Ultraviolet Absorption Spectrum of Malonaldehyde in Water Is Dominated by Solvent-Stabilized Conformations

作者:Xu Xuefei; Zheng Jingjing; Truhlar Donald G*
来源:Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2015, 137(25): 8026-8029.
DOI:10.1021/jacs.5b04845

摘要

Free energy calculations for eight enol isomers of malonaldehyde (MA) and simulation of the ultraviolet (UV) absorption spectrum in both the gas phase and water (pH = 3, where the molecule exists in neutral undeprotonated form) show that in water the two s-trans nonchelated enol conformers of MA become thermodynamically more stable than the internally hydrogen-bonded (chelated enol) conformer (CE). The pure CE conformer in water has a slightly red-shifted UV spectrum with respect to that in the gas phase, but the blue-shifted spectrum observed in water at pH 3 is dominated by solvent-stabilized conformations that have negligible populations in the gas phase. Density functional calculations with the solvation model based on density (SMD) and an ensemble-averaged vertical excitation model explain the experimental observations in detail.

  • 出版日期2015-7-1