Journal of Physical Chemistry A, Vol.116, No.43, 10566-10573, 2012
Theoretical Study on Water-Mediated Excited-State Multiple Proton Transfer in 7-Azaindole: Significance of Hydrogen Bond Rearrangement
Excited-state multiple proton transfer (ESMPT) in the cluster of 7-azaindole with three water molecules [7-azaindole(H2O)(3)]is theoretically investigated by the TDDFT, CASPT2, and CC2 methods. Examination of the potential energy surface in the first excited state indicates that ESMPT in 7-azaindole(H2O)(3) proceeds initially with the rearrangement of hydrogen bond structure of water molecules from a bridged-planar isomer to a cyclic-nonplanar isomer, followed by triple proton transfer in the latter. This reaction is found to be energetically more favorable than quadruple proton transfer in the bridged-planar isomer without hydrogen bond reorganization. It is also shown that all proton-transfer processes follow a concerted mechanism rather than a stepwise mechanism. The computational results show good consistency with the unexpected experimental observations as to the electronic spectra and excited-state lifetime. In particular, the barrier of the hydrogen bond rearrangement is found to be less than 1 kcal/mol, consistent with the missing vibronic bands for 7azaindole(H2O)(3) with an excess energy of more than 200 cm(-1) in the SI state.