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Hazardous persistent organic pollutants (POPs) interact in soil with the soil organic matter (SOM) but this interaction is insufficiently understood at the molecular level. We investigated the adsorption of hexachlorobenzene (HCB) on soil samples with systematically modified SOM. These samples included the original soil, the soil modified by adding a hot water extract (HWE) fraction (soil+3 HWE and soil+6 HWE), and the pyrolyzed soil. The SOM contents increased in the order pyrolyzed soil

The photoreduction of the bis(2-phenylpyridinato-)(2,2'-bipyridine)iridium(III) ion ([Ir(ppy)2(bpy)](+)), used as a photosensitizer in photocatalytic water splitting, by triethylamine was studied by means of UV/VIS, XANES, and EPR spectroscopies, supported by theoretical calculations at density functional theory (DFT) and complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF/CASPT2) levels. The combination of these methods suggests a predominant bpy localization of the spin-density of the unpaired electron with notable delocalization to the Ir center. This is particularly evident from EPR and theoretical results and leads to broad EPR lines and a large anisotropy of the g-factor.

Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) and X-ray absorption (XA) experiments at the iron L- and nitrogen K-edge are combined with high-level first-principles restricted active space self-consistent field (RASSCF) calculations for a systematic investigation of the nature of the chemical bond in potassium ferrocyanide in aqueous solution. The atom- and site-specific RIXS excitations allow for direct observation of ligand-to-metal (Fe L-edge) and metal-to-ligand (N K-edge) charge-transfer bands and thereby evidence for strong σ-donation and π-backdonation. The effects are identified by comparing experimental and simulated spectra related to both the unoccupied and occupied molecular orbitals in solution.

The concentration-dependent absorption and temperature-dependent fluorescence of the perylene bisimide dye PBI 1 in methylcyclohexane point to a biphasic aggregation behavior. At intermediate concentrations and temperatures, respectively, a dimer with low fluorescence yield dominates, which cannot be extended to longer aggregates. Those are formed at high concentrations and low temperatures, respectively, via a second, energetically unfavorable dimer species that acts as a nucleus. A corresponding aggregation model reproduces accurately the concentration dependence and allows extracting the equilibrium constants and spectra of the distinct species. The differences in the photophysical properties indicate H-type excitonic coupling for the favored dimer and J-type characteristics for the extended aggregates which could be related to structural models based on DFT calculations. The energetics can be understood by considering hydrogen-bonding and π-π-stacking interactions.

Aqueous iron(II) chloride is studied by soft X-ray absorption, emission, and resonant inelastic Raman scattering techniques on the Fe L-edge and O K-edge using the liquid-jet technique. Soft X-ray spectroscopies allow in situ and atom-specific probing of the electronic structure of the aqueous complex and thus open the door for the investigation of chemical bonding and molecular orbital mixing. In this work, we combine theoretical ab initio restricted active space self-consistent field and local atomic multiplet calculations with experimental soft X-ray spectroscopic methods for a description of the local electronic structure of the aqueous ferrous ion complex. We demonstrate that the atomic iron valence final states dominate the resonant inelastic X-ray scattering spectra of the complex over the ligand-to-metal charge transfer transitions, which indicates a weak interaction of Fe(2+) ion with surrounding water molecules. Moreover, the oxygen K-edge also shows only minor changes due to the presence of Fe(2+) implying a small influence on the hydrogen-bond network of water.

Nonradiative decay channels in the L-edge fluorescence yield spectra from transition-metal-aqueous solutions give rise to spectral distortions with respect to x-ray transmission spectra. Their origin is unraveled here using partial and inverse partial fluorescence yields on the microjet combined with multireference ab initio electronic structure calculations. Comparing Fe2+, Fe3+, and Co2+ systems we demonstrate and quantify unequivocally the state-dependent electron delocalization within the manifold of d orbitals as one origin of this observation.

Interactions of organic pollutants with soil organic matter can be studied by adsorption of the pollutants on well-characterized soil samples with constant mineralogy but different organic matter compositions. Therefore, the objectives of the current study are establishing a set of different, well-characterized soil samples by systematic modifications of their organic matter content and molecular composition and prove these modifications by advanced complementary analytical techniques. Modifications were done by off-line pyrolysis and removal/addition of hot-water extracted organic fraction (HWE) from/to the original soil sample. Both pyrolysis-field ionization mass spectrometry (Py-FIMS) and synchrotron-based C- and N- X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy (XANES) were applied to investigate the composition of the soil organic matter. These complementary analytical methods in addition to elemental analysis agreed in showing the following order of organic matter contents: pyrolyzed soil

The quantum dynamics of vibrational excitation and dissociation of H(2)(+) by strong and temporally shaped infrared (IR) laser pulses has been studied on the femtosecond (fs) time scale by numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation with explicit treatment of nuclear and electron motion beyond the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. Using sin(2)-shaped laser pulses of 120 fs duration with a peak intensity of I(0) > 10(14) W/cm(2), it has been found that below-resonant vibrational excitation with a laser carrier frequency of ω < ω(10)/2 (where ω(10) is the frequency of the |v = 0> → |v = 1> vibrational transition) is much more efficient than a quasi-resonant vibrational excitation at ω ≈ ω(10). In particular, at the below-resonant laser carrier frequency ω = 0.3641 × 10(-2) au (799.17 cm(-1)), dissociation probabilities of H(2)(+) (15.3% at the end of the 120 fs laser pulse and 21% at t = 240 fs) are more than 3 orders of magnitude higher than those obtained for the quasi-resonant laser frequency ω = 1.013 × 10(-2) au (2223.72 cm(-1)). Probabilities of state-selective population transfer to vibrational states |v = 1>, |v = 2>, and |v = 3> from the vibrational ground state |v = 0> of about 85% have been calculated in the optimal below-resonant cases. The underlying mechanism of the efficient below-resonant vibrational excitation is the electron-field following and simultaneous transfer of energy to the nuclear coordinate.

Nonadiabatic dynamics in the framework of time-dependent density functional theory was used to simulate gas-phase relaxation dynamics of pairs of conformations of formic acid monomers (cis and trans FAM) and dimers (acyclic aFAD and cyclic cFAD). In the early phase of the excited state dynamics, elongation of the C═O bond and pyramidalization of the carbon atom is observed in both FAM and FAD. Subsequently, the photodynamics of FAM is shown to be dominated by fragmentation processes occurring mostly in the excited state and resulting in HCO and OH radicals. In only a few cases does the dissociation take place from the vibrationally excited ground electronic state, whereby CO and H(2)O are the major reaction products. In the dimers, single proton transfer triggers ultrafast relaxation to the ground electronic state. In the single hydrogen bonded dimer about half of the trajectories dissociate into electronically excited monomers, whereas this potentially destructive dissociation is effectively suppressed in the double hydrogen bonded dimer. Upon relaxation to the ground electronic state, separation of FAD into monomers takes place, but without their further fragmentation on the time scale of the simulation. We conclude that the crucial difference between the FAM and FAD photodynamics is that the latter is dominated by nondestructive radiationless deactivation pathways during which a key protective role is assumed by the single (aFAD) or double (cFAD) intermonomer hydrogen bonds.

The vertical singlet-singlet and singlet-triplet electronic excitation energies of bis(2-phenylpyridinato-)(2,2'-bipyridine)iridium(III) ([Ir(ppy)(2)(bpy)](+)) are calculated on the basis of a comparative quantum chemical study using wave function methods such as CASSCF∕CASPT2 and density functional theory (TDDFT) with local and range-separated functionals. The TDDFT results show a strong dependence of the charge-transfer transition energies on the amount of the exact exchange in the functional. In general, TDDFT with range-separated functionals provides a good agreement with the experimental spectra. As a result a new assignment of the absorption spectrum of the title compound is proposed.

The changes in nature and order of the excited electronic states of the photosensitizer [Ir(ppy)(2)(bpy)](+) upon binding to small silver clusters, Ag(n) (n = 1-6), were studied theoretically using the linear response TDDFT method with the range-separated LC-BLYP functional. Binding energies and localization of HOMO and LUMO orbitals are found to oscillate with the number of silver atoms. Special emphasis is put on the discussion of long-range charge transfer transitions between the photosensitizer and the silver cluster. The energies of these transitions were found to be only slightly dependent on the relative orientations of both fragments, but strongly dependent on the intermolecular distance. The absorption spectrum of the combined system does not show a systematic trend with respect to cluster size, but it is strongly modified by the charge transfer transitions. Possible photophysical processes of the systems containing larger clusters are discussed.

Perylene bisimides (PBIs) are excellent dyes and versatile building blocks for supramolecular structures. Only recently have PBIs been shown to depict absorption characteristics of J-aggregates. We apply electronic structure calculations and femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy to the monomeric, bay-substituted building-block of a PBI aggregate in dichloromethane to investigate its electronically excited states in order to provide the ingredients for the description of excitons in the aggregates and their annihilation processes. The PBI S(1)←S(0) absorption spectrum and the S(1)→S(0) emission spectrum have been assigned based on time-dependent Density Functional Theory calculations for the geometry-optimized electronic ground state and excited state structures in the gas phase. The monomeric absorption spectrum contains a strong transition at 580 nm and a broad shoulder between 575-500 nm, both features are attributed to a vibrational progression with an effective vibrational mode of 1415 cm(-1) whose major contributing vibrational normal modes are breathing modes of the perylene body. The effective vibrational mode of the emission spectrum is characterized by a frequency of 1369 cm(-1), whose major contributing vibrational normal modes are characterized by perylene and phenol (bay-substituent) CH bendings. The S(n)←S(1) excited state absorption spectrum is assigned based on Multi-Reference Configuration Interaction methodology. Here, we identify three transitions which give rise to two broad experimental features, one being located between 500 and 600 nm and the other one ranging from 650 to 750 nm., (This journal is © the Owner Societies 2011)

Theory and simulation of laser control of single and double proton transfer reactions in hydrogen-bonded molecular systems are reviewed. Different approaches to the construction of potential energy surfaces are introduced as a means to design simple models for unraveling basic mechanistic principles of laser control. Obtaining the control laser field is the central task and various methods such as optimal control theory are outlined. Applications are presented for the infrared laser-driven single proton transfer in models of thioacetylacetone and acetylacetone as well as for the double proton transfer in porphycene derivatives.

The excitation of the degenerate E(1) carbonyl stretching vibrations in dimanganese decacarbonyl is shown to trigger wave packet circulation in the subspace of these two modes. On the time scale of about 5 ps, intramolecular anharmonic couplings do not cause appreciable disturbance, even under conditions where the two E(1) modes are excited by up to about two vibrational quanta each. The compactness of the circulating wave packet is shown to depend strongly on the excitation conditions, such as pulse duration and field strength. Numerical results for the solution of the seven-dimensional vibrational Schrödinger equation are obtained for a density functional theory based potential energy surface and using the multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree method., (© 2011 American Institute of Physics)

The processes of ionization and energy transfer in a quantum system composed of two distant H atoms with an initial internuclear separation of 100 atomic units (5.29 nm) have been studied by the numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation beyond the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. Thereby it has been assumed that only one of the two H atoms was excited by temporally and spatially shaped laser pulses at various laser carrier frequencies. The quantum dynamics of the extended H-H system, which was taken to be initially either in an unentangled or an entangled ground state, has been explored within a linear three-dimensional model, including the two z coordinates of the electrons and the internuclear distance R. An efficient energy transfer from the laser-excited H atom (atom A) to the other H atom (atom B) and the ionization of the latter have been found. It has been shown that the physical mechanisms of the energy transfer as well as of the ionization of atom B are the Coulomb attraction of the laser driven electron of atom A by the proton of atom B and a short-range Coulomb repulsion of the two electrons when their wave functions strongly overlap in the domain of atom B., (© The Owner Societies 2011)

Quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics hybrid simulations (CPMD/GROMOS) of nonlinear infrared spectra are performed for a modified adenine-uracil base pair in CDCl(3) solution. Employing a mapping between hydrogen bond distances and fundamental as well as overtone transition frequencies on the basis of on-the-fly snapshot potential energy curves, energy gap correlation functions are established. These correlation functions are utilized to determine pump-probe and two-dimensional photon echo spectra. Analysis of the latter yields off-diagonal peaks signifying correlated fluctuations of the N-H···N and N-H···O hydrogen bonds.

Hybrid QM/MM molecular dynamics simulations have been carried out for the Watson-Crick base pair of 9-ethyl-8-phenyladenine and 1-cyclohexyluracil in deuterochloroform solution at room temperature. Trajectories are analyzed paying special attention to the geometric correlations within the N-HN and N-HO hydrogen bonds in the base pair. Even though the two hydrogen bonds are only approximately linear and the heterocycles are tilted with respect to each other, hydrogen bond and N-H lengths follow a simple empirical correlation based on Pauling's valence bond order model. In order to describe the IR line shape of the two NH-stretching vibrations, the correlation between their fundamental transition frequencies and the hydrogen bond lengths is exploited. This facilitates efficient evaluation of the fluctuating transition frequencies along the QM/MM trajectory which allows the determination of the line shape function.

Quantum dynamics simulations of double proton transfer (DPT) in the model porphine, starting from a nonequilibrium initial state, demonstrate that a switch from synchronous (or concerted) to sequential (or stepwise or successive) breaking and making of two bonds is possible. For this proof of principle, we employ the simple model of Smedarchina, Z.; Siebrand, W.; Fernández-Ramos, A. J. Chem. Phys. 2007, 127, 174513, with reasonable definition for the domains D for the reactant R, the product P, the saddle point SP2 which is crossed during synchronous DPT, and two intermediates I = I(1) + I(2) for two alternative routes of sequential DPT. The wavepacket dynamics is analyzed in terms of various properties, from qualitative conclusions based on the patterns of the densities and flux densities, until quantitative results for the time evolutions of the populations or probabilities P(D)(t) of the domains D = R, P, SP2, and I, and the associated net fluxes F(D)(t) as well as the domain-to-domain (DTD) fluxes F(D1,D2) between neighboring domains D1 and D2. Accordingly, the initial synchronous mechanism of the first forward reaction is due to the directions of various momenta, which are imposed on the wavepacket by the L-shaped part of the steep repulsive wall of the potential energy surface (PES), close to the minimum for the reactant. At the same time, these momenta cause initial squeezing followed by rapid dispersion of the representative wavepacket. The switch from the synchronous to sequential mechanism is called indirect, because it is mediated by two effects: First, the wavepacket dispersion; second, relief reflections of the broadened wavepacket from wide regions of the inverse L-shaped steep repulsive wall of the PES close to the minimum for the product, preferably to the domains I = I(1) + I(2) for the sequential DPT during the first back reaction, and also during the second forward reaction, etc. Our analysis also discovers a variety of minor effects, such as direct switch of the mechanisms, as well as damped oscillations in the net fluxes and populations due to compensations of partially overlapping DTD fluxes.

Using high resolution solid state (15)N and (2)H spectroscopy and longitudinal relaxometry we have studied the tautomerism of porphycene in the solid state, corresponding to a double proton transfer in two cooperative hydrogen bonds. The tautomerism is degenerate above 225 K but the degeneracy is lifted below this temperature, indicating a phase transition. Thus, the high-temperature phase is characterized by a dynamic proton disorder and the low-temperature phase by a dynamic proton order. (15)N magnetization transfer experiments obtained under cross polarization (CP) and magic angle spinning (MAS) conditions reveal the presence of two nonequivalent molecules A and B in the unit cell of phase II, exhibiting slightly different equilibrium constants of the tautomerism. Rate constants of the tautomerism in phase I could be obtained by the analysis of the longitudinal (15)N and (2)H relaxation times. The former, obtained at 9.12 MHz, exhibit a T(1) minimum around 270 K and are consistent with proton transfer induced dipolar (1)H-(15)N relaxation mechanism. The latter, obtained at 46.03 MHz, exhibit a minimum around 330 K and arise from quadrupole relaxation. Within the margin of error, the rate constants of the HH and of the HD/DD tautomerism are the same, exhibiting a barrier of about 30 kJ mol(-1), as expected for an overbarrier reaction in a configuration with two compressed hydrogen bonds. By contrast, in the low-temperature phase a switch of the DD transfer kinetics into the nanosecond time scale is observed, exhibiting a non-Arrhenius temperature dependence which is typical for tunneling. This increase of the rate constants by lowering the temperature is discussed in terms of a switch from a concerted HH transfer in phase I to a stepwise transfer in phase II, where intermolecular interactions lower the energy of one of the cis-intermediates.

A new mechanism of charge transmission through a metal-molecule-metal junction is suggested that is based on optical driving of electronic transitions in the neutral and singly charged molecular state. The effects of strong electron vibrational coupling, intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution, and molecular de-excitation caused by electron-hole pair formation in the leads are taken into account. It is shown that current suppression due to the Franck-Condon blockade can be overcome by opening new transmission channels via photoexcitation.

We investigate the primary, secondary, and vicinal hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) isotope effects on the geometry of the two intramolecular hydrogen bonds in porphycene. Multidimensional potential energy surfaces describing the anharmonic motion in the vicinity of the trans isomer are calculated for the different symmetric (HH/DD) and asymmetric (HD) isotopomers. From the solution of the nuclear Schrödinger equation the ground-state wavefunction is obtained, which is further used to determine the quantum corrections to the classical equilibrium geometries of the hydrogen bonds and thus the geometric isotope effects. In particular, it is found that the hydrogen bonds are cooperative, that is, both expand simultaneously even in the case of an asymmetric isotopic substitution. The theoretical predictions compare favorably with NMR chemical-shift data.

The 1H and 2H NMR spectra of porphycene (1), 2,3,6,7,12,13,16,17-octaethylporphycene (2), 2,7,12,17-tetra-n-propylporphycene (3), and 2,7,12,17-tetra-(tert-butyl)-3,6-13,16-dibenzo[cde;mno]porphycene (4) partially deuterated in the mobile proton sites are reported. These compounds exhibit two intramolecular NHN hydrogen bonds of increasing strength representing models of the concerted HH transfer in the parent compound, porphycene. The 1H chemical shifts of the mobile protons are correlated with the difference of the energies of the amino- and imino-N1s orbitals reported by Ghosh A.; Moulder J.; Bröring M.; Vogel E. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2001, 113, 445-448. The chemical shifts of 4 indicate a reduced contribution of the aromatic ring current as compared to the other compounds which is associated to the nonplanarity of this molecule. The primary H/D isotope effects on the chemical shifts give information about the primary, secondary, and vicinal geometric isotope effects of the two inner hydrogen bonds of porphycenes. The vicinal effects indicate a cooperative coupling of the two hydrogen bonds which may favor a concerted double proton-transfer mechanism.

The hydroperoxyl anion HO2(-) is one of the simplest examples for multidimensional hydrogen-atom transfer. This is reflected in the tunneling splittings, which have been theoretically predicted to be highly selective concerning the excitation of either the O-O stretching, the O-H stretching, or the H-O-O bending vibration. Using the available quantum mechanical spectrum up to 5000 cm(-)(1), we scrutinize the performance of a recently proposed trajectory-based method to calculate tunneling splittings (Giese, K.; Ushiyama, H.; Kühn, O. Chem. Phys. Lett. 2003, 371, 681). It is found that this new method is capable of reproducing the general behavior of the tunneling splittings rather well. Furthermore, for this particular system, the error shows a systematic trend, which suggests the applicability of a scaling correction that could be based on a small number of exact splittings.

In this work we present an all-Cartesian reaction surface approach, where the large amplitude coordinates span the so-called reaction plane, that is, the unique plane defined by the two minima and the saddle-point structure of an isomerization reaction. Orthogonal modes are treated within harmonic approximation which gives the total Hamiltonian an almost separable form that is suitable for multidimensional quantum dynamics calculations. The reaction plane Hamiltonian is constructed for the H-atom transfer in tropolone as an example for a system with an intramolecular O...H-O hydrogen bond. We find ground-state tunneling splittings of 3.5 and 0.16 cm(-1) for the normal and deuterated species, respectively. We calculated infrared-absorption spectra for a four-dimensional model focusing on the low-frequency region. Here, we identify a reaction mode which is closely connected to the tautomerization that is reflected in the increase of tunneling splitting to 18 cm(-1) upon excitation.

Two approaches for the determination of the primary and secondary geometric isotope effect are compared for the exemplary porphyrinoid system porphycene, which has two intramolecular hydrogen bonds. A three-dimensional Born-Oppenheimer potential energy surface is calculated in terms of the symmetric and antisymmetric N-H stretching as well as a low-frequency hydrogen bond vibrational normal mode coordinate. From the respective ground-state nuclear wavefunction the quantum correction to the classical equilibrium geometry is determined. Further, geometry optimization within a full-dimensional multi-component molecular orbital (MC&#95;MO) type calculation, which treats both the electrons and the hydrogen-bonded protons quantum mechanically, is performed. Both approaches yield geometric isotope effects, that is, upon H/D double substitution the hydrogen bonds are weakened and the respective N-N distances increase. In addition the MC&#95;MO calculation gives a H/D isotope effect on the electronic structure, that is, the electronic wavefunction becomes more localized at the deuterium nucleus as compared with the proton case.

Based on the Cartesian Reaction Surface framework we construct a four-dimensional potential for the tropolone derivative 3,7-dichlorotropolone, a molecule with an intramolecular O-H...O hydrogen bond. The reduced configuration space involves the in-plane hydrogen atom coordinates, a symmetric O-O vibrational mode, and an antisymmetric mode related to deformations of the seven-membered ring. The system is characterized in terms of quantum mechanical computations of the low-lying eigenstates as well as a classical and semiclassical analysis of spectra obtained via Fourier transforming autocorrelation functions. For the semiclassical analysis we utilize the amplitude-free correlation function method [K. Hotta and K. Takatsuka, J. Phys. A 36, 4785 (2003)]. Our results demonstrate substantial anharmonic couplings leading to highly correlated wave functions even at moderate energies. Furthermore, the importance of dynamical tunneling in tropolone is suggested since many low-lying states--including the ground state--lie above the classical saddle point but nevertheless appear as split pairs.