The internal conversion and hot ground-state dynamics of trans- and cis-azomethane starting in the S(1) state have been investigated by nonadiabatic ab initio surface hopping dynamics using MCSCF-GVB-CAS and MRCISD methods and by determining energy minima and saddle points, minima on the crossing seam, and minimum energy pathways on the ground and first excited-state surfaces. The lifetimes and photoproducts from the dynamics simulations, geometric properties, excitation energies of selected stationary points and minimum energy pathways between them are reported. Our results favor a statistical model with trans-AZM moving to the ground-state minima before the first CN dissociation takes place. A detailed discussion in comparison to recent experimental and theoretical data is presented.

The photochemical ring opening process in pyrrole has been investigated by performing classical on-the-fly dynamics using the multiconfiguration self-consistent field method for the computation of energies and energy gradients. As starting point for the dynamics the conical intersection corresponding to the ring-puckered ring-opened structure, determined previously [Barbatti et al., J. Chem. Phys. 125, 164323 (2006)], has been chosen. Two sets of initial conditions for the nuclear velocities were constructed: (i) nuclear velocities in the branching (g,h) plane of the conical intersection and (ii) statistical distribution for all atoms. Both sets of initial conditions show very similar results. Reactive trajectories are only found in a very limited sector in the (g,h) plane and reaction products are very similar. Within the simulation time of 1 ps, ring opening of pyrrole to the biradical NH=CH-CH(*)-CH=CH(*) chain followed by ring closure to a substituted cyclopropene structure (NH=CH-C(3)H(3)) is observed. The computed structural data correlate well with the experimentally observed dissociation products.

Crystalloluminescence, the long-lived emission of visible light during the crystallization of certain salts, was first observed over 200 years ago; however, the origin of this luminescence is still not well understood. The observations suggest that the process of crystallization may not be purely classical but also involves an essential electronic structure component. Strong electric field fluctuations may play an important role in this process by providing the necessary driving force for the observed electronic structure changes. The main objective of this work is to provide a basic understanding of the fluctuations in charge, electric potentials, and electric fields for concentrated aqueous NaCl electrolytes. Our charge analysis reveals that the water molecules in the first solvation shell of the ions serve as a sink for electron density originating on Cl(-). We find that the electric fields inside aqueous electrolytes are extremely large (up to several V/Å) and thus may alter the ground and excited electronic states in the condensed phase. Furthermore, our results show that the potential and field distributions are largely independent of concentration. We also find the field component distributions to be Gaussian for the ions and non-Gaussian for the O and H sites (computed in the lab frame of reference), however, these non-Gaussian distributions are readily modeled via an orientationally averaged nonzero mean Gaussian plus a zero mean Gaussian. These calculations and analyses provide the first steps toward understanding the magnitude and fluctuations of charge, electric potentials, and fields in aqueous electrolytes and what role these fields may play in driving charge redistribution/transfer during crystalloluminescence.

The photodynamics of ethylene has been studied by means of ab initio surface-hopping dynamics using extended multireference configuration interaction wavefunctions. At the highest level, the explicit possibility of excited-state CH dissociation and consideration of the Rydberg π−3s state was included into the electronic wavefunction. The initial dynamics is characterised by the torsional motion and the crossing between the bright π−π * state with S 1, the latter having primarily Rydberg character with only a minor contribution of the repulsive valence π−σ * state. Due to back-rotation to planar structures after 17 fs, part of the population flows into the Rydberg states. The lifetime for this fraction of trajectories is significantly longer than that for the valence population. An analysis of the latter population shows that the decay to the ground state proceeds mainly at the pyramidalised conical intersection. Thus, no major qualitative mechanistic changes as compared to previous dynamics simulations are observed for the valence population. In the present work, a decay time of 62 fs was found for the valence population. Simulations performed for ethylene-d4 show a slowdown of the torsional mode. However, since the crossing seam is reached in a more direct way with less torsional oscillations, the excited-state lifetime is almost unchanged as compared to ethylene

The nonadiabatic deactivation of trans-azomethane starting from the nπ* state has been investigated in gas phase, water, and n-hexane using an on-the-fly surface-hopping method. A quantum mechanical/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) approach was used employing a flexible quantum chemical level for the description of electronically excited states and bond dissociation (generalized valence bond perfect-pairing complete active space). The solvent effect on the lifetime and structural parameters of azomethane was investigated in detail. The calculations show that the nonadiabatic deactivation is characterized by a CNNC torsion, mainly impeded by mechanic interaction with the solvent molecules. The similar characteristics of the dynamics in polar and nonpolar solvent indicate that solvent effects based on electrostatic interactions do not play a major role. Lifetimes increase by about 20 fs for both solvents with respect to the 113 fs found for the gas phase. The present subpicosecond dynamics also nicely show an example of the suppression of C-N dissociation by the solvent cage.

Force-field-based atomistic simulations of host-guest supramolecular complexes between beta-cyclodextrin and several aziadamantane derivatives have been analyzed with respect to relative orientation and interaction energies, explicitly considering solvent (water) molecules. For each case, the calculations revealed two stable orientations of the guest within the host that are different in interaction energy. Fluctuation of and correlation between characteristic properties were analyzed. Among other things, it turned out that orientation angle and inclusion depth are clearly correlated. In addition, for the unsubstituted aziadamantane, the enthalpy of complex formation was calculated and compared to experimental results.

We investigate theoretically the control of the ultrafast excited state dynamics of adenine in water by laser pulse trains, with the aim to extend the excited state lifetime and to suppress nonradiative relaxation processes. For this purpose, we introduce the combination of our field-induced surface hopping method (FISH) with the quantum mechanical-molecular mechanical (QM/MM) technique for simulating the laser-driven dynamics in the condensed phase under explicit inclusion of the solvent environment. Moreover, we employ parametric pulse shaping in the frequency domain in order to design simplified laser pulse trains allowing to establish a direct link between the pulse parameters and the controlled dynamics. We construct pulse trains which achieve a high excitation efficiency and at the same time keep a high excited state population for a significantly extended time period compared to the uncontrolled dynamics. The control mechanism involves a sequential cycling of the population between the lowest and higher excited states, thereby utilizing the properties of the corresponding potential energy surfaces to avoid conical intersections and thus to suppress the nonradiative decay to the ground state. Our findings provide a means to increase the fluorescence yield of molecules with an intrinsically very short excited state lifetime, which can lead to novel applications of shaped laser fields in the context of biosensing.

The O((3)P) + C(2)H(4) reaction provides a crucial, initial understanding of hydrocarbon combustion. In this work, the lowest-lying triplet potential energy surface is extensively explored at the multiconfiguration self-consistent field (MCSCF) and MRMP2 levels with a preliminary surface crossing investigation; and in cases that additional dynamical correlation is necessary, MR-AQCC stationary points are also determined. In particular, a careful determination of the active space along the intrinsic reaction pathway is necessary; and in some cases, more than one active space must be explored for computational feasibility. The resulting triplet potential energy surface geometries mostly agree with geometries from methods using single determinant references. However, although the selected multireference methods lead to energetics that agree well, only qualitative agreement was found with the energetics from the single determinant reference methods. Challenges and areas of further exploration are discussed.