Accurate Vertical Electron Detachment Energies and Multiphoton Resonant Photoelectron Spectra of Biochromophore Anions in Aqueous Solution.

Abstract

We introduce a new methodology for calculating vertical electron detachment energies (VDEs) of biologically relevant chromophores in their deprotonated anionic forms in aqueous solution. It combines a large-scale mixed DFT/EFP/MD approach with the high-level multireference perturbation theory XMCQDPT2 and the Effective Fragment Potential (EFP) method. The methodology includes a multiscale flexible treatment of inner (∼1000 water molecules) and outer (∼18000 water molecules) water shells around a charged solute, capturing both the effects of specific solvation and the properties of bulk water. VDEs are calculated as a function of system size for getting a converged value at the DFT/EFP level of theory. The XMCQDPT2/EFP approach, adapted for calculating VDEs, supports the DFT/EFP results. When corrected for a solvent polarization contribution, the XMCQDPT2/EFP method yields the most accurate estimate to date of the first VDE for aqueous phenolate (7.3 ± 0.1 eV), which agrees well with liquid-jet X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data (7.1 ± 0.1 eV). We show that the geometry of the water shell and its size are essential for accurate VDE calculations of aqueous phenolate and its biologically relevant derivatives. By simulating photoelectron spectra of aqueous phenolate upon two-photon excitation at wavelengths resonant with the S0 → S1 transition, we also provide interpretation of recent multiphoton UV liquid-microjet photoelectron spectroscopy experiments. We show that its first VDE is consistent with our estimate of 7.3 eV, when experimental two-photon binding energies are corrected for the resonant contribution.