Multi-scale simulations of the UV-vis absorption spectra of organic chromophores in condensed phases

Abstract

The effect of a condensed-phase environment on the ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) absorption spectra of chromophores is of fundamental interest in many phenomena, such as color tuning in photobiology and the solvatochromic shift in chemistry. The experimental measurement of UV-vis absorption spectra can provide the information on the spectral region of the absorption of the sample. While computer simulation of the UV-vis absorption spectra can provide the microscopic interpretation of the absorption bands. Moreover, computer simulations can be done for the cases that are impractical for experimental measurements. This thesis work aims to develop proper computational strategies to calculate the UV-vis absorption of organic chromophores in a condensed-phase environment, and to interpret the experimental results or to tackle problems that are difficult for experimental approaches. Simulation of the UV-vis absorption spectra typically involves modeling of the structure of the target system and the calculation of its vertical electronic excitation energies and oscillator strengths of the interesting part of the system. The large size of the condensed phase makes both parts of the simulation very challenging. In this thesis work, frozen-density embedding theory, one of the appropriate approaches on the market for tackling large systems, combined with linear-response time-dependent density-functional theory, is used to calculate the vertical electronic excitation energies and the oscillator strengths of the chromophores in condensed phases. This thesis work investigates the effect of condensed-phase environments on the UV-vis absorption spectra of organic chromophores for several systems, including a functional host-guest material (fluorenone in zeolite-L channel), a chemical solvation system (coumarin 153 in various solvents), and fundamental biological systems in the eye (retinal in rhodopsin and in three visual cone pigments).