Theoretical differential Raman scattering cross-sections of totally-symmetric vibrational modes of free pyridine and pyridine-metal cluster complexes

DFT Study of the Adsorption and SERS of Pyridine on M10N10 (M, N = Cu, Ag) Tetrahedral Clusters

This work presents a theoretical detailed analysis of the surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) of the pyridine-M10N10 (M, N = Ag, Cu) tetrahedral (Td) clusters considering two binding positions: vertex (V) and surface (S). In addition to the well-known monometallic Td structure, we added two different bimetallic Ag-Cu compositions, named Td1 and Td2 geometries. Density functional methodology with the use of BP86 and CAM-B3LYP exchange-correlation functionals (XCs) and LANL2DZ pseudopotential has been employed for analyzing the electronic structure and geometries, the chemical static (CHEM), and resonant Raman mechanisms (RR): charge transfer RR-CT and intracluster excitation RR-CR. The static CHEM mechanism shows an increase in the enhancement factors (EFs) of Py-V concerning Py-S positions, which can also be distinguished by the averaged adsorption energies and bond polarizabilities. The static SERS response for Cu-Py-V junction is from 5 to 10 times greater than Ag-Py-V EFs and up to 28 times greater than Py-S complexes. For the static Raman, we found that the analyses of ν8a and ν1 normal modes are related to the EF changes and allow us to distinguish V from S complexes. The TDDFT calculations show striking differences between BP86 and CAM-B3LYP XCs analyzed spectra, and CAM-B3LYP granted a clear distinction between V and S for the location of CT-type transitions. In addition, important differences were obtained from the analysis of the charge transfer excitations between both XCs. Resonant Raman calculations evidenced significant enhancements for RR-CT and RR-CR as compared to the static enhancements, and RR-CT can be distinguished from the RR-CR mechanism, while specific normal modes help to differentiate the vertex from the surface Py-junction. Bimetallic Ag-Cu nanostructures represent promising choices for SERS substrates, showing EFs higher than those of monometallic Ag.

Improving SERS Sensitivity toward Trace Sulfonamides: The Key Role of Trade-Off Interfacial Interactions among the Target Molecules, Anions, and Cations on the SERS Active Surface

In recent years, ensuring the rational use and effective control of antibiotics has been a major focus in the eco-environment, which requires an effective monitoring method. However, on-site rapid detection of antibiotics in water environments remains a challenging issue. In this study, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was used to systematically achieve selective, rapid, and highly sensitive detection of sulfonamides, based on their fingerprint characteristics. The results show that the trade-off between the competitive and coadsorption behaviors of target molecules and agglomerates (inorganic salts) on the surface of the SERS substrate determines whether the molecules can be detected with high sensitivity. Based on this, the qualitative differentiation and quantitative detection of three structurally similar antibiotics, sulfadiazine, sulfamerazine, and sulfamethazine, were achieved, with the lowest detectable concentration being 1 μg/L for sulfadiazine and 50 μg/L for sulfamerazine and sulfamethazine.

Key Role of Direct Adsorption on SERS Sensitivity: Synergistic Effect among Target, Aggregating Agent, and Surface with Au or Ag Colloid as Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Substrate

It is widely accepted that the sensitivity of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is mainly manipulated by the electromagnetic enhancement mechanism (EM). Herein, we determined that the direct adsorption of the target on the SERS active surface is vital as well, through the systematic investigation of the SERS behavior of three positively charged molecules on negatively charged gold (Au) or silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs). Facilitated by the synergistic effect among the molecule, the surface, and the specific adsorbed halide ions (Cl^-, Br^-, and I^-), high SERS sensitivity for trace target was realized, which was mainly from the directly adsorbed molecules. Noteworthy, little contribution from the nondirectly adsorbed molecules was discernible, although the EM enhancement was at the same level for these two surface species dwelling within a distance significantly less than 1 nm from the surface. Further, the related strategy for trace detection sheds light on how to realize sensitive SERS detection of new targets.

Charge-transfer surface-enhanced resonance Raman spectra of benzene-like derivative compounds under the effect of an external electric field

Since the discovery of surface-enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERS), elucidating the charge-transfer (CT) mechanism has been a challenging and controversial process. Different theoretical models have been proposed to explain the effect of applied electrode potential on SERS-CT, but achieving a high-quality conserved trend of experimental observations and explaining the nature of the selective enhancement of the signals is not a trivial task and the results and conclusions are still in dispute. We investigated recently the performance of time-dependent excited-state gradient approximation under the effects of a uniform finite electric field in a simulation of the experimental spectra of pyridine on an Ag electrode. The singular patterns of the experimental spectra for symmetric and non-symmetric benzene-like derivative compounds and the consistent trends of enhancements of their signals under various electrode potentials motivated us to extend our simulation studies to 4-methylpyridine, pyrazine and pyrimidine molecules on silver metal clusters. For these molecules, selective enhancement and de-enhancement of totally symmetric (υ_6a, υ_9a and υ_8a) and non-totally symmetric (υ_6b and υ_8b) modes upon changing the field were obtained and matched well with experimental observations. The selective enhancement of each signal in a zero field was explained by means of excited-state vector gradients and excited-state charge density difference for the S₀→ S_CT transition. On-field calculations showed slight perturbations of the geometries and electronic structures of the molecules. These on-field calculations also directly affected the magnitude of specific excited-state vector gradients and dimensionless displacements, and moreover the patterns of the spectra. The results of this investigation provided insight into the nature of the selective enhancements of signals and may help researchers propose the selection rules of SERS-CT.

Roles of silver nanoclusters in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

The cause for the huge enhancement factors of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) by the addition of small silver nanoclusters is theoretically investigated by focusing on the difference between resonance Raman activity and surface plasmon effects. First, the resonance and off-resonance Raman spectra are calculated using the incident light wavenumbers of the low-lying charge transfer excitations for the surface (S) and vertex (V) complexes of the pyridine molecule attaching to three small silver nanoclusters: Ag₅, Ag₁₀, and Ag₂₀. As a result, it is found that the incident radiation dramatically increases the resonance Raman activities with the enhancement factors up to 10¹². This indicates that the resonance Raman effects are dominant in the enhancement factors of SERS, at least when to use small silver clusters. It is also found that the resonance Raman spectra significantly depend on the adsorption sites given in S or V complexes, and on the inclusion or exclusion of the long-range correction for density functional theory, irrespective of the size of the silver clusters. The electromagnetic field enhancement effects called "surface plasmon effects" are also examined for the Ag₂₀ cluster to confirm this conclusion. Consequently, the enhancement in the electric field is roughly evaluated as less than one for the static polarizability of this small cluster. It is, therefore, concluded that the resonance Raman activity effect is dominant in the huge SERS enhancement factors for, at least, small silver nanoclusters.

SERRS and absorption spectra of pyridine on Au m Ag n (m + n = 6) bimetallic nanoclusters: substrate composition and applied electric field effects

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and absorption spectra of the pyridine molecule adsorbed on Au _m Ag _n (m + n = 6) bimetallic clusters are theoretically investigated by time-dependent density functional theory. The contributions of static chemical enhancement to the ground-state system are analyzed, and the static Raman intensity of Py-Au _m Ag _n complexes are enhanced by an order of 10. A method of visualization on charge transfer is used to distinguish the contributions of charge-transfer enhancement and electromagnetic enhancement. The intensity of surface-enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERRS) spectroscopy of Py-Au _m Ag _n is strongly enhanced by an order of 10³-10⁵, compared to the static Raman intensity of pyridine. The influence of the static external electric field on SERS is investigated by calculating the optical properties of the Py-Au₃Ag₃ complex. The intensity of SERRS spectra and normal Raman spectra can be significantly enhanced by the positive electric fields, and the intensities of specific Raman vibrational modes could be selectively enhanced or weakened by tuning the direction and strength of the static electric field applied on Py-Au₃Ag₃.

Charge Transfer Effect on Raman and Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy of Furfural Molecules

The detection of furfural in transformer oil through surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is one of the most promising online monitoring techniques in the process of transformer aging. In this work, the Raman of individual furfural molecules and SERS of furfural-M_x (M = Ag, Au, Cu) complexes are investigated through density functional theory (DFT). In the Raman spectrum of individual furfural molecules, the vibration mode of each Raman peak is figured out, and the deviation from experimental data is analyzed by surface charge distribution. In the SERS of furfural-M_x complexes, the influence of atom number and species on SERS chemical enhancement factors (EFs) are studied, and are further analyzed by charge transfer effect. Our studies strengthen the understanding of charge transfer effect in the SERS of furfural molecules, which is important in the online monitoring of the transformer aging process through SERS.

Core-Shell Nanoparticle-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Core-shell nanoparticles are at the leading edge of the hot research topics and offer a wide range of applications in optics, biomedicine, environmental science, materials, catalysis, energy, and so forth, due to their excellent properties such as versatility, tunability, and stability. They have attracted enormous interest attributed to their dramatically tunable physicochemical features. Plasmonic core-shell nanomaterials are extensively used in surface-enhanced vibrational spectroscopies, in particular, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), due to the unique localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) property. This review provides a comprehensive overview of core-shell nanoparticles in the context of fundamental and application aspects of SERS and discusses numerous classes of core-shell nanoparticles with their unique strategies and functions. Further, herein we also introduce the concept of shell-isolated nanoparticle-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SHINERS) in detail because it overcomes the long-standing limitations of material and morphology generality encountered in traditional SERS. We then explain the SERS-enhancement mechanism with core-shell nanoparticles, as well as three generations of SERS hotspots for surface analysis of materials. To provide a clear view for readers, we summarize various approaches for the synthesis of core-shell nanoparticles and their applications in SERS, such as electrochemistry, bioanalysis, food safety, environmental safety, cultural heritage, materials, catalysis, and energy storage and conversion. Finally, we exemplify about the future developments in new core-shell nanomaterials with different functionalities for SERS and other surface-enhanced spectroscopies.

Electromagnetic theories of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

A fundamental theoretical understanding of SERS, and SERS hotspots, leads to new design principles for SERS substrates and new applications in nanomaterials and chemical analysis.

A strong charge-transfer effect in surface-enhanced Raman scattering induced by valence electrons of actinide elements

The 6d electrons of Ac atom involved in excited transitions induce a strong CT-SERS enhancement which can be tuned by changing the conformation of pyridine-Ac@Au₇ complexes.

The mechanism of N–Ag bonding determined tunability of surface-enhanced Raman scattering of pyridine on MAg (M = Cu, Ag, Au) diatomic clusters

SERS spectra of the AuAg–Py complex: (a) an IE-enhanced spectrum at an incident wavelength of 369 nm, and (b) a CT-enhanced spectrum at an incident wavelength of 470 nm.

In situ SHINERS at electrochemical single-crystal electrode/electrolyte interfaces: tuning preparation strategies and selected applications

We have studied Au(55 nm)@SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) on two low-index phases of gold and platinum single crystal electrodes in ClO4(-) and SO4(2-) ion-containing electrolytes by both electrochemical methods and in-situ shell-isolated nanoparticle enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SHINERS). We showed the blocking of the electrode with surfactants originating from the synthesis of as-prepared SHINERS NPs. We introduce an efficient procedure to overcome this problem, which provides a fundamental platform for the application of SHINERS in surface electrochemistry and beyond. Our method is based on a hydrogen evolution treatment of the SHINERS-NP-modified single-crystal surfaces. The reliability of our preparation strategy is demonstrated in electrochemical SHINERS experiments on the potential-controlled adsorption and phase formation of pyridine on Au(hkl) and Pt(hkl). We obtained high-quality Raman spectra on these well-defined and structurally carefully characterized single-crystal surfaces. The analysis of the characteristic A1 vibrational modes revealed perfect agreement with the interpretation of single-crystal voltammetric and chronoamperometric experiments. Our study demonstrates that the SHINERS protocol developed in this work qualifies this Raman method as a pioneering approach with unique opportunities for in situ structure and reactivity studies at well-defined electrochemical solid/liquid interfaces.

Raman spectroscopic investigation on TiO2-N719 dye interfaces using Ag@TiO2 nanoparticles and potential correlation strategies

Herein, we employ Ag@TiO2 core-shell nanoparticles for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) investigations of TiO2-N719 dye interfaces. In situ electrochemical SERS investigations of the Ag@TiO2-N719 interaction are systematically carried out under a series of electrode-potential controls. By comparing the potential dependence of resonant and pre-resonant SERS spectra recorded with different laser excitations, bidentate carboxylate linkage is considered to be involved in N719 adsorption on TiO2. Meanwhile, SCN ligand shows obvious interactions with TiO2, and their role in the adsorption and orientation of N719 on TiO2 should not be underestimated. The in situ SERS spectra of Ag@TiO2 show a clear bell-shaped intensity-potential relation for the major bands of N719. A molecule-to-TiO2 charge-transfer resonance is tentatively attributed to account for such a phenomenon. Under the influence of such a charge-transfer resonance, valuable information about the N719-TiO2 interaction as well as the intramolecular deformation of N719 is obtained.

In situ SERS spectroelectrochemical analysis of antioxidants deposited on copper substrates: what is the effect of applied potential on sorption behavior?

The detection of p-coumaric acid and ferulic acid using a combined in situ electrochemical and surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopic technique in specially made electrode cell is described. New in situ spectroelectrochemical cell was designed as the three-electrode arrangement connected via positioning device to fiber-optic probe of Raman spectrometer Dimension P2 (excitation wavelength 785 nm). In situ SERS spectra of p-coumaric acid and ferulic acid were recorded at varying applied negative potentials to copper substrates. The spectral intensities and shapes of bands as well as spatial orientation of molecules on the surface depend significantly on varying values of the applied electrode potential. The change of electrode potential influences analyte adsorption/desorption behavior on the surface of copper substrates, affecting the reversibility of the whole process and overall spectral enhancement level. Principal component analysis is used to distinguish several stages of spectral variations on potential changes.

Theoretical study on contribution of charge transfer effect to surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectra of pyridine adsorbed on Ag(n) (n = 2-8) clusters

We investigate surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra of pyridine-Ag(n) (n = 2-8) complexes by density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TDDFT) methods. In simulated normal Raman scattering (NRS) spectra, profiles of pyridine-Ag(n) (n = 2-8) complexes are analogical with that of isolated pyridine. Nevertheless, calculated pre-SERS spectra are strongly dependent on electronic transition states of new complexes. Wavelengths at 335 nm, 394.8 nm, 316.9 nm and 342.6 nm, which are nearly resonant with pure charge transfer excitation states, are adopted as incident light when simulating pre-SERS spectra for pyridine-Ag(n) (n = 2-8) complexes, respectively. We obtain enhancement factors from 10(3) to 10(5) in pre-SERS spectra compared with corresponding NRS spectra. The obvious increase in Raman intensities mainly result from charge transfer resonance Raman enhancement. A charge difference densities (CDDs) methodology is adopted in describing chemical enhancement mechanism. This methodology aims at visualizing charge transfer from Ag(n) (n = 2-8) clusters to pyridine on resonant electronic transition, which is one of the most direct evidences for chemical enhancement mechanism.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering of trans-1,2-bis (4-pyridyl)-ethylene on silver by theory calculations

Surface-enhanced Raman spectra of trans-1,2-bis (4-pyridyl)-ethylene (t-BPE) on silver foil were detected at laser line of 514.5, 633, 785 and 1064 nm, respectively. The structure of Ag-t-BPE, Ag4-t-BPE, Ag6-t-BPE, Ag10-t-BPE and Ag20-t-BPE complexes has been calculated using a local version of the Amsterdam density functional program package. The Raman spectra and electronic polarizability of t-BPE-Ag at 514.5, 633, 785 and 1064 nm excitation lines were calculated. The Raman bands of t-BPE were assigned according to the calculation of potential energy distribution. The experimental and calculated Raman spectra of t-BPE-Ag at 514.5, 633, 785 and 1064 nm were compared. The relative Raman intensities change at different excitation lines were discussed based on the Raman enhanced mechanism and surface selection rules.

Surface enhanced Raman scattering of pyridine adsorbed on Au@Pd core/shell nanoparticles

Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of pyridine adsorbed on Au@Pd core/shell nanoparticles has been investigated theoretically with quantum chemical method, generalized Mie theory and three-dimensional finite-difference time domain (3D-FDTD) method. We first studied the influence of the coated Pd on the electronic structure of Au nanoparticle, and compared the electronic structure of Au(20) cluster with that of Au(10)Pd(10) (core/shell) cluster. Second, we studied SERS spectroscopy of pyridine on Au@Pd core/shell nanoparticles, which revealed the rate of static chemical enhancement and electromagnetic enhancement in the experimental reports. Third, the influence of the Pd shell thickness to the optical absorption of Au@Pd core/shell nanoparticles was investigated with generalized Mie theory. Fourth, we studied the influence of the shell thickness to the local electric field enhancement with 3D-FDTD method. The theoretical results reveal that the static chemical enhancement and electromagnetic enhancement are in the order of 10 and 10(3), respectively. These theoretical studies promote the deeper understanding of the electronic structure and optical absorption properties of Au@Pd, and the mechanisms for SERS of molecule adsorbed on Au@Pd.

DFT study of adsorption site effect on surface-enhanced Raman scattering of neutral and charged pyridine-Ag4 complexes

Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TDDFT) methods have been used to investigate the adsorption site effect of Raman scattering for neutral and charged pyridine-Ag4 complexes. The calculated results show that the SERS spectra are strongly dependent on adsorption site and the configuration of new complexes. The normal Raman spectra of neutral and charged pyridine-Ag4 complexes are similar with that of isolated pyridine but with an enhancement factor below 10 times. This enhancement is ascribed to ground state chemical enhancement. The pre-surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra were calculated at 1256 nm, 769 nm and 744.3 nm, which are nearly resonant with the charge transfer excited states S2 for neutral and charged pyridine-Ag4 complexes, respectively. We obtain the enhancement factor about 10(4) to 10(5) in pre-SERS spectra which is mainly caused by charge transfer resonance Raman enhancement. The three-dimensional cube representation is also applied to describe the photoinduced CT, which are considered as direct evidence of chemical enhancement, between pyridine and two isomers of Ag4 clusters.

Theoretical study of binding interactions and vibrational Raman spectra of water in hydrogen-bonded anionic complexes: (H2O)n- (n = 2 and 3), H2O...X- (X = F, Cl, Br, and I), and H2O...M- (M = Cu, Ag, and Au)

Binding interactions and Raman spectra of water in hydrogen-bonded anionic complexes have been studied by using the hybrid density functional theory method (B3LYP) and ab initio (MP2) method. In order to explore the influence of hydrogen bond interactions and the anionic effect on the Raman intensities of water, model complexes, such as the negatively charged water clusters ((H2O)n-, n = 2 and 3), the water...halide anions (H2O...X-, X = F, Cl, Br, and I), and the water-metal atom anionic complexes (H2O...M-, M = Cu, Ag, and Au), have been employed in the present calculations. These model complexes contained different types of hydrogen bonds, such as O-H...X-, O-H...M-, O-H...O, and O-H...e-. In particular, the last one is a dipole-bound electron involved in the anionic water clusters. Our results showed that there exists a large enhancement in the off-resonance Raman intensities of both the H-O-H bending mode and the hydrogen-bonded O-H stretching mode, and the enhancement factor is more significant for the former than for the latter. The reasons for these spectral properties can be attributed to the strong polarization effect of the proton acceptors (X-, M-, O, and e-) in these hydrogen-bonded complexes. We proposed that the strong Raman signal of the H-O-H bending mode may be used as a fingerprint to address the local microstructures of water molecules in the chemical and biological systems.

Application of surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy to investigate pyridine adsorption on platinum-group electrodes

In situ surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (SEIRAS) was applied to investigate adsorption configurations of pyridine (Py) on platinum, palladium, ruthenium, and rhodium nanoparticle film electrodes. The results reveal that alpha-pyridyl species predominantly form on Pt electrodes by assuming an edge-on configuration with its ring N and alpha-C atoms bonding to the Pt surface, while on Ru and Rh electrodes pyridine molecules essentially remain intact by adopting a slightly edge-tilted configuration through bonding with its N lone pair electrons. Py adsorption on a Pd electrode may lie in between the above two cases; both alpha-pyridyl species and edge-tilted intact pyridine could be significantly present. Further comparison of the typical adsorption configurations on the above four electrodes with those on Ag, Au, Cu, Cd, and Ni film electrodes suggests that valence electrons and the periodic row of metals may play an important role in determining the adsorption configuration.

TDDFT Studies of Absorption and SERS Spectra of Pyridine Interacting with Au20

We present time dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations for a tetrahedral Au20 complex interacting with pyridine for the purpose of modeling absorption and surface enhanced Raman scattering, with emphasis on chemical and electrodynamic enhancement effects. These calculations are done using the ADF code with the BP86 functional, the zeroth-order regular approximation and with the resonant electronic response modeled using a short time approximation expression for the perturbed density matrix, with a damping factor that is empirically chosen. The absorption spectrum of bare Au20 shows strong intraband (sp-sp) and interband (sp-d) coupling with a low-energy peak at 2.89 eV that is mostly intraband and other peaks at 3.94 and 4.70 eV that have mixed intra- and interband character. SERS spectra are calculated for pyridine/Au20 for both vertex (V) and surface (S) configurations at their respective lowest energy absorption maxima (near 2.89 eV), and we find that the V configuration has higher intensities that correspond to SERS enhancements of 10(3)-10(4), whereas S has an enhancement of 10(2)-10(3). These enhancement values are significantly lower than the analogous results for pyridine/Ag20 primarily because of reduced oscillator strength associated with the intraband transition in Au20. Decomposition of the pyridine/Au20 enhancement factor into chemical and electromagnetic contributions (through an analysis of the static SERS intensities) shows enhanced chemical enhancements compared to Ag20 but reduced electromagnetic enhancements.

Binding Interactions and Raman Spectral Properties of Pyridine Interacting with Bimetallic Silver-Gold Clusters

The binding interactions between pyridine and bimetallic silver-gold clusters are investigated using density functional theory (DFT). The binding energies of pyridine-bimetallic cluster complexes indicate that the bonding depends strongly on the binding site (Au or Ag atom) and bonding molecular orbitals in a given configuration. The donation of the lone-pair electrons of the nitrogen of pyridine to an appropriate unoccupied orbital of each metal cluster plays an important role. The low-lying excited states and charge-transfer states of four stable complexes of interest are calculated on the basis of a time-dependent DFT method. In nonresonance Raman scattering processes, the influence of binding interactions on the relative Raman intensity of totally symmetric pyridine vibrational modes is discussed. These calculated relative Raman intensities are compared with observed surface-enhanced Raman spectra of pyridine adsorbed on silver-gold alloy surfaces.

Density-matrix calculation of surface-enhanced Raman scattering for p-mercaptoaniline on silver nanoshells

A theoretical analysis of recent experiments measuring the 782 nm surface-enhanced Raman scattering of p-mercaptoaniline bound to silver nanoshells of different core and shell radii [J. B. Jackson and N. J. Halas, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 101, 17930 (2004)] is performed. Electronic structure Hartree-Fock and density-functional theory calculations for Ag salts of p-mercaptoaniline are used to characterize observed vibrational modes and configuration-interaction singles calculations are carried out to examine excited states. Multimode vibronic density-matrix calculations are then made including one excited electronic state, using a classical description of the strong local fields and a phenomenological treatment of relaxations. The spectral behavior as a function of both nanoshell surface-plasmon resonance position and molecular electronic spacing is examined.

A combined Raman, DFT and MD study of the solvation dynamics and the adsorption process of pyridine in silver hydrosols

The adsorption of pyridine onto silver colloids has been investigated by Raman spectroscopy experiments and by ab initio DFT and MP2 calculations. The solvation dynamics of the pyridine in water has been studied by a molecular dynamics simulation. The results are compared with the latest available experimental and theoretical data. It is found that the pyridine is essentially hydrogen bonded to one solvent molecule. Calculations based on pyridine-water and pyridine-Ag(+) complexes allow the reproduction of the experimentally observed Raman features and explain the adsorption process of the ligand in silver hydrosols.