0000000000511348
AUTHOR
Andrea Bottoni
Convergent results from experimental and theoretical DFT studies of the intramolecular rearrangement of Z-hydrazones of 3-acetyl-1,2,4-oxadiazoles
A combined kinetic and theoretical study of the monocyclic rearrangements of heterocycles (MRH) has been carried out. The interconversion of the Z-hydrazone of 3-benzoyl-5-phenyl-1,2,4-oxadiazole into the corresponding triazole has been experimentally investigated in dioxane/water in the pS(+) range 5.5(5)-13.9. The uncatalyzed region has been examined at the DFT level using a model system formed by the Z-hydrazone of 3-formyl-1,2,4-oxadiazole and one or two water molecules. The environmental effect of the solvent has been emulated using a continuum model (COSMO) approach. The kinetic data suggest a concerted process where the magnitude of the activation barrier is determined by the interpl…
Electrostatic control of the photoisomerization efficiency and optical properties in visual pigments: on the role of counterion quenching.
Hybrid QM(CASPT2//CASSCF/6-31G*)/MM(Amber) computations have been used to map the photoisomerization path of the retinal chromophore in Rhodopsin and explore the reasons behind the photoactivity efficiency and spectral control in the visual pigments. It is shown that while the electrostatic environment plays a central role in properly tuning the optical properties of the chromophore, it is also critical in biasing the ultrafast photochemical event: it controls the slope of the photoisomerization channel as well as the accessibility of the S(1)/S(0) crossing space triggering the ultrafast decay. The roles of the E113 counterion, the E181 residue, and the other amino acids of the protein pock…