Multidimensional infrared spectroscopy of water. II. Hydrogen bond switching dynamics

Unified picture of vibrational relaxation of OH stretch at the air/water interface

The elucidation of the energy dissipation process is crucial for understanding various phenomena occurring in nature. Yet, the vibrational relaxation and its timescale at the water interface, where the hydrogen-bonding network is truncated, are not well understood and are still under debate. In the present study, we focus on the OH stretch of interfacial water at the air/water interface and investigate its vibrational relaxation by femtosecond time-resolved, heterodyne-detected vibrational sum-frequency generation (TR-HD-VSFG) spectroscopy. The temporal change of the vibrationally excited hydrogen-bonded (HB) OH stretch band (ν=1→2 transition) is measured, enabling us to determine reliable vibrational relaxation (T1) time. The T1 times obtained with direct excitations of HB OH stretch are 0.2-0.4 ps, which are similar to the T1 time in bulk water and do not noticeably change with the excitation frequency. It suggests that vibrational relaxation of the interfacial HB OH proceeds predominantly with the intramolecular relaxation mechanism as in the case of bulk water. The delayed rise and following decay of the excited-state HB OH band are observed with excitation of free OH stretch, indicating conversion from excited free OH to excited HB OH (~0.9 ps) followed by relaxation to low-frequency vibrations (~0.3 ps). This study provides a complete set of the T1 time of the interfacial OH stretch and presents a unified picture of its vibrational relaxation at the air/water interface.

Theoretical Two Dimensional Infrared Spectroscopy of Aqueous Solutions of tert-Butyl Alcohol: Variation of the Dynamics of Spectral Diffusion along the Percolation Transition

Binary mixtures of water and tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) are known to exhibit the so-called percolation transition where small clusters of TBA molecules span into large aggregates beyond a threshold concentration of the alcohol. In the present study, we have investigated the linear and two-dimensional infrared spectral features of aqueous solutions of TBA for varying concentration of the alcohol along the percolation transition. The percolation transition is characterized through calculations of intermolecular radial distribution functions and average size of the largest cluster of TBA molecules. It is found that, with variation of alcohol concentration, the radial distribution functions of the central carbon atoms of TBA molecules show a nonmonotonic change in the height of the first peak and also the size of the largest cluster of TBA molecules show a jump in the increase of its size for TBA mole fraction between 0.04 and 0.06 corresponding to a transition from smaller clusters to larger spanning aggregates. However, it is found that the linear infrared spectrum of water does not exhibit any noticeable changes on variation of TBA concentration along the percolation transition. Subsequently, two-dimensional infrared (2DIR) spectra and vibrational frequency time correlation function of water are calculated for all the TBA-water solutions considered in this study. The spectral diffusion of water calculated from 2DIR is found to slow down with increase of the TBA concentration. The time scales of spectral diffusion of water, as characterized by the relaxation of frequency time correlation function, 2DIR metric of central line slope, and also the hydrogen bond time correlation functions, are found to exhibit a noticeable jump along the percolation transition. The hydrophilic group of TBA is found to retard the water dynamics more effectively than the hydrophobic groups. Also, the jump in the dynamical slowdown along the percolation transition is found to be more significant for water molecules at the hydrophilic sites.

Temperature Dependence of Non-Condon Effects in Two-Dimensional Vibrational Spectroscopy of Water

Non-Condon effects in vibrational spectroscopy refers to the dependence of a molecule's vibrational transition dipole and polarizability on the coordinates of the surrounding environment. Earlier studies have shown that such effects can be pronounced for hydrogen-bonded systems like liquid water. Here, we present a theoretical study of two-dimensional vibrational spectroscopy under the non-Condon and Condon approximations at varying temperatures. We have performed calculations of both two-dimensional infrared and two-dimensional vibrational Raman spectra to gain insights into the temperature dependence of non-Condon effects in nonlinear vibrational spectroscopy. The two-dimensional spectra are calculated for the OH vibration of interest in the isotopic dilution limit where the coupling between the oscillators is ignored. Generally, both the infrared and Raman line shapes undergo red shifts with decrease in temperature due to strengthening of hydrogen bonds and decrease in the fraction of OH modes with weaker or no hydrogen bonds. The infrared line shape is further red-shifted under the non-Condon effects at a given temperature, while the Raman line shape does not show any such red shift due to non-Condon effects. The spectral dynamics becomes slower on decrease of temperature due to slower hydrogen bond relaxation and, for a given temperature, the spectral diffusion occurs at a faster rate upon inclusion of non-Condon effects. The time scales of spectral diffusion extracted from different metrics agree well with each other and also with experiments. The changes in the spectrum due to non-Condon effects are found to be more significant at lower temperatures.

The collective burst mechanism of angular jumps in liquid water

Understanding the microscopic origins of collective reorientational motions in aqueous systems requires techniques that allow us to reach beyond our chemical imagination. Herein, we elucidate a mechanism using a protocol that automatically detects abrupt motions in reorientational dynamics, showing that large angular jumps in liquid water involve highly cooperative orchestrated motions. Our automatized detection of angular fluctuations, unravels a heterogeneity in the type of angular jumps occurring concertedly in the system. We show that large orientational motions require a highly collective dynamical process involving correlated motion of many water molecules in the hydrogen-bond network that form spatially connected clusters going beyond the local angular jump mechanism. This phenomenon is rooted in the collective fluctuations of the network topology which results in the creation of defects in waves on the THz timescale. The mechanism we propose involves a cascade of hydrogen-bond fluctuations underlying angular jumps and provides new insights into the current localized picture of angular jumps, and its wide use in the interpretations of numerous spectroscopies as well in reorientational dynamics of water near biological and inorganic systems. The role of finite size effects, as well as of the chosen water model, on the collective reorientation is also elucidated.

Investigation of protective effect of ethanol on the natural structure of protein with infrared spectroscopy

The stability of biological drugs with protein as an active substance depends heavily on the retention of natural protein structure during freeze-drying. Stabilizers have become important substances in the process of protein freeze-drying. In order to further understand the mechanism of the interaction between protein and stabilizers, human serum albumin (HSA) and simple hydroxyl compound ethanol were used as models. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy combined with chemometrics was implemented to investigate the changes of secondary structure and hydration of HSA when different concentrations of ethanol were considered as interference. Through the analysis of the protein secondary structure and hydrated layer, we found that the addition of ethanol-d6 increased the α-helix of HSA and reduced the disordered structure. The hydrogen bond structure around HSA was enhanced and intermolecular aggregation was reduced through the action of the water molecules. The hypothesis was verified by circular dichroism (CD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation by adding different concentrations of ethanol-d6. It was found that a small amount of ethanol could protect the native conformation of HSA. In conclusion, this study revealed the mechanism of ethanol as a protein protector, provided a new idea for protein purification process and a theoretical basis for biomolecular interaction.

Least-Squares Fitting of Multidimensional Spectra to Kubo Line-Shape Models

We report a comprehensive study of the efficacy of least-squares fitting of multidimensional spectra to generalized Kubo line-shape models and introduce a novel least-squares fitting metric, termed the scale invariant gradient norm (SIGN), that enables a highly reliable and versatile algorithm. The precision of dephasing parameters is between 8× and 50× better for nonlinear model fitting compared to that for the centerline-slope (CLS) method, which effectively increases data acquisition efficiency by 1–2 orders of magnitude. Whereas the CLS method requires sequential fitting of both the nonlinear and linear spectra, our model fitting algorithm only requires nonlinear spectra but accurately predicts the linear spectrum. We show an experimental example in which the CLS time constants differ by 60% for independent measurements of the same system, while the Kubo time constants differ by only 10% for model fitting. This suggests that model fitting is a far more robust method of measuring spectral diffusion than the CLS method, which is more susceptible to structured residual signals that are not removable by pure solvent subtraction. Statistical analysis of the CLS method reveals a fundamental oversight in accounting for the propagation of uncertainty by Kubo time constants in the process of fitting to the linear absorption spectrum. A standalone desktop app and source code for the least-squares fitting algorithm are freely available, with example line-shape models and data. We have written the MATLAB source code in a generic framework where users may supply custom line-shape models. Using this application, a standard desktop fits a 12-parameter generalized Kubo model to a 10⁶ data-point spectrum in a few minutes.

Lifetime-Associated Two-Dimensional Infrared Spectroscopy Reveals the Hydrogen-Bond Structure of Supercooled Water in Soft Confinement

We demonstrate a method to address the problem of spectral overlap in multidimensional vibrational spectroscopy and use it to investigate supercooled aqueous sorbitol solutions. The absence of crystallization in these solutions has been attributed to "soft" confinement of water in subnanometer voids in the sorbitol matrix, but the details of the hydrogen-bond structure are still largely unknown. 2D-IR spectroscopy of the OH-stretch mode is an excellent tool to investigate hydrogen bonding, but in this case it seems difficult because of the overlapping water and sorbitol contributions to the 2D-IR spectrum. Using the difference in OH-stretch lifetimes of water and sorbitol we can cleanly separate these contributions. Surprisingly, the separated 2D-IR spectra show that the hydrogen-bond disorder of soft-confined water is independent of temperature and decoupled from its orientational order. We believe the approach we use to separate overlapping 2D-IR spectra will enhance the applicability of 2D-IR spectroscopy to study multicomponent systems.

Simulations of the IR and Raman spectra of water confined in amorphous silica slit pores

Water in nano-scale confining environments is a key element in many biological, material, and geological systems. The structure and dynamics of the liquid can be dramatically modified under these conditions. Probing these changes can be challenging, but vibrational spectroscopy has emerged as a powerful tool for investigating their behavior. A critical, evolving component of this approach is a detailed understanding of the connection between spectroscopic features and molecular-level details. In this paper, this issue is addressed by using molecular dynamics simulations to simulate the linear infrared (IR) and Raman spectra for isotopically dilute HOD in D₂O confined in hydroxylated amorphous silica slit pores. The effect of slit-pore width and hydroxyl density on the silica surface on the vibrational spectra is also investigated. The primary effect of confinement is a blueshift in the frequency of OH groups donating a hydrogen bond to the silica surface. This appears as a slight shift in the total (measurable) spectra but is clearly seen in the distance-based IR and Raman spectra. Analysis indicates that these changes upon confinement are associated with the weaker hydrogen-bond accepting properties of silica oxygens compared to water molecules.

Decoding the 2D IR spectrum of the aqueous proton with high-level VSCF/VCI calculations

The aqueous proton is a common and long-studied species in chemistry, yet there is currently intense interest devoted to understanding its hydration structure and transport dynamics. Typically described in terms of two limiting structures observed in gas-phase clusters, the Zundel H₅O₂ ⁺ and Eigen H₉O₄ ⁺ ions, the aqueous structure is less clear due to the heterogeneity of hydrogen bonding environments and room-temperature structural fluctuations in water. The linear infrared (IR) spectrum, which reports on structural configurations, is challenging to interpret because it appears as a continuum of absorption, and the underlying vibrational modes are strongly anharmonically coupled to each other. Recent two-dimensional IR (2D IR) experiments presented strong evidence for asymmetric Zundel-like motifs in solution, but true structure-spectrum correlations are missing and complicated by the anharmonicity of the system. In this study, we employ high-level vibrational self-consistent field/virtual state configuration interaction calculations to demonstrate that the 2D IR spectrum reports on a broad distribution of geometric configurations of the aqueous proton. We find that the diagonal 2D IR spectrum around 1200 cm^-1 is dominated by the proton stretch vibrations of Zundel-like and intermediate geometries, broadened by the heterogeneity of aqueous configurations. There is a wide distribution of multidimensional potential shapes for the proton stretching vibration with varying degrees of potential asymmetry and confinement. Finally, we find specific cross peak patterns due to aqueous Zundel-like species. These studies provide clarity on highly debated spectral assignments and stringent spectroscopic benchmarks for future simulations.

Vibrational echo spectroscopy of aqueous sodium bromide solutions from first principles simulations

A theoretical study of the time-dependent vibrational echo spectroscopy of sodium bromide solutions in deuterated water at two different concentrations of 0.5 and 5.0 M and at temperatures of 300 and 350 K is presented using the method of ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. The instantaneous fluctuations in frequencies of local OD stretch modes are calculated using time-series analysis of the simulated trajectories. The third-order polarization and intensities of three pulse photon-echo are calculated from ab initio simulations. The timescales of vibrational spectral diffusion are determined from the frequency time correlation functions (FTCF) and short-time slope of three pulse photon echo (S3PE) calculated within the second-order cumulant and Condon approximations. It is found that under ambient conditions, the rate of vibrational spectral diffusion becomes slower with increase in ionic concentration. Decay of S3PE calculated for different systems give timescales, which are in close agreement with those of FTCF and also with the results of experimental time-dependent vibrational spectroscopic experiments. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Interfacial H-Bond Dynamics in Reverse Micelles: The Role of Surfactant Heterogeneity

Characterizing the hydrogen bond structure and dynamics at surfactant interfaces is essential for understanding how microscopic interactions translate to bulk microemulsion properties. Heterogeneous blends containing tens or hundreds of surfactants are common in the industry, but the most fundamental studies have been carried out on micelles composed of a single surfactant species. Therefore, the effect of surfactant heterogeneity on the interfacial structure and dynamics remains poorly understood. Here, we use ultrafast two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations to characterize sub-picosecond solvation dynamics as a function of the surfactant composition in ∼120 nm water-in-oil reverse micelles. We probe the ester carbonyl vibrations of nonionic sorbitan surfactants, which are located precisely at the interface between the polar and nonpolar regions, and as such, report on the interfacial water dynamics. We show a 7% increase in hydrogen bond populations together with a 37% slowdown of interfacial hydrogen bond dynamics in heterogeneous mixtures containing hundreds of species, compared to more uniform compositions. Simulations, which are in semiquantitative agreement with experiments, indicate that structural diversity leads to decreased packing efficiency, which in turn drives water further into the otherwise hydrophobic region. Interestingly, this increase in hydration is accompanied by a slowdown of dynamics, indicating that water molecules solvating surfactants are conformationally constrained. These studies demonstrate that the composition and heterogeneity are key factors in determining interfacial properties.

Differentiation between Enamines and Tautomerizable Imines Oxidation Reaction Mechanism using Electron-Vibration-Vibration Two Dimensional Infrared Spectroscopy

Intermediates lie at the center of chemical reaction mechanisms. However, detecting intermediates in an organic reaction and understanding its role in reaction mechanisms remains a big challenge. In this paper, we used the theoretical calculations to explore the potential of the electron-vibration-vibration two-dimensional infrared (EVV-2DIR) spectroscopy in detecting the intermediates in the oxidation reactions of enamines and tautomerizable imines with 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO). We show that while it is difficult to identify the intermediates from their infrared and Raman signals, the simulated EVV-2DIR spectra of these intermediates have well resolved spectral features, which are absent in the signals of reactants and products. These characteristic spectral signatures can, therefore, be used to reveal the reaction mechanism as well as monitor the reaction progress. Our work suggests the potential strength of EVV-2DIR technique in studying the molecular mechanism of organic reactions in general.

Single-scan acquisition of multiple multidimensional spectra

Multidimensional coherent spectroscopy is a powerful tool for understanding the ultrafast dynamics of complex quantum systems. To fully characterize the nonlinear optical response of a system, multiple pulse sequences must be recorded and quantitatively compared. We present a new single-scan method that enables rapid and parallel acquisition of all unique pulse sequences corresponding to first- and third-order degenerate wave-mixing processes. Signals are recorded with shot-noise limited detection, enabling acquisition times of ~2 minutes with ~100 zs phase stability and ~8 orders of dynamic range, in a collinear geometry, on a single-pixel detector. We demonstrate this method using quantum well excitons, and quantitative analysis reveals new insights into the bosonic nature of excitons. This scheme may enable rapid and scalable analysis of unique chemical signatures, metrology of optical susceptibilities, nonperturbative coherent control, and the implementation of quantum information protocols using multidimensional spectroscopy.

Temperature dependence of the ultrafast vibrational echo spectroscopy of OD modes in liquid water from first principles simulations

The temperature dependence of the vibrational spectral diffusion of OD modes in liquid water is investigated through calculations of vibrational echo spectral observables from first principles molecular dynamics.

Water at surfaces with tunable surface chemistries

Aqueous interfaces are ubiquitous in natural environments, spanning atmospheric, geological, oceanographic, and biological systems, as well as in technical applications, such as fuel cells and membrane filtration. Where liquid water terminates at a surface, an interfacial region is formed, which exhibits distinct properties from the bulk aqueous phase. The unique properties of water are governed by the hydrogen-bonded network. The chemical and physical properties of the surface dictate the boundary conditions of the bulk hydrogen-bonded network and thus the interfacial properties of the water and any molecules in that region. Understanding the properties of interfacial water requires systematically characterizing the structure and dynamics of interfacial water as a function of the surface chemistry. In this review, we focus on the use of experimental surface-specific spectroscopic methods to understand the properties of interfacial water as a function of surface chemistry. Investigations of the air-water interface, as well as efforts in tuning the properties of the air-water interface by adding solutes or surfactants, are briefly discussed. Buried aqueous interfaces can be accessed with careful selection of spectroscopic technique and sample configuration, further expanding the range of chemical environments that can be probed, including solid inorganic materials, polymers, and water immiscible liquids. Solid substrates can be finely tuned by functionalization with self-assembled monolayers, polymers, or biomolecules. These variables provide a platform for systematically tuning the chemical nature of the interface and examining the resulting water structure. Finally, time-resolved methods to probe the dynamics of interfacial water are briefly summarized before discussing the current status and future directions in studying the structure and dynamics of interfacial water.

Nuclear quantum effects on the vibrational dynamics of liquid water

Based on quantum-mechanical path-integral molecular dynamics simulations, the impact of nuclear quantum effects on the vibrational and hydrogen bond dynamics in liquid water is investigated. The instantaneous fluctuations in the frequencies of the O-H stretch modes are calculated using the wavelet method of time-series analysis, while the time scales of the vibrational spectral diffusion are determined from frequency-time correlation functions, joint probability distributions, and the slope of three-pulse photon echo. We find that the inclusion of nuclear quantum effects leads not only to a redshift of the vibrational frequency distribution by around 130 cm^-1 but also to an acceleration of the vibrational dynamics by as much as 30%. In addition, quantum fluctuations also entail a significantly faster decay of correlation in the initial diffusive regime, which is in agreement with recent vibrational echo experiments.

Linear and non-linear infrared response of one-dimensional vibrational Holstein polarons in the anti-adiabatic limit: Optical and acoustical phonon models

The theory of linear and non-linear infrared response of vibrational Holstein polarons in one-dimensional lattices is presented in order to identify the spectral signatures of self-trapping phenomena. Using a canonical transformation, the optical response is computed from the small polaron point of view which is valid in the anti-adiabatic limit. Two types of phonon baths are considered: optical phonons and acoustical phonons, and simple expressions are derived for the infrared response. It is shown that for the case of optical phonons, the linear response can directly probe the polaron density of states. The model is used to interpret the experimental spectrum of crystalline acetanilide in the C=O range. For the case of acoustical phonons, it is shown that two bound states can be observed in the two-dimensional infrared spectrum at low temperature. At high temperature, analysis of the time-dependence of the two-dimensional infrared spectrum indicates that bath mediated correlations slow down spectral diffusion. The model is used to interpret the experimental linear-spectroscopy of model α-helix and β-sheet polypeptides. This work shows that the Davydov Hamiltonian cannot explain the observations in the NH stretching range.

Dimension of discrete variable representation for mixed quantum/classical computation of three lowest vibrational states of OH stretching in liquid water

Three low-lying vibrational states of molecular systems are responsible for the signals of linear and third-order nonlinear vibrational spectroscopies. Theoretical studies based on mixed quantum/classical calculations provide a powerful way to analyze those experiments. A statistically meaningful result can be obtained from the calculations by solving the vibrational Schrödinger equation over many numbers of molecular configurations. The discrete variable representation (DVR) method is a useful technique to calculate vibrational eigenstates subject to an arbitrary anharmonic potential surface. Considering the large number of molecular configurations over which the DVR calculations are repeated, the calculations are desired to be optimized in balance between the cost and accuracy. We determine a dimension of the DVR method which appears to be optimum for the calculations of the three states of molecular vibrations with anharmonic strengths often found in realistic molecular systems. We apply the numerical technique to calculate the local OH stretching frequencies of liquid water, which are well known to be widely distributed due to the inhomogeneity in molecular configuration, and found that the frequencies of the 0-1 and 1-2 transitions are highly correlated. An empirical relation between the two frequencies is suggested and compared with the experimental data of nonlinear IR spectroscopies.

Pressure Dependence of Hydrogen-Bond Dynamics in Liquid Water Probed by Ultrafast Infrared Spectroscopy

Clarifying the structure/dynamics relation of water hydrogen-bond network has been the aim of extensive research over many decades. By joining anvil cell high-pressure technology, femtosecond 2D infrared spectroscopy, and molecular dynamics simulations, we studied, for the first time, the spectral diffusion of the stretching frequency of an HOD impurity in liquid water as a function of pressure. Our experimental and simulation results concordantly demonstrate that the rate of spectral diffusion is almost insensitive to the applied pressure. This behavior is in contrast with the previously reported pressure-induced speed up of the orientational dynamics, which can be rationalized in terms of large angular jumps involving sudden switching between two hydrogen-bonded configurations. The different trend of the spectral diffusion can be, instead, inferred considering that the first solvation shell preserves the tetrahedral structure with pressure and the OD stretching frequency is only slight perturbed.

Femtosecond Hydrogen Bond Dynamics of Bulk-like and Bound Water at Positively and Negatively Charged Lipid Interfaces Revealed by 2D HD-VSFG Spectroscopy

Interfacial water in the vicinity of lipids plays an important role in many biological processes, such as drug delivery, ion transportation, and lipid fusion. Hence, molecular-level elucidation of the properties of water at lipid interfaces is of the utmost importance. We report the two-dimensional heterodyne-detected vibrational sum frequency generation (2D HD-VSFG) study of the OH stretch of HOD at charged lipid interfaces, which shows that the hydrogen bond dynamics of interfacial water differ drastically, depending on the lipids. The data indicate that the spectral diffusion of the OH stretch at a positively charged lipid interface is dominated by the ultrafast (<∼100 fs) component, followed by the minor sub-picosecond slow dynamics, while the dynamics at a negatively charged lipid interface exhibit sub-picosecond dynamics almost exclusively, implying that fast hydrogen bond fluctuation is prohibited. These results reveal that the ultrafast hydrogen bond dynamics at the positively charged lipid-water interface are attributable to the bulk-like property of interfacial water, whereas the slow dynamics at the negatively charged lipid interface are due to bound water, which is hydrogen-bonded to the hydrophilic head group.

Encapsulating Subsite Analogues of the [FeFe]-Hydrogenases in Micelles Enables Direct Water Interactions

Encapsulation of subsite analogues of the [FeFe]-hydrogenase enzymes in supramolecular structures has been shown to dramatically increase their catalytic ability, but the molecular basis for this enhancement remains unclear. We report the results of experiments employing infrared absorption, ultrafast infrared pump-probe, and 2D-IR spectroscopy to investigate the molecular environment of Fe2(pdt)(CO)6 (pdt: propanedithiolate) [1] encapsulated in the dispersed alkane phase of a heptane-dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide-water microemulsion. It is demonstrated that 1 is partitioned between two molecular environments, one that closely resembles bulk heptane solution and a second that features direct hydrogen-bonding interactions with water molecules that penetrate the surfactant shell. Our results demonstrate that the extent of water access to the normally water-insoluble subsite analogue 1 can be tuned with micelle size, while IR spectroscopy provides a straightforward tool that can be used to measure and fine-tune the chemical environment of catalyst species in self-assembled structures.

A new interpretation of the meaning of the center of line slope from a two-dimensional infrared spectrum

This article presents a new approximation to understand the connection between the center of line slope from a single peak of a two-dimensional (2D) infrared spectrum and the frequency-frequency correlation function. This approximation which goes beyond the short-time approximation includes explicitly pure dephasing mechanisms by introducing a time parameter that separates the fast fluctuations and slow fluctuations. While in the short-time approximation, the center of line slope is given by the normalized frequency fluctuations auto-correlation function, I show using this new approximation that the center of line slope measures on long time scales a shifted and scaled correlation function. The results present a new interpretation of the meaning of the center of line slope that allows for a better understanding of what 2D experiments can measure. To illustrate these findings, I compare this approximation with the short-time approximation for several examples of frequency-frequency correlation functions. I also give an estimate of the value of the time separation parameter for a correlation function with a simple exponential decay.

Quantum Interference in the Vibrational Relaxation of the O-H Stretch Overtone of Liquid H2O

Using femtosecond two-color infrared pump-probe spectroscopy, we study the vibrational relaxation of the O-H stretch vibrations of liquid H2O after excitation of the overtone transition. The overtone transition has its maximum at 6900 cm(-1) (1.45 μm), which is a relatively high frequency in view of the central frequency of 3400 cm(-1) of the fundamental transition. The excitation of the overtone leads to a transient induced absorption of two-exciton states of the O-H stretch vibrations. When the overtone excitation frequency is tuned from 6600 to 7200 cm(-1), the vibrational relaxation time constant of the two-exciton states increases from 400 ± 50 fs to 540 ± 40 fs. These values define a limited range of relatively long relaxation time constants compared to the range of relaxation time constants of 250-550 fs that we recently observed for the one-exciton O-H stretch vibrational state of liquid H2O ( S. T. van der Post et al., Nature Comm. 2015 , 6 , 8384 ). We explain the high central frequency and the limited range of relatively long relaxation time constants of the overtone transition from the destructive quantum interference of the mechanical and electrical anharmonic contributions to the overtone transition probability. As a result of this destructive interference, the overtone transition of liquid H2O is dominated by molecules of which the O-H groups donate relatively weak hydrogen bonds to other H2O molecules.

Differences in the Vibrational Dynamics of H(2)O and D(2)O: Observation of Symmetric and Antisymmetric Stretching Vibrations in Heavy Water

Water's ability to donate and accept hydrogen bonds leads to unique and complex collective dynamical phenomena associated with its hydrogen-bond network. It is appreciated that the vibrations governing liquid water's molecular dynamics are delocalized, with nuclear motion evolving coherently over the span of several molecules. Using two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy, we have found that the nuclear motions of heavy water, D2O, are qualitatively different than those of H2O. The nonlinear spectrum of liquid D2O reveals distinct O-D stretching resonances, in contrast to H2O. Furthermore, our data indicates that condensed-phase O-D vibrations have a different character than those in the gas phase, which we understand in terms of weakly delocalized symmetric and antisymmetric stretching vibrations. This difference in molecular dynamics reflects the shift in the balance between intra- and intermolecular couplings upon deuteration, an effect which can be understood in terms of the anharmonicity of the nuclear potential energy surface.

The interplay between dynamic heterogeneities and structure of bulk liquid water: A molecular dynamics simulation study

In order to study the interplay between dynamical heterogeneities and structural properties of bulk liquid water in the temperature range 130-350 K, thus including the supercooled regime, we use the explicit trend of the distribution functions of some molecular properties, namely, the rotational relaxation constants, the atomic mean-square displacements, the relaxation of the cross correlation functions between the linear and squared displacements of H and O atoms of each molecule, the tetrahedral order parameter q and, finally, the number of nearest neighbors (NNs) and of hydrogen bonds (HBs) per molecule. Two different potentials are considered: TIP4P-Ew and a model developed in this laboratory for the study of nanoconfined water. The results are similar for the dynamical properties, but are markedly different for the structural characteristics. In particular, for temperatures higher than that of the dynamic crossover between "fragile" (at higher temperatures) and "strong" (at lower temperatures) liquid behaviors detected around 207 K, the rotational relaxation of supercooled water appears to be remarkably homogeneous. However, the structural parameters (number of NNs and of HBs, as well as q) do not show homogeneous distributions, and these distributions are different for the two water models. Another dynamic crossover between "fragile" (at lower temperatures) and "strong" (at higher temperatures) liquid behaviors, corresponding to the one found experimentally at T(∗) ∼ 315 ± 5 K, was spotted at T(∗) ∼ 283 K and T(∗) ∼ 276 K for the TIP4P-Ew and the model developed in this laboratory, respectively. It was detected from the trend of Arrhenius plots of dynamic quantities and from the onset of a further heterogeneity in the rotational relaxation. To our best knowledge, it is the first time that this dynamical crossover is detected in computer simulations of bulk water. On the basis of the simulation results, the possible mechanisms of the two crossovers at molecular level are discussed.

Vibrational dynamics of aqueous hydroxide solutions probed using broadband 2DIR spectroscopy

We employed ultrafast transient absorption and broadband 2DIR spectroscopy to study the vibrational dynamics of aqueous hydroxide solutions by exciting the O-H stretch vibrations of the strongly hydrogen-bonded hydroxide solvation shell water and probing the continuum absorption of the solvated ion between 1500 and 3800 cm(-1). We observe rapid vibrational relaxation processes on 150-250 fs time scales across the entire probed spectral region as well as slower vibrational dynamics on 1-2 ps time scales. Furthermore, the O-H stretch excitation loses its frequency memory in 180 fs, and vibrational energy exchange between bulk-like water vibrations and hydroxide-associated water vibrations occurs in ∼200 fs. The fast dynamics in this system originate in strong nonlinear coupling between intra- and intermolecular vibrations and are explained in terms of non-adiabatic vibrational relaxation. These measurements indicate that the vibrational dynamics of the aqueous hydroxide complex are faster than the time scales reported for long-range transport of protons in aqueous hydroxide solutions.

Changing Hydrogen-Bond Structure during an Aqueous Liquid-Liquid Transition Investigated with Time-Resolved and Two-Dimensional Vibrational Spectroscopy

We investigate the putative liquid-liquid phase transition in aqueous glycerol solution, using the OD-stretch mode in dilute OD/OH isotopic mixtures to probe the hydrogen-bond structure. The conversion exhibits Avrami kinetics with an exponent of n = 2.9 ± 0.1 (as opposed to n = 1.7 observed upon inducing ice nucleation and growth in the same sample), which indicates a transition from one liquid phase to another. Two-dimensional infrared (2D-IR) spectroscopy shows that the initial and final phases have different hydrogen-bond structures: the former has a single Gaussian distribution of hydrogen-bond lengths, whereas the latter has a bimodal distribution consisting of a broad distribution and a narrower, ice-like distribution. The 2D-IR spectrum of the final phase is identical to that of ice/glycerol at the same temperature. Combined with the kinetic data this suggests that the liquid-liquid transformation is immediately followed by a rapid formation of small (probably nanometer-sized) ice crystals.

Spectral Graph Analyses of Water Hydrogen-Bonding Network and Osmolyte Aggregate Structures in Osmolyte-Water Solutions

Recently, it was shown that the spectral graph theory is exceptionally useful for understanding not only morphological structural differences in ion aggregates but also similarities between an ion network and a water H-bonding network in highly concentrated salt solutions. Here, we present spectral graph analysis results on osmolyte aggregates and water H-bonding network structures in aqueous renal osmolyte solutions. The quantitative analyses of the adjacency matrices that are graph-theoretical representations of aggregates of osmolyte molecules and water H-bond structures provide the ensemble average eigenvalue spectra and degree distribution. We show that urea molecules form quite different morphological structures compared to other protecting renal osmolyte molecules in water, particularly sorbitol and trimethylglycine, which are well-known protecting osmolytes, and at high concentrations exhibit a strong propensity to form morphological structures that are graph-theoretically similar to that of the water H-bond network. Conversely, urea molecules, even at similarly high concentrations, form separated clusters instead of extended osmolyte-osmolyte networks. This difference in morphological structure of osmolyte-osmolyte aggregates between protecting and destabilizing osmolytes is considered to be an important observation that led us to propose a hypothesis on the osmolyte aggregate growth mechanism via either osmolyte network formation or segregated osmolyte cluster formation. We anticipate that the present spectral graph analyses of osmolyte aggregate structures and their interplay with the water H-bond network structure in highly concentrated renal osmolyte solutions could provide important information on the osmolyte effects of not only water structures but also protein stability in biologically relevant osmolyte solutions.

Ultrafast Vibrational Echo Spectroscopy of Liquid Water from First-Principles Simulations

Vibrational echo spectroscopy has become a powerful technique to study vibrational spectral diffusion in water and aqueous solutions. The dynamics of vibrational spectral diffusion is intimately related to the hydrogen bond fluctuations in liquid water and other hydrogen bonded liquids. Earlier theoretical calculations of vibrational echo spectroscopy of aqueous systems were based on classical molecular dynamics simulations involving empirical force fields of water. In the current work, we have employed the method of ab initio molecular dynamics simulation to calculate the spectral observables of vibrational echo and two-dimensional infrared (2D-IR) spectroscopy of liquid water at room temperature under Condon and cumulant approximations. The time scales extracted from the temporal decay of the frequency-time correlation function (FTCF), short-time slope of three pulse photon echo (SP3E), dynamic line width (DLW), and the slope of nodal line of 2D-IR spectra are found to be in reasonably close agreement with each other which reinforces the assertion that signatures of FTCF can be captured using three pulse photon echo and 2D-IR spectroscopy.

Identification and quantification of 16 inorganic ions in water by Gaussian curve fitting of near-infrared difference absorbance spectra

This study shows two novel fitting strategies applied to differential absorbance spectra for identification and quantification of electrolytes. The effects of 16 dissolved salts were investigated in the wavelength range from 14000 to 9091 wavenumbers (714-1100 nm) by linear fits of the differential absorbance values (Y(υ,c)=offset(υ)+b(υ)×c) recorded for each wavenumber (υ) and concentration (c) ranges from 500 to 30 mM. The slopes (b) of these fits resulted in clear fingerprints of the electrolytes. A narrow bandwidth (10754-9618 wavenumbers) sensor can be created using truth tables resulting from the Gaussian curve fitting method.