1
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Hancock AC, Giudici E, Goerigk L. How do spin-scaled double hybrids designed for excitation energies perform for noncovalent excited-state interactions? An investigation on aromatic excimer models. J Comput Chem 2024; 45:1667-1681. [PMID: 38553847 DOI: 10.1002/jcc.27351] [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: 01/25/2024] [Revised: 03/07/2024] [Accepted: 03/12/2024] [Indexed: 06/04/2024]
Abstract
Time-dependent double hybrids with spin-component or spin-opposite scaling to their second-order perturbative correlation correction have demonstrated competitive robustness in the computation of electronic excitation energies. Some of the most robust are those recently published by our group (M. Casanova-Páez, L. Goerigk, J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2021, 20, 5165). So far, the implementation of these functionals has not allowed correctly calculating their ground-state total energies. Herein, we define their correct spin-scaled ground-state energy expressions which enables us to test our methods on the noncovalent excited-state interaction energies of four aromatic excimers. A range of 22 double hybrids with and without spin scaling are compared to the reasonably accurate wavefunction reference from our previous work (A. C. Hancock, L. Goerigk, RSC Adv. 2023, 13, 35964). The impact of spin scaling is highly dependent on the underlying functional expression, however, the smallest overall errors belong to spin-scaled functionals with range separation: SCS- and SOS- ω PBEPP86, and SCS-RSX-QIDH. We additionally determine parameters for DFT-D3(BJ)/D4 ground-state dispersion corrections of these functionals, which reduce errors in most cases. We highlight the necessity of dispersion corrections for even the most robust TD-DFT methods but also point out that ground-state based corrections are insufficient to completely capture dispersion effects for excited-state interaction energies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy C Hancock
- School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Erica Giudici
- School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Lars Goerigk
- School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
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2
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Sturm L, Artigas A, Coquerel Y, Bechtold IH, Durola F, Bock H. Helicene Aromaticity Deviates from the Clar Rule-On the Electronic Dissimilarity of Large Isomeric Fibonacenes. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2024; 63:e202403170. [PMID: 38568685 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202403170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 04/30/2024]
Abstract
This combined experimental and theoretical study illustrates the profound consequences of non-planarity on the electronic properties of polycyclic arenes. Three isomeric [10]fibonacene tetraesters were synthesized through a robust and regiocontrolled Perkin/Mallory approach: a nearly planar [10]phenacene derivative, a moderately twisted [10]semicircle derivative, and a 3D non-planar [10]helicene derivative. The photophysical properties of the 3D [10]helicene isomer were found to be dramatically different from the comparable ones of the [10]phenacene and [10]semicircle isomers. The aromatic properties of the [10]phenacene and [10]semicircle isomers conform well with their predictive Kekulé and Clar analyses, but the [10]helicene isomer deviates from these general topological rules, which appears to be a general phenomenon for [n]fibonacenes with n≥9.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ludmilla Sturm
- Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal, Université de Bordeaux, 115 av. Schweitzer, 33600, Pessac, France
| | - Albert Artigas
- Facultat de Ciències, Universitat de Girona, Campus Montilivi, Carrer de Maria Aurèlia Capmany i Farnès 69, 17003, Girona, Catalunya, Spain
| | - Yoann Coquerel
- Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, Centrale Méditerranée, ISM2, 13397, Marseille, France
| | - Ivan H Bechtold
- Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Trindade, 88040-900, Florianópolis, Brazil
| | - Fabien Durola
- Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal, CNRS, 115 av. Schweitzer, 33600, Pessac, France
| | - Harald Bock
- Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal, CNRS, 115 av. Schweitzer, 33600, Pessac, France
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3
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Dai Y, Rambaldi F, Negri F. Eclipsed and Twisted Excimers of Pyrene and 2-Azapyrene: How Nitrogen Substitution Impacts Excimer Emission. Molecules 2024; 29:507. [PMID: 38276585 PMCID: PMC11154402 DOI: 10.3390/molecules29020507] [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: 12/27/2023] [Revised: 01/13/2024] [Accepted: 01/17/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Due to their unique photophysical and electronic properties, pyrene and its analogues have been the subject of extensive research in recent decades. The propensity of pyrene and its derivatives to form excimers has found wide application in various fields. Nitrogen-substituted pyrene derivatives display similar photophysical properties, but for them, excimer emission has not been reported to date. Here, we use time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations to investigate the low-lying exciton states of dimers of pyrene and 2-azapyrene. The excimer equilibrium structures are determined and the contribution of charge transfer (CT) excitations and intermolecular interactions to the exciton states is disclosed using a diabatization procedure. The study reveals that the dimers formed by the two molecules have quite similar exciton-state patterns, in which the relevant CT contributions govern the formation of excimer states, along with the La/Lb state inversion. In contrast with pyrene, the dipole-dipole interactions in 2-azapyrene stabilize the dark eclipsed excimer structure and increase the barrier for conversion into a bright twisted excimer. It is suggested that these differences in the nitrogen-substituted derivative might influence the excimer emission properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yasi Dai
- Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy; (Y.D.); (F.R.)
- Center for Chemical Catalysis—C3, Alma Mater Studiorum—Università di Bologna, Via Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy
| | - Filippo Rambaldi
- Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy; (Y.D.); (F.R.)
| | - Fabrizia Negri
- Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy; (Y.D.); (F.R.)
- Center for Chemical Catalysis—C3, Alma Mater Studiorum—Università di Bologna, Via Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy
- Consorzio Interuniversitario Nazionale per la Scienza e Tecnologia dei Materiali (INSTM), Research Unit of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
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4
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Hancock AC, Goerigk L. Noncovalently bound excited-state dimers: a perspective on current time-dependent density functional theory approaches applied to aromatic excimer models. RSC Adv 2023; 13:35964-35984. [PMID: 38090083 PMCID: PMC10712016 DOI: 10.1039/d3ra07381e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 05/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Excimers are supramolecular systems whose binding strength is influenced by many factors that are ongoing challenges for computational methods, such as charge transfer, exciton coupling, and London dispersion interactions. Treating the various intricacies of excimer binding at an adequate level is expected to be particularly challenging for time-dependent Density Functional Theory (TD-DFT) methods. In addition to well-known limitations for some TD-DFT methods in the description of charge transfer or exciton coupling, the inherent London dispersion problem from ground-state DFT translates to TD-DFT. While techniques to appropriately treat dispersion in DFT are well-developed for electronic ground states, these dispersion corrections remain largely untested for excited states. Herein, we aim to shed light on current TD-DFT methods, including some of the newest developments. The binding of four model excimers is studied across nine density functionals with and without the application of additive dispersion corrections against a wave function reference of SCS-CC2/CBS(3,4) quality, which approximates select CCSDR(3)/CBS data adequately. To our knowledge, this is the first study that presents single-reference wave function dissociation curves at the complete basis set level for the assessed model systems. It is also the first time range-separated double-hybrid density functionals are applied to excimers. In fact, those functionals turn out to be the most promising for the description of excimer binding followed by global double hybrids. Range-separated and global hybrids-particularly with large fractions of Fock exchange-are outperformed by double hybrids and yield worse dissociation energies and inter-molecular equilibrium distances. The deviation between each assessed functional and reference increases with system size, most likely due to missing dispersion interactions. Additive dispersion corrections of the DFT-D3(BJ) and DFT-D4 types reduce the average errors for TD-DFT methods but do so inconsistently and therefore do not offer a black-box solution in their ground-state parametrised form. The lack of appropriate description of dispersion effects for TD-DFT methods is likely hindering the practical application of the herein identified more efficient methods. Dispersion corrections parametrised for excited states appear to be an important next step to improve the applicability of TD-DFT methods and we hope that our work assists with the future development of such corrections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy C Hancock
- School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne Parkville Australia +61-(0)3-8344 6784
| | - Lars Goerigk
- School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne Parkville Australia +61-(0)3-8344 6784
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5
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Intermolecular-Type Conical Intersections in Benzene Dimer. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24032906. [PMID: 36769227 PMCID: PMC9917476 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24032906] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2023] [Revised: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2023] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The equilibrium and conical intersection geometries of the benzene dimer were computed in the framework of the conventional, linear-response time-dependent and spin-flipped time-dependent density functional theories (known as DFT, TDDFT and SF-TDDFT) as well as using the multiconfigurational complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) method considering the minimally augmented def2-TZVPP and the 6-31G(d,p) basis sets. It was found that the stacking distance between the benzene monomers decreases by about 0.5 Å in the first electronic excited state, due to the stronger intermolecular interaction energy, bringing the two monomers closer together. Intermolecular-type conical intersection (CI) geometries can be formed between the two benzene molecules, when (i) both monomer rings show planar deformation and (ii) weaker (approximately 1.6-1.8 Å long) C-C bonds are formed between the two monomers, with parallel and antiparallel orientation with respect to the monomer. These intermolecular-type CIs look energetically more favorable than dimeric CIs containing only one deformed monomer. The validity of the dimer-type CI geometries obtained by SF-TDDFT was confirmed by the CASSCF method. The nudged elastic band method used for finding the optimal relaxation path has confirmed both the accessibility of these intermolecular-type CIs and the possibility of the radiationless deactivation of the electronic excited states through these CI geometries. Although not as energetically favorable as the previous two CI geometries, there are other CI geometries characterized by the relative rotation of monomers at different angles around a vertical C-C axis.
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Guerra C, Ayarde‐Henríquez L, Chamorro E, Ensuncho A. Uncovering Triradicaloid Structures in S
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Benzene Photochemistry**. CHEMPHOTOCHEM 2023. [DOI: 10.1002/cptc.202200263] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Cristian Guerra
- Universidad Andrés Bello Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Centro de Química Teórica & Computacional (CQT&C) and Departamento de Ciencias Químicas Avenida República 275 8370146 Santiago de Chile Chile
- Universidad de Córdoba Facultad de Ciencias Básicas Grupo de Química Computacional Carrera 6 No. 77–305 Montería Córdoba Colombia
| | - Leandro Ayarde‐Henríquez
- Universidad Andrés Bello Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Centro de Química Teórica & Computacional (CQT&C) and Departamento de Ciencias Químicas Avenida República 275 8370146 Santiago de Chile Chile
| | - Eduardo Chamorro
- Universidad Andrés Bello Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Centro de Química Teórica & Computacional (CQT&C) and Departamento de Ciencias Químicas Avenida República 275 8370146 Santiago de Chile Chile
| | - Adolfo Ensuncho
- Universidad de Córdoba Facultad de Ciencias Básicas Grupo de Química Computacional Carrera 6 No. 77–305 Montería Córdoba Colombia
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Dai Y, Calzolari A, Zubiria-Ulacia M, Casanova D, Negri F. Intermolecular Interactions and Charge Resonance Contributions to Triplet and Singlet Exciton States of Oligoacene Aggregates. MOLECULES (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 28:molecules28010119. [PMID: 36615311 PMCID: PMC9822017 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28010119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2022] [Revised: 12/19/2022] [Accepted: 12/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Intermolecular interactions modulate the electro-optical properties of molecular materials and the nature of low-lying exciton states. Molecular materials composed by oligoacenes are extensively investigated for their semiconducting and optoelectronic properties. Here, we analyze the exciton states derived from time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations for two oligoacene model aggregates: naphthalene and anthracene dimers. To unravel the role of inter-molecular interactions, a set of diabatic states is selected, chosen to coincide with local (LE) and charge-transfer (CT) excitations within a restricted orbital space including two occupied and two unoccupied orbitals for each molecular monomer. We study energy profiles and disentangle inter-state couplings to disclose the (CT) character of singlet and triplet exciton states and assess the influence of inter-molecular orientation by displacing one molecule with respect to the other along the longitudinal translation coordinate. The analysis shows that (CT) contributions are relevant, although comparably less effective for triplet excitons, and induce a non-negligible mixed character to the low-lying exciton states for eclipsed monomers and for small translational displacements. Such (CT) contributions govern the La/Lb state inversion occurring for the low-lying singlet exciton states of naphthalene dimer and contribute to the switch from H- to J-aggregate type of the strongly allowed Bb transition of both oligoacene aggregates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yasi Dai
- Dipartimento di Chimica “Giacomo Ciamician”, Università di Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
| | - Alessandro Calzolari
- Dipartimento di Chimica “Giacomo Ciamician”, Università di Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
| | - Maria Zubiria-Ulacia
- Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Euskadi, Spain
- Kimika Fakultatea, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU), Manuel Lardizabal 3, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Euskadi, Spain
| | - David Casanova
- Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Euskadi, Spain
- IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, 48009 Bilbao, Euskadi, Spain
| | - Fabrizia Negri
- Dipartimento di Chimica “Giacomo Ciamician”, Università di Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
- INSTM UdR Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
- Correspondence:
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Krishnan A, Diaz‐Andres A, Sudhakaran KP, John AT, Hariharan M, Casanova D. Deciphering the Role of (Anti)Aromaticity in Cofacial Excimers of Linear Acenes. J PHYS ORG CHEM 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/poc.4438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Akhilesh Krishnan
- School of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram Kerala India
| | | | - Keerthy P. Sudhakaran
- School of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram Kerala India
| | - Athira T. John
- School of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram Kerala India
| | - Mahesh Hariharan
- School of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram Kerala India
| | - David Casanova
- Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) Donostia Euskadi Spain
- IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science Bilbao Euskadi Spain
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9
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Boden P, Strebert PH, Meta M, Dietrich F, Riehn C, Gerhards M. Chromone-methanol clusters in the electronic ground and lowest triplet state: a delicate interplay of non-covalent interactions. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2022; 24:15208-15216. [PMID: 35579075 DOI: 10.1039/d2cp01341j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Chromone offers two energetically almost equivalent docking sites for alcohol molecules, in which the hydroxyl group is hydrogen bonded to one of the free electron pairs of the carbonyl O atom. Here, the delicate balance between these two competing arrangements is studied by combining IR/R2PI and UV/IR/UV spectroscopy in a molecular beam supported by quantum-chemical calculations. Most interestingly, chromone undergoes an efficient intersystem crossing into the triplet manifold upon electronic excitation, so that the studies on aromatic molecule-solvent complexes are for the first time extended to such a cluster in a triplet state. As the lowest triplet state (T1) is of ground state character, powerful energy decomposition approaches such as symmetry-adapted perturbation theory (SAPT) and local energy decomposition using the domain-based local pair natural orbital coupled-cluster method (DLPNO-CCSD(T)/LED) are applied. From the theoretical analysis we infer for the T1 state a loss of planarity (puckering) of the 4-pyrone ring of the chromone unit, which considerably affects the interplay between different types of non-covalent interactions at the two possible binding sites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pol Boden
- Fachbereich Chemie & State Research Center OPTIMAS, TU Kaiserslautern, Erwin-Schrödinger-Str. 52, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
| | - Patrick H Strebert
- Fachbereich Chemie & State Research Center OPTIMAS, TU Kaiserslautern, Erwin-Schrödinger-Str. 52, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
| | - Marcel Meta
- Fachbereich Chemie & State Research Center OPTIMAS, TU Kaiserslautern, Erwin-Schrödinger-Str. 52, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
| | - Fabian Dietrich
- Fachbereich Chemie & State Research Center OPTIMAS, TU Kaiserslautern, Erwin-Schrödinger-Str. 52, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany.,Núcleo Milenio MultiMat & Departamento de Ciencias Físicas, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco, Chile.
| | - Christoph Riehn
- Fachbereich Chemie & State Research Center OPTIMAS, TU Kaiserslautern, Erwin-Schrödinger-Str. 52, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
| | - Markus Gerhards
- Fachbereich Chemie & State Research Center OPTIMAS, TU Kaiserslautern, Erwin-Schrödinger-Str. 52, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
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10
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Hancock AC, Goerigk L. Noncovalently bound excited-state dimers: a perspective on current time-dependent density functional theory approaches applied to aromatic excimer models. RSC Adv 2022; 12:13014-13034. [PMID: 35520129 PMCID: PMC9062889 DOI: 10.1039/d2ra01703b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2022] [Accepted: 04/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Excimers are supramolecular systems whose binding strength is influenced by many factors that are ongoing challenges for computational methods, such as charge transfer, exciton coupling, and London dispersion interactions. Treating the various intricacies of excimer binding at an adequate level is expected to be particularly challenging for Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory (TD-DFT) methods. In addition to well-known limitations for some TD-DFT methods in the description of charge transfer or exciton coupling, the inherent London dispersion problem from ground-state DFT translates to TD-DFT. While techniques to appropriately treat dispersion in DFT are well-developed for electronic ground states, these dispersion corrections remain largely untested for excited states. Herein, we aim to shed light on current TD-DFT methods, including some of the newest developments. The binding of four model excimers is studied across nine density functionals with and without the application of additive dispersion corrections against a wave function reference of SCS-CC2/CBS(3,4) quality, which approximates select CCSDR(3)/CBS data adequately. To our knowledge, this is the first study that presents single-reference wave function dissociation curves at the complete basis set level for the assessed model systems. It is also the first time range-separated double-hybrid density functionals are applied to excimers. In fact, those functionals turn out to be the most promising for the description of excimer binding followed by global double hybrids. Range-separated and global hybrids-particularly with large fractions of Fock exchange-are outperformed by double hybrids and yield worse dissociation energies and inter-molecular equilibrium distances. The deviation between each assessed functional and reference increases with system size, most likely due to missing dispersion interactions. Additive dispersion corrections of the DFT-D3(BJ) and DFT-D4 types reduce the average errors for TD-DFT methods but do so inconsistently and therefore do not offer a black-box solution in their ground-state parametrised form. The lack of appropriate description of dispersion effects for TD-DFT methods is likely hindering the practical application of the herein identified more efficient methods. Dispersion corrections parametrised for excited states appear to be an important next step to improve the applicability of TD-DFT methods and we hope that our work assists with the future development of such corrections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy C Hancock
- School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne Parkville Australia +61-3-8344-6784
| | - Lars Goerigk
- School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne Parkville Australia +61-3-8344-6784
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