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Published on: February 16, 2024
Surface hopping investigation of benzophenone excited state dynamics
Lucilla Favero1, Giovanni Granucci, Maurizio Persico
1Università di Pisa, Dipartimento di Farmacia, via Bonanno Pisano 33, 56126 Pisa, Italy.
Abstract:
We present a simulation of the photodynamics of benzophenone for the first 20 ps after n →π* excitation, performed by trajectory surface hopping calculations with on-the-fly semiempirical determination of potential energy surfaces and electronic wavefunctions. Both the dynamic and spin-orbit couplings are taken into account, and time-resolved fluorescence emission is also simulated. The computed decay time of the S1 state is in agreement with experimental observations. The direct S1→ T1 intersystem crossing (ISC) accounts for about 2/3 of the S1 decay rate. The remaining 1/3 goes through T2 or higher triplets. The nonadiabatic transitions within the triplet manifold are much faster than ISC and keep the population of T1 at about 3/4 of the total triplet population, and that of the other states (mainly T2) at 1/4. Two internal coordinates are vibrationally active immediately after n →π* excitation: one is the C[double bond, length as m-dash]O stretching and the other one is a combination of the conrotatory torsion of phenyl rings and of bending involving the carbonyl C atom. The period of the torsion-bending mode coincides with oscillations in the time-resolved photoelectron spectra of Spighi et al. and substantially confirms their assignment.
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