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Reproducing the Solvatochromism of Merocyanines by PCM Calculations
Andrés Aracena1, Marcos Caroli Rezende2, Sebastián Pizarro3
1Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Agronomía, Universidad de Las Américas, Sede Santiago, Campus La Florida, Avenida Walker Martínez 1360, La Florida, Santiago 8240000, Chile.
Abstract:
Polarizable continuum methods (PCM) have been widely employed for simulating solvent effects, in spite of the fact that they either ignore specific interactions in solution or only partially reproduce non-specific contributions. Examples of three solvatochromic dyes with a negative, a positive and a reverse behavior illustrate the achievements and shortcomings of PCM calculations and the causes for their variable success. Even when qualitatively mimicking non-specific solvent effects, departures of calculated values from experimental data may be significant (20-30%). In addition, they can utterly fail to reproduce an inverted behavior that is caused by significant specific contributions by the solvent. As shown through a theoretical model that rationalizes and predicts the solvatochromism of phenolate merocyanines based on DFT (Density Functional Theory) descriptors in the gas phase, PCM shortcomings are to be held responsible for its eventual failure to reproduce experimental data in solution.
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