Franck-Condon electron transfer

Figure 6.22 Rearrangement of polar solvent dipoles (arrows) during the electron transfer process R + M — R + M. The initial stage is a vertical (Franck-Condon) electron transfer, and this is followed by reorganisation of the solvent dipoles...

Note that the lability principle is formulated first of all for transferable electrons and atoms. An increase in their lability leads as a rule to an increase in the overlapping of the wave functions. For atoms the latter means a decrease in the Franck-Condon barrier. 

Evaluation of the Work Term from Charge Transfer Spectral Data. The intermolecular interaction leading to the precursor complex in Scheme IV is reminiscent of the electron donor-acceptor or EDA complexes formed between electron donors and acceptors (21). The latter is characterized by the presence of a new absorption band in the electronic spectrum. According to the Mulliken charge transfer (CT) theory for weak EDA complexes, the absorption maximum hv rp corresponds to the vertical (Franck-Condon) transition from the neutral ground state to the polar excited state (22). 

The simplest electron transfer reactions are outer sphere. The Franck-Condon principle states that during an electronic transition, electronic motion is so rapid that the metal nuclei, the metal ligands, and solvent molecules do not have time to move. In a self-exchange example,... 

The Franck-Condon principle states that there must be no movement of nuclei during an electronic transition therefore, the geometry of the species before and after electron transfer must be unchanged. Consequently, the active site geometry of a redox metalloenzyme must approach that of the appropriate transition state for the electronic transfer. Every known copper enzyme has multiple possible copper oxidation states at its active site, and these are necessary for the enzyme s function. 

We next consider the expression for k in the classical formalism. According to the Franck-Condon principle, internuclear distances and nuclear velocities do not change during the actual electron transfer. This requirement is incorporated into the classical electron-transfer theories by postulating that the electron transfer occurs at the intersection of two potential energy surfaces, one for the reactants... 

One expects the impact of the electronic matrix element, eqs 1 and 2, on electron-transfer reactions to be manifested in a variation in the reaction rate constant with (1) donor-acceptor separation (2) changes in spin multiplicity between reactants and products (3) differences in donor and acceptor orbital symmetry etc. However, simple electron-transfer reactions tend to be dominated by Franck-Condon factors over most of the normally accessible temperature range. Even for outer-... 

Distance The affects of electron donor-acceptor distance on reaction rate arises because electron transfer, like any reaction, requires the wavefunctions of the reactants to mix (i.e. orbital overlap must occur). Unlike atom transfer, the relatively weak overlap which can occur at long distances (> 10 A) may still be sufficient to allow reaction at significant rates. On the basis of work with both proteins and models, it is now generally accepted that donor-acceptor electronic coupling, and thus electron transfer rates, decrease exponentially with distance kji Ve, exp . FCF where v i is the frequency of the mode which promotes reaction (previously estimated between 10 -10 s )FCF is a Franck Condon Factor explained below, and p is empirically estimated to range from 0.8-1.2 with a value of p 0.9 A most common for proteins. 

In the previous section, we alluded to the Franck Condon factors (FCF) in controlling electron transfer rates. For this topic, detailed reviews of theory and experiment are provided elsewhere. In sum, it is now well known that the reaction free energy required to transfer charge can be reduced by the reaction free energy, AG°, as summarized in the famous Marcus equation AG = (AG° — where X, the reorganization energy, is related to the degree of... 

Electron transfer reactions, treated by continuum theory, suggested that the Franck-Condon barrier (the barrier for the vertical transition of electrons), which is about four times the activation barrier for the isotopic electron transfer in solution, is due to Bom continuum solvation processes. Specific contributions for the activation of ions come from the solvent continuum far from the ion the important contribution from the solvent molecules oriented toward the central ion in the first and second solvation shells is neglected. ... 

Figure 8-1 shows the potential energy barrier for the transfer reaction of redox electrons across the interface of metal electrode. On the side of metal electrode, an allowed electron energy band is occupied by electrons up to the Fermi level and vacant for electrons above the Fermi level. On the side of hydrated redox particles, the reductant particle RED is occupied by electrons in its highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the oxidant particle OX, is vacant for electrons in its lowest imoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO). As is described in Sec. 2.10, the highest occupied electron level (HOMO) of reductants and the lowest unoccupied electron level (LUMO) of oxidants are formed by the Franck-Condon level sphtting of the same frontier oihital of the redox particles... 

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