Giovanni Piani

The gas phase anisole dimer: a combined high-resolution spectroscopy and computational study of a stacked molecular system.

The gas phase structures of anisole dimer in the ground and first singlet electronic excited states have been characterized by a combined experimental and computational study. The dimer, formed in a molecular beam, has been studied by resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization and high-resolution laser-induced fluorescence techniques. The assignment of the rotational fine structure of the S(1) <-- S(0) electronic transition origin has provided important structural information on the parallel orientation of aromatic rings of anisole moieties. By comparison with the DFT/TD-DFT computational results, it has been possible to infer the detailed equilibrium structure of the complex. The analysis of the equilibrium structure and interaction energy confirms that the anisole dimer is stabilized by dispersive interaction in the gas phase. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first detailed work (reporting both theoretical and high-resolution experimental data) on an isolated cluster in the pi-stacking configuration.

A study on the anisole–water complex by molecular beam–electronic spectroscopy and molecular mechanics calculations

An experimental and theoretical study is made on the anisole-water complex. It is the first van der Waals complex studied by high resolution electronic spectroscopy in which the water is seen acting as an acid. Vibronically and rotationally resolved electronic spectroscopy experiments and molecular mechanics calculations are used to elucidate the structure of the complex in the ground and first electronic excited state. Some internal dynamics in the system is revealed by high resolution spectroscopy.

Noncovalent interactions in the gas phase: the anisole-phenol complex.

The present paper reports on an integrated spectroscopic study of the anisole-phenol complex in a molecular beam environment. Combining REMPI and HR-LIF spectroscopy experimental data with density functional computations (TD-M05-2X/M05-2X//N07D) and first principle spectra simulations, it was possible to locate the band origin of the S(1) ← S(0) electronic transition and determine the equilibrium structure of the complex, both in the S(0) and S(1) electronic states. Experimental and computational evidence indicates that the observed band origin is due to an electronic transition localized on the phenol frame, while it was not possible to localize experimentally another band origin due to the electronic transition localized on the anisole molecule. The observed structure of the complex is stabilized by a hydrogen bond between the phenol, acting as a proton donor, and the anisole molecule, acting as an acceptor through the lone pairs of the oxygen atom. A secondary interaction involving the hydrogen atoms of the anisole methyl group and the π electron system of the phenol molecule stabilizes the complex in a nonplanar configuration. Additional insights about the landscapes of the potential energy surfaces governing the ground and first excited electronic states of the anisole-phenol complex, with the issuing implications on the system photodynamic, can be extracted from the combined experimental and computational studies.

On the properties of microsolvated molecules in the ground (S0) and excited (S1) states: The anisole-ammonia 1:1 complex

State-of-the-art spectroscopic and theoretical methods have been exploited in a joint effort to elucidate the subtle features of the structure and the energetics of the anisole-ammonia 1:1 complex, a prototype of microsolvation processes. Resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization and laser-induced fluorescence spectra are discussed and compared to high-level first-principles theoretical models, based on density functional, many body second order perturbation, and coupled cluster theories. In the most stable nonplanar structure of the complex, the ammonia interacts with the delocalized pi electron density of the anisole ring: hydrogen bonding and dispersive forces provide a comparable stabilization energy in the ground state, whereas in the excited state the dispersion term is negligible because of electron density transfer from the oxygen to the aromatic ring. Ground and excited state geometrical parameters deduced from experimental data and computed by quantum mechanical methods are in very good agreement and allow us to unambiguously determine the molecular structure of the anisole-ammonia complex.

New Insights on the Photodissociation of N-Methylpyrrole: The Role of Stereoelectronic Effects

We investigated the reaction dynamics of N-methylpyrrole (NMP) along the N-CH3 coordinate, upon excitation energies below 6.4 eV. Ours and previous experiments show clearly the existence of different reaction channels leading to slow and fast fragment production whose relative efficiency fluctuates with the changes in the excitation energy. Thanks to our modeling based on the differences of the NMP molecular orbitals (MOs) with respect to those of pyrrole we are able to show the existence of two low lying dissociative pi sigma(N-CH3)* states. Those states originate from the degeneracy removal in the pi MOs owing to their interaction with the sigma(CH) MO of the methyl group. This evidence and the calculated potential energy surfaces for dissociation along the N-CH3 coordinate provide the correct framework for the interpretation of the details in the NMP photodissociation dynamics.

Ultrafast dynamics of isolated fluorenone.

The ultrafast dynamics of isolated 9-fluorenone was studied by femtosecond time-resolved photoionization and photoelectron spectroscopy. The molecule was excited around 264-266 nm into the S(6) state. The experimental results indicate that the excitation is followed by a multistep deactivation. A time constant of 50 fs or less corresponds to a fast redistribution of energy within the initially excited manifold of states, i.e., a motion away from the Franck-Condon region. Internal conversion to the S(1) state then proceeds within 0.4 ps. The S(1) state is long-lived, and only a lower bound of 20 ps can be derived. In addition, we computed excited state energies and oscillator strengths by TD-DFT theory, supporting the interpretation of the experimental data.

Variable gain detection strategy for time-of-flight multiphoton ionization spectroscopy experiments

This note presents a new, simple approach to measure time-of-flight mass spectra containing ions in a wide concentration range as generated by laser photoionization studies of van der Waals complexes. Real-time control of the gain of the microchannel plate detector, applying to it fast-rising high-voltage pulses like in slice imaging experiments, is suggested. Results are presented for a model system study.

Photodetachment and dissociation dynamics of microsolvated iodide clusters

The properties of anionic clusters I−X (X=carbon dioxide, water, ammonia, benzene, phenol, aniline and nitrobenzene) and their dissociation dynamics on the neutral potential energy surface following photodetachment (PD) were studied by photoelectron–photofragment coincidence experiments. Different reaction channels were available using 4.82 eV energy photons, leading to production of iodine in the 2P3/2 and 2P1/2 states and to both stable and dissociating neutral clusters. The partitioning of the available energy strongly favors the electron kinetic energy channel. The kinetic energy release in the fragment channel is rather small and dependent on the potential energy surface on which the process takes place. A multistep dissociative PD process is observed for the iodide–aniline cluster leading to production of zero kinetic energy electrons.

Microsolvation in molecular complexes

In this paper, we report the results of our study of the microsolvation process involving the anisole molecule. We are able to study bimolecular complexes of different compositions. Changing the second partner molecule bound to anisole, we observed complexes of different geometries, because of the large variety of interactions possible for the anisole. High-resolution electronic spectroscopy is the best tool to reveal the correct vibrationally (zero-point) averaged geometry of the complex. That is done by analysing the rovibronic structure of the electronic spectra, which are related to the equilibrium geometry of the complex as well as dynamical processes, both in the ground and in the excited state. The interpretation of the experimental results is supported by high-level quantum calculations.

Ultrafast Excited-State Dynamics of a Cyano-Substituted “Proton Sponge”

The dynamics of a substituted proton sponge-the 1,8-bis(dimethylamino)-4-cyanonaphthalene (DMAN-CN) molecule-was investigated after excitation in the S1 state. Experimental and theoretical information are reported. The former includes absorption, fluorescence, and time-resolved transient absorption spectra, which were recorded in solution. Real-time dynamics measurements were also performed on gas-phase isolated DMAN-CN. TD DFT/6-31G(d,p) level and CIS/6-31G(d,p) excited-state calculations complement these results. This has allowed revisiting the energy transfer process between a locally excited (LE) and a charge transfer (CT) state, which is often invoked with this kind of molecule.