1
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Green JA, Brey D, Razgatlioglu LP, Ali B, Błasiak B, Burghardt I. Internal Conversion Cascade in a Carbon Nanobelt: A Multiconfigurational Quantum Dynamical Study. J Chem Theory Comput 2024. [PMID: 39259675 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.4c00841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/13/2024]
Abstract
Carbon nanobelts feature intriguing photophysical properties, due to their high symmetry and structural rigidity. Here, we consider a (6,6) armchair carbon nanobelt, i.e., the very first carbon nanobelt to be synthesized [Povie et al., Science 2017, 356, 172] and characterize the internal conversion dynamics using multiconfigurational quantum dynamics via the multi-layer multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree (ML-MCTDH) method. A symmetry-adapted linear vibronic coupling Hamiltonian for 26 electronic states and 210 vibrational modes is employed. Electronic excitations are found to decay through a dense manifold of excited states, which interact via multiple conical intersections, while inducing minimal geometry change. It is shown that a rapid coherent decay, exhibiting a nonvanishing quantum flux on a time scale of less than 50 fs, transitions toward a slower, decoherent decay at longer times. As previously suggested in the literature, electronic relaxation is hindered by phonon bottlenecks such that a stepwise internal conversion cascade is observed. The computed vibronic absorption spectrum is shown to be in good agreement with the experimental spectrum.
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Affiliation(s)
- James A Green
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Str. 7, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Dominik Brey
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Str. 7, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Leyla P Razgatlioglu
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Str. 7, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Badria Ali
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Str. 7, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Bartosz Błasiak
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Str. 7, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Irene Burghardt
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Str. 7, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany
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2
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Lizondo-Aranda P, Gustavsson T, Martínez-Fernández L, Improta R, Lhiaubet-Vallet V. The Excited State Dynamics of a Mutagenic Guanosine Etheno Adduct Investigated by Femtosecond Fluorescence Spectroscopy and Quantum Mechanical Calculations. Chemistry 2024; 30:e202401835. [PMID: 38869969 DOI: 10.1002/chem.202401835] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2024] [Revised: 06/13/2024] [Accepted: 06/13/2024] [Indexed: 06/15/2024]
Abstract
Femtosecond fluorescence upconversion experiments were combined with CASPT2 and time dependent DFT calculations to characterize the excited state dynamics of the mutagenic etheno adduct 1,N2-etheno-2'-deoxyguanosine (ϵdG). This endogenously formed lesion is attracting great interest because of its ubiquity in human tissues and its highly mutagenic properties. The ϵdG fluorescence is strongly modified with respect to that of the canonical nucleoside dG, notably by an about 6-fold increase in fluorescence lifetime and quantum yield at neutral pH. In addition, femtosecond fluorescence upconversion experiments reveal the presence of two emission bands with maxima at 335 nm for the shorter-lived and 425 nm for the longer-lived. Quantum mechanical calculations rationalize these findings and provide absorption and fluorescence spectral shapes similar to the experimental ones. Two different bright minima are located on the potential energy surface of the lowest energy singlet excited state. One planar minimum, slightly more stable, is associated with the emission at 335 nm, whereas the other one, with a bent etheno ring, is associated with the red-shifted emission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paloma Lizondo-Aranda
- Instituto Universitario Mixto de Tecnología Química (UPV-CSIC), Universitat Politècnica de Valencia, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Avda de los Naranjos s/n, Valencia, 46022, Spain
| | | | - Lara Martínez-Fernández
- Departamento de Química Física de Materiales, Instituto de Química Física Blas Cabrera, IQF-CSIC, Calle Serrano 119, 28006, Madrid, Spain
| | - Roberto Improta
- Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via De Amicis 95, I-80145, Napoli, Italy
| | - Virginie Lhiaubet-Vallet
- Instituto Universitario Mixto de Tecnología Química (UPV-CSIC), Universitat Politècnica de Valencia, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Avda de los Naranjos s/n, Valencia, 46022, Spain
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3
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Bao S, Raymond N, Zeng T, Nooijen M. Vibrational Electronic-Thermofield Coupled Cluster (VE-TFCC) Theory for Quantum Simulations of Vibronic Coupling Systems at Thermal Equilibrium. J Chem Theory Comput 2024; 20:5882-5900. [PMID: 38950345 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.4c00338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/03/2024]
Abstract
A vibrational electronic-thermofield coupled cluster (VE-TFCC) approach is developed to calculate thermal properties of non-adiabatic vibronic coupling systems. The thermofield (TF) theory and a mixed linear exponential ansatz based on second-quantized Bosonic construction operators are introduced to propagate the thermal density operator as a "pure state" in the Bogoliubov representation. Through this compact representation of the thermal density operator, the approach is basis-set-free and scales classically (polynomial) as the number of degrees of freedoms (DoF) in the system increases. The VE-TFCC approach is benchmarked with small test models and a real molecular compound (CoF4- anion) against the conventional sum over states (SOS) method and applied to calculate thermochemistry properties of a gas-phase reaction: CoF3 + F- → CoF4-. Results shows that the VE-TFCC approach, in conjunction with vibronic models, provides an effective protocol for calculating thermodynamic properties of vibronic coupling systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Songhao Bao
- Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Neil Raymond
- Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Tao Zeng
- Department of Chemistry, York University, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada
| | - Marcel Nooijen
- Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
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4
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Martínez-Fernández L, Green JA, Esposito L, Jouybari MY, Zhang Y, Santoro F, Kohler B, Improta R. The photoactivated dynamics of dGpdC and dCpdG sequences in DNA: a comprehensive quantum mechanical study. Chem Sci 2024; 15:9676-9693. [PMID: 38939156 PMCID: PMC11206432 DOI: 10.1039/d4sc00910j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 05/04/2024] [Indexed: 06/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Study of alternating DNA GC sequences by different time-resolved spectroscopies has provided fundamental information on the interaction between UV light and DNA, a process of great biological importance. Multiple decay paths have been identified, but their interplay is still poorly understood. Here, we characterize the photophysics of GC-DNA by integrating different computational approaches, to study molecular models including up to 6 bases described at a full quantum mechanical level. Quantum dynamical simulations, exploiting a nonadiabatic linear vibronic coupling (LVC) model, coupled with molecular dynamics sampling of the initial structures of a (GC)5 DNA duplex, provide new insights into the photophysics in the sub-picosecond time-regime. They indicate a substantial population transfer, within 50 fs, from the spectroscopic states towards G → C charge transfer states involving two stacked bases (CTintra), thus explaining the ultrafast disappearance of fluorescence. This picture is consistent with that provided by quantum mechanical geometry optimizations, using time dependent-density functional theory and a polarizable continuum model, which we use to parametrize the LVC model and to map the main excited state deactivation pathways. For the first time, the infrared and excited state absorption signatures of the various states along these pathways are comprehensively mapped. The computational models suggest that the main deactivation pathways, which, according to experiment, lead to ground state recovery on the 10-50 ps time scale, involve CTintra followed by interstrand proton transfer from the neutral G to C-. Our calculations indicate that CTintra is populated to a larger extent and more rapidly in GC than in CG steps and suggest the likely involvement of monomer-like and interstrand charge transfer decay routes for isolated and less stacked CG steps. These findings underscore the importance of the DNA sequence and thermal fluctuations for the dynamics. They will also aid the interpretation of experimental results on other sequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lara Martínez-Fernández
- Departamento de Química Física de Materiales, Instituto de Química Física Blas Cabrera, CSIC 28006 Madrid Spain
| | - James Alexander Green
- Institut für Physikalische Theoretische Chemie, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main Germany
| | - Luciana Esposito
- Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini-CNR (IBB-CNR) Via De Amicis 95 I-80145 Napoli Italy
| | - Martha Yaghoubi Jouybari
- Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Ottawa 10 Marie Curie Ottawa Ontario K1N 6N5 Canada
- National Research Council of Canada 100 Sussex Drive Ottawa Ontario K1A 0R6 Canada
- Istituto di Chimica dei Composti Organometallici (ICCOM-CNR) Area della Ricerca del CNR, Via Moruzzi 1 I-56124 Pisa Italy
| | - Yuyuan Zhang
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Ohio State University 100 West 18th Avenue Columbus Ohio 43210 USA
| | - Fabrizio Santoro
- Istituto di Chimica dei Composti Organometallici (ICCOM-CNR) Area della Ricerca del CNR, Via Moruzzi 1 I-56124 Pisa Italy
| | - Bern Kohler
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Ohio State University 100 West 18th Avenue Columbus Ohio 43210 USA
| | - Roberto Improta
- Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini-CNR (IBB-CNR) Via De Amicis 95 I-80145 Napoli Italy
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5
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García-González F, Otero JC, Ávila Ferrer FJ, Santoro F, Aranda D. Linear Vibronic Coupling Approach for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering: Quantifying the Charge-Transfer Enhancement Mechanism. J Chem Theory Comput 2024; 20:3850-3863. [PMID: 38687961 PMCID: PMC11099975 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.4c00061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2024] [Revised: 04/12/2024] [Accepted: 04/15/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024]
Abstract
The outstanding amplification observed in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is due to several enhancement mechanisms, and standing out among them are the plasmonic (PL) and charge-transfer (CT) mechanisms. The theoretical estimation of the enhancement factors of the CT mechanism is challenging because the excited-state coupling between bright plasmons and dark CT states must be properly introduced into the model to obtain reliable intensities. In this work, we aim at simulating electrochemical SERS spectra, considering models of pyridine on silver clusters subjected to an external electric field E⃗ that represents the effect of an electrode potential Vel. The method adopts quantum dynamical propagations of nuclear wavepackets on the coupled PL and CT states described with linear vibronic coupling models parametrized for each E⃗ through a fragment-based maximum-overlap diabatization. By presenting results at different values of E⃗, we show that indeed there is a relation between the population transferred to the CT states and the total scattered intensity. The tuning and detuning processes of the CT states with the bright PLs as a function of the electric field are in good agreement with those observed in experiments. Finally, our estimations for the CT enhancement factors predict values in the order of 105 to 106, meaning that when the CT and PL states are both in resonance with the excitation wavelength, the CT and PL enhancements are comparable, and vibrational bands whose intensity is amplified by different mechanisms can be observed together, in agreement with what was measured by typical experiments on silver electrodes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisco García-González
- Andalucía
Tech, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Química Física, Universidad de Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain
| | - Juan Carlos Otero
- Andalucía
Tech, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Química Física, Universidad de Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain
| | - Francisco J. Ávila Ferrer
- Andalucía
Tech, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Química Física, Universidad de Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain
| | - Fabrizio Santoro
- Istituto
di Chimica dei Composti Organometallici (ICCOM-CNR), Area della Ricerca
del CNR, Via Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Daniel Aranda
- Andalucía
Tech, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Química Física, Universidad de Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain
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6
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Bao S, Raymond N, Nooijen M. Time dependent vibrational electronic coupled cluster (VECC) theory for non-adiabatic nuclear dynamics. J Chem Phys 2024; 160:094105. [PMID: 38426527 DOI: 10.1063/5.0190034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2023] [Accepted: 01/28/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024] Open
Abstract
A time-dependent vibrational electronic coupled-cluster (VECC) approach is proposed to simulate photo-electron/UV-VIS absorption spectra as well as time-dependent properties for non-adiabatic vibronic models, going beyond the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. A detailed derivation of the equations of motion and a motivation for the ansatz are presented. The VECC method employs second-quantized bosonic construction operators and a mixed linear and exponential ansatz to form a compact representation of the time-dependent wave-function. Importantly, the method does not require a basis set, has only a few user-defined inputs, and has a classical (polynomial) scaling with respect to the number of degrees of freedom (of the vibronic model), resulting in a favorable computational cost. In benchmark applications to small models and molecules, the VECC method provides accurate results compared to multi-configurational time-dependent Hartree calculations when predicting short-time dynamical properties (i.e., photo-electron/UV-VIS absorption spectra) for non-adiabatic vibronic models. To illustrate the capabilities, the VECC method is also successfully applied to a large vibronic model for hexahelicene with 14 electronic states and 63 normal modes, developed in the group by Aranda and Santoro [J. Chem. Theory Comput. 17, 1691, (2021)].
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Affiliation(s)
- Songhao Bao
- Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Neil Raymond
- Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Marcel Nooijen
- Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
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7
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Aarabi M, Aranda D, Gholami S, Meena SK, Lerouge F, Bretonniere Y, Gürol I, Baldeck P, Parola S, Dumoulin F, Cerezo J, Garavelli M, Santoro F, Rivalta I. Quantum-Classical Protocol for Efficient Characterization of Absorption Lineshape and Fluorescence Quenching upon Aggregation: The Case of Zinc Phthalocyanine Dyes. J Chem Theory Comput 2023; 19:5938-5957. [PMID: 37641958 PMCID: PMC10500990 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.3c00446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2023] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
A quantum-classical protocol that incorporates Jahn-Teller vibronic coupling effects and cluster analysis of molecular dynamics simulations is reported, providing a tool for simulations of absorption spectra and ultrafast nonadiabatic dynamics in large molecular photosystems undergoing aggregation in solution. Employing zinc phthalocyanine dyes as target systems, we demonstrated that the proposed protocol provided fundamental information on vibronic, electronic couplings and thermal dynamical effects that mostly contribute to the absorption spectra lineshape and the fluorescence quenching processes upon dye aggregation. Decomposing the various effects arising upon dimer formation, the structure-property relations associated with their optical responses have been deciphered at atomistic resolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad Aarabi
- Dipartimento
di Chimica Industriale “Toso Montanari”, Universitá degli Studi di Bologna, Viale del Risorgimento 4, I-40136 Bologna, Italy
| | - Daniel Aranda
- Consiglio
Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Chimica
dei Composti Organo Metallici (ICCOM-CNR), I-56124 Pisa, Italy
- Instituto
de Ciencia Molecular (ICMol), Universidad
de Valencia, Catedrático
J. Beltrán 2, 46980 Paterna, Valencia, Spain
| | - Samira Gholami
- Dipartimento
di Chimica Industriale “Toso Montanari”, Universitá degli Studi di Bologna, Viale del Risorgimento 4, I-40136 Bologna, Italy
| | - Santosh Kumar Meena
- Department
of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute
of Technology Ropar, Rupnagar, 140001 Punjab, India
| | - Frederic Lerouge
- ENSL,
CNRS, Laboratoire de Chimie UMR 5182, 46 Allée d’Italie, 69364 Lyon, France
| | - Yann Bretonniere
- ENSL,
CNRS, Laboratoire de Chimie UMR 5182, 46 Allée d’Italie, 69364 Lyon, France
| | - Ilke Gürol
- TÜBITAK
Marmara Research Center, Materials Technologies, Gebze, 41470 Kocaeli, Türkiye
| | - Patrice Baldeck
- ENSL,
CNRS, Laboratoire de Chimie UMR 5182, 46 Allée d’Italie, 69364 Lyon, France
| | - Stephane Parola
- ENSL,
CNRS, Laboratoire de Chimie UMR 5182, 46 Allée d’Italie, 69364 Lyon, France
| | - Fabienne Dumoulin
- Department
of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, 34752 Istanbul, Türkiye
| | - Javier Cerezo
- Consiglio
Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Chimica
dei Composti Organo Metallici (ICCOM-CNR), I-56124 Pisa, Italy
- Departamento
de Química and Institute for Advanced Research in Chemical
Sciences (IAdChem), Universidad Autónoma
de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Marco Garavelli
- Dipartimento
di Chimica Industriale “Toso Montanari”, Universitá degli Studi di Bologna, Viale del Risorgimento 4, I-40136 Bologna, Italy
| | - Fabrizio Santoro
- Consiglio
Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Chimica
dei Composti Organo Metallici (ICCOM-CNR), I-56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Ivan Rivalta
- Dipartimento
di Chimica Industriale “Toso Montanari”, Universitá degli Studi di Bologna, Viale del Risorgimento 4, I-40136 Bologna, Italy
- ENSL,
CNRS, Laboratoire de Chimie UMR 5182, 46 Allée d’Italie, 69364 Lyon, France
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8
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Penfold TJ, Eng J. Mind the GAP: quantifying the breakdown of the linear vibronic coupling Hamiltonian. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2023; 25:7195-7204. [PMID: 36820783 DOI: 10.1039/d2cp05576g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/11/2023]
Abstract
Excited state dynamics play a critical role across a broad range of scientific fields. Importantly, the highly non-equilibrium nature of the states generated by photoexcitation means that excited state simulations should usually include an accurate description of the coupled electronic-nuclear motion, which often requires solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation (TDSE). One of the biggest challenges for these simulations is the requirement to calculate the PES over which the nuclei evolve. An effective approach for addressing this challenge is to use the approximate linear vibronic coupling (LVC) Hamiltonian, which enables a model potential to be parameterised using relatively few quantum chemistry calculations. However, this approach is only valid provided there are no large amplitude motions in the excited state dynamics. In this paper we introduce and deploy a metric, the global anharmonicity parameter (GAP), which can be used to assess the accuracy of an LVC potential. Following its derivation, we illustrate its utility by applying it to three molecules exhibiting different rigidity in their excited states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas J Penfold
- Chemistry, School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK.
| | - Julien Eng
- Chemistry, School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK.
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9
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Xu Q, Liu Y, Wang M, Cerezo J, Improta R, Santoro F. The Resonance Raman Spectrum of Cytosine in Water: Analysis of the Effect of Specific Solute-Solvent Interactions and Non-Adiabatic Couplings. Molecules 2023; 28:2286. [PMID: 36903532 PMCID: PMC10005559 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28052286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2023] [Revised: 02/21/2023] [Accepted: 02/22/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023] Open
Abstract
In this contribution, we report a computational study of the vibrational Resonance Raman (vRR) spectra of cytosine in water, on the grounds of potential energy surfaces (PES) computed by time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) and CAM-B3LYP and PBE0 functionals. Cytosine is interesting because it is characterized by several close-lying and coupled electronic states, challenging the approach commonly used to compute the vRR for systems where the excitation frequency is in quasi-resonance with a single state. We adopt two recently developed time-dependent approaches, based either on quantum dynamical numerical propagations of vibronic wavepackets on coupled PES or on analytical correlation functions for cases in which inter-state couplings were neglected. In this way, we compute the vRR spectra, considering the quasi-resonance with the eight lowest-energy excited states, disentangling the role of their inter-state couplings from the mere interference of their different contributions to the transition polarizability. We show that these effects are only moderate in the excitation energy range explored by experiments, where the spectral patterns can be rationalized from the simple analysis of displacements of the equilibrium positions along the different states. Conversely, at higher energies, interference and inter-state couplings play a major role, and the adoption of a fully non-adiabatic approach is strongly recommended. We also investigate the effect of specific solute-solvent interactions on the vRR spectra, by considering a cluster of cytosine, hydrogen-bonded by six water molecules, and embedded in a polarizable continuum. We show that their inclusion remarkably improves the agreement with the experiments, mainly altering the composition of the normal modes, in terms of internal valence coordinates. We also document cases, mostly for low-frequency modes, in which a cluster model is not sufficient, and more elaborate mixed quantum classical approaches, in explicit solvent models, need to be applied.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiushuang Xu
- School of Physics Engineering, Qufu Normal University, Qufu 273165, China
- School of Physics and Optoelectronics Engineering, Ludong University, Yantai 264025, China
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Chimica dei Composti Organo Metallici (ICCOM-CNR), SS di Pisa, Area della Ricerca, Via G. Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Yanli Liu
- School of Physics and Optoelectronics Engineering, Ludong University, Yantai 264025, China
| | - Meishan Wang
- School of Physics Engineering, Qufu Normal University, Qufu 273165, China
- School of Physics and Optoelectronics Engineering, Ludong University, Yantai 264025, China
| | - Javier Cerezo
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Chimica dei Composti Organo Metallici (ICCOM-CNR), SS di Pisa, Area della Ricerca, Via G. Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa, Italy
- Departamento de Química and Institute for Advanced Research in Chemical Sciences (IAdChem), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Roberto Improta
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini (IBB-CNR), Via De Amicis 95, I-80145 Napoli, Italy
| | - Fabrizio Santoro
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Chimica dei Composti Organo Metallici (ICCOM-CNR), SS di Pisa, Area della Ricerca, Via G. Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa, Italy
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10
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Asha H, Green JA, Esposito L, Santoro F, Improta R. Computing the electronic circular dichroism spectrum of DNA quadruple helices of different topology: A critical test for a generalized excitonic model based on a fragment diabatization. Chirality 2023; 35:298-310. [PMID: 36775278 DOI: 10.1002/chir.23540] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2022] [Revised: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2023] [Indexed: 02/14/2023]
Abstract
In this study, we exploit a recently developed fragment diabatization-based excitonic model, FrDEx, to simulate the electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra of three guanine-rich DNA sequences arranged in guanine quadruple helices with different topologies: thrombin binding aptamer (antiparallel), c-Myc promoter (parallel), and human telomeric sequence (3+1 hybrid). Starting from time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations with the M052X functional, we apply our protocol to parameterize the FrDEX Hamiltonian, which accounts for electron density overlap and includes both the coupling with charge transfer transitions and the effect of the surrounding bases on the local excitation of each chromophore. The TD-DFT/M052X spectral shapes are in good agreement with the experimental ones, the main source of discrepancy being related to the intrinsic error on the computed transition energies of guanine monomer. FrDEx spectra are fairly close to the reference TD-DFT ones, allowing a significant advance with respect to a more standard excitonic Hamiltonian. We also show that the ECD spectra are sensitive to the inclusion of the inner K + $$ {}^{+} $$ cation in the calculation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haritha Asha
- Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini, CNR, Napoli, Italy
| | - James A Green
- Institut für Physikalische Theoretische Chemie, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | | | - Fabrizio Santoro
- Istituto di Chimica dei Composti Organometallici (ICCOM-CNR), Area della Ricerca del CNR, Pisa, Italy
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11
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Asha H, Green JA, Esposito L, Martinez-Fernandez L, Santoro F, Improta R. Effect of the Thermal Fluctuations of the Photophysics of GC and CG DNA Steps: A Computational Dynamical Study. J Phys Chem B 2022; 126:10608-10621. [PMID: 36508709 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c05688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Here we refine and assess two computational procedures aimed to include the effect of thermal fluctuations on the electronic spectra and the ultrafast excited state dynamics of multichromophore systems, focusing on DNA duplexes. Our approach is based on a fragment diabatization procedure that, from a given Quantum Mechanical (QM) reference method, can provide the parameters (energy and coupling) of the reference diabatic states on the basis of the isolated fragments, either for a purely electronic excitonic Hamiltonian (FrDEx) or a linear vibronic coupling Hamiltonian (FrD-LVC). After having defined the most cost-effective procedure for DNA duplexes on two smaller fragments, FrDEx is used to simulate the absorption and Electronic Circular Dichroism (ECD) spectra of (GC)5 sequences, including the coupling with the Charge Transfer (CT) states, on a number of structures extracted from classical Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations. The computed spectra are close to the reference TD-DFT calculations and fully consistent with the experimental ones. We then couple MD simulations and FrD-LVC to simulate the interplay between local excitations and CT transitions, both intrastrand and interstrand, in GC and CG steps when included in a oligoGC or in oligoAT DNA sequence. We predict that for both sequences a substantial part of the photoexcited population on G and C decays, within 50-100 fs, to the corresponding intrastrand CT states. This transfer is more effective for GC steps that, on average, are more closely stacked than CG ones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haritha Asha
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini (IBB-CNR), Via De Amicis 95,I-80145Napoli, Italy
| | - James A Green
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini (IBB-CNR), Via De Amicis 95,I-80145Napoli, Italy.,Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Strasse 7, 60438Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Luciana Esposito
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini (IBB-CNR), Via De Amicis 95,I-80145Napoli, Italy
| | - Lara Martinez-Fernandez
- Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias and Institute for Advanced Research in Chemistry (IADCHEM), Universidad Autònoma de Madrid, Campus de Excelencia UAM-CSIC, 28049Madrid, Spain
| | - Fabrizio Santoro
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Chimica dei Composti Organo Metallici (ICCOM-CNR), SS di Pisa, Area della Ricerca, via G. Moruzzi 1, I-56124Pisa, Italy
| | - Roberto Improta
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini (IBB-CNR), Via De Amicis 95,I-80145Napoli, Italy.,DTU Chemistry, Technical University of Denmark, Kemitorvet Bldg 207, DK-2800Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
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12
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Xu Q, Aranda D, Yaghoubi Jouybari M, Liu Y, Wang M, Cerezo J, Improta R, Santoro F. Nonadiabatic Vibrational Resonance Raman Spectra from Quantum Dynamics Propagations with LVC Models. Application to Thymine. J Phys Chem A 2022; 126:7468-7479. [PMID: 36099554 PMCID: PMC9596142 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.2c05271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2022] [Revised: 08/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
We present a viable protocol to compute vibrational resonance Raman (vRR) spectra for systems with several close-lying and potentially coupled electronic states. It is based on the parametrization of linear vibronic coupling (LVC) models from time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations and quantum dynamics propagations of vibronic wavepackets with the multilayer version of the multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree (ML-MCTDH) method. Our approach is applied to thymine considering seven coupled electronic states, comprising the three lowest bright states, and all vibrational coordinates. Computed vRR at different excitation wavelengths are in good agreement with the available experimental data. Up to 250 nm the signal is dominated by the lowest HOMO → LUMO transition, whereas at 233 nm, in the valley between the two lowest energy absorption bands, the contributions of all the three bright states, and their interferences and couplings, are important. Inclusion of solvent (water) effects improves the agreement with experiment, reproducing the coalescence of vibrational bands due to CC and C═O stretchings. With our approach we disentangle and assess the effect of interferences between the contribution of different quasi-resonant states to the transition polarizability and the effect of interstate couplings. Our findings strongly suggest that in cases of close-lying and potentially coupled states a simple inclusion of interference effects is not sufficient, and a fully nonadiabatic computation should instead be performed. We also document that for systems with strong couplings and quasi-degenerate states, the use of HT perturbative approach, not designed for these cases, may lead to large artifacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiushuang Xu
- School
of Physics and Optoelectronics Engineering, Ludong University, 264025 Yantai, Shandong, PR China
- School
of Physics Engineering, Qufu Normal University, 2673100 Qufu, Shandong, PR China
- Consiglio
Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Chimica
dei Composti Organo Metallici (ICCOM-CNR), SS di Pisa, Area della Ricerca, via G. Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Daniel Aranda
- Instituto
de Ciencia Molecular (ICMol)., Universidad de Valencia, c/Catedrático José
Beltrán, 2, 46980 Paterna, Spain
| | - Martha Yaghoubi Jouybari
- Consiglio
Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Chimica
dei Composti Organo Metallici (ICCOM-CNR), SS di Pisa, Area della Ricerca, via G. Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Yanli Liu
- School
of Physics and Optoelectronics Engineering, Ludong University, 264025 Yantai, Shandong, PR China
| | - Meishan Wang
- School
of Physics and Optoelectronics Engineering, Ludong University, 264025 Yantai, Shandong, PR China
| | - Javier Cerezo
- Consiglio
Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Chimica
dei Composti Organo Metallici (ICCOM-CNR), SS di Pisa, Area della Ricerca, via G. Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa, Italy
- Departamento
de Química, Universidad Autónoma
de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Roberto Improta
- Consiglio
Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Biostrutture
e Bioimmagini (IBB-CNR), Via De Amicis 95, I-80145 Napoli, Italy
- DTU Chemistry, Technical University of Denmark, Kemitorvet Bldg 207, DK-2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Fabrizio Santoro
- Consiglio
Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Chimica
dei Composti Organo Metallici (ICCOM-CNR), SS di Pisa, Area della Ricerca, via G. Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa, Italy
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13
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Green JA, Gómez S, Worth G, Santoro F, Improta R. Solvent Effects on Ultrafast Charge Transfer Population: Insights from the Quantum Dynamics of Guanine-Cytosine in Chloroform. Chemistry 2022; 28:e202201731. [PMID: 35950519 PMCID: PMC9828530 DOI: 10.1002/chem.202201731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
We study the ultrafast photoactivated dynamics of the hydrogen bonded dimer Guanine-Cytosine in chloroform solution, focusing on the population of the Guanine→Cytosine charge transfer state (GC-CT), an important elementary process for the photophysics and photochemistry of nucleic acids. We integrate a quantum dynamics propagation scheme, based on a linear vibronic model parameterized through time dependent density functional theory calculations, with four different solvation models, either implicit or explicit. On average, after 50 fs, 30∼40 % of the bright excited state population has been transferred to GC-CT. This process is thus fast and effective, especially when transferring from the Guanine bright excited states, in line with the available experimental studies. Independent of the adopted solvation model, the population of GC-CT is however disfavoured in solution with respect to the gas phase. We show that dynamical solvation effects are responsible for this puzzling result and assess the different chemical-physical effects modulating the population of CT states on the ultrafast time-scale. We also propose some simple analyses to predict how solvent can affect the population transfer between bright and CT states, showing that the effect of the solute/solvent electrostatic interactions on the energy of the CT state can provide a rather reliable indication of its possible population.
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Affiliation(s)
- James A. Green
- Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini-CNRVia De Amicis 95I-80145Napoli
| | - Sandra Gómez
- Department of ChemistryUniversity College London20 Gordon StreetLondonWC1H 0AJUnited Kingdom
- Departamento de Química FísicaUniversity of SalamancaSalamanca37008Spain
| | - Graham Worth
- Department of ChemistryUniversity College London20 Gordon StreetLondonWC1H 0AJUnited Kingdom
| | - Fabrizio Santoro
- Istituto di Chimica die Composti Organometallici (ICCOM-CNR), Area della Ricerca del CNRVia Moruzzi 1I-56124Pisa
| | - Roberto Improta
- Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini-CNRVia De Amicis 95I-80145Napoli
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14
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Aranda D, García-González F, Avila Ferrer FJ, López-Tocón I, Soto J, Otero JC. Computational Model for Electrochemical Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering: Key Role of the Surface Charges and Synergy between Electromagnetic and Charge-Transfer Enhancement Mechanisms. J Chem Theory Comput 2022; 18:6802-6815. [PMID: 36222738 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.2c00633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
We present a computational model for electrochemical surface-enhanced Raman scattering (EC-SERS). The surface excess of charge induced by the electrode potential (Vel) was introduced by applying an external electric field to a set of clusters [Agn]q with (n, q) of (19, ±1) or (20, 0) on which a molecule adsorbs. Using DFT/TD-DFT calculations, these metal-molecule complexes were classified by the adsorbate partial charge, and the main Vel-dependent properties were simultaneously studied with the aid of vibronic resonance Raman computations, namely, changes on the vibrational wavenumbers, relative intensities, and enhancement factors (EFs) for all SERS mechanisms: chemical or nonresonant, and resonance Raman with bright states of the adsorbate, charge-transfer (CT) states, and plasmon-like excitations on the metal cluster. We selected two molecules to test our model, pyridine, for which Vel has a remarkable effect, and 9,10-bis((E)-2-(pyridin-4-yl)vinyl)anthracene, which is almost insensitive to the applied bias. The results nicely reproduced most of the experimental observations, while the limitations of our approach were critically evaluated. We detected that accounting explicitly for the surface charges is key for EC-SERS models and that the highest calculated EFs, up to 107 to 108, are obtained by interstate coupling of bright local excitations of the metal cluster and CT states. These results highlight the importance of nonadiabatic effects in SERS and the capabilities of EC-SERS as a technique with potential to study excited-state coupling by tuning the CT and plasmon-like states by manipulating Vel.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Aranda
- Instituto de Ciencia Molecular (ICMol), Universidad de Valencia, Catedrático J. Beltrán 2, 46980Paterna, Valencia, Spain.,Andalucía Tech, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Química Física, Universidad de Málaga, 29071Málaga, Spain
| | - Francisco García-González
- Andalucía Tech, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Química Física, Universidad de Málaga, 29071Málaga, Spain
| | - Francisco José Avila Ferrer
- Andalucía Tech, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Química Física, Universidad de Málaga, 29071Málaga, Spain
| | - Isabel López-Tocón
- Andalucía Tech, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Química Física, Universidad de Málaga, 29071Málaga, Spain
| | - Juan Soto
- Andalucía Tech, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Química Física, Universidad de Málaga, 29071Málaga, Spain
| | - Juan Carlos Otero
- Andalucía Tech, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Química Física, Universidad de Málaga, 29071Málaga, Spain
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15
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Martínez Fernández L, Santoro F, Improta R. Nucleic Acids as a Playground for the Computational Study of the Photophysics and Photochemistry of Multichromophore Assemblies. Acc Chem Res 2022; 55:2077-2087. [PMID: 35833758 DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.2c00256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
ConspectusThe interaction between light and multichromophoric assemblies (MCAs) is the primary event of many fundamental processes, from photosynthesis to organic photovoltaics, and it triggers dynamical processes that share remarkable similarities at the molecular scale: light absorption, energy and charge transfer, internal conversions, emission, and so on. Those events often involve many chromophores and different excited electronic states that are coupled on an ultrafast time scale. This Account aims to discuss some of the chemical physical effects ruling these processes, a fundamental step toward their control, based on our experience on nucleic acids.In the last 15 years, we have, indeed, studied the photophysics and photochemistry of DNA and its components. By combining different quantum mechanical methods, we investigated the molecular processes responsible for the damage of the genetic code or, on the contrary, those preventing it by dissipating the excess energy deposited in the system by UV absorption. Independently of its fundamental biological role, DNA, with its fluctuating closely stacked bases stabilized by weak nonbonding interactions, can be considered a prototypical MCA. Therefore, it allows one to tackle within a single system many of the conceptual and methodological challenges involved in the study of photoinduced processes in MCA.In this Account, by using the outcome of our studies on oligonucleotides as a guideline, we thus highlight the most critical modellistic issues to be faced when studying, either experimentally or computationally, the interaction between UV light and DNA and, at the same time, bring out their general relevance for the study of MCAs.We first discuss the rich photoactivated dynamics of nucleobases (the chromophores), highlighting the main effects modulating the interplay between their excited states and how the latter can affect the photoactivated dynamics of the polynucleotides, either providing effective monomer-like nonradiative decay routes or triggering reactive processes (e.g., triplet generation).We then tackle the reaction paths involving multiple bases, showing that in the DNA duplex the most important ones involve two stacked bases, forming a neutral excimer or a charge transfer (CT) state, which exhibit different spectral signatures and photochemical reactivity. In particular, we analyze the factors affecting the dynamic equilibrium between the excimer and CT, such as the fluctuations of the backbone or the rearrangement of the solvent.Next, we highlight the importance of the effects not directly connected to the chromophores, such as the flexibility of the backbone or the solvent effect. The former, affecting the stacking geometry of the bases, can determine the preference between different deactivation paths. The latter is particularly influential for CT states, making very important an accurate treatment of dynamical solvation effects, involving both the solvent bulk and specific solute-solvent interactions.In the last section, we describe the main methodological challenges related to the study of polynucleotide excited states and stress the benefits derived by the integration of complementary approaches, both computational and experimental. Only exploiting different point of views, in our opinion, it is possible to shed light on the complex phenomena triggered by light absorption in DNA, as in every MCA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lara Martínez Fernández
- Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias and Institute for Advanced Research in Chemistry (IADCHEM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Campus de Excelencia UAM-CSIC, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Fabrizio Santoro
- Istituto di Chimica dei Composti Organometallici (ICCOM-CNR), Area della Ricerca del CNR, Via Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Roberto Improta
- Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini-CNR (IBB-CNR), Via De Amicis 95, I-80145 Napoli, Italy
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16
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Picconi D. Quantum dynamics of the photoinduced charge separation in a symmetric donor–acceptor–donor triad: The role of vibronic couplings, symmetry and temperature. J Chem Phys 2022; 156:184105. [DOI: 10.1063/5.0089887] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The photoinduced charge separation in a symmetric donor–acceptor–donor (D–A–D) triad is studied quantum mechanically using a realistic diabatic vibronic coupling model. The model includes a locally excited DA*D state and two charge-transfer states D+A−D and DA−D+ and is constructed according to a procedure generally applicable to semirigid D–A–D structures and based on energies, forces, and force constants obtained by quantum chemical calculations. In this case, the electronic structure is described by time-dependent density functional theory, and the corrected linear response is used in conjunction with the polarizable continuum model to account for state-specific solvent effects. The multimode dynamics following the photoexcitation to the locally excited state are simulated by the hybrid Gaussian-multiconfigurational time-dependent Hartree method, and temperature effects are included using thermo field theory. The dynamics are connected to the transient absorption spectrum obtained in recent experiments, which is simulated and fully assigned from first principles. It is found that the charge separation is mediated by symmetry-breaking vibrations of relatively low frequency, which implies that temperature should be accounted for to obtain reliable estimates of the charge transfer rate.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Picconi
- Institute of Chemistry, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, D-14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany and Institute of Physics and Astronomy, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, D-14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany
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17
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Tölle J, Neugebauer J. The Seamless Connection of Local and Collective Excited States in Subsystem Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory. J Phys Chem Lett 2022; 13:1003-1018. [PMID: 35061387 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c04023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
The theoretical understanding of photoinduced processes in multichromophoric systems requires, as an essential ingredient, the possibility of accurately describing their electronically excited states. However, the size of these systems often prohibits the usage of conventional electronic-structure methods, so that often multiscale approaches based on phenomenologically motivated models are employed. In contrast, subsystem time-dependent density functional theory (sTDDFT) allows for a subsystem-based ab initio description of multichromophoric systems and therefore allows for, in principle, an exact description of photoinduced processes. This Perspective aims to outline the theoretical foundations and commonly used practical realizations as well as to illustrate benefits of recent developments and open issues in the field of sTDDFT. Prospective, potential future applications and possible methodological developments are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johannes Tölle
- Theoretische Organische Chemie, Organisch-Chemisches Institut and Center for Multiscale Theory and Computation, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Corrensstraße 40, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Johannes Neugebauer
- Theoretische Organische Chemie, Organisch-Chemisches Institut and Center for Multiscale Theory and Computation, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Corrensstraße 40, 48149 Münster, Germany
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18
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Zobel JP, Heindl M, Plasser F, Mai S, González L. Surface Hopping Dynamics on Vibronic Coupling Models. Acc Chem Res 2021; 54:3760-3771. [PMID: 34570472 PMCID: PMC8529708 DOI: 10.1021/acs.accounts.1c00485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
![]()
The simulation of photoinduced non-adiabatic dynamics is of great
relevance in many scientific disciplines, ranging from physics and
materials science to chemistry and biology. Upon light irradiation,
different relaxation processes take place in which electronic and
nuclear motion are intimately coupled. These are best described by
the time-dependent molecular Schrödinger equation, but its
solution poses fundamental practical challenges to contemporary theoretical
chemistry. Two widely used and complementary approaches to this problem
are multiconfigurational time-dependent Hartree (MCTDH) and trajectory
surface hopping (SH). MCTDH is an accurate fully quantum-mechanical
technique but often is feasible only in reduced dimensionality, in
combination with approximate vibronic coupling (VC) Hamiltonians,
or both (i.e., reduced-dimensional VC potentials). In contrast, SH
is a quantum–classical technique that neglects most nuclear
quantum effects but allows nuclear dynamics in full dimensionality
by calculating potential energy surfaces on the fly. If nuclear quantum
effects do not play a central role and a linear VC (LVC) Hamiltonian
is appropriate—e.g., for stiff molecules that generally keep
their conformation in the excited state—then it seems advantageous
to combine the efficient LVC and SH techniques. In this Account, we
describe how surface hopping based on an LVC Hamiltonian (SH/LVC)—as
recently implemented in the SHARC surface hopping package—can
provide an economical and automated approach to simulate non-adiabatic
dynamics. First, we illustrate the potential of SH/LVC in a number
of showcases, including intersystem crossing in SO2, intra-Rydberg
dynamics in acetone, and several photophysical studies on large transition-metal
complexes, which would be much more demanding or impossible to perform
with other methods. While all of the applications provide very useful
insights into light-induced phenomena, they also hint at difficulties
faced by the SH/LVC methodology that need to be addressed in the future.
Second, we contend that the SH/LVC approach can be useful to benchmark
SH itself. By the use of the same (LVC) potentials as MCTDH calculations
have employed for decades and by relying on the efficiency of SH/LVC,
it is possible to directly compare multiple SH test calculations with
a MCTDH reference and ponder the accuracy of various correction algorithms
behind the SH methodology, such as decoherence corrections or momentum
rescaling schemes. Third, we demonstrate how the efficiency of SH/LVC
can also be exploited to identify essential nuclear and electronic
degrees of freedom to be employed in more accurate MCTDH calculations.
Lastly, we show that SH/LVC is able to advance the development of
SH protocols that can describe nuclear dynamics including explicit
laser fields—a very challenging endeavor for trajectory-based
schemes. To end, this Account compiles the typical costs of contemporary
SH simulations, evidencing the great advantages of using parametrized
potentials. The LVC model is a sleeping beauty that, kissed by SH,
is fueling the field of excited-state molecular dynamics. We hope
that this Account will stimulate future research in this direction,
leveraging the advantages of the SH/VC schemes to larger extents and
extending their applicability to uncharted territories.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. Patrick Zobel
- Institute of Theoretical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Vienna, Währingerstr. 19, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Moritz Heindl
- Institute of Theoretical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Vienna, Währingerstr. 19, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Felix Plasser
- Department of Chemistry, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, United Kingdom
| | - Sebastian Mai
- Institute of Theoretical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Vienna, Währingerstr. 19, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Leticia González
- Institute of Theoretical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Vienna, Währingerstr. 19, 1090 Vienna, Austria
- Vienna Research Platform on Accelerating Photoreaction Discovery, University of Vienna, Währingerstr. 19, 1090 Vienna, Austria
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19
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Jouybari M, Green JA, Improta R, Santoro F. The Ultrafast Quantum Dynamics of Photoexcited Adenine-Thymine Basepair Investigated with a Fragment-based Diabatization and a Linear Vibronic Coupling Model. J Phys Chem A 2021; 125:8912-8924. [PMID: 34609880 PMCID: PMC9281421 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.1c08132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
In this contribution we present a quantum dynamical study of the photoexcited hydrogen bonded base pair adenine-thymine (AT) in a Watson-Crick arrangement. To that end, we parametrize Linear Vibronic Coupling (LVC) models with Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory (TD-DFT) calculations, exploiting a fragment diabatization scheme (FrD) we have developed to define diabatic states on the basis of individual chromophores in a multichromophoric system. Wavepacket propagations were run with the multilayer extension of the Multiconfiguration Time-Dependent Hartree method. We considered excitations to the three lowest bright states, a ππ* state of thymine and two ππ* states (La and Lb) of adenine, and we found that on the 100 fs time scale the main decay pathways involve intramonomer population transfers toward nπ* states of the same nucleobase. In AT this transfer is less effective than in the isolated nucleobases, because hydrogen bonding destabilizes the nπ* states. The population transfer to the A → T charge transfer state is negligible, making the ultrafast (femtosecond) decay through the proton coupled electron transfer mechanism unlikely, in line with experimental results in apolar solvents. The excitation energy transfer is also very small. We carefully compare the predictions of LVC Hamiltonians obtained with different sets of diabatic states, defined so to match either local states of the two separated monomers or the base pair adiabatic states in the Franck-Condon region. To that end we also extend the flexibility of the FrD-LVC approach, introducing a new strategy to define fragments diabatic states that account for the effect of the rest of the multichromohoric system through a Molecular Mechanics potential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martha
Yaghoubi Jouybari
- Consiglio
Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Chimica dei Composti Organo
Metallici (ICCOM-CNR), SS di Pisa, Area della Ricerca, via G. Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - James A. Green
- Consiglio
Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini (IBB-CNR), via Mezzocannone 16, I-80136 Napoli, Italy
| | - Roberto Improta
- Consiglio
Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini (IBB-CNR), via Mezzocannone 16, I-80136 Napoli, Italy
| | - Fabrizio Santoro
- Consiglio
Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Chimica dei Composti Organo
Metallici (ICCOM-CNR), SS di Pisa, Area della Ricerca, via G. Moruzzi 1, I-56124 Pisa, Italy
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20
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Asha H, Green JA, Martinez-Fernandez L, Esposito L, Improta R. Electronic Circular Dichroism Spectra of DNA Quadruple Helices Studied by Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Excitonic Calculations including Charge Transfer States. Molecules 2021; 26:molecules26164789. [PMID: 34443377 PMCID: PMC8398971 DOI: 10.3390/molecules26164789] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2021] [Revised: 08/03/2021] [Accepted: 08/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
We here investigate the Electronic Circular Dichroism (ECD) Spectra of two representative Guanine-rich sequences folded in a Quadruple helix (GQ), by using a recently developed fragment diabatisation based excitonic model (FrDEx). FrDEx can include charge transfer (CT) excited states and consider the effect of the surrounding monomers on the local excitations (LEs). When applied to different structures generated by molecular dynamics simulations on a fragment of the human telomeric sequence (Tel21/22), FrDEx provides spectra fully consistent with the experimental one and in good agreement with that provided by quantum mechanical (QM) method used for its parametrization, i.e., TD-M05-2X. We show that the ECD spectrum is moderately sensitive to the conformation adopted by the bases of the loops and more significantly to the thermal fluctuations of the Guanine tetrads. In particular, we show how changes in the overlap of the tetrads modulate the intensity of the ECD signal. We illustrate how this correlates with changes in the character of the excitonic states at the bottom of the La and Lb bands, with larger LE and CT involvement of bases that are more closely stacked. As an additional test, we utilised FrDEx to compute the ECD spectrum of the monomeric and dimeric forms of a GQ forming sequence T30695 (5′TGGGTGGGTGGGTGGG3′), i.e., a system containing up to 24 Guanine bases, and demonstrated the satisfactory reproduction of the experimental and QM reference results. This study provides new insights on the effects modulating the ECD spectra of GQs and, more generally, further validates FrDEx as an effective tool to predict and assign the spectra of closely stacked multichromophore systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haritha Asha
- CNR—Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini (IBB-CNR), Via Mezzocannone 16, I-80136 Napoli, Italy; (H.A.); (J.A.G.); (L.E.)
| | - James A. Green
- CNR—Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini (IBB-CNR), Via Mezzocannone 16, I-80136 Napoli, Italy; (H.A.); (J.A.G.); (L.E.)
| | - Lara Martinez-Fernandez
- Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias and IADCHEM (Institute for Advanced Research in Chemistry), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain;
| | - Luciana Esposito
- CNR—Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini (IBB-CNR), Via Mezzocannone 16, I-80136 Napoli, Italy; (H.A.); (J.A.G.); (L.E.)
| | - Roberto Improta
- CNR—Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Biostrutture e Bioimmagini (IBB-CNR), Via Mezzocannone 16, I-80136 Napoli, Italy; (H.A.); (J.A.G.); (L.E.)
- Correspondence:
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