Symmetries of hydrogen-bonded enol forms of diketones as determined by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Chemical bond reorganization in intramolecular proton transfer revealed by ultrafast X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Time-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (TR-XPS) is used in a simulation study to monitor the excited state intramolecular proton transfer between oxygen and nitrogen atoms in 2-(iminomethyl)phenol. Real-time monitoring of the chemical bond breaking and forming processes is obtained through the time evolution of excited-state chemical shifts. By employing individual atomic probes of the proton donor and acceptor atoms, we predict distinct signals with opposite chemical shifts of the donor and acceptor groups during proton transfer. Details of the ultrafast bond breaking and forming dynamics are revealed by extending the classical electron spectroscopy chemical analysis to real time. Through a comparison with simulated time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy at the valence level, the distinct advantage of TR-XPS is demonstrated thanks to its atom specificity.

Studying the hydrogen atom position in the strong-short intermolecular hydrogen bond of pure and 5-substituted 9-hydroxyphenalenones by invariom refinement and ONIOM cluster computations

The solid-state structures of three H-bonded enol forms of 5-substituted 9-hydroxyphenalenones were investigated to accurately determine the H atom positions of the intramolecular hydrogen bond. For this purpose, single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SC-XRD) data were evaluated by invariom-model refinement. In addition, QM/MM computations of central molecules in their crystal environment show that results of an earlier standard independent atom model refinement, which pointed to the presence of a resonance-assisted hydrogen bond in unsubstituted 9-hydroxyphenalone, are misleading: in all our three and the earlier solid-state structures the lowest energy form is that of an asymmetric hydrogen bond (CS form). Apparent differences of results from SC-XRD and other analytical methods are explained.

Probing competing relaxation pathways in malonaldehyde with transient X-ray absorption spectroscopy

Excited-state intramolecular hydrogen transfer (ESIHT) is a fundamental reaction relevant to chemistry and biology. Malonaldehyde is the simplest example of ESIHT, yet only little is known experimentally about its excited-state dynamics. Several competing relaxation pathways have been proposed, including internal conversion mediated by ESIHT and C[double bond, length as m-dash]C torsional motion as well as intersystem crossing. We perform an in silico transient X-ray absorption spectroscopy (TRXAS) experiment at the oxygen K-edge to investigate its potential to monitor the proposed ultrafast decay pathways in malonaldehyde upon photoexcitation to its bright S₂(ππ*) state. We employ both restricted active space perturbation theory and algebraic-diagrammatic construction for the polarization propagator along interpolated reaction coordinates as well as representative trajectories from ab initio multiple spawning simulations to compute the TRXAS signals from the lowest valence states. Our study suggests that oxygen K-edge TRXAS can distinctly fingerprint the passage through the H-transfer intersection and the concomitant population transfer to the S₁(nπ*) state. Potential intersystem crossing to T₁(ππ*) is detectable from reappearance of the double pre-edge signature and reversed intensities. Moreover, the torsional deactivation pathway induces transient charge redistribution from the enol side towards the central C-atom and manifests itself as substantial shifts of the pre-edge features. Given the continuous advances in X-ray light sources, our study proposes an experimental route to disentangle ultrafast excited-state decay channels in this prototypical ESIHT system and provides a pathway-specific mapping of the TRXAS signal to facilitate the interpretation of future experiments.

Controlled intramolecular H-transfer in malonaldehyde in the electronic ground state mediated through the conical intersection of 1nπ* and 1ππ* excited electronic states

We report photo-isomerization of malonaldehyde in its electronic ground state (S0), mediated by coupled 1nπ*(S1)-1ππ*(S2) excited electronic states, accomplished with the aid of optimally designed ultraviolet (UV)-laser pulses. In particular, control of H-transfer from a configuration predominantly located in the left well (say, reactant) to that in the right well (say, product) of the electronic ground S0 potential energy surface is achieved by a pump-dump mechanism including the nonadiabatic interactions between the excited S1 and S2 states. An interplay between the nonadiabatic coupling due to the conical intersection of the S1 and S2 states and the laser-molecule interaction is found to be imprinted in the time-dependent electronic population. The latter is also examined by employing optimal fields of varying intensities and frequencies of the UV laser pulses. For the purpose of the present study, we constructed a three-state and two-mode coupled diabatic Hamiltonian with the help of adiabatic electronic energies and transition dipole moments calculated by ab initio quantum chemistry methods. The electronic diabatic model is developed using the calculated adiabatic energies of the two excited electronic states (S1 and S2) in order to carry out the dynamics study. The optimal fields for achieving the controlled isomerization are designed within the framework of optimal control theory employing the optimization technique of a multitarget functional using the genetic algorithm. The laser-driven dynamics of the system is treated by numerically solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation within the dipole approximation. A time-averaged yield of the target product of ∼40% is achieved in the present treatment of dynamics with optimal laser pulses.

Spectral Signatures of Proton-Transfer Dynamics at the Cusp of Low-Barrier Hydrogen Bonding

Despite their importance in diverse chemical and biochemical processes, low-barrier hydrogen bonds remain elusive targets to classify and interpret spectroscopically. Here the correlated nature of hydrogen bonding and proton transfer in the low-barrier regime has been probed for the ground and excited electronic states of 6-hydroxy-2-formylfulvene by acquiring jet-cooled fluorescence spectra of the parent and monodeuterated isotopologs. While excited-state profiles reveal regular vibronic patterns devoid of obvious dynamical signatures, their ground-state counterparts display a radically altered energy landscape characterized by spectral bifurcations comparable in magnitude to typical vibrational spacings (>100 cm^-1). Quantitative analyses yield unusual deuterium kinetic isotope effects that straddle limiting values attributed to above-barrier vibration and below-barrier tunneling of the proton adjoining donor/acceptor sites. Our findings provide compelling experimental evidence for ultrafast hydron-migration events commensurate with the onset of low-barrier hydrogen bonding and afford a trenchant glimpse of molecular phenomena taking place at the "tipping point" between disparate dynamical regimes.

Quantum Effects for a Proton in a Low-Barrier, Double-Well Potential: Core Level Photoemission Spectroscopy of Acetylacetone

We have performed core level photoemission spectroscopy of gaseous acetylacetone, its fully deuterated form, and two derivatives, benzoylacetone and dibenzoylmethane. These molecules show intramolecular hydrogen bonds, with a proton located in a double-well potential, whose barrier height is different for the three compounds. This has allowed us to examine the effect of the double-well potential on photoemission spectra. Two distinct O 1s core hole peaks are observed, previously assigned to two chemical states of oxygen. We provide an alternative assignment of the double-peak structure of O 1s spectra by taking full account of the extended nature of the wave function associated with the nuclear motion of the proton, the shape of the ground and final state potentials in which the proton is located, and the nonzero temperature of the samples. The peaks are explained in terms of an unusual Franck-Condon factor distribution.

Probing keto–enol tautomerism using photoelectron spectroscopy

We theoretically investigate the mechanism of tautomerism in the gas-phase acetylacetone molecule.

Methodology for measuring malonaldehyde as a product of lipid peroxidation in muscle tissues: A review

The purpose of this review is to summarize concerns regarding the formation and quantification of malonaldehyde as a product of lipid peroxidation in muscle tissues. The spectrophotometric thiobarbituric acid (TBA) method is the most frequently used test for malonaldehyde quantification, especially in muscle tissues, as a marker of lipid peroxidation. However, the TBA method has been criticized as lacking specificity and adequate sensitivity towards malonaldehyde. High performance liquid and gas chromatographic methods offer better specificity and sensitivity for malonaldehyde detection. The TBA method, however, may be preferred over the chromatographic method because of its simplicity, especially when a large number of samples need to be analyzed in a short period of time on a daily basis. In addition, the TBA method has been correlated with other objective and subjective methods of measuring lipid peroxidation and its specificity can be improved with the use of a solid phase extraction C(18) cartridge.

Excited-state dynamics of bis-dehydroxycurcumin carboxylic acid, a water-soluble derivative of the photosensitizer curcumin

Bis-dehydroxycurcumin carboxylic acid (K2A23) is a synthetic curcuminoid designed to exhibit enhanced water solubility and photosensitizing potential with respect to natural curcumin. In this work, the tendency of the compound to form intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonds in the ground state is studied by UV-visible absorption and by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The excited-state dynamics of the drug are probed in different environments by means of time-correlated single-photon counting measurements and related to its hydrogen bonding affinity in the excited state.

Monitoring Intramolecular Proton Transfer with Two-Dimensional Infrared Spectroscopy: A Computational Prediction

Proton transfer processes are ubiquitous and play a vital role in a broad range of chemical and biochemical phenomena. The ability of two-dimensional infrared (2D IR) spectroscopy with a carbon-deuterium (C-D) reporter to monitor the kinetics of proton transfer in the model compound malonaldehyde was demonstrated computationally. One of the two carbonyl/enol carbon atoms in malonaldehyde was labeled with a C-D bond. The C-D stretch vibrational frequency provides ∼150 cm(-1) of sensitivity to the two tautomers of malonaldehyde. Mixed quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics simulations employing the self-consistent-charge density functional tight binding (SCC-DFTB) method were used to compute 2D IR line shapes for the C-D stretch of labeled malonaldehyde in aqueous solution. The 2D IR spectra reveal cross peaks from the chemical exchange of the proton. The kinetics for the growth of the cross-peaks (and the decay of the diagonal peaks) precisely match the proton transfer rate observed in the SCC-DFTB simulations.

A generalized reactive force field for nonlinear hydrogen bonds: hydrogen dynamics and transfer in malonaldehyde

Using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, the spectroscopy and dynamics of malonaldehyde is investigated. To this end, the recently proposed molecular mechanics with proton transfer (MMPT) potential is generalized to nonlinear hydrogen bonds. The calculated properties for malonaldehyde in both gas and condensed phases, including equilibrium geometries, infrared spectra, tunneling splittings, and hydrogen transfer rates, compare well with previous experimental and computational works. In particular, by using a harmonic bath averaged (HBA) Hamiltonian, which is based on a reaction path Hamiltonian, it is possible to estimate the tunneling splitting in an efficient manner. It is found that a zero point corrected barrier of 6.7 kcal/mol and effective masses of 1.234 (i.e., 23.4% larger than the mass of a physical H-atom) and 1.117 (for the physical D-atom) are consistent with the measured splittings of 21.6 and 2.9 cm(-1), respectively. The HBA Hamiltonian also yields a pair of hydrogen transfer fundamentals at 1573 and 1267 cm(-1), similar to results obtained with a reaction surface Hamiltonian on a MP2/6-31G(**) potential energy surface. This amounts to a substantial redshift of more than 1000 cm(-1) which can be rationalized by comparison with weakly (HCO(+): rare gas) and strongly (H(2)O-H(+)-OH(2)) proton-bound systems. Hydrogen transfer rates in vacuum and water were determined from the validated MMPT potential and it is found that the solvent enhances the rate by a factor of 5 at 300 K. The rates of 2.4/ns and 10/ns are commensurate with previous density functional tight binding ab initio MD studies.

A reaction surface Hamiltonian study of malonaldehyde

We report calculations using a reaction surface Hamiltonian for which the vibrations of a molecule are represented by 3N-8 normal coordinates, Q, and two large amplitude motions, s(1) and s(2). The exact form of the kinetic energy operator is derived in these coordinates. The potential surface is first represented as a quadratic in Q, the coefficients of which depend upon the values of s(1),s(2) and then extended to include up to Q(6) diagonal anharmonic terms. The vibrational energy levels are evaluated by solving the variational secular equations, using a basis of products of Hermite polynomials and appropriate functions of s(1),s(2). Our selected example is malonaldehyde (N=9) and we choose as surface parameters two OH distances of the migrating H in the internal hydrogen transfer. The reaction surface Hamiltonian is ideally suited to the study of the kind of tunneling dynamics present in malonaldehyde. Our results are in good agreement with previous calculations of the zero point tunneling splitting and in general agreement with observed data. Interpretation of our two-dimensional reaction surface states suggests that the OH stretching fundamental is incorrectly assigned in the infrared spectrum. This mode appears at a much lower frequency in our calculations due to substantial transition state character.

Symmetry of O-H-O and N-H-N hydrogen bonds in 6-hydroxy-2-formylfulvene and 6-aminofulvene-2-aldimines

The symmetry of the hydrogen bonds in 6-hydroxy-2-formylfulvene and two N,N'-diaryl-6-aminofulvene-2-aldimines is probed by the NMR technique of isotopic perturbation. Observed deuterium-induced 13C NMR isotope shifts at several positions can be attributed to a combination of an intrinsic shift and the perturbation of a tautomeric equilibrium. The most dramatic are at the aldehydic or aldiminic carbon signals, where the observed isotope shift for the unlabeled carbon is +376 or +223 ppb. This large downfield shift is contrary to the small upfield shift expected for a four-bond intrinsic shift and can be attributed only to a perturbation shift. Therefore these intramolecular hydrogen bonds are asymmetric, the proton resides in a double-minimum potential surface, and each molecule exists as a pair of rapidly interconverting tautomers, regardless of solvent. The symmetry of the hydrogen bond is not governed only by the O-O or N-N distance. It is proposed that symmetric hydrogen bonds can be observed in crystalline phases but not as yet in solution because the disorder of the solvation environment induces an asymmetry of the hydrogen bond, whereas a crystal can guarantee a symmetric environment. These results provide no insight into the source of the stabilization attributed to low-barrier hydrogen bonds if they lack the special feature of symmetry.