Anthocyanins are a natural source of pigments in plants and their processed food products have become attractive and excellent candidates to replace the synthetic colourants due to their characteristic intense colours and associated health benefits. The intermolecular copigmentation between anthocyanins and other colourless compounds has been reported to be an important way to enhance and stabilise the colour intensity of aqueous solutions. In the present work we report the equilibrium constant, stoichiometric ratio and the thermodynamic parameters (ΔG°, ΔH° and ΔS°) related to the intermolecular copigmentation reactions of the anthocyanin malvidin 3-O-glucoside with one hydroxycinnamic acid (p-coumaric acid) and two O-methylated hydroxybenzoic acids (vanillic and syringic acid).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe molecular structures and absorption electronic spectra of two novel phototoxic pentapyrrolic expanded porphyrins (a isopentaphyrin derivative and its lutetium complex) have been studied at the density functional level and its time-dependent extension (TDDFT). The geometries were optimized with three different exchange-correlation functionals (PBE0, B3LYP, and ωB97XD) and the SV(P) basis set plus the pseudopotential method for the complex. With respect to the porphyrin, the structure of [1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe conformational structure and electronic spectra properties of a series of bay substituted perylenediimides (PDI) derivatives have been investigated by means of density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT. The B3LYP and PBE0 hybrid exchange-correlation functionals were applied in conjunction with the double-ζ quality SVP basis set. These compounds are interesting for organic materials science and as photosensitizers in cancer phototherapy (PDT), because of their intense absorption in the visible region.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe conformational structures and UV-vis absorption electronic spectra of a class of derived anthocyanin molecules (pyranoanthocyanins) have been investigated mainly by means of density functional (DFT) and time-dependent DFT methods. Pyranoanthocyanins are natural pigments present in aged wines and absorb at shorter wavelengths (around 500 nm) than the parent anthocyanin compounds, giving an orange-brown colored solution. The investigated molecules are derived from the reaction of glycosylated malvidin, peonidin, and petunidin with enolizable molecules (acetaldehyde and pyruvic acid) and vinyl derivatives.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this paper, a time-dependent density functional theoretical study (TDDFT) has been carried out for brominated 2,7,12,17-tetra-n-propylporphycenes. Their potential therapeutic use in photodynamic therapy (PDT), a noninvasive medical treatment of cancer diseases, is due to the strong absorbance in the red part of the visible spectrum and the presence of heavy atoms (bromine). The prediction of electronic spectra for photosensitizer molecules can be a valuable tool in the design of drugs for application in PDT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) and the second-order approximated coupled-cluster model with the resolution of identity approximation (RICC2) studies are reported here for some classes of squaraine derivatives. These compounds have a sharp electronic band, ranging from the visible to near-red part of the spectrum, with an high molar absorption coefficient. These features make them potential photosensitizers in the photodynamic therapy of cancer (PDT), in which a light source, a photosensitizer, and molecular oxygen ((3)O2) are combined to give cytotoxic singlet oxygen ((1)O2) as a final result in a photochemical process.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA time-dependent density functional theory study (TD-DFT) is presented regarding the substituent effects on the Q-bands of two classes of non-planar phthalocyanines: the alpha-octaphenyl and p-alpha-octamethoxyphenyl substituted compounds, in their free-base and zinc complex forms. Singlet vertical excitation energies, computed at the PBE0/SVP//BP86/SVP level of theory also including bulk solvent effects (COSMO model), resulted within 0.1 eV of experiment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA systematic study of a class of divalent transition-metal texaphyrin complexes (M-Tex(+), M = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn), recently proposed as active photosensitizers in photodynamic therapy (PDT), was undertaken for the ground and excited electronic states. Geometry optimizations were performed by using the PBE0 exchange-correlation functional coupled with the 6-31G(d) basis set, while electronic excitations energies were evaluated by means of time-dependent density functional response theory (TD-DFT) at the PBE0/6-31+G(d) // PBE0/6-31G(d) level of theory. Solvent effects on excitation energies were taken into account in two ways: by considering solvent molecules explicitly coordinated to the metal center and as bulk effects, within the conductor-like polarizable continuum model (C-PCM).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA theoretical study was performed on a novel class of boron-containing molecules (various substituted tetraarylazadipyrromethenes), which show in vitro activity for application in photodynamic therapy. Geometric optimisation of the structures for the singlet and triplet electronic states was carried out on compounds in vacuo at the density functional level of theory, by employing the PBE0 hybrid functional and the split-valence plus polarisation basis set. The absorbance properties in the UV-visible region were examined by means of time-dependent density functional response theory, using the same functional as mentioned above.
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