Molecular Structures and Vibrational Spectra of trans- and cis-Polyacetylene and Their Oligoenes Revisited Using Density Functional Theory Calculations

Polyacetylene, the most representative synthetic conducting polymer, has attracted much attention because it exhibits high conductivity upon doping. In this paper, molecular structures, electronic excitation energies, and Raman and infrared spectra were calculated using density functional theory for trans- and cis-oligoenes with various chain lengths up to the number of C═C bonds (n) of 100 and trans- and cis-polyacetylenes under one-dimensional periodic boundary condition. The harmonic vibrational frequencies obtained at the B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) level were scaled by the scaling factors determined with respect to the anharmonic vibrational frequencies using the B2PLYP method, in which the coefficients of the functional were optimized for trans-oligoenes. The calculated infrared and Raman frequencies reproduce reasonably well the observed frequencies for trans- and cis-polyacetylene. Based on the chain-length dependence of the calculated Raman spectra of trans-oligoenes, we proposed the possibility of longer conjugated trans-segments observed in the resonance Raman spectra of trans-polyacetylene excited at longer wavelengths of 647.1 and 1064 nm. We also elucidated the origin of the excitation-wavelength dependence of the resonance Raman spectra of trans-polyacetylene and the structure of isomerization intermediates from cis-form to trans-form. In addition, the previous assignments of Raman and infrared spectra of trans- and cis-polyacetylene were reexamined in the present study based on the chain-length dependence of the spectra.

Fermi resonance in CO2: A combined electronic coupled-cluster and vibrational configuration-interaction prediction

The authors present a first-principles prediction of the energies of the eight lowest-lying anharmonic vibrational states of CO(2), including the fundamental symmetric stretching mode and the first overtone of the fundamental bending mode, which undergo a strong coupling known as Fermi resonance. They employ coupled-cluster singles, doubles, and (perturbative) triples [CCSD(T) and CCSDT] in conjunction with a range of Gaussian basis sets (up to cc-pV5Z, aug-cc-pVQZ, and aug-cc-pCVTZ) to calculate the potential energy surfaces (PESs) of the molecule, with the errors arising from the finite basis-set sizes eliminated by extrapolation. The resulting vibrational many-body problem is solved by the vibrational self-consistent-field and vibrational configuration-interaction (VCI) methods with the PESs represented by a fourth-order Taylor expansion or by numerical values on a Gauss-Hermite quadrature grid. With the VCI, the best theoretical estimates of the anharmonic energy levels agree excellently with experimental values within 3.5 cm(-1) (the mean absolute deviation). The theoretical (experimental) anharmonic frequencies of the Fermi doublet are 1288.9 (1285.4) and 1389.3 (1388.2) cm(-1).

Transfer of Photoenergy in π-Conjugated Polymers. Two Types of Photoluminescence that Involve Energy Transfer along a Polymer Chain

Two types of energy transfer in pi-conjugated polymers have been investigated using time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) techniques: type i, perpendicular-type energy transfer from the 2,3-di(p-tolyl)quinoxaline unit to the pi-conjugated main chain of poly[2,3-di(p-tolyl)quinoxaline-5,8-diyl], and type ii, parallel-type energy transfer from the oligo(pyridine-2,5-diyl) (O-Py) unit to the oligo(selenophene-2,5-diyl) (O-Se) unit in a block-type copolymer of O-Py and O-Se. Both types of energy transfer were very fast with a time constant shorter than approximately 0.1 ns; in particular, the type ii energy transfer took place with a time constant of approximately 5 ps. Both pi-conjugated polymers were considered to contain segments with various effective pi-conjugation lengths, and the energy transfer to the segment with a larger effective pi-conjugation length and a smaller pi-pi* transition energy required a longer transition time. A polarizing film was obtained by utilizing the perpendicular-type energy transfer.

Vibrational spectra and electron–vibration interactions of the naphthalene radical anion — Experimental and theoretical study

Vibrational analysis is carried out for the radical anions of naphthalene-h8 and -d8. Their infrared (IR) spectra are observed in tetrahydrofuran by using a cell designed for IR measurements of unstable species. The vibrational force field and the IR intensities are calculated by the ab initio molecular orbital and density functional methods at various theoretical levels. As found in the cases of the radical cations of many polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a few strong IR bands with intensities of the order of 102 km mol–1 are observed in the 1700–900 cm–1 region. These observed spectral features are well reproduced by the calculations at the CASSCF (complete active space self-consistent field) and B3LYP (Becke's three-parameter hybrid method using the Lee–Yang–Parr correlation functional) levels. The calculation at the B3LYP level gives a better fit between the observed and calculated absolute IR intensities. Normal modes and the origin of the strong IR intensities characteristic of the radical anions are discussed in terms of molecular symmetry coordinates and the dipole derivatives based on these coordinates. It is found that the IR intensities of the b2u modes below 2000 cm–1 are dominated by the contribution from one molecular symmetry coordinate, in which the C—C bonds in one ring stretch while those in the other ring shrink. The mechanism that gives rise to the strong IR intensity for this vibration is discussed by examining the changes in the electronic structure induced by this vibration.Key words: vibrational spectra, electron–vibration interaction, naphthalene, radical anion.

Temperature dependence of near-IR excited Raman spectra of crystalline hen egg-white lysozyme

Near-IR excited Raman spectroscopy was applied to examine the structural change of hen egg-white lysozyme in tetragonal crystals at low temperatures. There was little difference found in the amide I and amide III regions between the spectra observed at 77 and 298 K, suggesting that the secondary structures of lysozyme were conserved in the temperature range from 77 to 298 K. Several bands arising from the protein side chains, particularly the methylene and phenylalanyl groups, showed significant changes in either intensity or bandwidth (or in both of them) on going from 77 to 298 K. Some of the spectral changes occurred gradually over the wide temperature range, and others occurred abruptly at around 200-240 K. The implications of these findings are discussed.