UV and Resonance Raman Spectroscopic and Theoretical Studies on the Solvent-Dependent Ground and Excited-State Thione → Thiol Tautomerization of 4,6-Dimethyl-2-mercaptopyrimidine (DMMP)

Copper-Sulfur-Nitrogen Cluster Providing a Local Proton for Efficient Carbon Dioxide Photoreduction

Atomically precise Cu clusters are highly desirable as catalysts for CO2 reduction reaction (CO2 RR), and they provide an appropriate model platform for elaborating their structure-activity relationship. However, an efficient overall photocatalytic CO2 RR with H2 O using assembled Cu-cluster aggregates as single component photocatalyst has not been reported. Herein, we report a stable crystalline Cu-S-N cluster photocatalyst with local protonated N-H groups (denoted as Cu6 -NH). The catalyst exhibits suitable photocatalytic redox potentials, high structural stability, active catalytic species, and a narrow band gap, which account for its outstanding photocatalytic CO2 RR performance under visible light, with ≈100 % selectivity for CO evolution. Remarkably, systematic isostructural Cu-cluster control experiments, in situ infrared spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations revealed that the protonated pyrimidine N atoms in the Cu6 -NH cluster act as a proton relay station, providing a local proton during the photocatalytic CO2 RR. This efficiently lowers the energy barrier for the formation of the *COOH intermediate, which is the rate-limiting step, efficiently enhancing the photocatalytic performance. This work lays the foundation for the development of atomically precise metal-cluster-based photocatalysts.

Achieving strong, stable, and durable underwater adhesives based on a simple and generic amino-acid-resembling design

Developing underwater adhesives is important in many applications. Despite extensive progress, achieving strong, stable, and durable underwater adhesion via a simple and effective way is still challenging, mainly due to the conflict between the interfacial and bulk properties. Here, we report a unique bio-inspired strategy to facilely construct superior underwater adhesives with desirable interfacial and bulk properties. For adhesive design, a hydrophilic backbone is utilized to quickly absorb water for effective dehydration, and a novel amino acid-resembling functional block is developed to provide versatile molecular interactions for high interfacial adhesion. Moreover, the conjunction of these two components enables the generation of abundant covalent crosslinks for robust bulk cohesion. Such a rational design allows the adhesive to present a boosted underwater adhesion (3.92 MPa to glass), remarkable durability (maintaining high strength after one month), and good stability in various harsh environments (pH, salt, high temperature, and organic solvents). This strategy is generic, allowing the derivation of more similar adhesive designs easily and triggering new thinking for designing bio-inspired adhesives and beyond.

UV-Vis, Raman spectroscopic and density functional theoretical studies on microsolvation 1, 2, 4-triazole-3-thione clusters

Photophysical and photochemical reactions of microsolvation clusters are attracting an increasing attention due to their wide applications in materials science and biology. In this paper, 1, 2, 4-triazole-3-thione (3TT) is investigated in solid, protic, and aprotic solvents using FT-Raman, resonance Raman and electronic absorption spectroscopic experiments. The structures of microsolvation clusters in solvents were confirmed by 488 nm Raman spectroscopy combining with density functional theory (DFT) calculation. Steady-state absorption and resonance Raman spectra of 3TT in different environments indicate that the intermolecular hydrogen bonding may reveal important insights in the photophysical and photochemical process. With the aid of DFT and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations, we assigned the observed Raman spectra to the microsolvation clusters in acetonitrile, water and methanol, and carried out preliminary investigations on spectrum shifts of UV and Raman spectra due to the hydrogen bonding with the solvent molecules. The intermolecular >NH···O and >=S···H hydrogen bonding interactions, which are the key constituents of stable thione structure of 3TT, revealed the obvious spectrum shifts of 3TT, including Raman and absorption shifts in CH₃CN, CH₃OH and H₂O. The hydrogen bond sites were further confirmed to be located on the functional group SCNH of 3TT with CH₃CN, H₂O and CH₃OH.

Accurate location of hydrogen atoms in hydrogen bonds of tizoxanide from the combination of experimental and theoretical models

To obtain detailed information about the position of hydrogen atoms in hydrogen bonds, HBs, of crystalline organic molecular compounds is not an easy task. In this work we propose a combination of ssNMR experimental data with theoretical procedures to get such information. Furthermore, the combination of experimental and theoretical models provides us with well-defined grounds to analyse the strength of π-stacking interactions between layers of hydrogen bonded molecules. Two different theoretical models were considered, both approaches being quite different. The first one is a solid-state model, so that the periodicity of a crystalline system underlies calculations of the electronic energy, the electronic density and NMR parameters. The other one is a molecular model in which molecules are taken as isolated monomers, dimers and tetramers. These two models were applied to the tizoxanide, TIZ, molecular crystal though it can widely be applied to any other molecular crystal. By the application of the quantum molecular model it was possible to learn about the way the intermolecular HBs affect the position of hydrogen atoms that belong to HBs in TIZ. This molecule has two intermolecular HBs that stabilize the structure of a basic dimer, but it also has an intramolecular HB in each monomer whose position should be optimized together with the other ones. We found that by doing this it is possible to obtain reliable results of calculations of NMR spectroscopic parameters. Working with the solid-state model we found that any local variation of the TIZ crystalline structure is correlated with the variation of the values of the NMR parameters of each nucleus. The excellent agreement between experimental and calculated chemical shifts leads to the conclusion that the N10-H10 bond distance should be (1.00 ± 0.02) Å.

Resonance Raman spectroscopic and density functional theoretical study on microsolvated 2-Thiocytosine clusters with polar solvents

Microsolvation effects on the excited state deactivation dynamics of 2-thiocytosine (2tC) were studied in hydrogen-bonded 2tC clusters with protic solvents using resonance Raman, FT-IR, FT-Raman, UV-vis spectroscopy combining with density functional theoretical calculation. Two protic solvents, water (H₂O) and methanol (MeOH), and one aprotic solvent, acetonitrile (MeCN), were used to investigate the 2tC(H₂O)_1-5, 2tC(MeOH)_1-5, and 2tC(MeCN)_1-3 microsolvated clusters. In CH₃OH and H₂O solvents, most of the Raman shifts were due to the vibration modes of 2tC(solvent)_n (solvent = H₂O, CH₃OH; n = 1-4) clusters via intermolecular NH⋯O hydrogen bonds (HB). The intermolecular >NH⋯O hydrogen bond interactions, which are the key constituents of stable thione structure of 2tC, revealed the spectra difference of 2tC in CH₃CN, CH₃OH and H₂O. With the aid of electronic structural and vibration frequency calculations, the observed Raman spectra were assigned to the low energy isomers of 2tC(solvent)₂ (solvent = H₂O, CH₃OH) clusters in water and methanol and 2tC(CH₃CN) in acetonitrile solvents. 2tC(solvent)₂ clusters in water and methanol may prohibit or promote excited state proton transfer reaction from sulfur atom to neighbor nitrogen atom due to the hydrogen bonding chain between 2tC and protic solvent molecules. Our experimental and theoretical studies confirmed that the hydrogen bond sites were located on the specified functional group SCNH of 2tC with solvent molecules.

Absorption, fluorescence, Raman spectroscopic and density functional theoretical studies on the singlet and triplet excited state decay of 3-amino-5-mercapto-1,2,4-triazole

The excited state decay process of N-heterocyclic compounds is attracting increasing attention due to their fundamental applications in pharmaceutical and biological sciences. In this study, 3-amino-5-mercapto-1,2,4-triazole (AMT) was investigated in solid, protic, and aprotic solvents using vibrational and electronic spectroscopies combined with density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations. The steady absorption and resonance Raman spectra indicated that the AMT structure was quite sensitive to the polarity and proton of the solvent, and the pH environments. The intermolecular hydrogen bonding may contribute significantly to the decay channels of the singlet excited S₂(ππ*) state process. Moreover, ns-transient absorption spectroscopy detected the short-time triplet species with ∼200 ns lifetime in solvents. The DFT and TDDFT calculations interpreted the photophysical and photochemical process from the excited S₂(ππ*) state, including the singlet and triplet decay mechanisms.

UV-Vis, Fluorescence, and Resonance Raman Spectroscopic and Density Functional Theoretical Studies on 3-Amino-1,2,4-triazole: Microsolvation and Solvent-Dependent Nonadiabatic Excited State Decay in Solution

The microsolvation and photophysics of 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole (3AT) after excitation to the light-absorbing S₂(nπ*) state were studied by using resonance Raman spectroscopy and single component artificial force-induced reaction (SC-AFIR) in a global reaction route mapping (GRRM) strategy. The vibrational spectra were assigned on the basis of experimental data and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The resonance Raman spectra of 3AT were measured to probe the excited state structural dynamics in the Franck-Condon region. The conformations of 3AT(CH₃CN)₁, 3AT(CH₃OH)₂, and 3AT(H₂O)₂ clusters were determined by combining vibrational spectrum experiments and B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) computations. DFT calculations were carried out to obtain the minimal excitation energies of the lower-lying singlet excited states, and the curve-crossing points. It was revealed that the short-time structural dynamics of 3AT were dominated by the N-N stretching coordinates. An excited state decay mechanism is proposed: 3AT is initially excited to the S₂(nπ*) state, then the conical intersection (CI) of the S₂(nπ*)/S₁(ππ*) potential energy surfaces is crossed, and 3AT then decays to the lower solvent-dependent excited state S₁(ππ*). It subsequently returns to the S₀ state, accompanied by a large Stokes fluorescence shift, which was interpreted as the stabilized S₁(ππ*) excited state bonding to several water molecules via intermolecular hydrogen bonding.