Characteristic infrared intensities of carbonyl stretching vibrations

Influence of protonic acid on the structure and properties of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) in oxidation polymerization

Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) is widely used because of its excellent performance. We report the synthesis of two PEDOT:PSS dispersions. The two dispersions differ by the addition of additional protonic acid in the oxidative polymerization system. Although there are examples of the introduction of acids into the polymerization system, the effects of acid on the structure and properties of these materials, in particular their mechanisms of action, have not been elucidated. We describe the chemical structure and molecular weight of two PEDOT polymers using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV-vis-NIR spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations. The carrier concentration, carrier mobility, and surface morphology of the composites are characterized by UV-vis-NIR spectroscopy, electron spin resonance, Raman spectra, Hall effect measurements, and atomic force microscopy. The crystallinity of PEDOT:PSS was measured by X-ray diffraction patterns. We show that the addition of a proper amount of protonic acid to the oxidative polymerization system can effectively reduce the formation of the terminal carbonyl group of PEDOT chains, which is conducive to the growth of polymer chains, and further improve the carrier concentration, which leads to an improvement of conductivity. Our results highlight the optimization of the chemical structure of PEDOT in order to increase its molecular weight and ultimately its conductivity.

Electronic Distribution of SN2 IRC and TS Structures: Infrared Intensities of Imaginary Frequencies

A novel IRC-TS-CCTDP method to investigate transition states (TS) is proposed in which changes in the molecular geometry follow atomic displacements corresponding to the imaginary frequency normal coordinate. Electronic charge structure changes can be analyzed using the charge-charge-transfer-dipolar polarization (CCTDP) model. An application is presented for the gas-phase S_N2 reaction transition state structures for nine NuCX₃LG^- systems, with Nu and LG = H, F, Cl and X = H, F. Using quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) at the QCISD/aug-cc-pVTZ level, atomic charges and atomic dipoles were obtained and applied to calculate the CCTDP contributions to their imaginary normal mode intensities. The results show that the imaginary bands are exceptionally strong, ranging from 1217 to 16 086 km·mol^-1, much higher than the stretching intensities found in the methyl halides (that are all less than 100 km·mol^-1). For all systems, the CT contributions are responsible for 63% of the total dipole moment derivatives. The charge contributions are slightly higher for transition states where X = F. Dipolar polarization contributions are always small and only reflect the molecular orientation change when the nucleophile displaces the leaving group and, therefore, can be neglected. The same occurs for contributions from the X atoms. Only atoms aligned with the reaction axis Nu^--C-LG contribute to the total intensity. Almost all of the infrared intensities are determined by electron transfers from the nucleophile to carbon and subsequently from carbon to the leaving group. The mechanism of charge transfer revealed by the CCTDP model is consistent with the well-accepted reaction mechanism. Open-access codes for performing the IRC-TS-CCTDP analysis are described and provided for potential users in the Supporting Information.

Atomic charge and atomic dipole modeling of gas-phase infrared intensities of fundamental bands for out-of-plane CH and CF bending vibrations

Out-of-plane CH group bending vibrational bands have long been known to be more intense than those for CF groups in similar molecular environments. This contrasts with expectations derived from charge models for which equilibrium atomic charge displacements are considered dominant contributions to dipole moment change on vibration. For this reason, the Charge, Charge Transfer, Dipolar Polarization (CCTDP) model based on the Quantum Theory for Atoms in Molecules (QTAIM) has been applied to the ethylene, tetrafluoroethylene and difluoro- and dichloroethylene molecules. Atomic charges and atomic dipoles from QTAIM and infrared intensities were calculated at the M06-2X/aug-cc-pVTZ level. The CH out-of-plane bending vibrations with relatively high intensities between 48.0 and 82.1 km/mol are characterized by small atomic charge and large polarization contributions having the same sign resulting in large net dipole moment contributions. Large charge and polarization dipole moment derivative contributions with opposite signs cancel each other producing very small intensities between 0.3 and 12.7 km/mol for the CF bends. Intensity variations can be successfully modeled by only their carbon atomic contributions with smaller contributions from the terminal atoms. Both CH and CF bending vibrations have large polarization contributions. Their charge contributions are usually small except for carbon atoms bonded to two fluorine atoms. The terminal atoms as well as the carbons have charge and polarization contributions of opposite sign. Comparison to benzene and hexafluorobenzene reveals that changes in these molecules' electronic densities caused by the out-of-plane atomic displacements are characteristic for each bond. In conclusion, successful modeling of the ethylene intensities must include atomic dipole parameters.Models based only on charges are doomed to failure.

AC/DC Analysis: Broad and Comprehensive Approach to Analyze Infrared Intensities at the Atomic Level

We present a complete theoretical protocol to partition infrared intensities into terms owing to individual atoms by two different but related approaches: the atomic contributions (ACs) show how the entire molecular vibrational motion affects the electronic structure of a single atom and the total infrared intensity. On the other hand, the dynamic contributions (DCs) show how the displacement of a single atom alters the electronic structure of the entire molecule and the total intensity. The two analyses are complementary ways of partitioning the same total intensity and conserve most of the features of the total intensity itself. Combined, they are called the AC/DC analysis. These can be further partitioned following the CCTDP (or CCT) models according to the population analysis chosen by the researcher. The main conceptual features of the equations are highlighted, and representative numerical results are shown to support the interpretation of the equations. The results are invariant to rotation and translation and can readily be extended to molecules of any size, shape, or symmetry. Although the AC/DC analysis requires the choice of a charge model, all charge models that correctly reproduce the total molecular dipole moment can be used. A fully automated protocol managed by the Placzek program is made available, free of charge and with input examples.

Probing the robustness of the charge-charge transfer-dipolar polarization model and infrared intensities

The robustness of the QTAIM charge-charge transfer-dipolar polarization parameters for the CH, CF, and CCl stretching and bending distortions of the fluoro- and chloromethanes was determined comparing results calculated at three quantum levels, MP2/6-311G++(3d,3p), QCISD/cc-pVTZ, and QCISD/aug-cc-pVTZ. The correlation coefficients between the MP2/6-311G++G(d,p) and QCISD/cc-pVTZ results with those of QCISD/aug-cc-pVTZ intensities are excellent, 0.934 and 0.988, respectively, showing that the parameters converge with increasing quality of the quantum levels. In spite of numerical differences, the interpretation of the electronic structure changes occurring for these vibrations is the same for all three quantum levels. Accurate determination of charge transfer-counterpolarization effects is important for properly describing electron density changes for small molecular distortions.

Atomic polarizations necessary for coherent infrared intensity modeling with theoretical calculations

The inclusion of atomic polarizations for describing molecular electronic structure changes on vibration is shown to be necessary for coherent infrared intensity modeling. Atomic charges from the ChelpG partition scheme and atomic charges and dipoles from Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules (QTAIM) were employed within two different models to describe the stretching and bending vibrational intensities of the C-H, C-F, and C=O groups. The model employing the QTAIM parameters was the Charge-Charge Transfer and Dipolar Polarization model (QTAIM/CCTDP), and the model employing the ChelpG charges was the Equilibrium Charge-Charge Flux (ChelpG/ECCF). The QTAIM/CCTDP models result in characteristic proportions of the charge-charge transfer-dipolar polarization contributions even though their sums giving the total intensities do not discriminate between these vibrations. According to the QTAIM/CCTDP model, the carbon monoxide intensity has electronic structure changes similar to those of the carbonyl stretches whereas they resemble those of the CH stretches for the ChelpG/ECCF model.

Experimental determination of the absolute infrared absorption intensities of formyl radical HCO

Formyl radical HCO is an important reactive intermediate in combustion, atmospheric and extraterrestrial chemistry. Like in the case of other transients, the lack of knowledge of the absolute IR intensities limits the quantitative spectroscopic studies on this species. We report the first experimental determination of the absorption intensities for the fundamental vibrational bands of HCO. The measurements have been performed using matrix-isolation FTIR spectroscopy. Determination of the values was based on the repeated photodissociation and thermal recovery of the HCO radical using the known value of the absorption coefficient of CO. The experimentally determined values (93.2±6.0, 67.2±4.5, and 109.2±6.6kmmol^-1 for the ν₁, ν₂, and ν₃ modes, respectively) have been compared to the calculated IR intensities obtained by DFT and UCCSD(T) computations.