Electron-driven Proton Transfer Research Articles

Synergistic effect of carbon dopants on photoinduced water−splitting on graphitic carbon nitride

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN), composed of heptazines, holds promise as a photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution. But its suboptimal visible light absorption and poor electrical conductivity limit photocurrent density and catalytic activity. Carbon atom doping, specifically carbon-modified g-CN (C/g-CN), enhances photocatalytic performance. This study investigates the impact of carbon dopants at the three-coordinated nitrogen atom (N3C) and the two-coordinated nitrogen atom (N2C) sites on the reaction mechanism of water-splitting in the ground and excited states. Nonadiabatic dynamics simulations are employed on water hydrogen-bonded to C-doped heptazines (H2O⋯C/heptazine) to unveil the molecular-level decomposition mechanism in the excited states. The simulations reveal that the C dopants at N2C improve the activity for water-splitting in the ground state. The C dopants at N3C improve the H atom detachment from H2O via the electron-driven proton transfer (EDPT) process. The synergistic effect of carbon dopants on enhanced catalytic activity of C/g-CN is elucidated.

Trajectory Surface Hopping for a Polarizable Embedding QM/MM Formulation.

We present the implementation of trajectory surface-hopping nonadiabatic dynamics for a polarizable embedding QM/MM formulation. Time-dependent density functional theory was used at the quantum mechanical level of theory, whereas the molecular mechanics description involved the polarizable AMOEBA force field. This implementation has been obtained by integrating the surface-hopping program Newton-X NS with an interface between the Gaussian 16 and the Tinker suites of codes to calculate QM/AMOEBA energies and forces. The implementation has been tested on a photoinduced electron-driven proton-transfer reaction involving pyrimidine and a hydrogen-bonded water surrounded by a small cluster of water molecules and within a large water droplet.

Role of the Hydrogen Bond on the Internal Conversion of Photoexcited Adenosine.

Experiments and theory have revealed that hydrogen bonds modify the excited-state lifetimes of nucleosides compared to nucleobases. Nevertheless, how these bonds impact the internal conversion is still unsettled. This work simulates the non-adiabatic dynamics of adenosine conformers in the gas phase with and without hydrogen bonds between the sugar and adenine moieties. The isomer containing the hydrogen bond (syn) exhibits a significantly shorter excited-state lifetime than the isomer without it (anti). However, internal conversion through electron-driven proton transfer between sugar and adenine plays only a minor (although non-negligible) role in the photophysics of adenosine. Either with or without hydrogen bonds, photodeactivation preferentially occurs following the ring-puckering pathways. The role of the hydrogen bond is to avoid the sugar rotation relative to adenine, shortening the distance to the ring-puckering internal conversion.

Photoinduced water-chromophore electron transfer causes formation of guanosine photodamage.

UV-induced photolysis of aqueous guanine nucleosides produces 8-oxo-guanine and Fapy-guanine, which can induce various types of cellular malfunction. The mechanistic rationale underlying photodestructive processes of guanine nucleosides is still largely obscure. Here, we employ accurate quantum chemical calculations and demonstrate that an excited-state non-bonding interaction of guanosine and a water molecule facilitates the electron-driven proton transfer process from water to the chromophore fragment. This subsequently allows for the formation of a crucial intermediate, namely guanosine photohydrate. Further (photo)chemical reactions of this intermediate lead to the known products of guanine photodamage.

Adenine ultrafast photorelaxation via electron-driven proton transfer.

Photorelaxation of adenine in water was reported to be ultrafast (within 180 fs) primarily due to radiationless relaxation. However, in the last two decades, several experimental and theoretical investigations on photoexcitation of adenine have revealed diverse types of decay mechanisms. Using time-dependent density functional excited-state nonadiabatic dynamics simulations we show that it is the water to adenine electron-driven proton transfer (EDPT) barrierless reaction responsible for the ultrafast component of the adenine relaxation, which, however, occurred only in the case of the 7H isomer of adenine with five water molecules. This result reveals a known reaction pathway, however not found in previous simulations, with inference for the ultrafast relaxation mechanisms of adenine reported in experiments. The 9H isomer of adenine with six water molecules relaxing in a water cluster followed the previously known structural distortion (C2) decay pathway. The observations of the adenine EDPT reaction with water provide the origin of the experimental ultrafast adenine decay component and present a possible method to tackle future computational challenges in molecular-level biological processes.

Electron-driven proton transfer relieves excited-state antiaromaticity in photoexcited DNA base pairs.

The Watson–Crick A·T and G·C base pairs are not only electronically complementary, but also photochemically complementary. Upon UV irradiation, DNA base pairs undergo efficient excited-state deactivation through electron driven proton transfer (EDPT), also known as proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET), at a rate too fast for other reactions to take place. Why this process occurs so efficiently is typically reasoned based on the oxidation and reduction potentials of the bases in their electronic ground states. Here, we show that the occurrence of EDPT can be traced to a reversal in the aromatic/antiaromatic character of the base upon photoexcitation. The Watson–Crick A·T and G·C base pairs are aromatic in the ground state, but the purines become highly antiaromatic and reactive in the first 1ππ* state, and transferring an electron and a proton to the pyrimidine relieves this excited-state antiaromaticity. Even though proton transfer proceeds along the coordinate of breaking a N–H σ-bond, the chromophore is the π-system of the base, and EDPT is driven by the strive to alleviate antiaromaticity in the π-system of the photoexcited base. The presence and absence of alternative excited-state EDPT routes in base pairs also can be explained by sudden changes in their aromatic and antiaromatic character upon photoexcitation.

Photoinduced Water-Heptazine Electron-Driven Proton Transfer: Perspective for Water Splitting with g-C3N4.

Heptazine-assembled polymeric carbon nitride (CN) materials have fascinated the research community as a photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution while less attention has been devoted to the mechanistic features of the host materials. Using excited-state nonadiabatic dynamics simulations, the molecular-level picture of the decomposition of heptazine hydrogen bonded to water molecule(s) (heptazine-water complex) into heptazinyl and hydroxyl biradical products is revealed. Dynamics simulations show that hydrogen detachment from the water molecule to the heptazine occurs within tens of femtoseconds and suggest that excited-state deactivation via N-H······O-H electron-driven proton transfer (EDPT) is the dominant and most relevant excited-state deactivation process in heptazine-water complexes leading to conical intersection. The observation of photorelaxation-induced water splitting by heptazine is proof of the water-splitting reaction principle, which presents further challenges for computational and experimental investigations of the deactivation of heptazinyl and OH biradical products for efficient hydrogen evolution.

Grinding-Triggered Single Crystal-to-Single Crystal Transformation of a Zinc(II) Complex: Mechanochromic Luminescence and Aggregation-Induced Emission Properties.

We first report single crystal X-ray analysis of ground crystals of mechanochromic luminescence (MCL) that shows single crystal-to-single crystal transformation (SCSCT). Single crystals of [ZnL2] (1-SG, HL = 2-[[[4-(2-benzoxazolyl)phenyl]imino]-methyl]-5-(diethylamino)-phenol) were obtained upon slight grinding of single crystals of [ZnL2]·0.5CH3OH (1), both of which were characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Crystals of 1 showed emission centered at 647 nm (red color), while crystals of 1-SG showed emission band at 624 nm (orange-red color) under UV light, indicating MCL property of the Zn(II) complex. Reversible MCL property with emission color change between red and yellow for 1 was observed upon high grinding and recrystallization. Single crystal X-ray analysis suggested that it is due to the alteration of molecular conformation of ligands in ZnL2 instead of weak intermolecular interaction that 1 exhibits MCL. Investigation of the control Zn(II) complexes (2-4) indicated that flexible substituents and rotated aromatic rings are desirable to generate the MCL-active complexes. In addition, 1 was highly fluorescent in THF solution, but its fluorescence quenched upon addition of water. DFT calculations suggested that this is due to the formation of the excited hydrated ZnL2 species via Zn-O coordination bond, which results in electron-driven proton transfer (EDPT). Aggregates formed as water fraction ( fw) in THF/H2O (v/v) reached 70%, and fluorescence emission was enhanced. This phenomenon continued until fw was 90%, indicating aggregation-induced emission (AIE) property. The mechanism of AIE of ZnL2 in THF/H2O is the restriction of intramolecular rotation (RIR).

Photoinduced electron-driven proton transfer from water to an N-heterocyclic chromophore: nonadiabatic dynamics studies for pyridine-water clusters.

It has been found in recent molecular beam experiments that pyridine molecules photoexcited at 255 nm can abstract hydrogen atoms from hydrogen-bonded water molecules in pyridine-water clusters, resulting in pyridinyl-hydroxyl radical pairs. The reaction could only be detected for clusters containing at least four water molecules. To provide insight into the mechanisms of this reaction, we performed ab initio excited-state trajectory surface-hopping dynamics simulations for two pyridine-water complexes, containing one and four water molecules, respectively, using the second-order algebraic-diagrammatic-construction (ADC(2)) electronic-structure method. A computationally efficient surface-hopping algorithm based on the Landau-Zener formula has been used to evaluate the transition probability between electronic states. The formation of the pyridinyl radical via an electron-driven proton transfer (EDPT) process from water to pyridine is confirmed by the simulations. The analysis of the competing excited-state reaction mechanisms up to 500 fs reveals that adiabatic relaxation to local minima of the S1(nπ*) potential-energy surface is the dominant channel in both clusters, followed by internal conversion to the electronic ground state via so-called ring-puckering conical intersections. The efficiency of the latter contribution is weakly dependent of the size of the clusters. The EDPT reaction occurs on the fastest time scales (faster than 200 fs) with a branching ratio of several percent. It is found to be four times more efficient in the pyridine-(H2O)4 cluster than in the pyridine-H2O cluster, which is qualitatively consistent with the experimental observations. A detailed understanding of the photoinduced reaction mechanisms in complexes of N-heterocyclic chromophores with water molecules is of relevance for future systematic knowledge-based developments of optimized materials for photocatalytic water splitting with sunlight.

Photoinduced hydrogen-transfer reactions in pyridine-water clusters: Insights from excited-state electronic-structure calculations

Recent experiments have shown that photoexcited pyridine can abstract a hydrogen atom from a water molecule in pyridine-water clusters containing at least four water molecules. To explain these findings, we explored the electron-driven proton-transfer reaction from water to pyridine in pyridine-(H2O)n, n = 1–4, complexes with ab initio methods. It is shown that the photoinduced electron/proton transfer reaction is energetically possible for all clusters. The calculations reveal that the hydrogen bond between pyridine and the adjacent water molecule is weakened (strengthened) in the 1nπ∗ (1ππ∗) excited state, which is unfavorable (favorable) for the H-atom transfer reaction. For pyridine-(H2O)n clusters with n = 1–3, the steepest descent path leads to a local minimum of 1nπ∗ character, while for the pyridine-(H2O)4 cluster, this path leads to a local minimum of 1ππ∗ character. The transition state calculations show the presence of this 1ππ∗ minimum substantially reduces the barrier height for the H-atom transfer reaction. These results provide a tentative explanation of the experimental observations.

Resolving the excited state relaxation dynamics of guanosine monomers and hydrogen-bonded homodimers in chloroform solution

The relaxation pathways of silyl-modified guanosine nucleoside monomers (G) and double-hydrogen-bonded homodimers (GG1) are compared in chloroform solution after 260-nm ultraviolet excitation. Transient absorption spectra support two previously reported relaxation pathways for the monomer with time constants of 210 ± 20 fs and 2.6 ± 0.1 ps. These pathways are associated with bifurcated approach to a seam of conical intersections between the excited 1ππ* 1La state and the ground electronic state. In the homodimer, an increase in the larger time constant to 18 ± 2 ps is attributed to slower passage through the minimum energy region of the 1ππ* state. A further time constant of 70 ± 10 fs indicates wavepacket evolution out of the 1ππ* state Franck-Condon region. A slow component of recovery of ground-state GG1 is proposed to result either from relaxation of the product of inter-base electron-driven proton transfer, or from the lowest triplet state (3ππ* , T1).

Solvation effects alter the photochemistry of 2-thiocytosine

Radiationless deactivation channels of 2-thiocytosine in aqueous environment are revisited by means of quantum-chemical simulations of excited-state absorption spectra, and investigations of potential energy surfaces of the chromophore clustered with two water molecules using the algebraic diagrammatic construction method to the second-order (ADC(2)), and multireference configuration interaction with single and double excitations (MR-CISD) methods. We argue that interactions of explicit water molecules with thiocarbonyl group might enable water-chromophore electron transfer (WCET) which leads to formation of intersystem crossing that was not considered previously. This is the first example of a WCET process occurring in the triplet manifold of electronic states. This phenomenon might explain nonradiative decay of the triplet state population observed in thiopyrimidines in the absence of molecular oxygen. According to our calculations this WCET process might also entail a subsequent, virtually barrierless, electron-driven proton transfer (EDPT) resulting in the formation of hydroxyl radical which could further participate in photohydration or deamination reactions.

Electron-driven proton transfer enables nonradiative photodeactivation in microhydrated 2-aminoimidazole.

2-Aminoimidazole (2-AIM) was proposed as a plausible nucleotide activating group in a nonenzymatic copying and polymerization of short RNA sequences under prebiotically plausible conditions. One of the key selection factors controlling the lifespan and importance of organic molecules on early Earth was ultraviolet radiation from the young Sun. Therefore, to assess the suitability of 2-AIM for prebiotic chemistry, we performed non-adiabatic molecular dynamics simulations and static explorations of potential energy surfaces of the photoexcited 2-AIM-(H2O)5 model system by means of the algebraic diagrammatic construction method to the second order [ADC(2)]. Our quantum mechanical simulations demonstrate that 1πσ* excited states play a crucial role in the radiationless deactivation of the UV-excited 2-AIM-(H2O)5 system. More precisely, electron-driven proton transfer (EDPT) along water wires is the only photorelaxation pathway leading to the formation of 1πσ*/S0 conical intersections. The availability of this mechanism and the lack of destructive photochemistry indicate that microhydrated 2-AIM is characterized by substantial photostability and resistance to prolonged UV irradiation.

First Step toward a Universal Fluorescent Probe: Unravelling the Photodynamics of an Amino-Maleimide Fluorophore.

Continuous advancements in biophysics and medicine at the molecular level make the requirements to image structure-function processes in living cells ever more acute. While fluorophores such as the green fluorescent protein have proven instrumental toward such efforts, the advent of nondiffraction limited microscopy limits the utility of such fluorescent tags. Monoaminomaleimides are small, single molecule fluorophores that have been shown to possess stark variations in their emission spectra in different solvent environments, making them a potentially powerful tool for a myriad of applications. The ability to "autotune" fluorescence according to different media allows for a probe capable of working in all regions of a cell, or accurately characterizing the purity of an environment. In this work, we present ultrafast pump-probe studies of a model monoaminomaleimide, 1-methyl-3-(methylamino)-1H-pyrrole-2,5-dione, and demonstrate how fluorescence quenching in polar protic solvents is caused by electron driven proton transfer from the solvent to the fluorophore. Armed with this knowledge, the present study acts as a first step for the rational design of future maleimides, potentially moving toward creating a universal fluorophore with tunable efficiency, dependent on environment.

Is UV-Induced Electron-Driven Proton Transfer Active in a Chemically Modified A·T DNA Base Pair?

Transient electronic and vibrational absorption spectroscopies have been used to investigate whether UV-induced electron-driven proton transfer (EDPT) mechanisms are active in a chemically modified adenine-thymine (A·T) DNA base pair. To enhance the fraction of biologically relevant Watson-Crick (WC) hydrogen-bonding motifs and eliminate undesired Hoogsteen structures, a chemically modified derivative of A was synthesized, 8-(tert-butyl)-9-ethyladenine (8tBA). Equimolar solutions of 8tBA and silyl-protected T nucleosides in chloroform yield a mixture of WC pairs, reverse WC pairs, and residual monomers. Unlike previous transient absorption studies of WC guanine-cytosine (G·C) pairs, no clear spectroscopic or kinetic evidence was identified for the participation of EDPT in the excited-state relaxation dynamics of 8tBA·T pairs, although ultrafast (sub-100 fs) EDPT cannot be discounted. Monomer-like dynamics are proposed to dominate in 8tBA·T.

Role of Electron-Driven Proton-Transfer Processes in the Ultrafast Deactivation of Photoexcited Anionic 8-oxoGuanine-Adenine and 8-oxoGuanine-Cytosine Base Pairs.

It has been reported that 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-guanosine (8-oxo-G), which is the main product of oxidative damage of DNA, can repair cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer (CPD) lesions when incorporated into DNA or RNA strands in proximity to such lesions. It has therefore been suggested that the 8-oxo-G nucleoside may have been a primordial precursor of present-day flavins in DNA or RNA repair. Because the electron transfer leading to the splitting of a thymine-thymine pair in a CPD lesion occurs in the photoexcited state, a reasonably long excited-state lifetime of 8-oxo-G is required. The neutral (protonated) form of 8-oxo-G exhibits a very short (sub-picosecond) intrinsic excited-state lifetime which is unfavorable for repair. It has therefore been argued that the anionic (deprotonated) form of 8-oxo-G, which exhibits a much longer excited-state lifetime, is more likely to be a suitable cofactor for DNA repair. Herein, we have investigated the exited-state quenching mechanisms in the hydrogen-bonded complexes of deprotonated 8-oxo-G− with adenine (A) and cytosine (C) using ab initio wave-function-based electronic-structure calculations. The calculated reaction paths and potential-energy profiles reveal the existence of barrierless electron-driven inter-base proton-transfer reactions which lead to low-lying S1/S0 conical intersections. The latter can promote ultrafast excited-state deactivation of the anionic base pairs. While the isolated deprotonated 8-oxo-G− nucleoside may have been an efficient primordial repair cofactor, the excited states of the 8-oxo-G−-A and 8-oxo-G−-C base pairs are likely too short-lived to be efficient electron-transfer repair agents.

Excited-State Deactivation of Adenine by Electron-Driven Proton-Transfer Reactions in Adenine-Water Clusters: A Computational Study.

The reactivity of photoexcited 9H-adenine with hydrogen-bonded water molecules in the 9H-adenine-(H2 O)5 cluster is investigated by using ab initio electronic structure methods, focusing on the photoreactivity of the three basic sites of 9H-adenine. The energy profiles of excited-state reaction paths for electron/proton transfer from water to adenine are computed. For two of the three sites, a barrierless or nearly barrierless reaction path towards a low-lying S1 -S0 conical intersection is found. This reaction mechanism, which is specific for adenine in an aqueous environment, can explain the substantially shortened excited-state lifetime of 9H-adenine in water. Depending on the branching ratio of the nonadiabatic dynamics at the S1 -S0 conical intersection, the electron/proton transfer process can enhance the photostability of 9H-adenine in water or can lead to the generation of adenine-H(⋅) and OH(⋅) free radicals. Although the branching ratio is yet unknown, these findings indicate that adenine might have served as a catalyst for energy harvesting by water splitting in the early stages of the evolution of life.

Photorelaxation of imidazole and adenine via electron-driven proton transfer along H2O wires.

Photochemically created πσ* states were classified among the most prominent factors determining the ultrafast radiationless deactivation and photostability of many biomolecular building blocks. In the past two decades, the gas phase photochemistry of πσ* excitations was extensively investigated and was attributed to N-H and O-H bond fission processes. However, complete understanding of the complex photorelaxation pathways of πσ* states in the aqueous environment was very challenging, owing to the direct participation of solvent molecules in the excited-state deactivation. Here, we present non-adiabatic molecular dynamics simulations and potential energy surface calculations of the photoexcited imidazole-(H2O)5 cluster using the algebraic diagrammatic construction method to the second-order [ADC(2)]. We show that electron driven proton transfer (EDPT) along a wire of at least two water molecules may lead to the formation of a πσ*/S0 state crossing, similarly to what we suggested for 2-aminooxazole. We expand on our previous findings by direct comparison of the imidazole-(H2O)5 cluster to non-adiabatic molecular dynamics simulations of imidazole in the gas phase, which reveal that the presence of water molecules extends the overall excited-state lifetime of the chromophore. To embed the results in a biological context, we provide calculations of potential energy surface cuts for the analogous photorelaxation mechanism present in adenine, which contains an imidazole ring in its structure.

Theoretical insights into the photo-protective mechanisms of natural biological sunscreens: building blocks of eumelanin and pheomelanin.

Eumelanin (EM) and pheomelanin (PM) are ubiquitous in mammalian skin and hair--protecting against harmful radiation from the sun. Their primary roles are to absorb solar radiation and efficiently dissipate the excess excited state energy in the form of heat without detriment to the polymeric structure. EU and PM exist as polymeric chains consisting of exotic arrangements of functionalised heteroaromatic molecules. Here we have used state-of-the-art electronic structure calculations and on-the-fly surface hopping molecular dynamics simulations to study the intrinsic deactivation paths of various building blocks of EU and PM. Ultrafast excited state decay, via electron-driven proton transfer (in EU and PM) and proton-transfer coupled ring-opening (in PM) reactions, have been identified to proceed along hitherto unknown charge-separated states in EU and PM oligomers. These results shed light on the possible relaxation pathways that dominate the photochemistry of natural skin melanins. Extrapolation of such findings could provide a gateway into engineering more effective molecular constituents in commercial sunscreens--with reduced phototoxicity.

Importance of Time Scale and Local Environment in Electron-Driven Proton Transfer. The Anion of Acetoacetic Acid

Anion photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) probe different regions of the anionic potential energy surface. These complementary techniques provided information about anionic states of acetoacetic acid (AA). Electronic structure calculations facilitated the identification of the most stable tautomers and conformers for both neutral and anionic AA and determined their relative stabilities and excess electron binding energies. The most stable conformers of the neutral keto and enol tautomers differ by less than 1 kcal/mol in terms of electronic energies corrected for zero-point vibrations. Thermal effects favor these conformers of the keto tautomer, which do not support an intramolecular hydrogen bond between the keto and the carboxylic groups. The valence anion displays a distinct minimum which results from proton transfer from the carboxylic to the keto group; thus, we name it an ol structure. The minimum is characterized by a short intramolecular hydrogen bond, a significant electron vertical detachment energy of 2.38 eV, but a modest adiabatic electron affinity of 0.33 eV. The valence anion was identified in the anion PES experiments, and the measured electron vertical detachment energy of 2.30 eV is in good agreement with our computational prediction. We conclude that binding an excess electron in a π* valence orbital changes the localization of a proton in the fully relaxed structure of the AA(-) anion. The results of EELS experiments do not provide evidence for an ultrarapid proton transfer in the lowest π* resonance of AA(-), which would be capable of competing with electron autodetachment. This observation is consistent with our computational results, indicating that major gas-phase conformers and tautomers of neutral AA do not support the intramolecular hydrogen bond that would facilitate ultrarapid proton transfer and formation of the ol valence anion. This is confirmed by our vibrational EELS spectrum. Anions formed by vertical electron attachment to dominant neutrals undergo electron autodetachment with or without vibrational excitations but are unable to relax to the ol structure on a time scale fast enough to compete with autodetachment.