1
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Rap DB, Simon A, Steenbakkers K, Schrauwen JGM, Redlich B, Brünken S. Fingerprinting fragments of fragile interstellar molecules: dissociation chemistry of pyridine and benzonitrile revealed by infrared spectroscopy and theory. Faraday Discuss 2023; 245:221-244. [PMID: 37404008 PMCID: PMC10510038 DOI: 10.1039/d3fd00015j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2023] [Indexed: 07/06/2023]
Abstract
The cationic fragmentation products in the dissociative ionization of pyridine and benzonitrile have been studied by infrared action spectroscopy in a cryogenic ion trap instrument at the Free-Electron Lasers for Infrared eXperiments (FELIX) Laboratory. A comparison of the experimental vibrational fingerprints of the dominant cationic fragments with those from quantum chemical calculations revealed a diversity of molecular fragment structures. The loss of HCN/HNC is shown to be the major fragmentation channel for both pyridine and benzonitrile. Using the determined structures of the cationic fragments, potential energy surfaces have been calculated to elucidate the nature of the neutral fragment partner. In the fragmentation chemistry of pyridine, multiple non-cyclic structures are formed, whereas the fragmentation of benzonitrile dominantly leads to the formation of cyclic structures. Among the fragments are linear cyano-(di)acetylene˙+, methylene-cyclopropene˙+ and o- and m-benzyne˙+ structures, the latter possible building blocks in interstellar polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) formation chemistry. Molecular dynamics simulations using density functional based tight binding (MD/DFTB) were performed and used to benchmark and elucidate the different fragmentation pathways based on the experimentally determined structures. The implications of the difference in fragments observed for pyridine and benzonitrile are discussed in an astrochemical context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniël B Rap
- Institute for Molecules and Materials, FELIX Laboratory, Radboud University, Toernooiveld 7, 6525 ED Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
| | - Aude Simon
- Laboratoire de Chimie et Physique Quantiques (LCPQ), Fédération FeRMI, CNRS & Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse, France
| | - Kim Steenbakkers
- Institute for Molecules and Materials, FELIX Laboratory, Radboud University, Toernooiveld 7, 6525 ED Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
| | - Johanna G M Schrauwen
- Institute for Molecules and Materials, FELIX Laboratory, Radboud University, Toernooiveld 7, 6525 ED Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
| | - Britta Redlich
- Institute for Molecules and Materials, FELIX Laboratory, Radboud University, Toernooiveld 7, 6525 ED Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
| | - Sandra Brünken
- Institute for Molecules and Materials, FELIX Laboratory, Radboud University, Toernooiveld 7, 6525 ED Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
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2
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Jiang N, Melosso M, Alessandrini S, Bizzocchi L, Martin-Drumel MA, Pirali O, Puzzarini C. Insights into the molecular structure and infrared spectrum of the prebiotic species aminoacetonitrile. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2023; 25:4754-4763. [PMID: 36691972 DOI: 10.1039/d2cp05179f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Aminoacetonitrile is an interstellar molecule with a prominent prebiotic role, already detected in the chemically-rich molecular cloud Sagittarius B2(N) and postulated to be present in the atmosphere of the largest Saturn's moon, Titan. To further support its observation in such remote environments and laboratory experiments aimed at improving our understanding of interstellar chemistry, we report a thorough spectroscopic and structural characterization of aminoacetonitrile. Equilibrium geometry, fundamental bands as well as spectroscopic and molecular parameters have been accurately computed by exploiting a composite scheme rooted in the coupled-cluster theory that accounts for the extrapolation to the complete basis set limit and core-correlation effects. In addition, a semi-experimental approach that combines ground-state rotational constants for different isotopic species and calculated vibrational corrections has been employed for the structure determination. From the experimental side, we report the analysis of the three strongest fundamental bands of aminoacetonitrile observed between 500 and 1000 cm-1 in high-resolution infrared spectra. More generally, all computed band positions are in excellent agreement with the present and previous experiments. The only exception is the ν15 band, for which we provide a revision of the experimental assignment, now in good agreement with theory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ningjing Jiang
- Dipartimento di Chimica "Giacomo Ciamician", Università di Bologna, Via F. Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
| | - Mattia Melosso
- Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Largo San Marcellino 10, 80138 Naples, Italy.
| | - Silvia Alessandrini
- Dipartimento di Chimica "Giacomo Ciamician", Università di Bologna, Via F. Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy. .,Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, 56126 Pisa, Italy
| | - Luca Bizzocchi
- Dipartimento di Chimica "Giacomo Ciamician", Università di Bologna, Via F. Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
| | | | - Olivier Pirali
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d'Orsay, 91405 Orsay, France.,SOLEIL Synchrotron, AILES beamline, l'Orme des Merisiers, 91190 Saint-Aubin, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Cristina Puzzarini
- Dipartimento di Chimica "Giacomo Ciamician", Università di Bologna, Via F. Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy.
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3
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Yang Q, Bloino J. An Effective and Automated Processing of Resonances in Vibrational Perturbation Theory Applied to Spectroscopy. J Phys Chem A 2022; 126:9276-9302. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.2c06460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Qin Yang
- Faculty of Science, Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126Pisa, Italy
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, 16610Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Julien Bloino
- Faculty of Science, Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126Pisa, Italy
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4
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Ceselin G, Salta Z, Bloino J, Tasinato N, Barone V. Accurate Quantum Chemical Spectroscopic Characterization of Glycolic Acid: A Route Toward its Astrophysical Detection. J Phys Chem A 2022; 126:2373-2387. [PMID: 35384666 PMCID: PMC9036519 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.2c01419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
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The first step to
shed light on the abiotic synthesis of biochemical
building blocks, and their further evolution toward biological systems,
is the detection of the relevant species in astronomical environments,
including earthlike planets. To this end, the species of interest
need to be accurately characterized from structural, energetic, and
spectroscopic viewpoints. This task is particularly challenging when
dealing with flexible systems, whose spectroscopic signature is ruled
by the interplay of small- and large-amplitude motions (SAMs and LAMs,
respectively) and is further tuned by the conformational equilibrium.
In such instances, quantum chemical (QC) calculations represent an
invaluable tool for assisting the interpretation of laboratory measurements
or even observations. In the present work, the role of QC results
is illustrated with reference to glycolic acid (CH2OHCOOH),
a molecule involved in photosynthesis and plant respiration and a
precursor of oxalate in humans, which has been detected in the Murchison
meteorite but not yet in the interstellar medium or in planetary atmospheres.
In particular, the equilibrium structure of the lowest-energy conformer
is derived by employing the so-called semiexperimental approach. Then,
accurate yet cost-effective QC calculations relying on composite post-Hartree–Fock
schemes and hybrid coupled-cluster/density functional theory approaches
are used to predict the structural and ro-vibrational spectroscopic
properties of the different conformers within the framework of the
second-order vibrational perturbation theory. A purposely tailored
discrete variable representation anharmonic approach is used to treat
the LAMs related to internal rotations. The computed spectroscopic
data, particularly those in the infrared region, complement the available
experimental investigations, thus enhancing the possibility of an
astronomical detection of this molecule.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgia Ceselin
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126, Pisa, Italy
| | - Zoi Salta
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126, Pisa, Italy
| | - Julien Bloino
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126, Pisa, Italy
| | - Nicola Tasinato
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126, Pisa, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Barone
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126, Pisa, Italy
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5
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Ceselin G, Barone V, Tasinato N. Accurate Biomolecular Structures by the Nano-LEGO Approach: Pick the Bricks and Build Your Geometry. J Chem Theory Comput 2021; 17:7290-7311. [PMID: 34666488 PMCID: PMC8582257 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.1c00788] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
![]()
The determination
of accurate equilibrium molecular structures
plays a fundamental role for understanding many physical–chemical
properties of molecules, ranging from the precise evaluation of the
electronic structure to the analysis of the role played by dynamical
and environmental effects in tuning their overall behavior. For small
semi-rigid systems in the gas phase, state-of-the-art quantum chemical
computations rival the most sophisticated experimental (from, for
example, high-resolution spectroscopy) results. For larger molecules,
more effective computational approaches must be devised. To this end,
we have further enlarged the compilation of available semi-experimental
(SE) equilibrium structures, now covering the most important fragments
containing H, B, C, N, O, F, P, S, and Cl atoms collected in the new
SE100 database. Next, comparison with geometries optimized by methods
rooted in the density functional theory showed that the already remarkable
results delivered by PW6B95 and, especially, rev-DSDPBEP86 functionals
can be further improved by a linear regression (LR) approach. Use
of template fragments (taken from the SE100 library) together with
LR estimates for the missing interfragment parameters paves the route
toward accurate structures of large molecules, as witnessed by the
very small deviations between computed and experimental rotational
constants. The whole approach has been implemented in a user-friendly
tool, termed nano-LEGO, and applied to a number of demanding case
studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgia Ceselin
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza Dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Barone
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza Dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
| | - Nicola Tasinato
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza Dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
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6
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Barone V, Ceselin G, Fusè M, Tasinato N. Accuracy Meets Interpretability for Computational Spectroscopy by Means of Hybrid and Double-Hybrid Functionals. Front Chem 2020; 8:584203. [PMID: 33195078 PMCID: PMC7645164 DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2020.584203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2020] [Accepted: 08/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Accuracy and interpretability are often seen as the devil and holy grail in computational spectroscopy and their reconciliation remains a primary research goal. In the last few decades, density functional theory has revolutionized the situation, paving the way to reliable yet effective models for medium size molecules, which could also be profitably used by non-specialists. In this contribution we will compare the results of some widely used hybrid and double hybrid functionals with the aim of defining the most suitable recipe for all the spectroscopic parameters of interest in rotational and vibrational spectroscopy, going beyond the rigid rotor/harmonic oscillator model. We will show that last-generation hybrid and double hybrid functionals in conjunction with partially augmented double- and triple-zeta basis sets can offer, in the framework of second order vibrational perturbation theory, a general, robust, and user-friendly tool with unprecedented accuracy for medium-size semi-rigid molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vincenzo Barone
- SMART Laboratory, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Giorgia Ceselin
- SMART Laboratory, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Marco Fusè
- SMART Laboratory, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Nicola Tasinato
- SMART Laboratory, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
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7
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Cerqueira HBA, Santos JC, Fantuzzi F, Ribeiro FDA, Rocco MLM, Oliveira RR, Rocha AB. Structure, Stability, and Spectroscopic Properties of Small Acetonitrile Cation Clusters. J Phys Chem A 2020; 124:6845-6855. [PMID: 32702984 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.0c03529] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Ionization and fragmentation pathways induced by ionizing agents are key to understanding the formation of complex molecules in astrophysical environments. Acetonitrile (CH3CN), the simplest organic nitrile, is an important molecule present in the interstellar medium. In this work, DFT and MP2 calculations were performed in order to obtain the low energy structures of the most relevant cations formed from electron-stimulated ion desorption of CH3CN ices. Selected reaction pathways and spectroscopic properties were also calculated. Our results indicate that the most stable acetonitrile cation structure is CH2CNH+ and that hydrogenation can occur successively without isomerization steps until its complete saturation. Moreover, the stability of distinct cluster families formed from the interaction of acetonitrile with small fragments, such as CHn+, C2Hn+, and CHnCNH+, is discussed in terms of their respective binding energies. Some of these molecular clusters are stabilized by hydrogen bonds, leading to species whose infrared features are characterized by a strong redshift of the N-H stretching mode. Finally, the rotational spectra of CH3CN and protonated acetonitrile, CH3CNH+, were simulated using distinct computational protocols based on DFT, MP2, and CCSD(T) considering centrifugal distortion, vibrational-rotational coupling, and vibrational anharmonicity corrections. By adopting an empirical scaling procedure for calculating spectroscopic parameters, we were able to estimate the rotational frequencies of CH3CNH+ with an expected average error below 1 MHz for J values up to 10.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henrique B A Cerqueira
- Instituto de Quı́mica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941-909, Brazil
| | - Julia C Santos
- Instituto de Quı́mica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941-909, Brazil
| | - Felipe Fantuzzi
- Institut für Anorganische Chemie, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany.,Institut für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Emil-Fischer-Straße 42, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
| | | | - Maria Luiza M Rocco
- Instituto de Quı́mica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941-909, Brazil
| | - Ricardo R Oliveira
- Instituto de Quı́mica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941-909, Brazil
| | - Alexandre B Rocha
- Instituto de Quı́mica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941-909, Brazil
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8
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Puzzarini C, Spada L, Alessandrini S, Barone V. The challenge of non-covalent interactions: theory meets experiment for reconciling accuracy and interpretation. JOURNAL OF PHYSICS. CONDENSED MATTER : AN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS JOURNAL 2020; 32:343002. [PMID: 32203942 DOI: 10.1088/1361-648x/ab8253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2019] [Accepted: 03/23/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
In the past decade, many gas-phase spectroscopic investigations have focused on the understanding of the nature of weak interactions in model systems. Despite the fact that non-covalent interactions play a key role in several biological and technological processes, their characterization and interpretation are still far from being satisfactory. In this connection, integrated experimental and computational investigations can play an invaluable role. Indeed, a number of different issues relevant to unraveling the properties of bulk or solvated systems can be addressed from experimental investigations on molecular complexes. Focusing on the interaction of biological model systems with solvent molecules (e.g., water), since the hydration of the biomolecules controls their structure and mechanism of action, the study of the molecular properties of hydrated systems containing a limited number of water molecules (microsolvation) is the basis for understanding the solvation process and how structure and reactivity vary from gas phase to solution. Although hydrogen bonding is probably the most widespread interaction in nature, other emerging classes, such as halogen, chalcogen and pnicogen interactions, have attracted much attention because of the role they play in different fields. Their understanding requires, first of all, the characterization of the directionality, strength, and nature of such interactions as well as a comprehensive analysis of their competition with other non-covalent bonds. In this review, it is shown how state-of-the-art quantum-chemical computations combined with rotational spectroscopy allow for fully characterizing intermolecular interactions taking place in molecular complexes from both structural and energetic points of view. The transition from bi-molecular complex to microsolvation and then to condensed phase is shortly addressed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Puzzarini
- Dipartimento di Chimica 'Giacomo Ciamician', Via F. Selmi 2, I-40126 Bologna, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Spada
- Dipartimento di Chimica 'Giacomo Ciamician', Via F. Selmi 2, I-40126 Bologna, Italy
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
| | - Silvia Alessandrini
- Dipartimento di Chimica 'Giacomo Ciamician', Via F. Selmi 2, I-40126 Bologna, Italy
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Barone
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
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9
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Boussessi R, Tasinato N, Pietropolli Charmet A, Stoppa P, Barone V. Sextic centrifugal distortion constants: interplay of density functional and basis set for accurate yet feasible computations. Mol Phys 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/00268976.2020.1734678] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Paolo Stoppa
- Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Dipartimento di Scienze Molecolari e Nanosistemi, Mestre Venezia, Italy
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10
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A never-ending story in the sky: The secrets of chemical evolution. Phys Life Rev 2020; 32:59-94. [DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2019.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2019] [Revised: 06/26/2019] [Accepted: 07/02/2019] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
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11
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Ali A. Extraterrestrial abiological synthesis of organics in space and its significance to chemical evolution and the origin of life: Comment on "A never-ending story in the sky: The secrets of chemical evolution" by Cristina Puzzarini and Vincenzo Barone. Phys Life Rev 2019; 32:107-110. [PMID: 31473119 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2019.08.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2019] [Accepted: 08/13/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ashraf Ali
- Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
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12
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Puzzarini C, Bloino J, Tasinato N, Barone V. Accuracy and Interpretability: The Devil and the Holy Grail. New Routes across Old Boundaries in Computational Spectroscopy. Chem Rev 2019; 119:8131-8191. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.9b00007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 114] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Puzzarini
- Dipartimento di Chimica “Giacomo Ciamician”, Università di Bologna, Via F. Selmi 2, I-40126 Bologna, Italy
| | - Julien Bloino
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
| | - Nicola Tasinato
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Barone
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, I-56126 Pisa, Italy
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