Theoretical analysis of the electronic properties in Zinc-porphyrins derivatives

Incorporating Zinc Metal Sites in Aluminum-Coordinated Porphyrin Metal-Organic Frameworks for Enhanced Photocatalytic Nitrogen Reduction to Ammonia

Rationally designing photocatalysts is crucial for the solar-driven nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) due to the stable N≡N triple bond. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are considered promising candidates but suffer from insufficient active sites and inferior charge transport. Herein, it is demonstrated that incorporating 3d metal ions, such as zinc (Zn) or iron (Fe) ions, into Al-coordinated porphyrin MOFs (Al-PMOFs) enables the enhanced ammonia yield of 88.7 and 65.0 µg gcat -1 h-1, 2.5- and 1.8-fold increase compared to the pristine Al-PMOF (35.4 µg gcat -1 h-1), respectively. The origin of ammonia (NH3) is verified via isotopic labeling experiments. Incorporating Zn or Fe into Al-PMOF generates active sites in Al-PMOF, that is, Zn-N4 or Fe-N4 sites, which not only facilitates the adsorption and activation of N2 molecules but suppresses the charge recombination. Photophysical and theoretical studies further reveal the upshift of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) level to a more energetic position upon inserting 3d metal ions (with a more significant shift in Zn than Fe). The promoted nitrogen activation, suppressed charge recombination, and more negative LUMO levels in Al-PMOF(3d metal) contribute to a higher photocatalytic activity than pristine Al-PMOF. This work provides a promising strategy for designing photocatalysts for efficient solar-to-chemical conversion.

Theoretical Investigation of Electric Polarizability in Porphyrin-Zinc and Porphyrin-Zinc-Thiazole Complexes Using Small Property-Oriented Basis Sets

Porphyrin complexes are of great importance due to their possible applications as sensors, solar cells and photocatalysts, as well as their ability to bind additional ligands. A valuable source of knowledge on their nature is their electric properties, which can be evaluated employing density functional theory (DFT) methods, supporting the experimental research. The present work aims at the application of small property-oriented basis sets in calculation of electric properties in transition metals, their oxides and test coordination complexes. Firstly, the existing polarized ZPol basis set for the first-row transition metals is modified in order to improve atomic polarizability results. For this purpose, optimization of the f-type polarization function exponent is carried out with respect to the value of average atomic polarizability of investigated metals. Next, both the original and the modified basis sets are employed in finite field CCSD(T) calculation of transition metal oxides' dipole moments, as well as DFT calculation of polarizabilities in porphyrin-zinc and porphyrin-zinc-thiazole complexes. The obtained results show that the ZPol and ZPol-A basis sets can be successfully employed in the calculation of linear electric properties in large systems. The optimization procedure used in the present work can be employed for other source basis sets and elements, leading to new efficient polarized basis sets.

Controlling Chirogenic Effects in Porphyrin Based Supramolecular Systems: Theoretical Analysis Versus Experimental Observations

Electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectroscopy is a widely employed method for studying chiral analysis, requiring the presence of a chromophore close to a chiral centre. Porphyrinoids are found to be one of the best chromophoric systems serving for this purpose and enabling the application of ECD spectroscopy for chirality determination across diverse classes of organic compounds. Consequently, it is crucial to understand the induction mechanisms of ECD in the porphyrin-based complexes. The present study explores systematically the influence of secondary chromophores, bonded to an achiral zinc porphyrin or to chiral guest molecules, on the B-region of ECD spectra using the time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations. The study analyses the impact of change in both the conformation of achiral porphyrin (host) and change in position and conformation of chiral organic molecule (guest) on the B-band of ECD spectra (energy, intensity, sign of Cotton effect). Finally, conclusions made on model complexes are applied to published experimental data, contributing to a deeper understanding of various factors influencing ECD spectra in chiral systems. In addition, a computer program aimed to help rationalise ECD spectra by visualizing corresponding orbital energies, rotatory strengths, electric and magnetic transition moments, and angles between them, is presented.

Photophysical characterization of tetrahydroxyphenyl porphyrin Zn(II) and V(IV) complexes: experimental and DFT study

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising technique for the treatment of various diseases. In this sense, the singlet oxygen quantum yield (Φ∆) is a physical-chemical property that allows to stablish the applicability of a potential photosensitizers (PS) as a drug for PDT. In the herein report, the Φ∆ of three photosensitizers was determined: metal-free tetrahydroxyphenyl porphyrin (THPP), THPP-Zn and the THPP-V metal complexes. Their biological application was also evaluated. Therefore, the in vitro study was carried out to assess their biological activity against Escherichia coli. The metal-porphyrin complexes exhibited highest activities against the bacterial strain Escherichia coli. at the highest concentration (175 μg/mL) and show better activity than the free base ligand (salts and blank solution). Results indicated a relation between Φ∆ and the inhibitory activity against Escherichia coli, thus, whereas higher is the Φ∆, higher is the inhibitory activity. The values of the Φ∆ and the inhibitory activity follows the tendency THPP-Zn > THPP > THPP-V. Furthermore, quantum chemical calculations allowed to gain deep insight into the electronic and optical properties of THPP-Zn macrocycle, which let to verify the most probable energy transfer pathway involved in the singlet oxygen generation.

Chirogenesis in Zinc Porphyrins: Theoretical Evaluation of Electronic Transitions, Controlling Structural Factors and Axial Ligation

In the present work, sixteen different zinc porphyrins (possessing different meso substituents) with and without a chiral guest were modelled using DFT and TD-DFT approaches in order to understand the influence of various controlling factors on electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra. Two major aspects are influenced by these factors: excitation energy of the electronic transitions and their intensity. In the case of excitation energy, the influence increases in the following order: orientation of the peripheral substituents Collapse

Key Words

• circular dichroism
• density functional calculations
• porphyrins
• supramolecular chemistry
• transition metals

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MESH Headings Collapse

Grants

• PUTJD749 Estonian Research Council
• PRG399 Estonian Research Council
• 828779 European Union's H2020-FETOPEN
• Estonian Research Council

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Affiliation(s)

Irina Osadchuk Department of Chemistry and BiotechnologySchool of ScienceTallinn University of Technology AddressAkadeemia tee 1512618TallinnEstonia ICGMUniv MontpellierCNRS, ENSCMMontpellierFrance
Riina Aav Department of Chemistry and BiotechnologySchool of ScienceTallinn University of Technology AddressAkadeemia tee 1512618TallinnEstonia
Victor Borovkov Department of Chemistry and BiotechnologySchool of ScienceTallinn University of Technology AddressAkadeemia tee 1512618TallinnEstonia
Eric Clot ICGMUniv MontpellierCNRS, ENSCMMontpellierFrance

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Supramolecular Chirogenesis in Bis-Porphyrin: Crystallographic Structure and CD Spectra for a Complex with a Chiral Guanidine Derivative

The complexation of (3aR,7aR)-N-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)octahydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-imine (BTI), as a guest, to ethane-bridged bis(zinc octaethylporphyrin), bis(ZnOEP), as a host, has been studied by means of ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) and circular dichroism (CD) absorption spectroscopies, single crystal X-ray diffraction, and computational simulation. The formation of 1:2 host-guest complex was established by X-ray diffraction and UV-Vis titration studies. Two guest BTI molecules are located at the opposite sides of two porphyrin subunits of bis(ZnOEP) host, which is resting in the anti-conformation. The complexation of BTI molecules proceed via coordination of the imine nitrogens to the zinc ions of each porphyrin subunit of the host. Such supramolecular organization of the complex results in a screw arrangement of the two porphyrin subunits, inducing a strong CD signal in the Soret (B) band region. The corresponding DFT computational studies are in a good agreement with the experimental results and prove the presence of 1:2 host-guest complex as the major component in the solution (97.7%), but its optimized geometry differs from that observed in the solid-state. The UV-Vis and CD spectra simulated by using the solution-state geometry and the TD-DFT/ωB97X-D/cc-pVDZ + SMD (CH2Cl2) level of theory reproduced the experimentally obtained UV-Vis and CD spectra and confirmed the difference between the solid-state and solution structures. Moreover, it was shown that CD spectrum is very sensitive to the spatial arrangement of porphyrin subunits.

Amphiphilic Porphyrin Aggregates: A DFT Investigation

Owing to the attractive potential applications of porphyrin assemblies in photocatalysis, sensors, and material science, studies presently concerning porphyrin aggregation are widely diffused. π–π stacking, H-bonding, metal coordination, hydrophobic effect, and electrostatic forces usually drive porphyrin interaction in solution. However, theoretical studies of such phenomena are still limited. Therefore, a computational examination of the different porphyrin aggregation approaches is proposed here, taking into account amphiphilic [5-{4-(3-trimethylammonium)propyloxyphenyl}-10,15,20-triphenylporphyrin] chloride, whose aggregation behavior has been previously experimentally investigated. Different functionals have been adopted to investigate the porphyrin dimeric species, considering long-range interactions. Geometry optimization has been performed, showing that for the compound under analysis, H-type and cation–π dimers are the most favored structures that likely co-exist in aqueous solution. Of note, frontier orbital delocalization showed an interesting interaction between the porphyrin units in the dimer at the supramolecular level.