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Motivated by future possibilities to design target molecules for fibrils with diagnostic or therapeutic capability related to amyloidosis diseases, we investigate in this work the dielectric nature of amyloid fibril microenvironments in different binding sites using an optical probe, thioflavin-T (THT), which has been used extensively to stain such fibrils. We study the fibril-environment-induced structural and spectral changes of THT at each binding site and compare the results to the fibril-free situation in aqueous solution. All binding sites are found to show a similar effect with respect to the conformational changes of THT; in the presence of the fibril, its molecular geometry tends to become planarized. However, depending on the dielectric nature of the specific binding site, a red shift, blue shift, or no shift in the absorption spectra of THT is predicted. Interestingly, the experimentally measured red shift in the spectra is seen only when THT binds to one of the core or surface-binding sites. It is found that the dielectric nature of the microenvironment in the fibril is strongly nonhomogeneous., QC 20130212

We report hybrid density functional theory-molecular mechanics (DFT/MM) calculations performed for glycine in water solution at different pH values. In this paper, we discuss several aspects of the quantum mechanics-molecular mechanics (QM/MM) simulations where the dynamics and spectral binding energy shifts are computed sequentially, and where the latter are evaluated over a set of configurations generated by molecular or Car-Parrinello dynamics simulations. In the used model, core ionization takes place in glycine as a quantum mechanical (QM) system modeled with DFT, and the solution is described with expedient force fields in a large molecular mechanical (MM) volume of water molecules. The contribution to the core electronic binding energy from all interactions within and between the two (DFT and MM) parts is accounted for, except charge transfer and dispersion. While the obtained results were found to be in qualitative agreement with experiment, their precision must be qualified with respect to the problem of counter ions, charge transfer and optimal division of QM and MM parts of the system. Results are compared to those of a recent study [Ottoson et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2011, 133, 3120]., QC 20130110

Encapsulation of spin-labels into "host'' compounds, like cucurbit[n]urils or cyclodextrins, in solutions has profound effects on the EPR spin Hamiltonian parameters of the spin-labels. In this work we study the microscopic origin of the EPR spin Hamiltonian parameters of spin-labels enclosed in hydrophobic cavities. We focus on the dependence of the EPR properties of encapsulated spin-labels on the hydrogen bonding topologies that occur upon encapsulation, and quantize various contributions to these parameters according to specific hydrogen bonding patterns. The obtained results provide refined insight into the role of the hydrogen bonding induced encapsulation shifts of EPR spin Hamiltonian parameters in solvated "spin-label@host compound'' complexes., QC 20130221

By analyzing a set of organic pi radicals, we demonstrate that zero-point vibrational corrections give significant contributions to carbon hyperfine coupling constants, in one case even inducing a sign reversal for the coupling constant. We discuss the implications of these findings for the computational analysis of electron paramagnetic spectra based on hyperfine coupling constants evaluated at the equilibrium geometry of radicals. In particular, we note that a dynamical description that involves the nuclear motion is in many cases necessary in order to achieve a semi-quantitatively predictive theory for carbon hyperfine coupling constants. In addition, we discuss the implications of the strong dependence of the carbon hyperfine coupling constants on the zero-point vibrational corrections for the selection of exchange-correlation functionals in density functional theory studies of these constants., QC 20130318

Along with the growing evidence that relates membrane abnormalities to various diseases, biological membranes have been acknowledged as targets for therapy. Any such abnormality in the membrane structure alters the membrane potential which in principle can be captured by measuring properties of specific optical probes. There exists by now many molecular probes with absorption and fluorescence properties that are sensitive to local membrane structure and to the membrane potential. To suggest new high-performance optical probes for membrane-potential imaging it is important to understand in detail the membrane-induced structural changes in the probe, the membrane association dynamics of the probe, and its membrane-specific optical properties. To contribute to this effort, we here study an optical probe, N-acetylaladanamide (NAAA), in the presence of a POPC lipid bilayer using a multiscale integrated approach to assess the probe structure, dynamics, and optical properties in its membrane-bound status and in water solvent. We find that the probe eventually assimilates into the membrane with a specific orientation where the hydrophobic part of the probe is buried inside the lipid bilayer, while the hydrophilic part is exposed to the water solvent. The computed absorption maximum is red-shifted when compared to the gas phase. The computations of the two-photon absorption and second harmonic generation cross sections of the NAAA probe in its membrane-bound state which is of its first kind in the literature suggest that this probe can be used for imaging the membrane potential using nonlinear optical microscopy., QC 20140224

The character and value of spin labels for probing environments like double-stranded DNA depends on the degree of changeof the spin Hamiltonian parameters of the spin label induced by the environment. Herein we provide a systematic theoreticalinvestigation of this issue, based on a density functional theory method applied to a spin labeled DNA model system, focusingon the dependence of the EPR properties of the spin label on the π stacking and hydrogen bonding that occur upon incorporatingthe spin label into selected base pair inside DNA. It is found that the EPR spin Hamiltonian parameters of the spin label is onlynegligibly affected by its incorporation into DNA, when compared to the its free form. This result gives theoretical ground forthe common empirical assumption regarding the behaviour of spin Hamiltonian parameters made in EPR based measurementsof distance between spin labels incorporated into DNA., This work was granted access to the HPC resources of MonteRosa/Swiss National High-Performance Centre made avail-able within the Distributed European Computing Initiative bythe PRACE-2IP, receiving funding from the European Com-munity Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) un-der grant agreement no. RI-283493.QC 20130422

Along with the growing evidence that relates membrane abnormalities to various diseases, biological membranes have been acknowledged as targets for therapy. Any such abnormality in the membrane structure alters the membrane potential which in principle can be captured by measuring properties of specific optical probes. There exists by now many molecular probes with absorption and fluorescence properties that are sensitive to local membrane structure and to the membrane potential. To suggest new high-performance optical probes for membrane-potential imaging it is important to understand in detail the membrane-induced structural changes in the probe, the membrane association dynamics of the probe, and its membrane-specific optical properties. To contribute to this effort, we here study an optical probe, N-acetylaladanamide (NAAA), in the presence of a POPC lipid bilayer using a multiscale integrated approach to assess the probe structure, dynamics, and optical properties in its membrane-bound status and in water solvent. We find that the probe eventually assimilates into the membrane with a specific orientation where the hydrophobic part of the probe is buried inside the lipid bilayer, while the hydrophilic part is exposed to the water solvent. The computed absorption maximum is red-shifted when compared to the gas phase. The computations of the two-photon absorption and second harmonic generation cross sections of the NAAA probe in its membrane-bound state which is of its first kind in the literature suggest that this probe can be used for imaging the membrane potential using nonlinear optical microscopy.

Solvent effects on the one- and two-photon absorption (IPA and 2PA) of disperse orange 3 (DO3) in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) are studied using a discrete polarizable embedding (PE) response theory. The scheme comprises a quantum region containing the chromophore and an atomically granulated classical region for the solvent accounting for full interactions within and between the two regions. Either classical molecular dynamics (MD) or hybrid Car-Parrinello (CP) quantum/classical (QM/MM) molecular dynamics simulations are employed to describe the solvation of DO3 in DMSO, allowing for an analysis of the effect of the intermolecular short-range repulsion, long-range attraction, and electrostatic interactions on the conformational changes of the chromophore and also the effect of the solute-solvent polarization. PE linear response calculations are performed to verify the character, solvatochromic shift, and overlap of the two lowest energy transitions responsible for the linear absorption spectrum of DO3 in DMSO in the visible spectral region. Results of the PE linear and quadratic response calculations, performed using uncorrelated solute-solvent configurations sampled from either the classical or hybrid CP QM/MM MD simulations, are used to estimate the width of the line shape function of the two electronic lowest energy excited states, which allow a prediction of the 2PA cross-sections without the use of empirical parameters. Appropriate exchange-correlation functionals have been employed in order to describe the charge-transfer process following the electronic transitions of the chromophore in solution., QC 20120817

Encapsulation of a nitroxide spin label into a host cavity can prolong the lifetime of the spin label in biological tissues and other environments. Although such paramagnetic supramolecular complexes have been extensively studied experimentally, there is yet little understanding of the role of the encapsulation on the magnetic properties of the spin labels and their performance at the atomistic level. In this work, we approach this problem by modeling encapsulation induced changes of the magnetic properties of spin labels for a prototypical paramagnetic guest host complex, 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-methoxypiperidine-1-oxyl, enclosed in the hydrophobic cavity of cucurbit[8]uril, using state-of-the-art hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics methodology. The results allow a decomposition of the encapsulation shift of the electronic g-tensor and the nitrogen isotropic hyperfine coupling constant of nitroxide radical into a set of distinct contributions associated with the host cavity confinement and with changes of the local solvent environment of the spin label upon encapsulation. It is found that the hydrophobic cavity of cucurbit[8]uril only weakly influences the electronic g-tensor of the 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-methoxypiperidine-1-oxyl but induces a significant encapsulation shift of the nitrogen hyperfine coupling constant. The latter is caused by the change of topology of the hydrogen bonding network and the nature of the hydrogen bonds around the spin label induced by the hydrophobic cavity of the inclusion host. This indirect effect is found to be more important than the direct influence of the cavity exerted on the radical. The ramification of this finding for the use of approximate methods for computing electron paramagnetic resonance spectra of spin labels and for designing optimal spin labels based on guest-host templates is discussed., QC 20120206

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) imaging techniques provide a promising approach to detect amyloid structures which are of paramount importance in early-stage diagnosis of conformational diseases. Here, we report a combined molecular dynamics and density functional theory/molecular mechanics computational scheme for evaluation of the binding mechanism between a multifunctional spin label and the target amyloid protein. In addition, we consider evaluation of EPR spin Hamiltonian parameters with the aim of providing a better microscopic understanding and interpretation of EPR spectroscopy. The results from molecular dynamics simulations suggest that the oligothiophene conjugate part of the spin label interacts with hydrophobic residues of the amyloid protein through hydrophobic attraction and that both the N-O bond length and the N-O out-of-plane tilt angle in the nitroxide group are slightly diminished after, complexation with the protein. The translational and rotational motions of the protein bound spin label are considerably slowed compared to those of the free spin label in aqueous solution, but interestingly, hydrogen bonds formed between the nitroxide oxygen group and the surrounding water molecules are hardly affected by the presence Of the amyloid protein. First principles calculation's suggest that EPR spin Hamiltonian parameters including the nitroxide nitrogen hyperfine coupling tensor A(N) and electronic g tensor suffer noticeable changes upon complexation with the protein. The magnitude of the A(N) tensor is found,to:be. closely related to the nitroxide N-O out tilt angle, while the g tensor is affected by both the nitroxide N-O bond length as well as the interaction between the spin label and the amyloid protein With this work we show that state-of-the-art simulation techniques represent a promising way of providing a detailed understanding of the microscopic mechanisms responsible for the formation and stability of a spin label complexed with amyl, QC 20130107

A new algorithm for the evaluation of two-electron repulsion integrals optimized for high contraction degrees is derived. Both the segmented and general contraction versions of the algorithm show significant theoretical performance gains over the asymptotically fastest algorithms published in the literature so far. A preliminary implementation of the algorithm shows good agreement with the theoretical results and demonstrates substantial average speedups in the evaluation of two-electron repulsion integrals over commonly used basis sets with varying degrees of contraction with respect to a mature, highly optimized quantum chemical code., QC 20130123

Herein, we explore the use of spinspin coupling constants (SSCCs) in merocyanine (MCYNE) dyes as indicators of polarity. For this purpose, we use CarParrinello hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) to determine the structures of MCYNE in solvents of different polarity, followed by computations of the SSCCs by using QM/MM linear-response theory. The molecular geometry of MCYNE switches between neutral, cyanine-like, and zwitterionic depending on the polarity of the solvent. This structural variation is clearly reflected in the proton SSCCs in the polymethine backbone, which are highly sensitive to the dielectric nature of the environment; this mechanism can be used as a polarity indicator for different microenvironments. This result is highlighted by computing the SSCCs of the MCYNE probe in the cavity of the beta-lactoglobulin protein. The computed SSCCs clearly indicate a non-polar hydrophobic dielectric nature of this cavity., QC 20121004

We present a strategy for modeling optical probes within heterogeneous environments of restricted dimension. The method is based on a multiphysics approach comprising sequential structure modeling by means of hybrid Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics and property modeling by means of quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics response theory. For demonstration we address the structural and optical properties of nile red within the beta-lacto globulin protein. We consider the cases with the probe situated on the surface or within the cavity of the protein, or embedded in a water solvent. We find the absorption properties of the probe to be highly dependent on its position relative to the protein. Structural rearrangements of the optical probe are found to contribute significantly to these environmental effects., QC 20120402

The vibronically resolved spectra of an intermediate and a product involved in the photoreaction of alpha-santonin have been explored by the density functional theory and the post-SCF methodologies, and a detailed comparison of theory with experiment was conducted to obtain reliable assignments to the observed spectra. The predicted emission energies of photosantonic acid and a topochemical product are found to match with the experimental values reasonably. The further calculations manifest that the absorption spectrum of photosantonic acid exhibits vibrationally resolved features, while the absorption band of topochemical product without vibrational resolution is opposite to the experimental observation. These new computational findings lead to a revised assignment to the observed bands and provide a basis for experimentalists to draw a convinced reaction mechanism for the alpha-santonin photorearrangement., QC 20121008. Updated from manuscript to article in journal.

α-Santonin is the first organic compound observed to feature a photoinduced rearrangement and is now known to undergo a series of photochemical processes under UV irradiation. On the basis of the considerable interest of this system as a prototype, and of the yet limited insights reached for the basic photo mechanisms, we calculate the high-level electronic structures and explore the potential energy surfaces (PES) of α-santonin in the ground and lowest-lying excited states, their couplings, and the possible photoinduced isomerization pathways. The calculations identify the low-lying singlet excited state 1(nπ*) accessible under light irradiation, which decays to the low-energy 3(ππ*) state through an intersystem crossing in the Franck–Condon region to initiate the photoinduced rearrangement. The initial reaction from the C3C5 bond coupling, which takes place on the 3(ππ*) state potential energy surface, leads to a three-membered alkyl-ring compound intermediate state INT. The following photochemical reactions have the possibility to arise from two distinct CC bond cleavages, C4C5 and C3C4, denoted as path A and path B. Path A is favored both dynamically on the excited-state PES and thermodynamically on the ground-state PES in vacuo. Experiments show that it also becomes the dominant photoinduced rearrangement process in the crystal, which can be explained by considering the requirement for less space and the stacking effect under the confined environment. Path B is dynamical advantaged both on the ground- and excited-state PESs in a weak polar solvent, such as dioxane. Once the biradical intermediate B-INT is accessible on the, QC 20120227

Resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering (RIXS) spectra excited at the 1σg→3σu resonance in gas-phase O2 show excitations due to the nuclear degrees of freedom with up to 35 well-resolved discrete vibronic states and a continuum due to the kinetic energy distribution of the separated atoms. The RIXS profile demonstrates spatial quantum beats caused by two interfering wave packets with different momenta as the atoms separate. Thomson scattering strongly affects both the spectral profile and the scattering anisotropy., QC 20110426 QC 20110512

A general density functional theory/molecular mechanics approach for computation of electronic g-tensors of solvated molecules is presented. We apply the theory to the commonly studied di-tert-butyl nitroxide molecule, the simplest model compound for nitroxide spin labels, and explore the role of an aqueous environment and of various approximations for its treatment. It is found that successive improvements of the solvent shift of the g-tensor are obtained by going from the polarizable continuum model to discrete solvent models of various levels of sophistication. The study shows that an accurate parametrization of the electrostatic potential and polarizability of the solvent molecules in terms of distributed multipole expansions and anisotropic polarizabilities to a large degree relieves the need to explicitly include water molecules in the quantum region, which is the common case in density functional/continuum model approaches. It is also shown that the local dynamics of the solvent around the solute significantly influences the electronic g-tensor and should be included in benchmarking of exchange-correlation functionals for evaluation of solvent shifts of g-tensors. These findings can have important ramifications for the use of advanced hybrid density functional theory/molecular mechanics approaches for modeling spin labels in solvents, proteins, and membrane environments., QC 20110530

A presentation of the complex polarization propagator in the restricted open-shell self-consistent field approximation is given. It rests on a formulation of a resonant-convergent, first-order polarization propagator approach that makes it possible to directly calculate the X-ray absorption cross section at a particular frequency without explicitly addressing the excited states. The quality of the predicted X-ray spectra relates only to the type of density functional applied without any separate treatment of dynamical relaxation effects. The method is applied to the calculation of the near K-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectra of allyl and copper phthalocyanine. Comparison is made between the spectra of the radicals and those of the corresponding cations and anions to assess the effect of the increase of electron charge in the frontier orbital. The method offers the possibility for unique assign-lent of symmetry-independent atoms. The overall excellent spectral agreement motivates the application of the method as a routine precise tool for analyzing X-ray absorption of large systems of technological interest., QC 20170111

The dimethylamino nitro stilbene (DANS) molecule is studied for exploring solvent effects on two-photon absorption using the quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) response theory approach, where the quantum part is represented by density functional theory. We have explored the role of geometrical change of the chromophore in solution, the importance of taking a dynamical average over the sampled structures and the role of a granular representation of the polarization and electrostatic interactions with the classically described medium. The line shape function was simulated by the QM/MM technique thereby allowing for non-empirical prediction of the absolute two-photon cross section. We report a maximum in the TPA cross section for a medium of intermediate solvent polarity (i.e. in chloroform) and provide the grounds for an explanation of this effect which recently has been experimentally observed for a series of charge transfer species in solvents of different polarity. The calculations of absorption energies reproduce well the positive solvatochromic behavior of DANS and are in good agreement with experimental spectra available for the chloroform and DMSO solvents. In line with recent development of the QM/MM response technique for color modeling, we find this methodology to offer a versatile tool to predict and analyze two-photon absorption phenomena taking place within a medium., QC 20110721

The CASSCF and CASPT2 methodologies have been used to explore the potential energy surfaces of lumisantonin in the ground and low-lying triplet states along the photoisomerization pathways. Calculations indicate that the (n pi*) state is the accessible low-lying singlet state with a notable oscillator strength under an excitation wavelength of 320 nm and that it can effectively decay to the (3)(pi pi*) state through intersystem crossing in the region of minimum surface crossings with a notable spin-orbital coupling constant. The 3(pi pi*) state, derived from the promotion of an electron from the pi-type orbital mixed with the sigma orbital localized on the C-C bond in the three-membered alkyl ring to the pi* orbital of conjugation carbon atoms, plays a critical role in C-C bond cleavage. Based on the different C-C bond rupture patterns, the reaction pathways can be divided into paths A and B. Photolysis along path A arising from C1-C5 bond rupture is favorable because of the dynamic and thermodynamic preferences on the triplet excited-state PES. Path B is derived from the cleavage of the C5-C6 bond, leading first to a relatively stable species, compared to intermediate A-INT formed on the ground state PES. path B is relatively facile for the pyrolytic reaction. The present results provide a basis to interpret the experimental observations., QC 20110803

Specific and basicity solvent effects on the visible near-infrared electronic transitions and the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) parameters of the copper(II) acetylacetonate complex, Cu(acac)(2), have been investigated at the density functional theory level. The computed absorption transitions as well as the EPR parameters show a strong dependence on the direct coordination environment around the Cu(II) complex. High solvatocromic shifts are observed for 3d-3d transitions, with the highest effect observed for the d(z2)-->d(xy) transition, which is red-shifted by 6000 cm(-1) and 9000 cm(-1) in water and pyridine solvent models, respectively. Compared to the electronic g-tensors, the hyperfine coupling constants of the Cu(acac)(2) complex show a more pronounced dependence on the effect of base strength of solvent. Overall, the present methodology satisfactorily models the solvent effect on the optical and magnetic properties of the Cu(acac)(2) complex, and theory and experiment agree sufficiently well to warrant the use of the computed optical and EPR parameters to elucidate the coordination environment of the Cu(II) systems in basic solutions., QC 20110318 Denna artikel är en förändrad version av manuskriptet "Theoretical study of specific solvent effects on the optical and magnetic properties of copper(II) acetylacetonate" som hör till avhandlingen "Optical and Magnetic Properties of Copper(II) Compounds".

Based on hybrid QM/MM simulation techniques, we rationalize the spectacular solvatochromic reversal behavior observed for a stilbazolium merocyanine (SM) called Brooker's merocyanine dye. This solvatochromic reversal is attributed to a change in the solute p-electron distribution from zwitterionic to neutral following the change in solvents from polar to non polar. Based on our calculations, we suggest that a polar solvent, like water, with larger relative permittivity is influential enough to bring the change in molecular structure from neutral to zwitterionic. Our results clearly indicate that SM exists in a neutral molecular structure in non polar solvents like trichloromethane and thereby we suggest that self-aggregation of SM may not occur in this solvent., QC 20110315

The present work addresses isotropic hyperfine coupling constants in polyatomic systems with a particular emphasis on a largely neglected, but a posteriori significant, effect, namely zero-point vibrational corrections. Using the density functional restricted-unrestricted approach, the zero-point vibrational corrections are evaluated for the allyl radical and four of its derivatives. In addition for establishing the numerical size of the zero-point vibrational corrections to the isotropic hyperfine coupling constants, we present simple guidelines useful for identifying hydrogens for which such corrections are significant. Based on our findings, we critically re-examine the computational procedures used for the determination of hyperfine coupling constants in general as well as the practice of using experimental hyperfine coupling constants as reference data when benchmarking and optimizing exchange-correlation functionals and basis sets for such calculations., QC 20101103. Updated from manuscript to article in journal. 20111220 The published version of this article is deposited in DiVA by permission of the publisher. The pdf may however by no means be further made available or distributed.

Spurred by the pioneering modeling studies of Sylvio Canuto on absorption spectra and solvatochromic shifts of organic molecules in polar and nonpolar solvents, we report in this work a computational study for the common optical dye probe Nile red (NR) to elucidate the origin of its absorption shift between gas phase and aqueous solution. The Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics (CPMD) technique is used for gas phase NR, whereas for NR in water solvent, a hybrid quantum mechanics-molecular dynamics (CPMD-QM/MM) approach has been utilized. For the configurations obtained from CPMD and CPMD-QM/MM, the absorption spectrum has been calculated using the INDO/CIS method as implemented in the ZINDO program. Different solvation shells for NR in water have been defined based on solute-all-atoms and solvent center of mass radial distribution function (g(r(X-O)) rdf). The electronic excitation energies for these solvation shells were calculated in a systematic way to evaluate their individual contributions. In addition, calculations of absorption spectra were performed for NR (excluding solvent molecules) obtained from CPMD-QM/MM calculations to isolate the contribution to the solvatochromic shift just due to solvent-induced geometrical change. Interestingly, this geometrical change in NR itself contributes as much as 50 nm to the solvatochromic shift. The calculated lambda(max) for gas phase is around 488 nm and is comparable to the values reported for NR in nonpolar solvents, whereas the inclusion of solvent molecules in the hydration shell yields a lambda(max) of 565 nm which contributes to almost 77 nm of the solvatochromic shift. The inclusion of solvent molecules up to the fourth solvation shell in the g(r(X-O)) rdf yields lambda(max) of 596 nm which is in good agreement with the experimentally reported value 593 nm. The change in lambda(max) due to inclusion of the fourth solvation shell is only 1 nm, indicating that the spectrum has converged with respect to the solvent e, Qc 20110509

Resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering spectra excited at the dissociative 1 sigma(g) -> 3 sigma(u) resonance in gas-phase O(2) are presented and discussed in terms of state-of-the-art molecular theory. A new selection rule due to internal spin coupling is established, facilitating a deep analysis of the valence excited final states. Furthermore, it is found that a commonly accepted symmetry selection rule due to orbital parity breaks down, as the core hole and excited electron swap parity, thereby opening the symmetry forbidden 3 sigma(g) decay channel., QC 20111003

A density functional restricted unrestricted approach, capable of evaluating hyperfine coupling constants with the inclusion of spin polarization effects in a spin-restricted Kohn-Sham method, has been extended to incorporate environmental effects. This is accomplished by means of a hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics formalism which allows for a granular representation of the polarization and electrostatic interactions with the classically described medium. By this technique, it is possible to trace the physical origin of hyperfine coupling constants in terms of spin polarization and spin density contributions and disentangle the dependence of these contributions on molecular geometry and solvent environment, something that increases the prospects for optimal design of spin labels for particular applications. A demonstration is given for the nitrogen isotropic hyperfine coupling constant in di-tert-butyl nitroxide solvated in water. The results indicate that the direct spin density contribution is about 5 times smaller than the spin polarization contribution to the nitrogen isotropic hyperfine coupling constant and that the latter contribution is solely responsible for the solvent shift of the constant. The developed approach is found capable of achieving satisfactory accuracy in prediction of the hyperfine coupling constants of solvated di-tert-butyl nitroxide and other similar nitroxides without the inclusion of solvent molecules in the quantum region provided polarizable force fields are used for the description of these molecules., QC 20111116

We have investigated the dependence of the static first hyperpolarizability on the bond-length alternation (BLA) parameter. Our analysis indicates that the validity of the first hyperpolarizability/BLA parameter relationship is restricted to the no-field, vacuum, limit, while it successively breaks down along with increasing polarity of a surrounding medium, becoming invalid, for instance, in an aqueous solution. This contention is based on a series of TD-DFT, TD-DFT/PCM and hybrid TD-DFT/MM calculations of the first hyperpolarizability for a set of molecular configurations generated from Car-Parrinello hybrid QM/MM simulations of the stilbazolium merocyanine chromophore in chloroform and water solvents, and on a rationalization by means of the two-state model for the first hyperpolarizability. The BLA dependence of the three parameters entering the two-state model is shown to be qualitatively different in vacuum and in solvents. Particularly, in the vacuum case, the difference between ground and excited state dipole moments goes to zero for a vanishing BLA, which is not true in the presence of an aqueous medium. In the aqueous medium, an opposing behavior of the parameters involved in the two-state model results in an almost constant first hyperpolarizability with varying BLA parameter., QC 20101201

We have performed Car-Parrinello mixed quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (CP-QM/MM) calculations for stilbazolium merocyanine (SM) in polar and nonpolar solvents in order to explore the role of solute molecular geometry, solvation shell structure, and different interaction mechanisms on the absorption spectra and its dependence on solvent polarity. On the basis of the average bond length values and group charge distributions, we find that the SM molecule remains in a neutral quinonoid form in chloroform (a nonpolar solvent) while it transforms to a charge-separated benzenoid form in water (a polar solvent). Based on a quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical response technique, with different MM descriptions for the water environment, absorption spectra were obtained as averages over configurations derived from the CP-QM/MM simulations. We show that for SM in water the solute polarization plays a major role in predictions of the lambda(max) and solvatochromic shift and that once this effect is included the contributions from solvent polarization and intermolecular charge transfer become less important. For SM in chloroform and water solvents, we have also performed absorption spectra calculations using a polarizable continuum model in order to address its relative performance compared to the QM/MM response technique. In the case of SM in water, our study supports the notion that, in order to predict accurate absorption spectra and solvatochromic shifts, it is important to use a discrete description of the solvent when it, as in water, is involved in site-specific interaction with the solute molecule. The technique is thus shown to outperform the more conventional polarizable continuum model in predicting the solvatochromic shift., QC 20110127

The present work addresses the solvatochromic shift of phenol blue (PB) dye. For this purpose the results of Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics (CPMD) simulations for PB in gas phase are compared with results obtained for PB in water from CPMD hybrid quantum mechanics-molecular mechanics (CPMD-QM/MM) calculations. The absorption spectra were obtained using the intermediate neglect of differential overlap/spectroscopic-configuration interaction (INDO/CIS) method and were calculated for a multitude of configurations of the trajectory. The calculated lambda(max) for PB in gas phase was found to be about 535 nm, which is considerably lower than the lambda(max) reported for PB in nonpolar solvents. Different solvation shells for PB in water have been defined based on the solute-all-atoms and solvent center of mass radial distribution function (g(r(X-O))). The electronic excitation energies for PB computed in the presence of solvent molecules in an increasing number of solvation shells were calculated in a systematic way to evaluate their contributions to the solvatochrmic shift. The inclusion of solvent molecules in the hydration shell yields a lambda(max) of 640 nm, which contributes to almost 78% of the solvatochromic shift. The inclusion of solvent molecules up to 10 angstrom in the g(r(X-O)) rdf yields a lambda(max) of 670 nm which is in good agreement with the experimentally reported value of 654-684 nm. Overall, the present study suggests that the combined CPMD-QM/MM and INDO-CIS approach can be used successfully to model solvatochromic shifts of organic dye molecules. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3436516], QC 20101227

Spin restricted open-shell Density Functional Theory calculations have been carried out by means of linear response theory to investigate the visible absorption spectrum of copper(II) acetylacetonate complex, Cu(acac)(2). The 3d -> 3d transition energies and the influence of molecular structure and non-coordinating solvent on the spectra have been investigated. The obtained four 3d -> 3d transition energies accord well with the experimental data in the crystal phase. The presented results indicate that the experimentally observed four band structure of Cu(acac)(2) is of molecular nature, and not caused by factor-group splitting in the crystal environment as previously suggested., QC 20100714. Uppdaterad från manuskript till artikel (20100714).

We investigated the resonant x-ray emission from a neon atom induced by the two-photon population of a double-core-hole excited state. Two qualitatively different schemes of this process are studied: The first one involves an off-resonant intermediate single-core-hole state; the second scheme passes through a resonant core-ionized intermediate state. The numerical simulations of the resonant x-ray emission performed for different peak intensities and pulse durations show significant population of the double-core-hole final states. Therefore, rather strong two-photon absorption-induced x-ray emission is predicted for both studied schemes. Thus, high counting rates in experimental measurements are expected., QC 20110222

A spin-flip time dependent density functional theory approach with hybrid non-collinear exchange-correlation kernels has been applied to investigate the energy gap between the lowest singlet and triplet states of sigma,sigma-biradicals. The obtained results indicate that spin-flip time dependent density functional theory is capable to predict the correct ordering of singlet and triplet states among all investigated biradicals and that it gives estimates of singlet-triplet splittings in good agreement with high level correlated ab initio calculations. The theory provides a superior accuracy compared to the conventional broken-symmetry unrestricted density functional theory methods., QC 20110119

We have performed Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations at ambient conditions for four-, five- and six-coordinated Cu(II) aqua complexes. The molecular geometry has been investigated in terms of Cu-O, Cu-H bond lengths and O-Cu-O bond angles and compared with earlier experimental measurement results and theoretical calculations. We find that the average Cu-O and Cu-H bond lengths increase with increasing coordination number. We have also observed relatively faster structural transition in the case of five- coordinated complex between trigonal bipyramidal and square pyramidal geometry. This result deviates from the findings of the earlier report (A. Pasquarello et al., Science, 2001, 291, 856) on copper( II) in aqueous solution and we attribute these differences to the neglect of solvent environment in our calculations. The averaged absorption spectra for the copper( II) aqua complexes have been computed using spin-restricted density functional linear response formalism taking 100 snap shots from a trajectory of 0.48 ps. We find that the calculated spectra are significantly different, showing clear features that distinguish each coordination model. Comparison with the experimentally reported absorption spectra is made wherever it is possible and the results obtained favor the distorted fivefold-coordination arrangement for the molecular structure of the Cu(II) ion in aqueous solution., QC 20100714. Uppdaterad från submitted till published (20100714).

We present a combined molecular dynamics and density functional theory study of dioxygen-induced perturbation of the F-19 NMR chemical shifts in an aqueous solution of fluorinated cysteine under 100 atm of O-2 partial pressure. Molecular dynamics Simulations are carried out to determine the dominant structures of O-2 and the fluorinated cysteine complexes in water, and the collected structural information is exploited in computation of F-19 chemical shifts using density functional theory. The obtained results indicate that the density redistribution of the O-2 unpaired electrons between the dioxygen and fluorinated cysteine is responsible for the experimentally observed perturbation of the F-19 NMR chemical shifts, where the Fermi contact interaction plays the key role. The O-2-induced paramagnetic F-19 chemical shift, averaged over the simulation trajectory, is comparable with the reported experimental values, proving the availability of the developed strategy for modeling F-19 NMR chemical shifts in the presence of paramagnetic agents in ail aqueous solution. The applicability of the combined molecular dynamics/density functional theory approach for dioxygen NMR perturbation to all resonating nuclei including H-1, C-13, N-15, and F-19 is emphasized, and the ramification of this for investigations of membrane protein structures is discussed., QC 20100525

Open-shell spin-restricted time-dependent density functional theory is applied to explore the spin multiplicity dependence of linear and nonlinear optical properties. An open-shell neutral conjugated system, the CAN radical in the doublet X(2)A(2), quartet X(4)A(2), and sextet X(6)A(1) states, is chosen as a model system to illustrate various aspects of the theory. It is found that irrespective of the exchange-correlation functional employed, the components of the polarizability alpha(-omega,omega) and first hyperpolarizability beta(-2(omega,omega,omega) show very different dependency with respect to the multiplicity, with an increasing trend for higher spin states. This is rationalized by the decrease in conjugation and stability of the system with increasing multiplicity, and by the way the interaction between unpaired electrons and the external field is shielded by remaining electrons of the molecule. The study suggests the applicability of open-shell systems for frequency-dependent nonlinear optical properties and for the possibility of spin control for such properties., QC 20100525

Car-Parrinello mixed quantum mechanics/classical mechanics (CP-QM/MM) calculations are performed for phenol blue (PB) in chloroform and water solvents along with Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics (CPMD) calculations on PB in the gas phase. The solvent effect on molecular geometry, particularly of bond length alternation (BLA), has been studied. As reported for similar donor-acceptor polyenic systems, a remarkable solvent effect is seen on the BLA. The calculated BLA parameter suggests that PB is in the neutral form in the gas phase and in chloroform solvent, while in water, it is cyanine-like, which is a Mixture of neutral and zwitterionic resonant forms, something that clarifies the controversial reports on the structure of PB in chloroform. We have also verified that the structures obtained from CPMD and CP-QM/MM calculations are correct by calculating absorption spectra for PB in the gas phase and in chloroform solvent and compared with experimental results. To understand the structure for PB in the gas phase and in water solvent, we have carried out Mayer bond order analysis, supporting that the structure of PB in water is cyanine-like. Moreover. PB in water is found to be much more polarized than that in chloroform solvent. Overall, the present work demonstrates that CP-QM/MM calculations can be used to understand the solvent effects on polyenic and merocyanine-like systems, which are usually difficult to model., QC 20100525

The formalism of time-dependent density functional theory and density functional response functions is reviewed from the perspective of partitioning techniques and projections, the hallmark of the school of quantum chemistry represented by P.O. Lowdin. Extension to open-shell density functional theory is described, reviewing some of its common problems. Sample calculations on hyper-Raleigh scattering in the diamagnetic and paramagnetic complexes of copper bound to (glycyl)glycine dipeptide are presented., QC 20100525

A new approach for the evaluation of the leading-order relativistic corrections to the electronic g tensors of molecules with a doublet ground state is presented. The methodology is based on degenerate perturbation theory and includes all relevant contributions to the g tensor shift up to order theta(alpha(4)) originating from the one-electron part of the Breit-Pauli Hamiltonian-that is, it allows for the treatment of scalar relativistic, spin-orbit, and mixed corrections to the spin and orbital Zeeman effects. This approach has been implemented in the framework of spin-restricted density functional theory and is in the present paper, as a first illustration of the theory, applied to study relativistic effects on electronic g tensors of dihalogen anion radicals X-2(-) (X = F, Cl, Br, I). The results indicate that the spin-orbit interaction is responsible for the large parallel component of the g tensor shift of Br-2(-) and I-2(-), and furthermore that both the leading-order scalar relativistic and spin-orbit corrections are of minor importance for the perpendicular component of the g tensor in these molecules since they effectively cancel each other. In addition to investigating the g tensors of dihalogen anion radicals, we also critically examine the importance of various relativistic corrections to the electronic g tensor of linear molecules with Sigma-type ground states and present a two-state model suitable for an approximate estimation of the g tensor in such molecules., QC 20100714. Uppdaterad från submitted till published (20100714).

We present a combined molecular dynamics simulation and density functional theory investigation of the nuclear magnetic shielding constant of the Cd-113(II) ion solvated in aqueous solution. Molecular dynamics simulations are carried out for the cadmium-water system in order to produce instantaneous geometries for subsequent determination of the nuclear magnetic shielding constant at the density functional theory level. The nuclear magnetic shielding constant is computed using a perturbation theory formalism, which includes nonrelativistic and leading order relativistic contributions to the nuclear magnetic Shielding tensor. Although the NMR shielding constant varies significantly with respect to simulation time, the value averaged over increasing number of snapshots remains almost constant. The paramagnetic nonrelativistic contribution is found to be most sensitive to dynamical changes in the system and is mainly responsible for the thermal and solvent effects in solution. The relativistic correction features very little sensitivity to the chemical environment, and can be disregarded in theoretical calculations when a Cd complex is used as reference compound in Cd-113 NMR experiments, due to the mutual cancelation between individual relativistic corrections., QC 20100525

The present work aims to establish the utility of dispersion-corrected density functional theory for potential energy curves of the benzene dimer, a problem that has received significant attention for a long time. The interaction energies of parallel-stacked, T-shaped and parallel-displaced benzene dimer configurations have been evaluated using both dispersion- and normal gradient-corrected Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof functionals along with Dunning's augmented correlation-consistent polarized valence triple-zeta (aug-cc-pVTZ) basis functions and compared with explicit correlation methods. The potential energy curves for the parallel-stacked and parallel-displaced benzene dimers are in excellent agreement with highly accurate coupled cluster (CCSD( T)) results, while for the T-shaped benzene dimer the dispersion- corrected results show a distinct deviation, being closer in that case to the MP2 level of results. The overestimation of interaction energy in the T-shaped dimer may be attributed to the presence of a permanent dipole moment in this configuration and indicates a structural dependence of the dispersion- corrected density functional method., QC 20100525

A new scheme of X-ray pump-probe experiment is suggested in this Letter, namely resonant inelastic X-ray scattering accompanied by core-hole hopping induced by a strong laser field. In particular, we study the dynamics of X-ray Raman scattering of N-2 molecules in a strong IR field. The laser-induced mixing of the core holes of opposite parities opens symmetry forbidden scattering channels. The strength of the symmetry forbidden channels strongly depends on the interrelationship between the time of Rabi flopping of the core holes and the scattering duration or the duration of the X-ray pulse., QC 20100917

Resonant inelastic x-ray scattering accompanied by core-hole hopping induced by a strong infrared-laser field is studied for the nitrogen molecule. This process involves a strong laser-field-induced promotion of ungerade core holes created by a weak x-ray pulse to a gerade core level, which opens symmetry-forbidden scattering channels and gives rise to new features in the x-ray scattering spectrum. The core-hole hopping within the short lifetime of the core-excited state required for observation of the described process can be achieved at moderate intensities of the infrared field (similar to 10(12) W/cm(2)) because of the large transition dipole moment between the relevant core levels. The dynamics of resonant inelastic x-ray scattering assisted by change of core-hole parity is studied in detail versus the intensity, detuning, phase, and duration of the incident infrared-laser and x-ray pulses., QC 20101001