Jankowska J, Sobolewski AL. Photo-oxidation of methanol in complexes with pyrido[2,3-
b]pyrazine: a nonadiabatic molecular dynamics study.
Phys Chem Chem Phys 2024;
26:5296-5302. [PMID:
38265828 DOI:
10.1039/d3cp04148d]
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Abstract
Excited-state Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer (PCET) constitutes a key step in the photo-oxidation of small, electron-rich systems possessing acidic hydrogen atoms, such as water or alcohols, which can play a vital role in green hydrogen production. In this contribution, we employ ab initio quantum-chemical methods and on-the-fly nonadiabatic molecular dynamics simulations to study the mechanism and the photodynamics of PCET in 1 : 1 pyrido[2,3-b]pyrazine complexes with methanol. We find the process to be ultrafast and efficient when the intramolecular hydrogen bond is formed with one of the β-positioned nitrogen atoms. The complex exhibiting a hydrogen bond with an isolated nitrogen site, on the contrary, shows much lower reactivity. We explain this effect with the stabilization of the reactive ππ* charge-transfer electronic state in the former case.
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