The short-time photodynamics (1 ps) of formamide in its low-lying singlet excited n(O)-pi(*) and pi-pi(*) states have been investigated by the direct trajectory surface-hopping method based on multiconfigurational ab initio calculations. The simulations showed that in both states, the primary deactivation process is C-N bond dissociation. In the ground state, the energy is transferred to (a) translational motion of the HCO and NH(2) fragments, (b) additional C-H dissociation from the vibrationally hot HCO fragment, or (c) formation of NH(3) and CO. In addition to the C-N dissociation pathway, C-O bond fission is found to be an additional primary deactivation path in the pi-pi(*) dynamics. From fractional occupations of trajectories, lifetimes of formamide were estimated: tau(S(1))=441 fs and tau(S(2))=66 fs.
The absolute proton affinity (PA) of aromatic carbons of monosubstituted naphthalenes with CH 3 , OH, CHO, NO 2 and Cl substituents was calculated at the MP2(fc)/6-31G**//HF/6-31G* ZPVE(HF/6-31G*) level of theory. Increments corresponding to unsubstituted positions within the naphthalene skeleton were estimated. They can be used in estimating PAs of polysubstituted naphthalenes by using a simple additivity rule based on the independent substituent approximation (ISA). It is shown that increments are good indicators of the electrophilic substitution reactivity. The proton affinities of a large number of polysubstituted methylnaphthalenes was examined employing the additivity equation. It was found that the protonated forms, which exhibit the largest PAs, correspond to arenium ions observed by NMR spectroscopy in superacid media.
The first high level ab initio quantum-chemical calculations of potential energy surfaces (PESs) for low-lying singlet excited states of norbornadiene in the gas phase are presented. The optimization of the stationary points (minima and conical intersections) and the recalculation of the energies were performed using the multireference configuration interaction with singles (MR-CIS) and the multiconfigurational second-order perturbation (CASPT2) methods, respectively. It was shown that the crossing between valence V2 and Rydberg R1 states close to the Franck-Condon (FC) point permits an easy population switch between these states. Also, a new deactivation path in which the doubly excited state with (π3)(2) configuration (DE) has a prominent role in photodeactivation from the R1 state due to the R1/DE and the DE/V1 conical intersections very close to the R1 and DE minima, respectively, was proposed. Subsequent deactivation from the V1 to the ground state goes through an Olivucci-Robb-type conical intersection that adopts a rhombic distorted geometry. The deactivation path has negligible barriers, thereby making ultrafast radiationless decay to the ground state possible.
ortho-, meta- and para-Hydroxymethylaniline methyl ethers 3-5-OMe and acetyl derivatives 3-5-OAc were investigated as potential photocages for alcohols and carboxylic acids, respectively. The measurements of photohydrolysis efficiency showed that the decaging from ortho- and meta-derivatives takes place efficiently in aqueous solution, but not for the para-derivatives. Contrary to previous reports, we show that the meta-derivatives are better photocages for alcohols, whereas ortho-derivatives are better protective groups for carboxylic acids. The observed differences were fully disclosed by mechanistic studies involving fluorescence measurements and laser flash photolysis (LFP). Photoheterolysis for the para-derivatives does not take place, whereas both meta- and ortho-derivatives undergo heterolysis and afford the corresponding carbocations 3-C and 4-C. The ortho-carbocation 4-o-C was detected by LFP in aqueous solution (λ = 410 nm, τ ≈ 90 μs). Moreover, spectroscopic measurements for the meta-acetyl derivative 3-m-OAC indicated the formation of cation in the excited state. The application of an ortho-aniline derivative as a protective group was demonstrated by synthesizing several derivatives of carboxylic acids. In all cases, the photochemical deprotection was accomplished in high yields (>80%). This mechanistic study fully rationalized the photochemistry of aniline photocages which is important for the design of new photocages and has potential for synthetic, biological, and medicinal applications.
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