Petr Slavíček

State-of-the-art correlated ab initio potential energy curves for heavy rare gas dimers: Ar2, Kr2, and Xe2

Characteristics of the heavy rare gas dimers (Ar2,Kr2,Xe2) have been studied by correlated ab initio calculations. All-electron CCSD(T) calculations were performed for Ar and Kr dimers, and calculations with relativistic effective core potentials were performed for Kr and Xe dimers. Extended basis sets (aug-cc-pVXZ, X=D, T, Q, 5, 6) were combined with bond functions (spd, spdfg). The use of bond functions significantly improves the basis set convergence. For the argon dimer, we have included also a CCSDT correction yielding a higher quality potential energy curve. This correction has been calculated using aug-cc-pVTZ+spd basis set. All possible sources of errors have been analyzed for the argon dimer [basis set saturation, correlation contributions going beyond CCSD(T) method, effect of core corrections and relativistic corrections]. In the case of the Ar dimer, the highest level of theory reproduces the semiempirical stabilization energy within 1.3 cm−1. To obtain even closer agreement with experiment it...

A Fully Size-Resolved Perspective on the Crystallization of Water Clusters

Minimal Ice Water clusters comprising fewer than 100 molecules have long been studied in gas phase to model the more complex structures of ice and liquid water. At some stage, as clusters grow larger, they effectively become tiny crystals of ice, but it has been hard to pinpoint precisely where in the range between 100 and 1000 molecules the formal transition takes place. Pradzynski et al. (p. 1529) used vibrational spectroscopy to show that the onset of an icelike structure, indicated by a characteristically distinct absorption band in the infrared, occurs at a cluster size of approximately 275 molecules. Infrared spectroscopy of water clusters of increasing size indicates the onset of an ice-like structure at around 275 molecules. The number of water molecules needed to form the smallest ice crystals has proven challenging to pinpoint experimentally. This information would help to better understand the hydrogen-bonding interactions that account for the macroscopic properties of water. Here, we report infrared (IR) spectra of precisely size-selected (H2O)n clusters, with n ranging from 85 to 475; sodium doping and associated IR excitation–modulated photoionization spectroscopy allowed the study of this previously intractable size domain. Spectral features indicating the onset of crystallization are first observed for n = 275 ± 25; for n = 475 ± 25, the well-known band of crystalline ice around 3200 cm−1 dominates the OH-stretching region. The applied method has the potential to push size-resolved IR spectroscopy of neutral clusters more broadly to the 100- to 1000-molecule range, in which many solvents start to manifest condensed phase properties.

Helquats: A Facile, Modular, Scalable Route to Novel Helical Dications

The synthesis and properties of helical extended diquat (helquat), and derivatives that bear resemblance to diquat and azoniahelicene, was reported. Triyne with elongated tethers connecting the heterocyclic moiety with the pendant alkyne functionalities undergoing cycloisomerization give helquat featuring two seven-membered rings. The seven helquats reported are accessed uniformly in three steps from commercially available starting materials, entailing a Sonogashira coupling, bisquaternization, cycloisomerization, and 2+2+2 cycloisomerization. The evidence for the reversible electrochemical Weiz-type manifold and regular columnar stacks in crystal structures suggest the potential of helquats as electroactive functional elements.

Ionization Energies of Aqueous Nucleic Acids: Photoelectron Spectroscopy of Pyrimidine Nucleosides and ab Initio Calculations

Vertical ionization energies of the nucleosides cytidine and deoxythymidine in water, the lowest ones amounting in both cases to 8.3 eV, are obtained from photoelectron spectroscopy measurements in aqueous microjets. Ab initio calculations employing a nonequilibrium polarizable continuum model quantitatively reproduce the experimental spectra and provide molecular interpretation of the individual peaks of the photoelectron spectrum, showing also that lowest ionization originates from the base. Comparison of calculated vertical ionization potentials of pyrimidine bases, nucleosides, and nucleotides in water and in the gas phase underlines the dramatic effect of bulk hydration on the electronic structure. In the gas phase, the presence of sugar and, in particular, of phosphate has a strong effect on the energetics of ionization of the base. Upon bulk hydration, the ionization potential of the base in contrast becomes rather insensitive to the presence of the sugar and phosphate, which indicates a remarkable screening ability of the aqueous solvent. Accurate aqueous-phase vertical ionization potentials provide a significant improvement to the corrected gas-phase values used in the literature and represent important information in assessing the threshold energies for photooxidation and oxidation free energies of solvent-exposed DNA components. Likewise, such energetic data should allow improved assessment of delocalization and charge-hopping mechanisms in DNA ionized by radiation.

Can electrospray mass spectrometry quantitatively probe speciation? Hydrolysis of uranyl nitrate studied by gas-phase methods.

Electrospray ionization of uranyl nitrate dissolved in water generates gaseous species containing either hydroxo-uranyl [UO(2)(OH)](+) or nitrato-uranyl [UO(2)(NO(3))](+) contact ion pairs solvated by up to four water molecules. Furthermore, uranyl clusters of the general type [U(m)O(2m)(X,Y)(2m-1)(H(2)O)(n)](+) (X,Y = OH, NO(3)) with m = 1-5 and n = 2-4 are formed. Collision-induced dissociation experiments are used to probe the structures and the stoichiometries of the uranyl ions generated. A detailed investigation of the concentration-dependent behavior of the formed gaseous uranyl complexes reveals a preference for nitrate- over hydroxide-containing species with increasing concentration of the sprayed solution. This behavior reflects changes in the pH value of the bulk solutions that can be attributed to solvolysis of UO(2)(2+) in water. Further, the tendency for generation of polynuclear cluster ions is amplified with increasing concentration and can be explained by a mechanism which involves the association of cations present in solution with neutral species such as UO(2)(OH)(2), UO(2)(OH)(NO(3)), and UO(2)(NO(3))(2). The observed dependences of the cluster-ion intensities in the mass spectra from the concentration of the solutions fed to the electrospray source are used to suggest a scheme for a quantitative correlation between the gas-phase and solution-phase data. The results inter alia indicate that the effective concentrations of the spraying solution can be several orders of magnitude larger than those of the feed solutions entering the electrospray ionization source.

Ionization of imidazole in the gas phase, microhydrated environments, and in aqueous solution.

Hydration of neutral and cationic imidazole is studied by means of ab initio and molecular dynamics calculations, and by photoelectron spectroscopy of the neutral species in a liquid microjet. The calculations show the importance of long range solvent polarization and of the difference between the structure of water molecules in the first shell around the neutral vs cationic species for determining vertical and adiabatic ionization potentials. The vertical ionization potential of neutral imidazole of 8.06 eV calculated using a nonequilibrium polarizable continuum model agrees well with the value of 8.26 eV obtained experimentally for an aqueous solution at pH 10.6.

Valence ionization of water clusters: from isolated molecules to bulk.

The valence photoelectron spectra of water clusters are studied experimentally and by ab initio calculations. The size dependence of the vertical ionization energy of the outermost orbitals is explicitly shown. A shift toward lower values is observed. For small cluster sizes, it can be rationalized as an effect of charge delocalization as the system is becoming more extended. Ionization energies of larger clusters decrease linearly with inverse cluster radius and asymptotically approach the value of liquid water. In the calculations, we apply a reflection principle approach based on sampling a quantum mechanical distribution of different initial-state geometries to clusters. An excellent agreement of peak shapes calculated thus with measured ones is shown. Using additional polarization fields, the extension of this approach to the photoionization of liquid water is demonstrated. Upon deuteration of the water clusters, we experimentally and theoretically find slightly larger absolute values of the vertical ionization energies. We suggest that the measurement of electron ionization energies can be used as an alternative means to characterize water cluster sizes, which can complement the use of scaling laws.

On the nature and origin of dicationic, charge-separated species formed in liquid water on X-ray irradiation

To understand the yield and patterns of damage in aqueous condensed matter, including biological systems, it is essential to identify the initial products subsequent to the interaction of high-energy radiation with liquid water. Until now, the observation of several fast reactions induced by energetic particles in water was not possible on their characteristic timescales. Therefore, some of the reaction intermediates involved, particularly those that require nuclear motion, were not considered when describing radiation chemistry. Here, through a combined experimental and theoretical study, we elucidate the ultrafast proton dynamics in the first few femtoseconds after X-ray core-level ionization of liquid water. We show through isotope analysis of the Auger spectra that proton-transfer dynamics occur on the same timescale as electron autoionization. Proton transfer leads to the formation of a Zundel-type intermediate [HO*···H···H2O](+), which further ionizes to form a so-far unnoticed type of dicationic charge-separated species with high internal energy. We call the process proton-transfer mediated charge separation.

Intense Chiroptical Switching in a Dicationic Helicene-Like Derivative: Exploration of a Viologen-Type Redox Manifold of a Non-Racemic Helquat

Two-step redox switching in enantiopure helquat system [P-1](2+) ⇌ [P-1](•+) ⇌ [P-1](0) is demonstrated. The viologen-type electroactive unit embedded directly in the helical scaffold of 1 is responsible for the prominent chiroptical switching at 264 nm. This process is associated with a marked sign-reversal of Cotton effect ramping between Δε = +35 M(-1) cm(-1) for [P-1](2+) and Δε = -100 M(-1) cm(-1) for [P-1](0). This helically chiral system features the most intense chiroptical switch response documented in the field of helicenoids.

Ab initio floating occupation molecular orbital-complete active space configuration interaction: An efficient approximation to CASSCF

We have implemented a complete active space configuration interaction method (CASCI) based on floating occupation molecular orbitals (FOMOs) at the ab initio level. The performance of this FOMO-CASCI method was investigated for potential applications in photochemistry and photodynamics. We found that FOMO-CASCI often represents a good approximation to the state-averaged complete active space self-consistent field (SA-CASSCF) method. FOMO-CASCI is therefore an attractive alternative for use in ab initio photodynamics. The method is more efficient and more stable than SA-CASSCF. We also discuss some problematic cases for the FOMO-CASCI approach. Possible extensions of the FOMO-CASCI approach are discussed briefly.