Aqueous M 3+ /M 2+ redox potentials for nine of the ten fourth-period transition metals, M, have been calculated with the use of DFT methodology in combination with the COSMO continuum model. Entropy contributions to the potentials are taken from experiments. The model introduces no adjustable parameters beyond those present in the underlying theoretical models. Inclusion of two solvation spheres (18 water molecules) is necessary. For the ions studied, the average absolute difference from experimental values is 0.29 V, with four out of nine potentials (those of V, Cr, Fe, Cu) reproduced with better than 0.1 V accuracy.

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Change of the permanent molecular electric dipole moment, Δμ, in a series of nominally centrosymmetric and noncentrosymmteric ferrocene-phenyleneethynylene oligomers was estimated by measuring the two-photon absorption cross-section spectra of the lower energy metal-to-ligand charge-transfer transitions using femtosecond nonlinear transmission method and was found to vary in the range up to 12 D, with the highest value corresponding to the most nonsymmetric system. Calculations of the Δμ performed by the TD-DFT method show quantitative agreement with the experimental values and reveal that facile rotation of the ferrocene moieties relative to the organic ligand breaks the ground-state inversion symmetry in the nominally symmetric structures.

We present a new approach for determining the strength of the dipolar solute-induced reaction field, along with the ground- and excited-state electrostatic dipole moments and polarizability of a solvated chromophore, using exclusively one-photon and two-photon absorption measurements. We verify the approach on two benchmark chromophores N,N-dimethyl-6-propionyl-2-naphthylamine (prodan) and coumarin 153 (C153) in a series of toluene/dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) mixtures and find that the experimental values show good quantitative agreement with literature and our quantum-chemical calculations. Our results indicate that the reaction field varies in a surprisingly broad range, 0–107 V cm−1, and that at close proximity, on the order of the chromophore radius, the effective dielectric constant of the solute–solvent system displays a unique functional dependence on the bulk dielectric constant, offering new insight into the close-range molecular interaction.

The utility of C(2)-symmetric bipiperidine and bimorpholine derivatives as organocatalysts in the Michael addition of enamine intermediates formed from aldehydes to nitroolefins has been demonstrated. The best results were obtained when the reaction was run in the presence of (2R,2'R)-N-iPr-bipiperidine. The products were formed via an enamine intermediate with high diastereo- and enantioselectivity with relatively short reaction times.

Origin of the initial charge separation in optically-excited Ruthenium(II) tris(bidentate) complexes of intrinsic D 3 symmetry has remained a disputed issue for decades. Here we measure the femtosecond two-photon absorption (2PA) cross section spectra of [Ru(2,2′-bipyridine) 3 ] 2 and [Ru(1,10-phenanthroline) 3 ] 2 in a series of solvents with varying polarity and show that for vertical transitions to the lower-energy 1 MLCT excited state, the permanent electric dipole moment change is nearly solvent-independent, Δμ = 5.1-6.3 D and 5.3-5.9 D, respectively. Comparison of experimental results with quantum-chemical calculations of complexes in the gas phase, in a polarizable dielectric continuum and in solutesolvent clusters containing up to 18 explicit solvent molecules indicate that the non-vanishing permanent dipole moment change in the nominally double-degenerate E-symmetry state is caused by the solute-solvent interaction twisting the two constituent dipoles out of their original opposite orientation, with average angles matching the experimental two-photon polarization ratio.

We use TD-DFT to calculate the one-photon absorption (1PA) and two-photon absorption (2PA) properties of C153 and Prodan in toluene and DMSO, and benchmark different methods relative to accurate experimental data available from the literature on these particular systems. As the first step, we modify the range-separated TD-DFT to provide the best prediction for the peak 1PA wavelength, and then apply the optimized functionals to achieve quantitative predictions of the corresponding two-photon absorption cross section, σ, with an accuracy ∼10-20% in C153 and ∼20-30% in Prodan. To elucidate the origin of residual discrepancies between the theory and experimental observations, we invoked the two essential states model for σ, which allows us to verify not only the transition wavelength and the σ value, but also to quantitatively benchmark the calculation of key molecular parameters such as the transition dipole moment and the change of the permanent dipole moment. Such comprehensive cross-checking indicates that a larger discrepancy in Prodan is most likely caused by a noted failure of DFT to predict the relative intensity and relative ordering of closely lying excited states with different degrees of intramolecular charge transfer, which we further support by analyzing the predictions obtained by high-level coupled-cluster calculations in the gas phase. Our results highlight the utility of benchmarking the calculations not only relative to other theoretical methods, but also in comparison to the experimental measurements, wherever such data are available.