Theoretical Studies on Kinetics of Molecular Excited States

Abstract: HTML clipboardKinetics on molecular excited states is a challenging subject in the field of theoretical chemistry. This thesis pays attention to theoretical studies on kinetics of photo-induced processes, including photo-chemical reactions, radiative and non-radiative transitions (intersystem crossing and internal conversion) in molecular and bio-related systems.One- or multi- dimensional potential energy surfaces (PESs) not only provide qualitative mechanistic explanation for excited state decay, but also make it possible to perform kinetic simulations. We have constructed several types of PESs by using computational methods of high-accuracy for a variety of systems of interest. In particular, density functional theory (DFT) and couple cluster singles and doubles (CCSD) method are employed to build PESs of the ground and lowest triple states. For medium-sized molecules, the complete active space self-consistent (CASSCF) method is used for constructing the PESs of excited states.Various kinetic theories for the decay processes of excite states are briefly introduced, in particularly adiabatic and nonadiabatic Rice–Ramsperger–Kassel -Marcus (RRKM) approaches for the kinetics of nonradiative decay of excited 2-aminopridine molecule. Special attention has been devoted to Monte Carlo transition state theory which can provide an efficient way to predict the rate of nonradiative transitions of polyatomic molecules on multi-dimensional PESs. Examples of Monte Carlo simulations on the intersystem crossing of isocyanic acid and a model molecule of hexacoordinate heme, as well as internal conversion process for 2-amininopyridine dimer and the adenine-thymine base pair are presented.