Quantifying conformations of ester vibrational probes with hydrogen-bond-induced Fermi resonances

Electrolyte design weakens lithium-ion solvation for a fast-charging and long-cycling Si anode

Silicon (Si) is considered a promising anode material for next-generation lithium-ion batteries due to its high theoretical specific capacity and earth-abundancy. However, challenges such as significant volume expansion, unstable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation in incompatible electrolytes, and slow lithium-ion transport lead to its poor cycling and rate performance. In this work, it is demonstrated that superior cyclability and rate capability of Si anodes can be achieved using ethyl fluoroacetate (EFA) and fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) solvents with low binding energy with Li+ but with sufficiently high relative dielectric constants. By weakening the interaction between Li+ and the solvent, the energy barrier for the Li+ desolvation process is lowered, while ensuring the conductivity and diffusion of Li+. As a result, the silicon-carbon anode with the optimized electrolyte exhibits excellent cycling and rate performance, and can work reversibly with a high capacity of 1709.1 mAh g-1 that proceeds for over 250 cycles and retains 85.2% of its capacity at 0.2C. Furthermore, the Si/C‖LiFePO4 (LFP) full cell shows an extended service life of more than 500 cycles. This work offers valuable insights into the design of weakly solvating electrolytes for high-performance Si-based batteries.

Fermi Resonance of the N-D Stretching Mode Probing the Local Hydrogen-Bonding Environment in Proteins

Local H-bonding interactions are crucial for proteins to undergo various structural transitions and form different secondary structures. However, identifying slight distinctions in the local H-bonding of proteins is rather challenging. Here, we demonstrate that the Fermi resonance of the N-D stretching mode can provide an effective probe for the localized H-bonding environment of proteins both at the surface/interface and in the bulk. Using sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy, we established a correlation between the Fermi resonance of the N-D mode and protein secondary structures. The H-bond of N-D···C═O splits the N-D modes into two peaks (∼2410 and ∼2470 cm-1). The relative strength ratio (R) between the ∼2410 cm-1 peak and the ∼2470 cm-1 peak is very sensitive to H-bond strength and protein secondary structure. R is less than 1 for α-helical peptides, while R is greater than 1 for β-sheet peptides. For R < 2.5, both α-helical/loop structures and β-sheet structures exhibit almost identical Fermi coupling strengths (W = 28 cm-1). For R > 2.5, W decreases from 28 to 14 cm-1 and depends on the aggregation degree of the β-sheet oligomers or fibrils. The initial local H-bonding status impacts the misfolding dynamics of proteins at the lipid bilayer interface.

Perturbation of Fermi Resonance on Hydrogen-Bonded > C═O: 2D IR Studies of Small Ester Probes

We utilized linear and 2D infrared spectroscopy to analyze the carbonyl stretching modes of small esters in different solvents. Particularly noteworthy were the distinct carbonyl spectral line shapes in aqueous solutions, prompting our investigation of the underlying factors responsible for these differences. Through our experimental and theoretical calculations, we identified the presence of the hydrogen-bond-induced Fermi resonance as the primary contributor to the varied line shapes of small esters in aqueous solutions. Furthermore, our findings revealed that the skeletal deformation mode plays a crucial role in the Fermi resonance for all small esters. Specifically, the first overtone band of the skeletal deformation mode intensifies when hydrogen bonds form with the carbonyl group of esters, whereas such coupling is rare in aprotic organic solvents. These spectral insights carry significant implications for the utilization of esters as infrared probes in both biological and chemical systems.

Inconsistent hydrogen bond-mediated vibrational coupling of amide I

Using infrared spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we scrutinized an amide (dimethylformamide) as a "model" compound to interpret the interactions of amide 1 with different phenol derivatives (para-chlorophenol (PCP) and para-cresol (CP)) as "model guest molecules". We established the involvement of amide I in vibrational coupling with symmetric and asymmetric C[double bond, length as m-dash]C modes of different phenolic derivatives and how their coupling was dependent upon different guest aromatic phenolic compounds. Interestingly, substitution of phenol perturbed the pattern of vibrational coupling with amide I. The symmetric and asymmetric C[double bond, length as m-dash]C modes of PC were coupled significantly with amide 1. For PCP, the symmetric C[double bond, length as m-dash]C mode coupled significantly, but the asymmetric mode coupled negligibly, with amide I. Here, we reveal the nature of vibrational coupling based on the structure of a guest molecule hydrogen-bonded with amide I. Our conclusions could be valuable for depiction of the unusual dynamics of coupled amide-I modes as well as the dependency of vibrational coupling on altered factors.

Anomalous Infrared Absorbance of S═O: A Perturbation Study of α-C-H/D

Solvatochromic shifts of S═O vibrational probes describe the strength of the surrounding electric fields and the hydrogen bonding status. Herein, we demonstrated how the solvents alter the infrared (IR) spectra of the S═O vibrating mode. The experimental measurement of the involvement of α-H/D isotopic interactions with different solvents and their effects on the IR absorbance spectra of the vibrational probe provides detailed knowledge of the microsolvation environment despite the complexity of overlapping bands in the spectra. Herein, we discover how the solvents interact differently with DMSO and DMSO-d6, while being electronically and structurally the same. Interestingly, the IR spectrum of the S═O mode remains unaltered during α-isotopic replacement in the presence of aprotic solvents (acetone, acetonitrile, and dichloromethane), but in strongly coordinating polar solvents (D2O), it is altered remarkably. There is a lack of quantitative information about the influence of the α-H atom or α-isotopic substitution on the vibrational probe in the literature. Our experiments provide a detailed molecular understanding of the structure of DMSO in DMSO-solvent binary mixtures. As DMSO plays an important role in virtually all subdisciplines of chemistry and biology, we believe that our work will be of interest to a large diversity of studies in these fields.

On-Off Infrared Absorption of the S═O Vibrational Probe of Dimethyl Sulfoxide

Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), a polar solvent molecule, is used in a wide range of therapeutic and pharmacological applications. Different intermolecular interactions, such as dimerization and hydrogen bonding with water, are crucial to understanding the role of DMSO in applications. Herein, we study DMSO in various solvation environments to decipher the environment-dependent dimerization and hydrogen-bonding propensity. We use a combination of infrared spectroscopy, quantum mechanical calculations, and molecular dynamics simulations to reach our conclusions. Although DMSO can exist in a dynamic equilibrium between monomers and dimers, our results show that the relative intensity of the S═O stretch and the CH₃ rocking modes is a spectroscopic indicator of the extent of DMSO dimerization in solution. The dimerization (self-association) is seen to be maximum in neat DMSO. When dissolved in different solvents, the dimerization propensity decreases with increasing solvent polarity. In the presence of a protic solvent, such as water, DMSO forms a hydrogen bond with the solvent molecules, thereby reducing the extent of dimerization. Further, we estimate the hydrogen-bond occupancy of DMSO. Our results show that DMSO predominantly exists as doubly hydrogen-bonded in water.

Ultrafast vibrational excitation transfer on resonant antenna lattices revealed by two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy

High-quality lattice resonances in arrays of infrared antennas operating in an open-cavity regime form polariton states by means of strong coupling to molecular vibrations. We studied polaritons formed by carbonyl stretching modes of (poly)methyl methacrylate on resonant antenna arrays using femtosecond 2DIR spectroscopy. At a normal incidence of excitation light, doubly degenerate antenna-lattice resonances (ALRs) form two polariton states: a lower polariton and an upper polariton. At an off-normal incidence geometry of 2DIR experiments, the ALR degeneracy is lifted and, consequently, the polariton energies are split. We spectrally resolved and tracked the time-dependent evolution of a cross-peak signal associated with the excitation of reservoir states and the unidirectional transfer of the excess energy to lower polaritons. Bi-exponential decay of the cross-peak suggests that a reversible energy exchange between the bright and dark lower polaritons occurs with a characteristic transfer time of ∼200 fs. The cross-peak signal further decays within ∼800 fs, which is consistent with the relaxation time of the carbonyl stretching vibration and with the dephasing time of the ALR. An increase in the excitation pulse intensity leads to saturation of the cross-peak amplitude and a modification of the relaxation dynamics. Using quantum-mechanical modeling, we found that the kinetic scheme that captures all the experimental observations implies that only the bright lower polariton accepts the energy from the reservoir, suggesting that transfer occurs via a mechanism involving dipole–dipole interaction. An efficient reservoir-to-polariton transfer can play an important role in developing novel room-temperature quantum optical devices in the mid-infrared wavelength region.

Pump Slice Amplitudes: A Simple and Robust Method for Connecting Two-Dimensional Infrared and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectra

Ultrafast two-dimensional infrared (2D IR) spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy are often performed in tandem, with FTIR typically used to interpret and provide hypotheses for 2D IR experiments. Comparisons between 2D IR and FTIR spectra can also be used to examine the structure and orientation in systems of coupled vibrational chromophores. The most common method for comparing 2D IR and FTIR lineshapes, the diagonal slice method, contains significant artifacts when applied to oscillators with low anharmonicities. Here, we introduce a new technique, the pump slice amplitude (PSA) method, for relating 2D IR lineshapes to FTIR lineshapes and compare PSAs against diagonal slices using theoretical and experimental spectra. We find that PSAs are significantly more similar to FTIR lineshapes than diagonal slices in systems with low anharmonicity.

Vibrational Spectroscopic Map, Vibrational Spectroscopy, and Intermolecular Interaction

Vibrational spectroscopy is an essential tool in chemical analyses, biological assays, and studies of functional materials. Over the past decade, various coherent nonlinear vibrational spectroscopic techniques have been developed and enabled researchers to study time-correlations of the fluctuating frequencies that are directly related to solute-solvent dynamics, dynamical changes in molecular conformations and local electrostatic environments, chemical and biochemical reactions, protein structural dynamics and functions, characteristic processes of functional materials, and so on. In order to gain incisive and quantitative information on the local electrostatic environment, molecular conformation, protein structure and interprotein contacts, ligand binding kinetics, and electric and optical properties of functional materials, a variety of vibrational probes have been developed and site-specifically incorporated into molecular, biological, and material systems for time-resolved vibrational spectroscopic investigation. However, still, an all-encompassing theory that describes the vibrational solvatochromism, electrochromism, and dynamic fluctuation of vibrational frequencies has not been completely established mainly due to the intrinsic complexity of intermolecular interactions in condensed phases. In particular, the amount of data obtained from the linear and nonlinear vibrational spectroscopic experiments has been rapidly increasing, but the lack of a quantitative method to interpret these measurements has been one major obstacle in broadening the applications of these methods. Among various theoretical models, one of the most successful approaches is a semiempirical model generally referred to as the vibrational spectroscopic map that is based on a rigorous theory of intermolecular interactions. Recently, genetic algorithm, neural network, and machine learning approaches have been applied to the development of vibrational solvatochromism theory. In this review, we provide comprehensive descriptions of the theoretical foundation and various examples showing its extraordinary successes in the interpretations of experimental observations. In addition, a brief introduction to a newly created repository Web site (http://frequencymap.org) for vibrational spectroscopic maps is presented. We anticipate that a combination of the vibrational frequency map approach and state-of-the-art multidimensional vibrational spectroscopy will be one of the most fruitful ways to study the structure and dynamics of chemical, biological, and functional molecular systems in the future.

Intramolecular hydrogen bonding protects the hydroxyl group from attack by fluctuating solvent forces

Ultrafast spectroscopy of molecular systems involving hydrogen- (H-) bonding has been at the forefront of fundamental chemical and physical research for several decades. Among the spectroscopic observables of the ultrafast dynamics is the pure dephasing of vibrationally excited molecules. Using third-order nonlinear vibrational spectroscopy, including polarization-selective transient grating measurements of vibrational lifetime and orientational diffusion as well as two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy, we determined different individual line shape components of hydroxyl stretching (νOH) excitations in a homologous series of chlorophenols and obtained the corresponding pure dephasing rates. The pure dephasing rates are correlated with vibrational anharmonicity of the νOH mode, which is tuned remotely from the hydroxyl site by changing the position of the chlorine substituents on the phenol ring. We found that in molecules where the hydroxyl group is in its free form, the pure dephasing rates scale linearly with the mode's anharmonicity such that assuming it is dominated by the third-order diagonal term, the ultrafast dynamics follow the prediction of the Kubo-Oxtoby theory. However, in the intramolecularly H-bonded ortho-chlorophenols, this trend is reversed, and the pure dephasing slows down by ∼50% for an increase in anharmonicity of only a few wavenumbers. Because the νOH mode's anharmonicity is known to reflect the H-bonding strength, our results suggest that intramolecular H-bonding can serve as a mechanism of protection from fluctuating forces exerted by the solvent. Such an effect can be relevant for ultrafast dynamics in biomolecules, where H-bonding plays a central role.