Optical properties of pyridine and methyl-pyridinium in water using DFT/MM

TY - JOUR

T1 - Optical properties of pyridine and methyl-pyridinium in water using DFT/MM

AU - Nielsen, Christian Benedikt Orea

AU - Mikkelsen, Kurt Valentin

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - Molecular properties such as excitation energies, polarisabilities and two-photon absorption cross-sections of pyridine and N-methyl-pyridinium embedded in a solvent of water are studied using density functional theory/molecular mechanics (DFT/MM) calculations. The purpose of this study is to study how well the differences between a cationic and a neutral specie can be predicted with water as the solvent. In order to answer this question, the DFT/MM method used is benchmarked in terms of convergence profiles, e.g. how many calculations are needed in order to obtain a statistically converged result. Quantification of for example how many water molecules needs to be included in the quantum mechanics system in the calculations before a converged molecular property is obtained which is also benchmarked. The latter will serve as valuable information in further calculations of larger organic molecules, where more experimental data are available. In this work, the calculated excitation energies are compared to experimentally determined ultraviolet/visible (UV/VIS) spectra of both pyridine and N-methyl-pyridinium and a reasonable agreement is found.

AB - Molecular properties such as excitation energies, polarisabilities and two-photon absorption cross-sections of pyridine and N-methyl-pyridinium embedded in a solvent of water are studied using density functional theory/molecular mechanics (DFT/MM) calculations. The purpose of this study is to study how well the differences between a cationic and a neutral specie can be predicted with water as the solvent. In order to answer this question, the DFT/MM method used is benchmarked in terms of convergence profiles, e.g. how many calculations are needed in order to obtain a statistically converged result. Quantification of for example how many water molecules needs to be included in the quantum mechanics system in the calculations before a converged molecular property is obtained which is also benchmarked. The latter will serve as valuable information in further calculations of larger organic molecules, where more experimental data are available. In this work, the calculated excitation energies are compared to experimentally determined ultraviolet/visible (UV/VIS) spectra of both pyridine and N-methyl-pyridinium and a reasonable agreement is found.

U2 - 10.1080/00268976.2015.1015643

DO - 10.1080/00268976.2015.1015643

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0026-8976

VL - 113

SP - 3253

EP - 3263

JO - Molecular Physics

JF - Molecular Physics

IS - 21

ER -