We present theoretical studies of helium droplets and films doped with one electronically excited rubidium atom Rb( *) ((2)P). Diffusion and path integral Monte Carlo approaches are used to investigate the energetics and the structure of clusters containing up to 14 helium atoms. The surface of large clusters is approximated by a helium film. The nonpair additive potential energy surface is modeled using a diatomic in molecule scheme. Calculations show that the stable structure of Rb( *)He(n) consists of a seven helium atom ring centered at the rubidium, surrounded by a tirelike second solvation shell. A very different structure is obtained when performing a "vertical Monte Carlo transition." In this approach, a path integral Monte Carlo equilibration starts from the stable configuration of a rubidium atom in the electronic ground state adsorbed to the helium surface after switching to the electronically excited surface. In this case, Rb( *)He(n) relaxes to a weakly bound metastable state in which Rb( *) sits in a shallow dimple. The interpretation of the results is consistent with the recent experimental observations [G. Aubock et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 035301 (2008)].
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3009279 | DOI Listing |
JACS Au
January 2025
Department of Chemistry, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627, United States.
In this report, we describe the photoluminescence of a homoleptic uranium(IV) alkoxide complex. Excitation of [Li(THF)][U(O Bu)] leads to the first example of photoluminescence from a well-defined actinide complex originating from an f-f excitation, supported by second order multiconfigurational electronic structure calculations including spin-orbit coupling. These calculations show strong spin-orbit coupling between the excited triplet and singlet states for the 5f-orbital manifold, which leads to a long-lived excited state lifetime of 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJACS Au
January 2025
Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Pisa, 56124 Pisa, Italy.
Naturally occurring photoenzymes are rare in nature, but among them, fatty acid photodecarboxylases derived from (FAPs) have emerged as promising photobiocatalysts capable of performing the redox-neutral, light-induced decarboxylation of free fatty acids (FAs) into C1-shortened alka(e)nes. Using a hybrid QM/MM approach combined with a polarizable embedding scheme, we identify the structural changes of the active site and determine the energetic landscape of the forward electron transfer (fET) from the FA substrate to the excited flavin adenine dinucleotide. We obtain a charge-transfer diradical structure where a water molecule rearranges spontaneously to form a H-bond interaction with the excited flavin, while the FA's carboxylate group twists and migrates away from it.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
January 2025
Hoffmann Institute of Advanced Materials, Shenzhen Polytechnic University, Shenzhen, 518055, People's Republic of China.
Crystalline pentacene is a model solid-state light-harvesting material because its quantum efficiencies exceed 100% via ultrafast singlet fission. The singlet fission mechanism in pentacene crystals is disputed due to insufficient electronic information in time-resolved experiments and intractable quantum mechanical calculations for simulating realistic crystal dynamics. Here we combine a multiscale multiconfigurational approach and machine learning photodynamics to understand competing singlet fission mechanisms in crystalline pentacene.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
January 2025
DST Unit of Nanoscience (DST UNS) and Thematic Unit of Excellence (TUE), Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Chennai, 600036, India.
We report the synthesis of [Ag(o-CBT)] abbreviated as Ag, a stable 8e⁻ anionic cluster with a unique Ag@Ag@Ag core-shell structure, where o-CBT is ortho-carborane-1-thiol. By substituting Ag atoms with Au and/or Cu at specific sites we created isostructural clusters [AuAg(o-CBT)] (AuAg), [AgCu(o-CBT)] (AgCu) and [AuAgCu(o-CBT)] (AuAgCu). These substitutions make systematic modulation of their structural and electronic properties.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiochim Biophys Acta Mol Cell Biol Lipids
January 2025
Department of Applied Chemistry for Environment, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Kwansei Gakuin University, 1 Gakuen-Uegahara, Sanda, Hyogo 669-1330, Japan.
Carotenoids are naturally occurring pigments essential for both light-harvesting and photoprotection in photosynthetic processes. Among these, carbonyl-containing carotenoids exhibit distinctive excited state properties due to the presence of intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) in their excited states. In this study, we synthesized a novel family of carotenoid analogs with varying numbers of conjugated double bonds, denoted as the Ind series, and conducted femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy on these molecules in both acetone and n-hexane.
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