0000000000515669

AUTHOR

Michael Allan

Electron Energy Loss and DFT/SCI Study of the Singlet and Triplet Excited States of Aminobenzonitriles and Benzoquinuclidines:  Role of the Amino Group Twist Angle

Spectroscopic consequences of varying the twist angle of the amino group in aminobenzonitrile systems in the electronic ground state are investigated by applying electron energy loss (EEL) spectroscopy and density functional theory to 4-N,N-dimethylaminobenzonitrile (DMABN), 4-N,N-dimethylamino-3,5-dimethylbenzonitrile (MMD), benzoquinuclidine (BQ), and 6-cyanobenzoquinuclidine (CBQ). A number of singlet and triplet excited states was observed and assigned with the help of DFT/SCI theory. The results characterize the gas-phase spectroscopy of the molecules and verify to within 0.3 eV the predictive power of DFT/SCI theory for vertical states over a wide range of twist and pyramidalization a…

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On the photoelectron spectrum ofp-benzoquinone

A high-resolution photoelectron spectrum of p-benzoquinone in the low energy (9.5–11.5 eV) region is reported and analyzed with the aid of simulations based on high-level ab initio calculations. The results generally support the notion that the two prominent spectral features in this region are each due to a pair of final ion states. The lower energy feature beginning near 10 eV is due to oxygen lone-pair ionizations, while that beginning near 11 eV comes from π electron removal. Contrary to previous interpretations of the spectrum, however, the results of this study indicate that the two π states are nearly degenerate, with the strongest peak in the photoelectron spectrum representing a co…

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