Vibrational energy relaxation of HOD in liquid D2O

The Near-Sightedness of Many-Body Interactions in Anharmonic Vibrational Couplings

Couplings between vibrational motions are driven by electronic interactions, and these couplings carry special significance in vibrational energy transfer, multidimensional spectroscopy experiments, and simulations of vibrational spectra. In this investigation, the many-body contributions to these couplings are analyzed computationally in the context of clathrate-like alkali metal cation hydrates, including Cs+(H2O)20, Rb+(H2O)20, and K+(H2O)20, using both analytic and quantum-chemistry potential energy surfaces. Although the harmonic spectra and one-dimensional anharmonic spectra depend strongly on these many-body interactions, the mode-pair couplings were, perhaps surprisingly, found to be dominated by one-body effects, even in cases of couplings to low-frequency modes that involved the motion of multiple water molecules. The origin of this effect was traced mainly to geometric distortion within water monomers and cancellation of many-body effects in differential couplings, and the effect was also shown to be agnostic to the identity of the ion. These outcomes provide new understanding of vibrational couplings and suggest the possibility of improved computational methods for the simulation of infrared and Raman spectra.

High energy vibrational excitations of nitromethane in liquid water

The pathways and timescales of vibrational energy flow in nitromethane are investigated in both gas and condensed phases using classical molecular mechanics, with a particular focus on relaxation in liquid water. We monitor the flow of excess energy deposited in vibrational modes of nitromethane into the surrounding solvent. A marked energy flux anisotropy is found when nitromethane is immersed in liquid water, with a preferential flow to those water molecules in contact to the nitro group. The factors that permit such anisotropic energy relaxation are discussed, along with the potential implications on the molecule's non-equilibrium dynamics. In addition, the energy flux analysis allows us to identify the solvent motions responsible for the uptake of solute energy, confirming the crucial role of water librations. Finally, we also show that no anisotropic vibrational energy relaxation occurs when nitromethane is surrounded by argon gas.

Influence of a Methyl Group on the Unidirectional Flow of Vibrational Energy in an Adenine-Thymine Base Pair

The role of a methyl group in intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR) of the hydrogen-bonded adenine-thymine base pair has been studied using classical dynamics procedures. Energy transferred to the doorway bond thymine-NH from the vibrationally excited H₂O(v) efficiently redistributes among various bonds of the base pair through vibration-to-vibration coupling, depositing a large fraction of the available energy in the terminal bond adenine-NH. On the other hand, the extent of energy flow in the reverse direction from the excited adenine-NH to thymine-NH is insignificant, indicating IVR in adenine-thymine resulting from the intermolecular interaction with a vibrationally excited H₂O molecule, is direction-specific. The unidirectional flow is due to the coupling of stretch-torsion vibrations of a methyl group with conjugated bonds on the thymine ring, when the methyl rotor is present and is adjacent to the vibrationally excited thymine-NH. The insignificance of energy flow from the terminal-to-terminal bond in the reverse direction is attributed to the absence of a methyl group on the adenine moiety, even though the molecule has many CC and CN bonds coupled to their neighbors.

Ultrafast Rotational and Translational Energy Relaxation in Neat Liquids

The excess energy flow pathways during rotational and translational relaxation induced by rotational or translational excitation of a single molecule of and within each of four different neat liquids (H₂O, MeOH, CCl₄, and CH₄) are studied using classical molecular dynamics simulations and energy flux analysis. For all four liquids, the relaxation processes for both types of excitation are ultrafast, but the energy flow is significantly faster for the polar, hydrogen-bonded (H-bonded) liquids H₂O and MeOH. Whereas the majority of the initial excess energy is transferred into hindered rotations (librations) for rotational excitation in the H-bonded liquids, an almost equal efficiency for transfer to translational and rotational motions is observed in the nonpolar, non-H-bonded liquids CCl₄ and CH₄. For translational excitation, transfer to translational motions dominates for all liquids. In general, the energy flows are quite local; i.e., more than 70% of the energy flows directly to the first solvent shell molecules, reaching almost 100% for CCl₄ and CH₄. Finally, the determined validity of linear response theory for these nonequilibrium relaxation processes is quite solvent-dependent, with the deviation from linear response most marked for rotational excitation and for the nonpolar liquids.

Energy relaxation dynamics of hydrogen-bonded OH vibration conjugated with free OH bond at an air/water interface

Vibrational energy relaxation dynamics of the excited hydrogen-bonded (H-bonded) OH conjugated with free OH (OD) at an air/water (for both pure water and isotopically diluted water) interface are elucidated via non-equilibrium ab initio molecular dynamics (NE-AIMD) simulations. The calculated results are compared with those of the excited H-bonded OH in bulk liquid water reported previously. In the case of pure water, the relaxation timescale (vibrational lifetime) of the excited H-bonded OH at the interface is T₁ = 0.13 ps, which is slightly larger than that in the bulk (T₁ = 0.11 ps). Conversely, in the case of isotopically diluted water, the relaxation timescale of T₁ = 0.74 ps in the bulk decreases to T₁ = 0.26 ps at the interface, suggesting that the relaxation dynamics of the H-bonded OH are strongly dependent on the surrounding H-bond environments particularly for the isotopically diluted conditions. The relaxation paths and their rates are estimated by introducing certain constraints on the vibrational modes except for the target path in the NE-AIMD simulation to decompose the total energy relaxation rate into contributions to possible relaxation pathways. It is found that the main relaxation pathway in the case of pure water is due to intermolecular OH⋯OH vibrational coupling, which is similar to the relaxation in the bulk. In the case of isotopically diluted water, the main pathway is due to intramolecular stretch and bend couplings, which show more efficient relaxation than in the bulk because of strong H-bonding interactions specific to the air/water interface.

Ab initio molecular dynamics study on energy relaxation path of hydrogen-bonded OH vibration in bulk water

The vibrational energy relaxation paths of hydrogen-bonded (H-bonded) OH excited in pure water and in isotopically diluted (deuterated) water are elucidated via non-equilibrium ab initio molecular dynamics (NE-AIMD) simulations. The present study extends the previous NE-AIMD simulation for the energy relaxation of an excited free OH vibration at an air/water interface [T. Ishiyama, J. Chem. Phys. 154, 104708 (2021)] to the energy relaxation of an excited H-bonded OH vibration in bulk water. The present simulation shows that the excited OH vibration in pure water dissipates its energy on a timescale of 0.1 ps, whereas that in deuterated water relaxes on a timescale of 0.7 ps, consistent with the experimental observations. To decompose these relaxation energies into the components due to intramolecular and intermolecular couplings, constraints are introduced on the vibrational modes except for the target path in the NE-AIMD simulation. In the case of pure water, 80% of the total relaxation is attributed to the pathway due to the resonant intermolecular OH⋯OH stretch coupling, and the remaining 17% and 3% are attributed to intramolecular couplings with the bend overtone and with the conjugate OH stretch, respectively. This result strongly supports a significant role for the Förster transfer mechanism of pure water due to the intermolecular dipole-dipole interactions. In the case of deuterated water, on the other hand, 36% of the total relaxation is due to the intermolecular stretch coupling, and all the remaining 64% arises from coupling with the intramolecular bend overtone.

Photofragment ion imaging in vibrational predissociation of the H2O+Ar complex ion

Vibrational predissociation processes of the H₂O⁺Ar complex ion following mid-infrared excitations of the OH stretching modes and bending overtone of the H₂O⁺ unit were studied by photofragment ion imaging. The anisotropy parameters, β, of the angular distributions of the photofragment ions were clearly dependent on the type (branch) of rotational excitation, β > 0 for the P-branch excitations, while β < 0 for the Q-branch excitations, which were consistent with the previous theoretical predictions for the rotationally resolved optical transition of a prolate symmetric top. The translational energy distributions had a similar form, irrespective of the excitation modes. This result suggests that the prepared excited states underwent a common relaxation pathway via the bending or bending overtone state of the H₂O⁺ unit. In addition, the available energy was preferentially distributed into the rotational energy of the H₂O⁺ fragment ions rather than the translational energy. The mechanism of the rotational excitations of the H₂O⁺ fragment ions was discussed based on the steric configuration of the H₂O⁺ and Ar units at the moment of dissociation.

Vibrational Energy Flow in the Uracil-H2O Complexes

In the uracil-H₂O complex, the vibrational energy initially stored in the OH(v = 1) stretch efficiently transfers to the first overtone-bending mode under a near-resonant condition. The relaxation of the overtone vibration redistributes its energy to uracil and the two hydrogen bonds in the intermolecular zone, which consists of the OH bond and the bonds between nearby C, N, O, and H atoms of uracil. The uracil NH bond and the hydrogen bond it formed with the H₂O molecule, N-H···O, store the major portion of the energy released by the relaxing bending mode, thus forming a localized hot band in the intermolecular zone. Energy transfer to the bonds beyond the zone is found to be not significant. The excited uracil NH is found to transfer its energy to the bending mode, thus indicating that the hydrogen bond of N-H···O is the principal energy pathway in both directions. In the presence of efficient near-resonant energy transfer pathways, the time evolution of the centers of mass distance shows the phenomenon of beats. One global and two different local minima energy structures are considered. The results of energy transfer do not differ significantly, suggesting that the two hydrogen bonds in all three structures have similar contributions to the energy transfer.

Field-Induced Tunneling Ionization and Terahertz-Driven Electron Dynamics in Liquid Water

Liquid water at ambient temperature displays ultrafast molecular motions and concomitant fluctuations of very strong electric fields originating from the dipolar H₂O molecules. We show that such random intermolecular fields induce the tunnel ionization of water molecules, which becomes irreversible if an external terahertz (THz) pulse imposes an additional directed electric field on the liquid. Time-resolved nonlinear THz spectroscopy maps charge separation, transport, and localization of the released electrons on a few-picosecond time scale. The highly polarizable localized electrons modify the THz absorption spectrum and refractive index of water, a manifestation of a highly nonlinear response. Our results demonstrate how the interplay of local electric field fluctuations and external electric fields allows for steering charge dynamics and dielectric properties in aqueous systems.

Self-thermophoresis at the nanoscale using light induced solvation dynamics

Downsizing microswimmers to the nanoscale, and using light as an externally controlled fuel, are two important goals within the field of active matter. Here we demonstrate using all-atom molecular dynamics simulations that solvation relaxation, the solvent dynamics induced after visible light electronic excitation of a fluorophore, can be used to propel nanoparticles immersed in polar solvents. We show that fullerenes functionalized with fluorophore molecules in liquid water exhibit substantial enhanced mobility under external excitation, with a propulsion speed proportional to the power dissipated into the system. We show that the propulsion mechanism is quantitatively consistent with a molecular scale instance of self-thermophoresis. Strategies to direct the motion of functionalized fullerenes in a given direction using confined environments are also discussed.

Relaxation of the H2O Overtone Bending Vibration in the Water Dimer···Hydroxyl Radical Complex

The relaxation mechanism of the overtone bending vibration in the collision of the water dimer with the vibrationally excited hydroxyl radical is studied by use of trajectory procedures. The transfer of the OH(v = 1) energy to the dimer stretches is followed by a near-resonant first overtone transition to the donor monomer. Nearly a quarter of the trajectories undergo a complex-mode collision, forming the (H₂O)₂···OH complex bound by a hydrogen bond with the lifetime ranging from a subpicosecond scale to >100 ps. The overtone vibration relaxes to the ground state, transferring approximately half of its energy to the dimer hydrogen-bonding (H₂O···H₂O) and the remaining half to the complex hydrogen-bonding (H₂O)₂···OH, via near-resonant pathways, each consisting of a series of intermolecular low-frequency vibrations.

Energy Transfer to the Hydrogen Bond in the (H2O)2 + H2O Collision

Trajectory procedures are used to study the collision between the vibrationally excited H₂O and the ground-state (H₂O)₂ with particular reference to energy transfer to the hydrogen bond through the inter- and intramolecular pathways. In nearly 98% of the trajectories, energy transfer processes occur on a subpicosecond scale (≤0.7 ps). The H₂O transfers approximately three-quarters of its excitation energy to the OH stretches of the dimer. The first step of the intramolecular pathway in the dimer involves a near-resonant first overtone transition from the OH stretch to the bending mode. The energy transfer probability in the presence of the 1:2 resonance is 0.61 at 300 K. The bending mode then redistributes its energy to low-frequency intermolecular vibrations in a series of small excitation steps, with the pathway which results in the hydrogen-bonding modes gaining most of the available energy. The hydrogen bonding in ∼50% of the trajectories ruptures on vibrational excitation, leaving one quantum in the bend of the monomer fragment. In a small fraction of trajectories, the duration of collision is longer than 1 ps, during which the dimer and H₂O form a short-lived complex through a secondary hydrogen bond, which undergoes large amplitude oscillations.

Electron-Hole-Pair-Induced Vibrational Energy Relaxation of Rhenium Catalysts on Gold Surfaces

A combination of time-resolved vibrational spectroscopy and density functional theory techniques have been applied to study the vibrational energy relaxation dynamics of the Re(4,4'-dicyano-2,2'-bipyridine)(CO)₃Cl (Re(CO)₃Cl) catalyst for CO₂ to CO conversion bound to gold surfaces. The kinetics of vibrational relaxation exhibits a biexponential decay including an ultrafast initial relaxation and complete recovery of the ground vibrational state. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and time-dependent perturbation theory reveal the former to be due to vibrational population exchange between CO stretching modes and the latter to be a combination of intramolecular vibrational relaxation (IVR) and electron-hole pair (EHP)-induced energy transfer into the gold substrate. EHP-induced energy transfer from the Re(CO)₃Cl adsorbate into the gold surface occurs on the same time scale as IVR of Re(CO)₃Cl in aprotic solvents. Therefore, it is expected to be particularly relevant to understanding the reduced catalytic activity of the homogeneous catalyst when anchored to a metal surface.

Perspective: Structure and ultrafast dynamics of biomolecular hydration shells

The structure and function of biomolecules can be strongly influenced by their hydration shells. A key challenge is thus to determine the extent to which these shells differ from bulk water, since the structural fluctuations and molecular excitations of hydrating water molecules within these shells can cover a broad range in both space and time. Recent progress in theory, molecular dynamics simulations, and ultrafast vibrational spectroscopy has led to new and detailed insight into the fluctuations of water structure, elementary water motions, and electric fields at hydrated biointerfaces. Here, we discuss some central aspects of these advances, focusing on elementary molecular mechanisms and processes of hydration on a femto- to picosecond time scale, with some special attention given to several issues subject to debate.

Strong frequency dependence of vibrational relaxation in bulk and surface water reveals sub-picosecond structural heterogeneity

Because of strong hydrogen bonding in liquid water, intermolecular interactions between water molecules are highly delocalized. Previous two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy experiments have indicated that this delocalization smears out the structural heterogeneity of neat H2O. Here we report on a systematic investigation of the ultrafast vibrational relaxation of bulk and interfacial water using time-resolved infrared and sum-frequency generation spectroscopies. These experiments reveal a remarkably strong dependence of the vibrational relaxation time on the frequency of the OH stretching vibration of liquid water in the bulk and at the air/water interface. For bulk water, the vibrational relaxation time increases continuously from 250 to 550 fs when the frequency is increased from 3,100 to 3,700 cm(-1). For hydrogen-bonded water at the air/water interface, the frequency dependence is even stronger. These results directly demonstrate that liquid water possesses substantial structural heterogeneity, both in the bulk and at the surface.

The free OD at the air/D2O interface is structurally and dynamically heterogeneous

Air/water interfaces are both ubiquitous in the environment and technology and a useful model for hydrophobic solvation more generally. Previous experimental and computational studies have highlighted that molecular level markers of such an extended hydrophobic surface are broken hydrogen bonds and, as a result, OH groups that are not hydrogen bond donors: free OH. Understanding both the time-averaged structure and structural dynamics of these free OH thus plays a critical role in developing a quantitative, molecular level understanding of hydrophobic solvation. Here we show, by combining polarization-dependent vibrational sum frequency (VSF) spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulation, that the free OD of D2O at the air/D2O interface is structurally and dynamically heterogeneous: that longer lived free OD groups tend to point closer to the surface normal, have a narrower orientational distribution, and are closer to the vapor phase. Knowledge of this structural heterogeneity should help link existing descriptions of hydrophobic solvation that focus either on the termination of the bulk hydrogen bond network or local density fluctuations. In addition the results of this study clarify that schemes to increase signal-to-noise ratios in VSF measurements by delaying the visible pulse relative to the infrared should be used only with independent constraints on the system's structural dynamics.

Experimental evidence of Fermi resonances in isotopically dilute water from ultrafast broadband IR spectroscopy

The vibrational dynamics of liquid water, which result from a complex interplay between internal molecular vibrations and the fluctuating hydrogen bond network, are fundamental to many physicochemical and biological processes. Using a new ultrafast broadband mid-infrared light source with over 2000 cm(-1) of bandwidth, we performed ultrafast time-resolved infrared spectroscopy to study the vibrational couplings and relaxation dynamics of the stretching and bending vibrations of the mixed isotopologue, HOD, in D2O. Analysis of cross-peaks and induced absorptions in the two-dimensional infrared spectrum and transient absorption spectrum shows that the hydroxyl stretch of HOD is coupled to the HOD bending mode via Fermi resonance, with a 70° angle between their transition dipole moments. We see that HOD is also anharmonically coupled to the D2O solvent modes. From transient absorption spectra, we conclude that vibrational relaxation occurs through a number of paths. The strongly hydrogen-bonded OH oscillators have the highest propensity to relax through the bending mode, while the weakly hydrogen bonded oscillators relax through other modes.

Fluctuations and Relaxation Dynamics of Liquid Water Revealed by Linear and Nonlinear Spectroscopy

Many efforts have been devoted to elucidating the intra- and intermolecular dynamics of liquid water because of their important roles in many fields of science and engineering. Nonlinear spectroscopy is a powerful tool to investigate the dynamics. Because nonlinear response functions are described by more than one time variable, it is possible to analyze static and dynamic mode couplings. Here we review the intra- and intermolecular dynamics of liquid water revealed by recent linear and nonlinear spectroscopic experiments and computer simulations. In particular, we discuss the population relaxation, anisotropy decay, and spectral diffusion of the intra- and intermolecular motions of water and their temperature dependence, which play important roles in ultrafast dynamics and relaxations in water.

Vibrational energy relaxation of large-amplitude vibrations in liquids

Given the limited intermolecular spaces available in dense liquids, the large amplitudes of highly excited, low frequency vibrational modes pose an interesting dilemma for large molecules in solution. We carry out molecular dynamics calculations of the lowest frequency ("warping") mode of perylene dissolved in liquid argon, and demonstrate that vibrational excitation of this mode should cause identifiable changes in local solvation shell structure. But while the same kinds of solvent structural rearrangements can cause the non-equilibrium relaxation dynamics of highly excited diatomic rotors in liquids to differ substantially from equilibrium dynamics, our simulations also indicate that the non-equilibrium vibrational energy relaxation of large-amplitude vibrational overtones in liquids should show no such deviations from linear response. This observation seems to be a generic feature of large-moment-arm vibrational degrees of freedom and is therefore probably not specific to our choice of model system: The lowest frequency (largest amplitude) cases probably dissipate energy too quickly and the higher frequency (more slowly relaxing) cases most likely have solvent displacements too small to generate significant nonlinearities in simple nonpolar solvents. Vibrational kinetic energy relaxation, in particular, seems to be especially and surprisingly linear.

Tracking energy transfer from excited to accepting modes: application to water bend vibrational relaxation

We extend, via a reformulation in terms of Poisson brackets, the method developed previously (Rey et al., J. Phys. Chem. A, 2009, 113, 8949) allowing analysis of the pathways of an excited molecule's ultrafast vibrational relaxation in terms of intramolecular and intermolecular contributions. In particular we show how to ascertain, through the computation of power and work, which portion of an initial excess molecular energy (e.g. vibrational) is transferred to various degrees of freedom (e.g. rotational, translational) of the excited molecule itself and its neighbors. The particular case of bend excess energy relaxation in pure water is treated in detail, completing the picture reported in the work cited above. It is shown explicitly, within a classical description, that almost all of the initial water bend excitation energy is transferred-either indirectly, via Fermi resonance centrifugal coupling to the bend-excited water's rotation, or directly via intermolecular coupling- to local water librations, only involving molecules in the first two hydration shells of the vibrationally excited water molecule. Finally, it is pointed out that the Poisson bracket formulation can also be applied to elucidate the microscopic character of solvation and rotational dynamics, and should prove useful in developing a quantum treatment for energy flow in condensed phases.

Mixed quantum-classical molecular dynamics study of the hydroxyl stretch in methanol/carbon-tetrachloride mixtures II: excited state hydrogen bonding structure and dynamics, infrared emission spectrum, and excited state lifetime

We present a mixed quantum-classical molecular dynamics study of the hydrogen-bonding structure and dynamics of a vibrationally excited hydroxyl stretch in methanol/carbon-tetrachloride mixtures. The adiabatic Hamiltonian of the quantum-mechanical hydroxyl is diagonalized on-the-fly to obtain the ground and first-excited adiabatic energy levels and wave functions which depend parametrically on the instantaneous configuration of the classical degrees of freedom. The dynamics of the classical degrees of freedom are determined by Hellmann-Feynman forces obtained by taking the expectation value of the force with respect to the ground or excited vibrational wave functions. Polarizable force fields are used which were previously shown to reproduce the experimental infrared absorption spectrum rather well, for different isotopomers and over a wide composition range [Kwac, K.; Geva, E. J. Phys. Chem. B 2011, 115, 9184]. We show that the agreement of the absorption spectra with experiment can be further improved by accounting for the dependence of the dipole moment derivatives on the configuration of the classical degrees of freedom. We find that the propensity of a methanol molecule to form hydrogen bonds increases upon photoexcitation of its hydroxyl stretch, thereby leading to a sizable red-shift of the corresponding emission spectrum relative to the absorption spectrum. Treating the relaxation from the first excited to the ground state as a nonadiabatic process, and calculating its rate within the framework of Fermi's golden rule and the harmonic-Schofield quantum correction factor, we were able to predict a lifetime which is of the same order of magnitude as the experimental value. The experimental dependence of the lifetime on the transition frequency is also reproduced. Nonlinear mapping relations between the hydroxyl transition frequency and bond length in the excited state and the electric field along the hydroxyl bond axis are established. These mapping relations make it possible to reduce the computational cost of the mixed quantum-classical treatment to that of a fully classical treatment.