Manuela Merchán

Towards an accurate molecular orbital theory for excited states: Ethene, butadiene, and hexatriene

A newly proposed quantum chemical approach for ab initio calculations of electronic spectra of molecular systems is applied to the molecules ethene, trans-1,3-butadiene, and trans-trans-1,3,5-hexat ...

Applications of level shift corrected perturbation theory in electronic spectroscopy

Abstract Multiconfigurational second-order perturbation theory (CASPT2) with a level shift technique used to reduce the effect of intruder states has been tested for applications in electronic spectroscopy. The following molecules have been studied: formamide, adenine, stilbene, Ni(CO) 4 , and a model compound for the active site in the blue copper protein plastocyanin, Cu(Im) 2 (SH)(SH 2 ) + . The results show that the level shift technique can be used to remove the effects of the intruder states in all these molecules. In some cases a drift in the energies as a function of the level shift is observed, which however is small enough that the normal error bar for CASPT2 excitation energies (≈ 0.3 eV ) still holds.

A Three-State Model for the Photophysics of Guanine

The nonadiabatic photochemistry of the guanine molecule (2-amino-6-oxopurine) and some of its tautomers has been studied by means of the high-level theoretical ab initio quantum chemistry methods CASSCF and CASPT2. Accurate computations, based by the first time on minimum energy reaction paths, states minima, transition states, reaction barriers, and conical intersections on the potential energy hypersurfaces of the molecules lead to interpret the photochemistry of guanine and derivatives within a three-state model. As in the other purine DNA nucleobase, adenine, the ultrafast subpicosecond fluorescence decay measured in guanine is attributed to the barrierless character of the path leading from the initially populated 1(pi pi* L(a)) spectroscopic state of the molecule toward the low-lying methanamine-like conical intersection (gs/pi pi* L(a))CI. On the contrary, other tautomers are shown to have a reaction energy barrier along the main relaxation profile. A second, slower decay is attributed to a path involving switches toward two other states, 1(pi pi* L(b)) and, in particular, 1(n(O) pi*), ultimately leading to conical intersections with the ground state. A common framework for the ultrafast relaxation of the natural nucleobases is obtained in which the predominant role of a pi pi*-type state is confirmed.

Computation of conical intersections by using perturbation techniques

Multiconfigurational second-order perturbation theory, both in its single-state multiconfigurational second-order perturbation theory (CASPT2) and multistate (MS-CASPT2) formulations, is used to search for minima on the crossing seams between different potential energy hypersurfaces of electronic states in several molecular systems. The performance of the procedures is tested and discussed, focusing on the problem of the nonorthogonality of the single-state perturbative solutions. In different cases the obtained structures and energy differences are compared with available complete active space self-consistent field and multireference configuration interaction solutions. Calculations on different state crossings in LiF, formaldehyde, the ethene dimer, and the penta-2,4-dieniminium cation illustrate the discussions. Practical procedures to validate the CASPT2 solutions in polyatomic systems are explored, while it is shown that the application of the MS-CASPT2 procedure is not straightforward and requires a careful analysis of the stability of the results with the quality of the reference wave functions, that is, the size of the active space.

Electrostatic Control of the Photoisomerization Efficiency and Optical Properties in Visual Pigments: On the Role of Counterion Quenching

Hybrid QM(CASPT2//CASSCF/6-31G*)/MM(Amber) computations have been used to map the photoisomerization path of the retinal chromophore in Rhodopsin and explore the reasons behind the photoactivity efficiency and spectral control in the visual pigments. It is shown that while the electrostatic environment plays a central role in properly tuning the optical properties of the chromophore, it is also critical in biasing the ultrafast photochemical event: it controls the slope of the photoisomerization channel as well as the accessibility of the S(1)/S(0) crossing space triggering the ultrafast decay. The roles of the E113 counterion, the E181 residue, and the other amino acids of the protein pocket are explicitly analyzed: it appears that counterion quenching by the protein environment plays a key role in setting up the chromophores optical properties and its photochemical efficiency. A unified scenario is presented that discloses the relationship between spectroscopic and mechanistic properties in rhodopsins and allows us to draw a solid mechanism for spectral tuning in color vision pigments: a tunable counterion shielding appears as the elective mechanism for L<-->M spectral modulation, while a retinal conformational control must dictate S absorption. Finally, it is suggested that this model may contribute to shed new light into mutations-related vision deficiencies that opens innovative perspectives for experimental biomolecular investigations in this field.

Interpretation of the electronic absorption spectrum of free base porphin by using multiconfigurational second-order perturbation theory

Abstract Multiconfigurational second-order perturbation (CASPT2) calculations have been performed on the low-lying optically allowed valence excited states of the free base porphin molecule in order to assign the four lowest bands of the spectrum. The low-lying triplet states have also been characterized. A basis set of the atomic natural orbital type of split-valence plus polarization quality for first-row atoms has been employed. Polarization functions are important for an accurate description of the transitions. These CASPT2 results provide a consistent picture of the experimental spectrum. Each band of the spectrum up to 4.5 eV is composed of a pair of states, which become degenerate in the spectra of metal–porphyrins. Our interpretation deviates from assignments based on other types of ab initio calculations.

The Role of Adenine Excimers in the Photophysics of Oligonucleotides

Energies and structures of different arrangements of the stacked adenine homodimer have been computed at the ab initio CASPT2 level of theory in isolation and in an aqueous environment. Adenine dimers are shown to form excimer singlet states with different degrees of stacking and interaction. A model for a 2-fold decay dynamics of adenine oligomers can be supported in which, after initial excitation in the middle UV range, unstacked or slightly stacked pairs of nucleobases will relax by an ultrafast internal conversion to the ground state, localizing the excitation in the monomer and through the corresponding conical intersection with the ground state. On the other hand, long-lifetime intrastrand stacked excimer singlet states will be formed in different conformations, including neutral and charge transfer dimers, which originate the red-shifted emission observed in the oligonucleotide chains and that will evolve toward the same monomer decay channel after surmounting an energy barrier. By computing the transient absorption spectra for the different structures considered and their relative stability in vacuo and in water, it is concluded that in the adenine homodimers the maximum-overlap face-to-face orientations are the most stable excimer conformations observed in experiment.

Ab initio determination of the ionization potentials of DNA and RNA nucleobases.

Quantum chemical high level ab initio coupled-cluster and multiconfigurational perturbation methods have been used to compute vertical and adiabatic ionization potentials of the five canonical DNA and RNA nucleobases: uracil, thymine, cytosine, adenine, and guanine. Several states of their cations have been also calculated. The present results represent a systematic compendium of these magnitudes, establishing theoretical reference values at a level not reported before, calibrating computational strategies, and guiding the assignment of the features in the experimental photoelectron spectra.

A theoretical study of the electronic spectrum of naphthalene

Abstract Ab initio calculations have been carried out for the singlet and triplet excited states of naphthalene. Excitation energies have been calculated using multiconfigurational second order perturbation theory (CASPT2). The study comprises a total of 32 states, ten singlet and ten triplet excited states, in addition to the 1au→3s, 3p, dipole-allowed 3d, and 2b1u→3s, 3p Rydberg states. Computed excitation energies and oscillator strengths make possible confident assignments of the main features reported in the singlet-singlet and triplet-triplet experimental spectra.

A combined theoretical and experimental determination of the electronic spectrum of acetone

A combined ab initio and experimental investigation has been performed of the main features of the electronic spectrum of acetone. Vertical transition energies have been calculated from the ground to the ny→π*, π→π*, σ→π*, and the n=3 Rydberg states. In addition, the 1A1 energy surfaces have been studied as functions of the CO bond length. The 1A1 3p and 3d states were found to be heavily perturbed by the π→π* state. Resonant multiphoton ionization and polarization‐selected photoacoustic spectra of acetone have been measured and observed transitions were assigned on internal criteria. The calculated vertical transition energies to the ny→π* and all Rydberg states were found to be in agreement with experiment. This includes the 3s‐, all three 3p‐, and the A1, B1, and B2 3d‐Rydberg states. By contrast, there is little agreement between the calculated and experimental relative intensities of the A1 and B2 3d‐Rydberg transitions. In addition, anomalously intense high vibrational overtone bands of one of the 3...