Daeheum Cho

Systematic Approach To Design Organic Magnetic Molecules: Strongly Coupled Diradicals with Ethylene Coupler

The intramolecular magnetic coupling constant (J) values of diradical systems linked with two monoradicals through a coupler (para-substituted phenyl acetylene (Model I), meta-substituted phenyl acetylene (Model II), ethylene (Model III)) were investigated by unrestricted density functional theory calculations. We divided eight monoradicals into α-group and β-group according to Mulliken spin density values of the connected atoms. The overall trends in the strength of magnetic interactions of diradicals were found to be identical in three different model systems. The diradicals with para-substituted phenyl acetylene coupler resulted in almost twice stronger intramolecular magnetic coupling interactions of the corresponding diradicals as compared to the meta-substituted one with opposite magnetism. NN-Ethylene-PO (nitronyl nitroxide radical coupled to phenoxyl radical via ethylene coupler) was calculated to have the strongest magnetic coupling constant with ferromagnetism, and to be even stronger (more than twice) than NN-ethylene-NN (nitronyl nitroxide diradical with ethylene coupler), which was reported to have strong antiferromagnetic interactions in a previous experiment. It was found that the spin density values of the connected atoms are closely related to the determination of magnetic interactions and J values. The spin states of the ground state in diradical systems were explained by means of the spin alternation rule.

Organic magnetic diradicals (radical-coupler-radical): standardization of couplers for strong ferromagnetism.

The intramolecular magnetic coupling constant (J) values of sets of diradicals linked to bis-DTDA, OVER, and NN radicals (DTDA, OVER, and NN groups) through an aromatic coupler were studied by unrestricted density functional theory calculations (UB3LYP/6-311++G(d,p)). Among 15 aromatic couplers, 9 compounds with an odd number of carbon atoms along its spin coupling path were found to interact ferromagnetically upon coupling with bisradicals while the other 6 couplers with an even number of carbon atoms along its spin coupling path give rise to antiferromagnetic coupling. The overall trends in the strength of magnetic interactions of aromatic couplers were preserved for DTDA, OVER, and NN groups so that the trend can be utilized as an index for the magnetic strength of a given coupler. It was found that the differences in the nucleus-independent chemical shift (NICS), bond order of connecting bonds, and Mulliken atomic spin density at connected atoms between triplet and BS states are closely related to the intramolecular magnetic behavior. 2,4- and 2,5-phosphole couplers exhibit the strongest intramolecular ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interactions among 15 aromatic couplers when linked to diverse bisradicals.

Scaling approach for intramolecular magnetic coupling constants of organic diradicals.

The intramolecular magnetic coupling constants (J) of 9 diradicals (i-ix) coupled with an aromatic ring were investigated by means of unrestricted density functional theory (DFT) calculations [UB3LYP/6-311++G(d,p)]. For these diradicals, a remarkable linear relationship between the calculated and experimental J values was found. In this study, we suggest that the slope (0.380) of the linear relationship can be utilized as a scaling factor for estimating J values. By applying this scaling factor and calculating J values, we could predict the reliable J values of four dithiadiazolyl (DTDA) diradicals coupled with an aromatic ring. It was also found that this scaling scheme shows a dependence on the length of a coupler. Nevertheless, this scaling approach could be used to estimate J values for diverse diradical systems coupled with a particular coupler by DFT calculations.

Simple but useful scheme toward understanding of intramolecular magnetic interactions: benzene-bridged oxoverdazyl diradicals.

It has recently been shown that the types of intramolecular magnetic interactions of diradical systems can be changed by the types of radical group: syn-group (or α-group) and anti-group (or β-group). The aim of this study is to establish a useful scheme to understand and explain the intramolecular magnetic interactions in diradical systems regardless of radical groups and the topology of a coupler. We investigated the intramolecular magnetic coupling constant (J) of six oxoverdazyl diradicals (i-vi) coupled with a benzene ring based on the unrestricted DFT calculations. On the basis of our results, we devised a simple but useful scheme by combining the spin alternation rule and the concept of radical group classification. Consequently, it was found that the calculated J values and plots of spin density distributions were consistent with our proposed scheme. In addition, we discussed the closed-shell singlet (CS) state and the dihedral angle effect on J values in detail to comprehensively understand the magnetic interactions of diradical systems. Our scheme can provide the basic framework to design future organic high-spin molecules and organic magnetic materials.

Effect of Size and Structure on the Ground-State and Excited-State Electronic Structure of TiO2 Nanoparticles.

We investigated the influence of size and structure on the electronic structure of TiO2 nanoparticles 0.5-3.2 nm in diameter, in both vacuum and water, using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Specifically, we tracked the optical and electronic energy gap of a set of (TiO2)n nanoparticles ranging from small non-bulklike clusters with n = 4, 8, and 16, to larger nanoparticles derived from the anatase bulk crystal with n = 35 and 84. As the difference between these two energy gaps (the exciton binding energy) becomes negligible in the bulk, this magnitude provides an indicator of the bulklike character of the electronic structure of the nanoparticles under study. Extrapolating our results to larger sizes, we obtain a rough estimate of the nanoparticle size at which the electronic structure will begin to be effectively bulklike. Our results generally confirmed that the electronic structure of the nanoparticle ground state and excited state has a more pronounced structure dependency than size dependency within a size range of 0.5-1.5 nm. We also showed that the thermodynamic preference for the photocatalytic species is the first S1 exciton. This S1 exciton is stable under vacuum but may evolve to free charge carriers upon structural relaxation in an aqueous environment for particles 0.5-1.5 nm in size studied in the present article. An analysis of ionization potentials and electron affinities, relative to the standard reduction potential for the water splitting half-reactions, revealed the importance of considering the structural relaxation in the excited states and the presence of water for assessing the thermodynamic conditions for photocatalytic water splitting.

Effect of Hartree-Fock exact exchange on intramolecular magnetic coupling constants of organic diradicals

The intramolecular magnetic coupling constant (J) of diradical systems linked with five- or six-membered aromatic rings was calculated to obtain the scaling factor (experimental J/calculated J ratio) for various density functional theory (DFT) functionals. Scaling factors of group A (PBE, TPSSh, B3LYP, B97-1, X3LYP, PBE0, and BH&HLYP) and B (M06-L, M06, M06-2X, and M06-HF) were shown to decrease as the amount of Hartree-Fock exact exchange (HFx) increases, in other words, overestimation of calculated J becomes more severe as the HFx increases. We further investigated the effect of HFx fraction of DFT functional on J value, spin contamination, and spin density distributions by comparing the B3LYP analogues containing different amount of HFx. It was revealed that spin contamination and spin densities at each atom increases as the HFx increases. Above all, newly developed BLYP-5 functional, which has 5% of HFx, was found to have the scaling factor of 1.029, indicating that calculated J values are very close to that of experimental values without scaling. BLYP-5 has potential to be utilized for accurate evaluation of intramolecular magnetic coupling constant (J) of diradicals linked by five- or six-membered aromatic ring couplers.

Modulation of Quinone PCET Reaction by Ca2+ Ion Captured by Calix[4]quinone in Water

Calix[4]arene-triacid-monoquinone (CTAQ), a quinone-containing water-soluble ionophore, was utilized to investigate how proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) reactions of quinones were influenced by redox-inactive metal ions in aqueous environment. This ionophoric quinone derivative captured a Ca(2+) ion that drastically altered the voltammetric behavior of quinone, showing a characteristic response to pH and unique redox wave separation. Spectroelectrochemistry verified significant stabilization of the semiquinone, and electrocatalytic currents were observed in the presence of Ca(2+)-free CTAQ. Using digital simulation of cyclic voltammograms to clarify how the thermodynamic properties of quinones were altered, a simple scheme was proposed that successfully accounted for all the observations. The change induced by Ca(2+) complexation was explained on the basis of the combined effects of the electrostatic influence of the captured metal ion and hydrogen bonding of water molecules with the support of DFT calculation.

Attosecond X-ray Diffraction Triggered by Core or Valence Ionization of a Dipeptide

With the advancement of intense ultrafast X-ray sources, it is now possible to create a molecular movie by following the electronic dynamics in real time and real space through time-resolved X-ray diffraction. Here we employ real-time time-dependent density functional theory (RT-TDDFT) to simulate the electronic dynamics after an impulse core or valence ionization in the glycine-phenylalanine (GF) dipeptide. The time-evolving dipole moment, the charge density, and the time-resolved X-ray diffraction signals are calculated. The charge oscillation is calculated for 7 fs for valence ionization and 500 as for core ionization. The charge oscillation time scale is comparable to that found in a phenylalanine monomer (4 fs) [ Science 2014 , 346 , 336 ] and is slightly longer because of the elongated glycine chain. Following valence ionization, the charge migration across the GF is mediated by the delocalized lone-pair orbitals of oxygen and nitrogen of the electron-rich amide group. The temporal Fourier transform of the dipole moment provides detailed information on the charge migration dynamics and the molecular orbitals involved. Heterodyne-detected attosecond X-ray diffraction signals provide the magnitude and phase of the scattering amplitude in momentum space and can thus be inverted to yield the charge density in real space.

Phase Cycling RT-TDDFT Simulation Protocol for Nonlinear XUV and X-ray Molecular Spectroscopy

Real-time time-dependent density functional theory (RT-TDDFT) provides a practical algorithm for propagating a many-electron system driven by external laser fields. The fields are included nonperturbatively in the propagation, and the molecular reduced single-electron density operator and various spectroscopic and diffraction signals can be computed directly, avoiding the expensive calculation of many-body states. Nonlinear optical signals contain contributions of multiple pathways. A phase cycling protocol is implemented in order to separate these pathways. Simulations of XUV four-wave mixing signals in the CO molecule are compared with ab initio sum-over-states calculations.

Correction to Effect of Size and Structure on the Ground-State and Excited-State Electronic Structure of TiO2 Nanoparticles

Excited-State Electronic Structure of TiO2 Nanoparticles Daeheum Cho,† Kyoung Chul Ko,†,‡ Oriol Lamiel-García,‡ Stefan T. Bromley,‡,§ Jin Yong Lee,*,† and Francesc Illas*,‡ †Department of Chemistry, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Korea ‡Departament de Cieǹcia de Materials i Química Física & Institut de Química Teor̀ica i Computacional (IQTCUB), Universitat de Barcelona, c/Martí i Franques̀ 1, 08028 Barcelona, Spain Institucio ́ Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avanca̧ts (ICREA), 08010 Barcelona, Spain