A Combined Experimental-Computational Investigation to Uncover the Puzzling (Chiro-)optical Response of Pyridocyclophanes: One- and Two-Photon Spectra

Vibronic Spectra of π-Conjugated Systems with a Multitude of Coupled States: A Protocol Based on Linear Vibronic Coupling Models and Quantum Dynamics Tested on Hexahelicene

Hexahelicene is a prototype of an extended π-conjugated system with axial chirality. Its absorption (ABS) and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra show vibronic features and strong nonadiabatic effects, challenging currently available computational methods. Here, we compute the nonadiabatic ABS and ECD vibronic spectra of hexahelicene in the full energy range, covering ∼2 eV and 14-18 coupled electronic states, including all of the relevant nuclear coordinates. To this end, we exploit a recently proposed protocol that uses time-dependent density functional theory to parameterize linear vibronic coupling models comprising several electronic states. Spectra are computed through quantum dynamical propagations with multiconfigurational time-dependent Hartree methods. Our results nicely reproduce the experimental spectra providing an assignment of the main observed bands. On the contrary, we document that the application of the Herzberg-Teller intensity-borrowing theory leads to large artifacts. The proposed approach is of general applicability for rigid systems and represents a viable tool for studying the photophysical properties of π-conjugated systems characterized by a dense manifold of interacting electronic states.

Predicting the Helical Sense of Poly(phenylacetylene)s from their Electron Circular Dichroism Spectra

The calculated ECD spectrum (time-dependent density functional theory TD-DFT) for small oligomers of polyphenylacetylenes (PPAs) show a very good match with the experimental spectra of the PPA polymers, particularly with the first Cotton band associated to the helical sense of the internal polyenic backbone. This has been proven with a series of PPAs representative of cis-cisoidal, cis-transoidal, compressed and stretched polyene backbones, with identical or opposite internal/external rotational senses and allows the prediction of the helical sense of the internal helix of a PPA directly from its CD spectra.

How and How Much Molecular Conformation Affects Electronic Circular Dichroism: The Case of 1,1-Diarylcarbinols

Chiroptical spectra such as electronic circular dichroism (ECD) are said to be much more sensitive to conformation than their non-chiroptical counterparts, however, it is difficult to demonstrate such a common notion in a clear-cut way. We run DFT and TDDFT calculations on two closely related 1,1-diarylmethanols which show mirror-image ECD spectra for the same absolute configuration. We demonstrate that the main reason for the different chiroptical response of the two compounds lies in different conformational ensembles, caused by a single hydrogen-to-methyl substitution. We conclude that two compounds, having the same configuration but different conformation, may exhibit mirror-image ECD signals, stressing the importance and impact of conformational factors on ECD spectra.

Synthesis, solvent-dependent emission and two-photon absorption of a triangular –[D–π–A]3– macrocycle

A large π–conjugated macrocycle featuring a –[D–π–A]₃– backbone is synthesized, exhibiting strongly solvent-dependent fluorescence and evident two-photon absorption ability.