Long-range corrected time-dependent density functional study on fluorescence of 4,4′-dimethylaminobenzonitrile

Spin-Orbit Coupling Calculation Combined with the Reference Interaction Site Model Self-Consistent Field Explicitly Including Constrained Spatial Electron Density Distribution

Studying the radiative and non-radiative decay processes of molecules in a solution is an important issue in the design of organic and functional molecules. Theoretical approaches have great potential for revealing this decay process through computation of various parameters, such as the energy surfaces at the excited state and spin-orbit coupling (SOC). The development of quantum chemical programs has enabled the calculation of SOC values to become popular for the gas phase. However, SOC calculations in solution have some difficulties that need to be overcome. In the present study, the authors combined the SOC calculations with the reference interaction site model self-consistent field explicitly including constrained spatial electron density distribution. To validate the reliability of our method, the decay process of dimethylaminobenzonitrile in cyclohexane and acetonitrile was studied. By computing the SOC values in both solution systems, the authors were able to investigate the decay process at the atomistic level. Furthermore, a natural transition orbital analysis and the measurement of the decomposed SOC values were found to provide a clear understanding of intersystem crossing.

The vibronic absorption spectra and electronic states of acridine orange in aqueous solution

The time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) was used to obtain vibronic absorption spectra of acridine orange dye (AO) in an aqueous solution that were in good agreement with the experiment. The protonated and neutral forms of the dye have been investigated. The results of calculations using various functionals and basis sets have been analyzed. The best agreement with experiment was given by the level of theory X3LYP/6-31G(d,p). AO molecular orbitals involved in electronic transitions due light absorption in the visible region of the spectrum have been obtained. The dipole moments and atomic charges of the ground and excited states of the AO molecule have been calculated. Maps of the electrostatic potential have been drawn. An insignificant photoinduced electron transfer was found in the central ring of the chromophore of the dye molecule. According to our calculations, the vibronic coupling and the Boltzmann distribution play a significant role in the absorption spectra of the AO.

C-N Bond Rotation Controls Photoinduced Electron Transfer in an Aminostyrene-Stilbene Donor-Acceptor System

We investigate energy transfer and electron transfer in a dimethylsilylene-spaced aminostyrene-stilbene donor-acceptor dimer using time-dependent density functional theory calculations. Our results confirm that the vertical S₃, S₂, and S₁ excited states are, respectively, a local excitation on the aminostyrene, local excitation on the stilbene, and the charge-transferred (CT) excited state with electron transfer from aminostyrene to stilbene. In addition, an energy minimum with the C-N bond of the amino group twisted at about 90° is also identified on the S₁ potential energy surface. This S₁ state exhibits a twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) character. A potential energy scan along the C-N bond torsional angle reveals a conical intersection between the S₂ stilbene local excitation and the S₁ CT/TICT state at a torsional angle of ∼60°. We thus propose that the conical intersection dominates the electron transfer dynamics in the donor-acceptor dimer and copolymers alike, and the energy barrier along the C-N bond rotation controls the efficiency of such a process. Moreover, we show that despite the zero oscillator strength of the S₁ excited states in the CT and TICT minima, an emissive S₁ state with a V-shaped conformational structure can be located. The energy of this V-shape CT structure is thermally accessible; therefore, it is expected to be responsible for the CT emission band of the dimer observed in polar solvents. Our data provide a clear explanation of the complex solvent-dependent dual emission and photoinduced electron transfer properties observed experimentally in the dimer and copolymer systems. More importantly, the identifications of the conical intersection and energy barrier along the C-N bond rotation provide a novel synthetic route for controlling emissive properties and electron transfer dynamics in similar systems, which might be useful in the design of novel organic optoelectronic materials.

Charge-transfer and isomerization reactions of trans-4-(N-arylamino)stilbenes

We studied the excited-state dynamics of trans-4-(N-arylamino)stilbenes with aryl = phenyl (p1H), 4-methoxyphenyl (p1OM), or 4-cyanophenyl (p1CN) in solvents of varied polarity and viscosity by using femtosecond transient absorption and time-correlated single photon counting techniques. In nonpolar solvents the decay is triexponential, in which the rapid component corresponds to vibrational cooling combined with solvation, the intermediate temporal component 41-120 ps to trans-cis isomerization, and the long one ∼1 ns to fluorescence decay of the S₁ state. The S₁ state has a delocalized geometry and charge-transfer characteristics, corresponding to a planar intramolecular charge transfer (PICT) state. In polar solvents, an excited-state absorption band appears near 520 and 480 nm for p1OM and p1CN, respectively but not for p1H. This band has a rise lifetime of 4.3/7.5, 16.3/9.4, and 29.5/16 ps for p1CN/p1OM in acetonitrile (ACN), dimethylformamide (DMF), and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), respectively and matches the decay of the 600 nm PICT band. This band is thus assigned to the absorption of a singlet twisted intramolecular charge transfer state (TICT). The conversion rate decreases as the solvent viscosity is increased and is consistent with a large structural variation amplitude. Theoretical calculations using density functional theory (DFT), method PEB0, were employed to obtain the optimized structures and energies of those states. The PICT state possesses delocalized π electrons along the molecule. The TICT for p1CN is formed by twisting about the aminostilbene-benzonitrile C-N bond by ∼90°, but it is about the stilbene-aniline C-N bond for p1OM. We observed faster conversion rates for p1CN in alcoholic solvents, in which the lifetimes for both the PICT and TICT states are shortened to 20-99 ps and 120-660 ps, respectively, as a result of solvent-solute H-bonding interactions. In p1OM, the TICT state has an elongated C[double bond, length as m-dash]C bond in the stilbene moiety, which might facilitate the trans-cis isomerization reaction and thus account for the relatively short lifetime of 58-420 ps in polar solvents.

Charge transfer in time-dependent density functional theory

Charge transfer plays a crucial role in many processes of interest in physics, chemistry, and bio-chemistry. In many applications the size of the systems involved calls for time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) to be used in their computational modeling, due to its unprecedented balance between accuracy and efficiency. However, although exact in principle, in practise approximations must be made for the exchange-correlation functional in this theory, and the standard functional approximations perform poorly for excitations which have a long-range charge-transfer component. Intense progress has been made in developing more sophisticated functionals for this problem, which we review. We point out an essential difference between the properties of the exchange-correlation kernel needed for an accurate description of charge-transfer between open-shell fragments and between closed-shell fragments. We then turn to charge-transfer dynamics, which, in contrast to the excitation problem, is a highly non-equilibrium, non-perturbative, process involving a transfer of one full electron in space. This turns out to be a much more challenging problem for TDDFT functionals. We describe dynamical step and peak features in the exact functional evolving over time, that are missing in the functionals currently used. The latter underestimate the amount of charge transferred and manifest a spurious shift in the charge transfer resonance position. We discuss some explicit examples.

Intramolecular Charge-Transfer Excited-State Processes in 4-(N,N-Dimethylamino)benzonitrile: The Role of Twisting and the πσ* State

The structural processes leading to dual fluorescence of 4-(dimethylamino)benzonitrile in the gas phase and in acetonitrile solvent were investigated using a combination of multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) and the second-order algebraic diagrammatic construction (ADC(2)) methods. Solvent effects were included on the basis of the conductor-like screening model. The MRCI method was used for computing the nonadiabatic interaction between the two lowest excited ππ* states (S₂(L_a, CT) and S₁(L_b, LE)) and the corresponding minimum on the crossing seam (MXS) whereas the ADC(2) calculations were dedicated to assessing the role of the πσ* state. The MXS structure was found to have a twisting angle of ∼50°. The branching space does not contain the twisting motion of the dimethylamino group and thus is not directly involved in the deactivation process from S₂ to S₁. Polar solvent effects are not found to have a significant influence on this situation. Applying C_s symmetry restrictions, the ADC(2) calculations show that CCN bending leads to a strong stabilization and to significant charge transfer (CT). Nevertheless, this structure is not a minimum but converts to the local excitation (LE) structure on releasing the symmetry constraint. These findings suggest that the main role in the dynamics is played by the nonadiabatic interaction of the LE and CT states and that the main source for the dual fluorescence is the twisted internal charge-transfer state in addition to the LE state.

A fluorescent off-on NBD-probe for F(-) sensing: theoretical validation and experimental studies

The design, synthesis and fluoride sensing ability of a 7-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole (NBD) based chemodosimeter is reported. Theoretical calculations were used to design a more applicable off-on response, by choosing NBD as the accurate fluorophore. Reaction of the NBD-probe with 300 equivalents of tetrabutyl ammonium fluoride (TBAF) exhibited a response time of 80 minutes and the reaction was selective to F(-) and sensing of the ion was marked by a 110-fold enhancement of green fluorescence. The off-on fluorescence characteristics of the probe enabled its application in live-cell imaging of intracellular F(-) ions.

A theoretical study of the intramolecular charge transfer in 4-(dimethylamino)benzethyne

The intramolecular charge transfer process in DMABE is investigated using multireference perturbation theory methods.

On the dual emission of p-dimethylaminobenzonitrile and its photophysical implications

A solvatochromic analysis of available absorption and LE and TICT emission data in p-dimethylaminobenzonitrile (DMABN) was conducted. Applying the Abe method to the results of a thermochromic analysis of DMABN in 1-chlorobutane (ClB) allowed us to determine the polarizability and dipole moment of the excited electronic states involved in the absorption and emission transitions. As shown herein, the LE → TICT excited state reaction for DMABN is triggered by the solvent polarity but is additionally influenced by the viscosity. The experimental evidence negates the assumption that the radiative constant for the TICT fluorescence of DMABN is temperature-dependent.

A non-self-consistent range-separated time-dependent density functional approach for large-scale simulations

We propose an efficient method for carrying out time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations using range-separated hybrid exchange-correlation functionals. Based on a non-self-consistent range-separated Hamiltonian, the method affords large-scale simulations at a fraction of the computational time of conventional hybrid TDDFT approaches. For typical benchmark molecules including N(2), CO, C(6)H(6), H(2)CO and the C(2)H(4)-C(2)F(4) dimer, the method possesses the same level of accuracy as the conventional approaches for the valence, Rydberg, and charge-transfer excitation energies when compared to the experimental results. The method is used to determine π → π* excitations in both disordered and crystalline poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) conjugated polymers with more than six hundred atoms and it yields excitation energies and charge densities that are in excellent agreement with experiments. The simulation of the crystalline P3HT reveals that the phase of the wavefunctions could have an important effect on the excitation energy; a hypothesis based on π-π stacking is proposed to explain this novel effect in conjugated polymers.

Planar vs. twisted intramolecular charge transfer mechanism in Nile Red: new hints from theory

Using a time-dependent density functional theory approach and taking into account bulk solvent effects, we investigate the absorption and fluorescence spectra of Nile Red. In particular, we have assessed both the planar and twisted intramolecular charge transfer mechanism by using a panel of exchange correlation functionals including both global and range-separated hybrids, refined solvent models and the simulation of vibronic couplings. It turned out that the appropriate choice of the functional is of prime importance to obtain, not only quantitatively accurate values, but also qualitatively correct evolution of the spectral features with respect to the dihedral angles of the amino group. At the light of this study, the interpretation of the experimental data is critically re-examined and compared to typical dual-fluorescent molecules.

Time-dependent density functional theory based upon the fragment molecular orbital method

Time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) was combined with the two-body fragment molecular orbital method (FMO2). In this FMO2-TDDFT scheme, the system is divided into fragments, and the electron density for fragments is determined self-consistently. Consequently, only one main fragment of interest and several fragment pairs including it are calculated by TDDFT. To demonstrate the accuracy of FMO2-TDDFT, we computed several low-lying singlet and triplet excited states of solvated phenol and polyalanine using our method and the standard TDDFT for the full system. The BLYP functional with the long-range correction (LC-BLYP) was employed with the 6-31G(*) basis set (some tests were also performed with 6-311G(*), as well as with B3LYP and time-dependent Hartree-Fock). Typically, FMO2-TDDFT reproduced the full TDDFT excitation energies within 0.1 eV, and for one excited state the error was about 0.2 eV. Beside the accurate reproduction of the TDDFT excitation energies, we also automatically get an excitation energy decomposition analysis, which provides the contributions of individual fragments. Finally, the efficiency of our approach was exemplified on the LC-BLYP6-31G(*) calculation of the lowest singlet excitation of the photoactive yellow protein which consists of 1931 atoms, and the obtained value of 3.1 eV is in agreement with the experimental value of 2.8 eV.