordinates. To this end, we exploit a recently proposed protocol that uses time-dependent density functional theory to parameterize linear vibronic coupling models comprising several electronic states. Spectra are computed through quantum dynamical propagations with multiconfigurational time-dependent Hartree methods. Our results nicely reproduce the experimental spectra providing an assignment of the main observed bands. On the contrary, we document that the application of the Herzberg-Teller intensity-borrowing theory leads to large artifacts. The proposed approach is of general applicability for rigid systems and represents a viable tool for studying the photophysical properties of π-conjugated systems characterized by a dense manifold of interacting electronic states.

A computational study of the vibronic effects on the electronic spectra and the photophysics of aza[7]helicene

We report a computational study on vibronic effects in the spectroscopy, photoinduced processes and decay back to the ground state of aza[7]helicene, a helicene with an unusually high fluorescence quantum yield (QY = 0.39). In a first step, we compute and assign the absorption and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra in its full frequency range from 2.7 to 5.0 eV, accounting for nonadiabatic effects. Then we compute the quantum dynamics of the cascade of ultrafast internal conversions of the highly-excited singlet states to the lowest-energy one S1. Finally we adopt Fermi golden rule rates to compute the QY of the dye, taking into account the competition between the radiative decay and the nonradiative decays to the ground state and to the energy-accessible triplet states. We use time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT), including solvent (dichloromethane) effects within the polarizable continuum model, to parameterize a linear vibronic coupling (LVC) model involving the first lowest 12 singlet states and all the normal coordinates. Nonadiabatic spectra and internal conversions dynamics are then computed through wavepacket propagations with the Multilayer (ML) extension of the Multiconfigurational Time Dependent Hartree method (ML-MCTDH). We highlight the molecular vibrations playing a major role in determining the shape of the spectra and analyse the effect of inter-state couplings. At the same time we report a breakdown of perturbative Herzberg-Teller approach. The computed QY is in perfect agreement with experiment and allows us to ascertain that intersystem crossings are the processes limiting the fluorescence from S1. They involve the three lowest triplet states and are made effective by spin-orbit coupling and vibronic effects.

Dinuclear Rhenium Complexes with a Bridging Helicene-bis-bipyridine Ligand: Synthesis, Structure, and Photophysical and Chiroptical Properties

By attaching pyridine groups to a diaza[6]helicene, a helical, bis-ditopic, bis-N N-coordinating ligand can be accessed. Dinuclear rhenium complexes featuring this bridging ligand, of the form [{Re(CO)3 Cl}2 (N N-N N)], have been prepared and resolved to give enantiopure complexes. These complexes are phosphorescent in solution at room temperature under one- and two-photon excitation. Their experimental chiroptical properties (optical rotation, electronic circular dichroism and circularly polarized emission) have been measured. They show, for instance, emission dissymmetry factors of c.a. ±3x10-3 . Quantum-chemical calculations indicate the importance of stereochemistry on the optical activity, pointing towards further design improvements in such types of complexes.

Theory and algorithms for chiroptical properties and spectroscopies of aqueous systems

Chiroptical properties and spectroscopies are valuable tools to study chiral molecules and assign absolute configurations. The spectra that result from chiroptical measurements may be very rich and complex, and hide much of their information content. For this reason, the interplay between experiments and calculations is especially useful, provided that all relevant physico-chemical interactions that are present in the experimental sample are accurately modelled. The inherent difficulty associated to the calculation of chiral signals of systems in aqueous solutions requires the development of specific tools, able to account for the peculiarities of water-solute interactions, and especially its ability to form hydrogen bonds. In this perspective we discuss a multiscale approach, which we have developed and challenged to model the most used chiroptical techniques.

Theoretical Investigation of the Circularly Polarized Luminescence of a Chiral Boron Dipyrromethene (BODIPY) Dye

Over the last decade, molecules capable of emitting circularly polarized light have attracted growing attention for potential technological and biological applications. The efficiency of such devices depend on multiple parameters, in particular the magnitude and wavelength of the peak of emitted light, and also on the dissymmetry factor for chiral applications. In light of these considerations, molecular systems with tunable optical properties, preferably in the visible spectral region, are particularly appealing. This is the case of boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) dyes, which exhibit large molecular absorption coefficients, have high fluorescence yields, are very stable, both thermally and photochemically, and can be easily functionalized. The latter property has been extensively exploited in the literature to produce chromophores with a wide range of optical properties. Nevertheless, only a few chiral BODIPYs have been synthetized and investigated so far. Using a recently reported axially chiral BODIPY derivative where an axially chiral BINOL unit has been attached to the chromophore unit, we present a comprehensive computational protocol to predict and interpret the one-photon absorption and emission spectra, together with their chiroptical counterparts. From the physico-chemical properties of this molecule, it will be possible to understand the origin of the circularly polarized luminescence better, thus helping to fine-tune the properties of interest. The sensitivity of such processes require accurate results, which can be achieved through a proper account of the vibrational structure in optical spectra. Methodologies to compute vibrationally-resolved electronic spectra can now be applied on relatively large chromophores, such as BODIPYs, but require more extensive computational protocols. For this reason, particular attention is paid in the description of the different steps of the protocol, and the potential pitfalls. Finally, we show how, by means of appropriate tools and approaches, data from intermediate steps of the simulation of the final spectra can be used to obtain further insights into the properties of the molecular system under investigation and the origin of the visible bands.

Vibrationally resolved electronic circular dichroism and circularly polarized luminescence spectra of a boron-fused double helicene: A theoretical study

In this work, we present the theoretical study of the vibrationally resolved absorption (ABS), electronic circular dichroism (ECD), emission (EMI), and circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) spectra of a boron-fused double helicene, with a detailed and complete discussion of the alternative possible approximate methods. Given the fact that few examples of CPL calculations exist, the potential energy surfaces (PESs) have been constructed and compared with Adiabatic (AH) and Vertical Hessian (VH) models. All the vibronic calculations have accounted for Duschinsky mixings, Franck-Condon (FC) effect and Herzberg-Teller (HT) contribution. Moreover, different HT expansions have been checked and compared, by computing the derivatives of the electric and magnetic dipole transition moments around the equilibrium geometries of the initial and final states. Our results show that both AH and VH models have well reproduced the experimental vibronic structures and VH model shows a better performance in the simulation of spectral lineshapes. They also show that HT effects dominate the shapes of EMI and CPL, tuning the relative heights of the different vibronic peaks, improving the agreement with the experiment for EMI. Moreover, HT effects are the main reason for the mirror-symmetry breaking between ECD and CPL spectra. Furthermore, interesting interference effects between FC and HT contributions have also been addressed.

A computational study of the vibrationally-resolved electronic circular dichroism spectra of single-chain transoid and cisoid oligothiophenes in chiral conformations

We simulate the vibronic profile of the electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra of oligothiophenes in cisoid and transoid chiral arrangements. We consider oligomers of different lengths, from two to fifteen units, and investigate extensively how the ECD spectral shapes depend on the inter-ring torsions. In general, the molecular structures we consider are not stationary points of the ground state potential energy surface. Therefore, in order to perform vibronic calculations, we present a new computational protocol able to define reduced-dimensionality models where the effect of the off-equilibrium modes is removed. This is done adopting a description of the vibrational motions in curvilinear internal coordinates, and vertical harmonic models coupled with an iterative application of projectors to define energy Hessians, and therefore effective normal modes, in the space complementary to the one of the off-equilibrium coordinates. Although we consider both Franck-Condon and Herzberg-Teller contributions, the results show that transoid twisted ribbons always give rise to monosignated ECD spectra, while bi-signated and multi-signated spectra are expected for cisoid helices. These findings are explained on the basis of the different transition strengths of the lowest electronic states imparted by the different spatial arrangement, that is almost linear for transoid structures and more globular for cisoid ones. We predicted the chiroptical response of a large number of possible molecular arrangements. These data are employed to critically discuss the experimental ECD of polythiophenes in different experimental conditions, forming either aggregates or host-guest complexes. The method here proposed to perform vibronic calculations in reduced-dimensionality models is of general applicability and its potential interest goes beyond the practical application presented here.

High-Resolution Absorption and Electronic Circular Dichroism Spectra of (R)-(+)-1-Phenylethanol. Confident Interpretation Based on the Synergy between Experiments and Computations

Using density functional theory and its time-dependent extension for excited states, the S₀ →S₁ high-resolution vibronic absorption and electronic circular dichroism spectra of (R)-(+)-1-phenylethanol are computed and compared to experimental spectra measured in jet-cooled conditions in the region within 1000 cm^-1 of the 0-0 transition. The agreement between theory and computation is satisfactory and allows a confident assignment of several experimental bands in terms of fundamentals of different modes. Cases are documented for which the analysis of optical anisotropy factors, owing to their signed nature, remarkably enhances the possibility of a robust assignment of the experimental absorption bands. Computational analysis shows that the experimental spectra are dominated by Herzberg-Teller contributions and that the electronic circular dichroism spectrum and the anisotropy factors are also strongly modulated by the effect of Duschinsky mixings.

Chiroptical inversion for isolated vibronic transitions of supersonic beam-cooled molecules

Circular dichroism-resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (CD-REMPI) was used for CD measurements on several single vibronic transitions of supersonic beam-cooled (R)-(+)-1-phenylethanol. Due to the low molecular densities within a supersonic beam and the expected small anisotropy factor of 1-phenylethanol in the permille region, the precision of the experimental method had to be significantly improved. Therefore, a single laser pulse evaluation combined with a twin-peak technique enabled within the used supersonic beam setup is presented. For the electronic transition S₀ → S₁ of (R)-(+)-1-phenylethanol (π → π* transition of the phenyl ring at 266 nm) ten different vibrational modes as well as the 0-transition were investigated with one-color (1 + 1) CD-REMPI. The results deliver new experimental insights on the influence of molecular vibrations on the anisotropy factor. TD-DFT theoretical predictions show how the angle between the electronic and magnetic transition dipole moments of the electronic transition can be modified by different vibrational modes, making even a flip of the sign of the anisotropy factor possible.

The shape of the electronic circular dichroism spectrum of (2,6-dimethylphenyl)(phenyl)methanol: interplay between conformational equilibria and vibronic effects

Analysis of the interplay between conformational equilibria, solvent effects and vibronic contributions in the ECD spectra.

Quantum-Classical Calculation of Vibronic Spectra along a Reaction Path: The Case of the ECD of Easily Interconvertible Conformers with Opposite Chiral Responses

We present a novel mixed method suitable for computing the low-to-middle resolution spectra of systems characterized by a large-amplitude motion s (defined by either a reaction or an internal path) coupled to a bath of harmonic oscillators r, which change with s. The method is based on an adiabatic approximation whereby s is considered much slower than r degrees of freedom and is treated classically. We show that the spectrum can be obtained by a suitable average of quantum vibronic spectra of the fast coordinates computed at representative values of the slow coordinate along the path. By our method we calculate the electronic circular dichroism (ECD) of 2,2,2-trifluoro-anthryl-ethanol, which possesses two conformers with opposite chirality separated by a low-energy barrier. Path-averaged spectra are significantly different from those obtained only at the stable minima: Agreement with experiment is improved. The method represents a generalization of those currently based on harmonic approximation.

Mass-Selected Circular Dichroism of Supersonic-Beam-Cooled [D4 ]-(R)-(+)-3-Methylcyclopentanone

UV spectroscopy and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) experiments on supersonic-beam-cooled deuterated (R)-(+)-3-methylcyclopentanone ([D₄ ]-(R)-(+)-3-MCP) have been performed by using a laser mass spectrometer. The spectral resolution not only allowed excitation and CD measurements for single vibronic transitions but also for the rotational P, Q, and R branches of these transitions. The investigated n→π*18042501 transition showed the largest anisotropy factor ever observed for chiral molecules in the gas phase, which, due to residual saturation of the excited transition, represents only a lower limit for the real anisotropy factor. Furthermore, one-color (1+1+1) and two-color (1+1') resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) measurements were performed and the effusive-beam (room temperature) and supersonic-beam results for [D₄ ]-(R)-(+)-3-MCP were compared. These results allowed a differentiation between single-step ECD (comparable to conventional ECD) and cumulative ECD (only possible in multiphoton excitation) under supersonic-beam conditions.

Mass-Selective Chiral Analysis

Three ways of realizing mass-selective chiral analysis are reviewed. The first is based on the formation of diastereomers that are of homo- and hetero- type with respect to the enantiomers of involved chiral molecules. This way is quite well-established with numerous applications. The other two ways are more recent developments, both based on circular dichroism (CD). In one, conventional or nonlinear electronic CD is linked to mass spectrometry (MS) by resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization. The other is based on CD in the angular distribution of photoelectrons, which is measured in combination with MS via photoion photoelectron coincidence. Among the many important applications of mass-selective chiral analysis, this review focuses on its use as an analytical tool for the development of heterogeneous enantioselective chemical catalysis. There exist other approaches to combine chiral analysis and mass-selective detection, such as chiral chromatography MS, which are not discussed here.

Theoretical investigation of the broad one-photon absorption line-shape of a flexible symmetric carbazole derivative

The one-photon absorption spectrum of a carbazole derivative has been studied by employing density functional response theory combined with a mixed quantum/classical approach to simulate the spectral shape.

New developments of a multifrequency virtual spectrometer: stereo-electronic, dynamical, and environmental effects on chiroptical spectra

Computational spectroscopy has recently evolved from a field reserved for specialists toward a general tool allowing interpretations and analyses of experimental results. However, the current practice of providing tables of transitions for rigid geometries, possibly tuned by phenomenological broadening, is by far too naive. In order to improve this situation in the last few years we have been developing a general, robust, and user-friendly virtual spectrometer (VS) able to complement experimental studies for complex systems in condensed phases. The VS is based on flexible graphical pre- and postprocessing tools interfaced with general number-crunching software. This last tool is rooted in several electronic structure methodologies (DFT, TD-DFT, post-Hartree-Fock), powerful discrete/continuum models for describing environmental effects, and general vibrational and vibronic models. These last topics are the main focus of this work, which sketches our latest developments related to effective inclusion of anharmonic contributions, together with time-independent and/or time-dependent descriptions of vibronic transitions including Franck-Condon, Herzberg-Teller, and Duschinsky effects. Some test cases are described in some detail with the aim of showing the role of different effects in ruling vibrational (VCD) and electronic (ECD, CPL) chiral spectroscopies.

Laser mass spectrometry with circularly polarized light: circular dichroism of cold molecules in a supersonic gas beam

An experiment on chiral molecules that combines circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, mass-selective detection by laser mass spectrometry (MS), and cooling of molecules by using a supersonic beam is presented. The combination of the former two techniques (CD-laser-MS) is a new method to investigate chiral molecules and is now used by several research groups. Cooling in a supersonic beam supplies a substantial increase in spectroscopic resolution, a feature that has not yet been used in CD spectroscopy. In the experiments reported herein, a large variation in the electronic CD of carbonyl 3-methylcyclopentanone was observed depending on the excited vibrational modes in the n → π* transition. This finding should be of interest for the detection of chiral molecules and for the theoretical understanding of the CD of vibronic bands. It is expected that this effect will show up in other chiral carbonyls because the n → π* transition is typical for the carbonyl group.

Cob(I)alamin: insight into the nature of electronically excited states elucidated via quantum chemical computations and analysis of absorption, CD and MCD data

The nature of electronically excited states of the super-reduced form of vitamin B(12) (i.e., cob(I)alamin or B(12s)), a ubiquitous B(12) intermediate, was investigated by performing quantum-chemical calculations within the time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) framework and by establishing their correspondence to experimental data. Using response theory, the electronic absorption (Abs), circular dichroism (CD) and magnetic CD (MCD) spectra of cob(I)alamin were simulated and directly compared with experiment. Several issues have been taken into considerations while performing the TD-DFT calculations, such as strong dependence on the applied exchange-correlation (XC) functional or structural simplification imposed on the cob(I)alamin. In addition, the low-lying transitions were also validated by performing CASSCF/MC-XQDPT2 calculations. By comparing computational results with existing experimental data a new level of understanding of electronic excitations has been established at the molecular level. The present study extends and confirms conclusions reached for other cobalamins. In particular, the better performance of the BP86 functional, rather than hybrid-type, was observed in terms of the excitations associated with both Co d and corrin π localized transitions. In addition, the lowest energy band was associated with multiple metal-to-ligand charge transfer excitations as opposed to the commonly assumed view of a single π → π* transition followed by vibrational progression. Finally, the use of the full cob(I)alamin structure, instead of simplified molecular models, shed new light on the spectral analyses of cobalamin systems and revealed new challenges of this approach related to long-range charge transfer excitations involving side chains.

Vibrationally resolved circular dichroism spectra of a molecule with isotopically engendered chirality

We present a theoretical study of vibrationally resolved circular dichroism spectra, both in the adiabatic and non-adiabatic frameworks, with a full account of Franck-Condon and Herzberg-Teller vibrational contributions for the former. Model calculations have been performed on 2(R)-deuteriocyclopentanone, whose chirality is due solely to isotopic substitution. This molecule has two distinct, nearly isoenergetic, half-chair conformations in equilibrium, and its demanding nature in terms of computational accuracy makes it a perfect candidate for performing a detailed comparison between different vibronic models. Comparisons are made with experimental spectra, and we also consider temperature effects. In order to reproduce the experimental spectrum, it is necessary to consider the geometry relaxation occurring during the n→π* transition.