Yusuke Morisawa

Polarization and temperature dependent spectra of poly(3-hydroxyalkanoate)s measured at terahertz frequencies

Temperature-dependent terahertz (THz) absorption spectra of poly(3-hydroxyalkanoate)s (PHAs) were measured by using a Fourier transform far-infrared (FT-FIR) spectrometer and a THz time-domain spectrometer over a temperature range of 10 K to 465 K with a liquid helium cryostat and a heating cell. Clear differences were observed between the spectra of crystalline and amorphous polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), indicating that the absorption peaks observed in the THz spectra originated in the higher-order conformation of PHB. The polarization spectra of a stretched PHB sample were measured, and the direction of the vibrational transition moment was determined. The temperature dependences of the spectra reveal frequency shifts and broadening of the absorption peaks with temperature, suggesting large anharmonicity of the vibrational potential. The temperature shift behaviour is quite different in each transition. Some of the transitions show a blue shift, which cannot be explained by a simple anharmonic potential model. Frequency shifts of the peaks were mainly observed below 10 THz, which suggests a large anharmonicity of the vibrational potential at lower frequencies.

Higher order conformation of poly(3-hydroxyalkanoates) studied by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy

Terahertz absorption spectra of poly(3-hydroxyalkanoates) with different conformations were measured by using a terahertz time domain spectrometer. Sharp absorption peaks were observed in the spectrum of crystalline samples. The orientation direction of the transition dipole moment was investigated by the polarization spectra. The peak at 2.92 THz was assigned to a vibration of helical structure along the fiber axis, and the peak at 2.49 THz was attributed to a vibration due to the hydrogen bonding between helix structures. The temperature dependence of the spectra reflects the change in the hydrogen bonding distance and melting process of the crystalline structure.

Advances in Molecular Structure and Interaction Studies Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy.

Infrared Spectroscopy Mirosław Antoni Czarnecki,*,† Yusuke Morisawa,‡ Yoshisuke Futami, and Yukihiro Ozaki* †Faculty of Chemistry, University of Wrocław, F. Joliot-Curie 14, 50-383 Wrocław, Poland ‡Department of Chemistry, School of Science and Engineering, Kinki University, Higashi-Osaka, Osaka 577-8502, Japan Department of Biological and Chemical Systems Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Kumamoto College, Yatsushiro, Kumamoto 866-8501, Japan Department of Chemistry, School of Science and Technology, Kwansei Gakuin University, Sanda, Hyogo 669-1337, Japan

Far-Ultraviolet Spectroscopy in the Solid and Liquid States: A Review

Ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy has long been used together with visible (Vis) spectroscopy to investigate electronic transitions of a molecule. Most studies of the electronic structure of molecules using UV spectroscopy have been carried out in the 190–380 nm region because commercial UV-Vis spectrometers are available only for that region. The wavelength region shorter than 190 nm is also very rich in information about the electronic states and structure of a molecule, but the absorptivity is very high in this region, and thus, this region has been employed to investigate mainly the electronic states and structure of gas molecules. Because condensed-phase materials with high molecular density do not transmit much light in the shorter wavelength region of the UV, reflection spectroscopy has been used to observe spectra of solid samples in the wavelength region shorter than 190 nm. However, for liquid samples one cannot generally use either absorption spectroscopy or specular reflection spectroscopy. Accordingly, UV spectroscopy in this region for liquid samples has been a relatively undeveloped research area. To solve the above difficulties of UV spectroscopy in the wavelength region shorter than 190 nm we have recently developed a totally new UV spectrometer based on attenuated total reflection (ATR) that enables us to measure spectra of liquid and solid samples in the 140–280 nm region. We will show that spectroscopy in the wavelength region shorter than 190 nm holds considerable promise not only in basic science but also in applications such as qualitative and quantitative analysis, on-line monitoring, environmental geochemical analysis, and surface analysis. The purpose of the present review paper is to report recent progress in UV spectroscopy of solid and liquid phases in the 140–280 nm region. In this review, we refer to the 120–200 nm region to as the far-UV (FUV) region. The term “vacuum UV region” is no longer appropriate for the 120–200 nm region because most recent spectrometers used in this region are not evacuated but instead incorporate a nitrogen purge. This review consists of eight parts: (1) introduction to FUV spectroscopy, (2) brief history of FUV spectroscopy, (3) development of new FUV spectrometers, (4) FUV studies of liquid water and aqueous solutions, (5) FUV spectra of organic molecules in the liquid states, (6) band assignments by quantum chemical calculations, (7) potential applications of FUV spectroscopy in liquid and solid states; and (8) future prospects of FUV spectroscopy.

Effect of cations on absorption bands of first electronic transition of liquid water.

The effect of cations (Li(+), Na(+), K(+), Rb(+), and Cs(+)) on the first electronic transition (A <-- X) of liquid water was investigated by attenuated total reflection far ultraviolet spectroscopy. To negate the effect of anions, aqueous solutions of 1 M alkali metal nitrates and bromides were compared at a temperature of 25 degrees C. It is found that the peak energy of the A <-- X band of water, which shows a marked red shift with decreasing hydrogen-bond strength, decreases with increasing cation size. The peak energies of the A <-- X band can be approximated by a linear function of the inverse of the ionic radii of the alkali metal cations, which indicates (according to the Born equation) that the first electronic transition of water is characterized by the solvation energy of the cations.

Isothermal crystallization of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) studied by terahertz two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy

The isothermal crystallization of poly(3-hydroxybutylate) (PHB) was studied by monitoring the temporal evolution of terahertz absorption spectra in conjunction with spectral analysis using two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy. Correlation between the absorption peaks and the sequential order of the changes in spectral intensity extracted from synchronous and asynchronous plots indicated that crystallization of PHB at 90 °C is a two step process, in which C-H···O=C hydrogen bonds are initially formed before well-defined crystal structures are established.

Quantum Mechanical Interpretation of Intermolecular Vibrational Modes of Crystalline Poly-(R)-3-Hydroxybutyrate Observed in Low-Frequency Raman and Terahertz Spectra

Low-frequency vibrational bands observed in the Raman and terahertz (THz) spectra in the region of 50-150 cm(-1) of crystalline powder poly-(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) were assigned based on comparisons of the Raman and THz spectra, polarization directions of THz absorption spectra, and their congruities to quantum mechanically (QM) calculated spectra. This combination, Raman and THz spectroscopies and the QM simulations, has been rarely adopted in spite of its potential of reliable assignments of the vibrational bands. The QM simulation of a spectrum has already been popular in vibrational spectroscopies, but for low-frequency bands of polymers it is still a difficult task due to its large scales of systems and a fact that interactions among polymer chains should be considered in the calculation. In this study, the spectral calculations with the aid of the Cartesian-coordinate tensor transfer (CCT) method were applied successfully to the crystalline PHB, which include the explicit consideration of an intermolecular interaction among helical polymer chains. The agreements between the calculations and the experiments are good in both the Raman and THz spectra in terms of spectral shapes, frequencies, and intensities. A Raman active band at 79 cm(-1) was assigned to the intermolecular vibrational mode of the out-of-plane C═O + CH(3) vibration. A polarization state of the corresponding far-infrared absorption band at ∼82 cm(-1), perpendicular to the helix-elongation direction of PHB, was reproduced only under the explicit correction, which indicates that this polarized band originates from the interaction among the polymer chains. The calculation explored that the polarization direction of this band was along the a axis, which is consistent with the direction in which weak intermolecular hydrogen bonds are suggested between the C═O and CH(3) groups of two parallel polymer chains. The results obtained here have confirmed sensitivity of the low-frequency vibrational bands to the weak hydrogen bonds among the polymer chains.

Elucidating electronic transitions from σ orbitals of liquid n- and branched alkanes by far-ultraviolet spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations.

Attenuated total reflection far-ultraviolet (ATR-FUV) spectra containing Rydberg states of n-alkanes (C(m)H(2m+2); m varies in the range 5-9) and branched alkanes observed in the liquid phase were investigated by quantum chemical calculations with the aim of elucidating electronic transitions from σ orbitals of liquid n- and branched alkanes. New assignments are proposed based on the time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) and symmetry-adapted cluster configuration interaction (SAC-CI) calculations, and the differences in these spectra are analyzed in detail. The FUV spectra of n-alkanes show a broad asymmetric feature near 8.3 eV. The strong band at ∼8.3 eV shows a red shift with a significant increase in intensity as the carbon chain length increases, which is attributed to the overlapping transitions from the third (or fourth) highest occupied molecular orbitals HOMO-2 (or HOMO-3) and HOMO-1 to Rydberg 3p(y) by the TD-DFT and SAC-CI calculations. This band was previously assigned to the overlap of two peaks arising from the transition from the HOMO to 3p and from the HOMO-1 to 3s based on their term values. Although the most intense transition, T1, is from HOMO-2 for m = 5 and 6 and HOMO-3 for m varying in the range of 7-9, the shape of Kohn-Sham molecular orbital for T1 is similar among the all-alkanes investigated. The theoretical result also has demonstrated that the red shift originates in both stabilization of the Rydberg 3p(y) and destabilization of the occupied orbitals. The intensity of the shoulder at 7.7 eV drastically increases in the spectra of the branched alkanes, especially for those with quaternary carbon atoms such as 2,2-dimethyl butane. This increase in intensity is caused by a reduction in symmetry in the branched alkanes, which leads the forbidden transitions to Rydberg 3s to allowed transitions. In this way, the present study has provided new insight into the existence of their Rydberg transitions and the shape of the relevant MOs of the transitions.

Low-n Rydberg transitions of liquid ketones studied by attenuated total reflection far-ultraviolet spectroscopy.

Far-ultraviolet (FUV) spectra in the 8.55-6.20 eV (145-200 nm) region were measured for several kinds of ketones in the liquid phase to investigate low-n Rydberg transitions using a uniquely developed technique of attenuated total reflection (ATR) FUV spectrometry. Assignments of the transitions are attempted for absorptions in this region by comparing the spectra for the liquid phase with those for the gas phase and ab initio calculations at the equation-of-motion coupled cluster theory with single and double substitutions at the aug-cc-pVDZ level. The transition from a nonbonding electron (n) to the 3s Rydberg orbital was found at around 6.7 eV for all investigated liquid ketones. Another intense band also appeared in the higher-energy region (ca. 8.5 eV) for all the ketones. A significant shoulder was found at around 7.4 eV for branched ketones. This shoulder band near 7.4 eV was assigned to the n-3p Rydberg transition. Band broadening and higher energy shifts were observed in the spectra of the liquid phase ketones in comparison with those of the gas phase ketones.

Far-Ultraviolet Spectra of n-Alkanes and Branched Alkanes in the Liquid Phase Observed Using an Attenuated Total Reflection—Far Ultraviolet (ATR-FUV) Spectrometer

Far-ultraviolet (FUV) spectra of n-alkanes (n = 5–14) and branched alkanes were measured in their liquid state by using a newly developed attenuated total reflection (ATR)-FUV spectrometer to investigate spectra–structure relationship in the FUV region. The n-alkanes show a broad band near 8.3 eV and a weak shoulder near 7.7 eV. The 8.3 eV band shows a lower energy shift with a significant intensity increase with the increase in the length of alkyl chain. We have assigned the 8.3 eV band to the overlap of two bands due to the transition from the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) to 3p and that from the HOMO-1 to 3s based on the observation that the peak energy of the 8.3 eV band of the n-alkanes is proportional to the first ionization energy. The 7.7 eV shoulder may be due to the transition from HOMO to 3s. The intensity of the 7.7 eV band increases markedly in the order of alkanes without branch, with tertiary, and with quaternary carbon atoms. It is very likely that the forbidden transition from HOMO to 3s becomes allowed by the large decrease in symmetry upon going from the n-alkanes to the branched ones with the quaternary carbon, respectively.