Electronic structure of the ground and excited states of beta-carboline.
Coupled-cluster calculations are used to compute the energy of conversion between the neutral and the zwitterionic forms of beta-carboline. The stability of the different species is discussed in terms of charge separation and aromatic character, which is related to magnetic criteria. By means of a linear response formalism the vertical excitation energies and oscillator strengths of the lowest singlet states of both structures as well as of the cationic species are determined. General agreement of the relative position and intensity of the different peaks with experimental data is achieved, but the overall spectra are slightly displaced because of solvent effects.
Understanding the ring current effects on magnetic shielding of hydrogen and carbon nuclei in naphthalene and anthracene
The local response to an external magnetic field normal to the molecular plane of naphthalene and anthracene was investigated via current density and magnetic shielding density maps. The Biot-Savart law shows that the deshielding caused by pi-ring currents in naphthalene is stronger for alpha- than for beta-protons due to geometrical factors. The shielding tensor of the carbon nuclei in both molecules is strongly anisotropic and its out-of-plane component determines the up-field chemical shift of (13)C in nuclear magnetic resonance spectra. The pi-ring currents flowing beyond the C-skeleton in front of a probe carbon nucleus, and on remote parts of the molecular perimeter, yield positive co…
Diatropicity of tetraazanaphthalenes
Tetraazanaphthalenes are diatropic molecules, whose magnetic response to a magnetic field perpendicular to the molecular plane closely resembles that of naphthalene. The out-of-plane component of the magnetic susceptibility tensor and its strong anisotropy can be used as quantifiers of magnetic aromaticity. Maps showing streamlines and modulus of the current density field provide clear evidence for diatropicity of these systems. They also explain the strong anisotropy of carbon and nitrogen magnetic shielding, which is determined by the big out-of-plane component of the nuclear shielding tensor. The electronic ring currents observed in the map deshield the nuclei of ring hydrogens by enforc…
Can aromaticity be connected with molecular polarizability? A theoretical study of benzene isomers and five-membered heterocyclic molecules
Extended calculations of molecular electric dipole polarizability tensor, at Hartree-Fock and correlated level of accuracy (MP2, CCS, CC2, CCSD, and CCSD(T)) have been carried out to investigate whether aromaticity could be related to the electric dipole polarizability of planar ring systems. The calculations prove the exaltation of the average property of conjugated molecules, which is possibly due to their easily polarizable π-electron cloud. On the other hand, theoretical out-of-plane polarizability components are smaller in benzene than in any other C$_6$H$_6$ isomer. The aromatic stabilization energies of monosubstituted five-membered conjugated cyclic molecules increase in the same di…
The ring-current model of the paratropic pentalene molecule
The ring-current model for the pentalene molecule has been constructed by ab initio techniques. The current density vector field has been used to obtain magnetic shielding density maps for the different protons. It is shown that the paramagnetic flow of the π electrons causes an increase of the out-plane component of proton shielding tensors, that is overall shielding. Distant portions of the π flow also shield carbon nuclei.
Assessment of the CTOCD-DZ methodin a hierarchy of coupled cluster methods
Gauge origin independent calculations of nuclear magnetic shielding tensors are carried out inside the formalism of the continuous transformation of the origin of the current density leading to formal annihilation of its diamagnetic contribution (CTOCD-DZ). We employ the unrelaxed linear response approach with a hierarchy of different coupled cluster methods in order to assess the importance of the level of approximation in the coupled cluster expansion. The basis set dependence of the computed nuclear magnetic shielding constants is also analyzed in the series of correlation consistent basis sets, with the aim of designing optimized basis sets of relatively small size.
Parity violation energy of biomolecules - III: RNA
The energy of parity-violation associated with a typical DNA double helix is estimated with ab initio techniques. It is shown that weak-nuclear interactions do not favor the formation of the double helices found in nature. Possible implications regarding the potential effect of parity-violation interactions on the evolution of biological homochirality are discussed.
Magnetic field-induced alignment of molecular rotor-shaped cyclophanes
Molecular pinwheels consisting of dipolar substituted cyclophanes in solution can function as free microscopic rotors in the presence of a homogeneous static magnetic field B and a circularly polarized electric field E rotating on a plane containing B. Owing to the high magnetic anisotropy of [26](1,2,3,4,5,6)cyclophane and [36](1,2,3,4,5,6)cyclophane biased by strong ring currents, ∼1 in 105 molecules are expected to align with the C6 symmetry axis perpendicular to a magnetic field of 21 T. The magnetic-field-controlled alignment of rotor-shaped cyclophanes is insignificantly affected by nonpolar solvents, for example, toluene.
Structure, magnetizability, and nuclear magnetic shielding tensors of bis-heteropentalenes. IV. Dihydrophospholophosphole isomers
The geometry of the heteropentalenes formed by two phosphole units has been determined at the DFT level. The magnetic susceptibility and the nuclear magnetic shielding at the nuclei of these systems have also been calculated using gauge-including atomic orbitals and a large Gaussian basis set to achieve near Hartree-Fock estimates. A comparative study of the various isomers, of their flattened analogs, and of the parent phosphole molecule, shows that the [3,4-c] isomer is the most aromatic system in the set considered, assuming diatropicity and degree of planarity as indicators, even if it is the less stable in terms of total molecular energy. Plots of magnetic field-induced current densiti…
Assessment of the Performance of DFT Functionals Using Off-Diagonal Hypervirial Relationships
Off-diagonal hypervirial relationships, combined with quantum mechanical sum rules of charge-current conservation, offer a way for testing electronic excited-state transition energies and moments, which does not need any external reference. A number of fundamental relations were recast into absolute deviations from zero, which have been used to assess the performance of some popular DFT functionals. Extended TD-DFT calculations have been carried out for a pool of molecules chosen to the purpose, adopting a large basis set to ensure high quality results. A general agreement with previous benchmarks is observed.
From Pentalene to Dicyclopenta[b,g]naphthalene, or the Change towards Delocalized Structures
Lining triples-corrected coupled-cluster methods as well as other high-level theoretical approximations, the optimized parameters and isomerization barriers of the family of compounds cyclopentadiene-(benzene) x -cyclopentadiene (x 0, 1, 2) are computed. In contrast to previous studies, s-indacene presents a localized C 2 h geometry. Also, the localized structure of pentalene is found to be the most stable, but when two benzene rings are intercalated between the five-member rings of pentalene, the resulting molecule preferably adopts a delocalized D 2 h conformation.
Current density maps, magnetizability, and nuclear magnetic shielding tensors of bis-heteropentalenes. II. Furo-furan Isomers
Magnetic susceptibility and nuclear magnetic shielding at the nuclei of bis-heteropentalenes formed by two furan units ([2,3-b], [3,2-b], [3,4-b], and [3,4-c] isomers) have been computed by several approximated techniques and a large Gaussian basis set to achieve near Hartree–Fock estimates. Ab initio models of the ring currents induced by a magnetic field normal to the molecular plane were obtained for the three isomeric systems of higher symmetry, showing that the π electrons give rise to intense diamagnetic circulation. The π currents are responsible for enhanced magnetic anisotropy and strong out-of-plane proton deshielding. The theoretical findings are used to build up a “diatropicity …
Current density maps, magnetizability, and nuclear magnetic shielding tensors of bis-heteropentalenes. III. Thieno-thiophene isomers
Near Hartree–Fock values of the magnetic susceptibility and nuclear magnetic shielding of bis-heteropentalenes consisting of two thiophene units ([2,3-b], [3,2-b], [3,4-b], and [3,4-c] isomers) have been estimated via computational schemes relying on continuous transformation of the origin of the current density within the coupled Hartree–Fock approximation and extended gaugeless Gaussian basis sets. The results are compared with those obtained via London gauge-including orbitals. Maps of streamlines and the modulus of the ring current density induced by a magnetic field normal to the molecular plane are reported for the three isomers of higher symmetry, showing that the intense diamagnetic…