Nitrile IR intensities characterize electric fields and hydrogen bonding in protic, aprotic, and protein environments

Nitriles are widely used as vibrational probes; however, the interpretation of their IR frequencies is complicated by hydrogen bonding (H-bonding) in protic environments. We report a new vibrational Stark effect (VSE) that correlates the electric field projected on the nitrile bond to the transition dipole moment and, by extension, the nitrile peak area or integrated intensity. This linear VSE applies to both H-bonding and non-H-bonding interactions. It can therefore be generally applied to determine electric fields in all environments. Additionally, it allows for semi-empirical extraction of the H-bonding contribution to the blueshift of the nitrile frequency. Nitriles were incorporated at H-bonding and non-H-bonding protein sites using amber suppression, and each nitrile variant was structurally characterized at high resolution. We exploited the combined information now available from variations in frequency and integrated intensity and demonstrate that nitriles are a generally useful probe for electric fields.

MOLECULAR MODELING, REACTIVITY PARAMETERS AND SPECTROCHEMIC STUDIES OF ε-CAPROLACTAM AND o-PHENANTROLINE

In this work, molecular models were obtained, and the reactivity parameters of ε-caprolactam and ophenanthroline were calculated to evaluate the interaction in the formation of complex molecular compounds. It was observed that the main electron donor atoms, in the formation of the metal-ligand bond, are centered mainly on the oxygen and nitrogen atoms, respectively, which are sterically more favorable in these species. Conductance measurements in an aqueous solution were obtained to observe the electrolytic behavior of these compounds. Infrared spectra were also recorded to characterize vibrational transitions in identifying these species when present in complex systems. Molecular spectra of absorption in the UV-visible region were recorded to evaluate the spectrochemical properties of these individual ligands and further verify their influence on the formation of complex molecular systems. The parameters evaluated include the molar absorptivity ε, integrated absorption coefficient, oscillator force, and transition dipole moment. It was observed that the ε parameter indicates molecular transitions in the 190 – 300 nm region and the near-infrared, and the oscillator strength is typical of molecules used as dyes and sensitizers for optical light-emitting systems or light-to-electricity converters.

Near-infrared and Visible Opacities of S-type Stars: The B1Π—X1Σ+ Band System of ZrO

The ZrO B1Π—X1Σ+ transition is an important opacity source in the near-infrared and optical spectrum of S-type stars. The 0–0, 0–1, 0–2, 1–0, 1–2, 1–3, 2–0, 2–1, 2–3, 2–4, 3–1, 3–4, and 4–2 bands of the 90Zr16O B1Π—X1Σ+ transition are reanalyzed using a high-temperature (2390 K) high-resolution (0.04 cm−1) emission spectrum collected at the National Solar Observatory (Kitt Peak). A modern spectroscopic analysis was performed using the PGOPHER program to provide updated spectroscopic constants and to produce a high-precision line list with line strengths based on an ab initio calculation of the transition dipole moment.

Layered Structures of Assembled Imine-Linked Macrocycles and Two-Dimensional Covalent Organic Frameworks Give Rise to Prolonged Exciton Lifetimes

Ordered organic materials and assemblies have great potential to be tailored to have desirable properties for optoelectronic applications, such as long exciton lifetime and high directional exciton mobility. Framework materials, such as twodimensional covalent organic frameworks (2D COFs), as well as their truncated macrocyclic analogues, are versatile platforms to organize functional aromatic systems into designed assemblies and robust materials. Here we investigate the exciton dynamics in a 2D COF, its corresponding hexagonal macrocycle, and extended nanotubes comprised of stacked macrocycles. The excitonic behavior of these three systems provide an understanding of excitonic processes that occur in the plane of the covalently bonded 2D macromolecules and between layers of the nanotubes and 2D COF. The nanotube and analogous 2D COF exhibit longer excited-state lifetimes (~100 ps) compared to the individual, solvated macrocycles (<0.5 ps). These differences are attributed to the internal conversion facilitated by the internal motions of the imine linkages which are significantly reduced in the assembled macrocycles in the nanotube and 2D COF sheets in the layered structures. The exciton diffusion processes in the assembled nanotubes and 2D COF systems were characterized by the autocorrelations of the transition dipole moment of the excitons, giving the depolarization time constants for both systems to be ~1 ps. This work also reveals the anisotropic exciton dynamics related to the in-plane and inter-plane structural factors in these systems. These studies provide guidance for the design of future COF materials, where the longer excited state lifetimes imparted by assembly are beneficial for optoelectronic applications.