Folorunso AS, Mauger F, Hamer KA, Jayasinghe DD, Wahyutama IS, Ragains JR, Jones RR, DiMauro LF, Gaarde MB, Schafer KJ, Lopata K. Attochemistry Regulation of Charge Migration.
J Phys Chem A 2023;
127:1894-1900. [PMID:
36791088 PMCID:
PMC9986869 DOI:
10.1021/acs.jpca.3c00568]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/16/2023]
Abstract
Charge migration (CM) is a coherent attosecond process that involves the movement of localized holes across a molecule. To determine the relationship between a molecule's structure and the CM dynamics it exhibits, we perform systematic studies of para-functionalized bromobenzene molecules (X-C6H4-R) using real-time time-dependent density functional theory. We initiate valence-electron dynamics by emulating rapid strong-field ionization leading to a localized hole on the bromine atom. The resulting CM, which takes on the order of 1 fs, occurs via an X localized → C6H4 delocalized → R localized mechanism. Interestingly, the hole contrast on the acceptor functional group increases with increasing electron-donating strength. This trend is well-described by the Hammett σ value of the group, which is a commonly used metric for quantifying the effect of functionalization on the chemical reactivity of benzene derivatives. These results suggest that simple attochemistry principles and a density-based picture can be used to predict and understand CM.
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