Solvation time scales

Mozumder s (1988) conjecture on electron thermalization, trapping and solvation time scales in liquid water is based on combining the following theoretical and experimental information ... 

Extensive studies in reverse micelles revealed a similar water distribution [127-130], which is consistent with the distinct water model proposed by Finer [150]. For example, when the molar ratio (wo) of water to the surfactant is 6.8 in lecithin reverse micelles with a corresponding diameter of 37 A, three solvation time scales of 0.57 (13%), 14 (25%), and 320 ps (62%) were observed using coumarin 343 as the molecular probe. At w0 = 4.8 with a 30-A water core diameter, only a single solvation dynamic was observed at 217 ps, which indicates that all water molecules are well ordered inside the aqueous pool. The lecithin in these reverse micelles have charged headgroups, which have much stronger interactions with water than the neutral headgroups of monoolein in the... 

Direct MD simulations of the observed Stokes shifts and corresponding solvation time scales for several proteins were reported recently [188, 199, 202, 203]. Overall, significant discrepancies exist between simulation results and experimental observations, but some general features are promising. Here, we summarize one of our recent MD studies of W7 in apomyoglobin with linear response and direct nonequilibrium calculations and highlight the critical findings, as well as point out extensive improvement required in theoretical model [199]. 

Abstract. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of proteins provide descriptions of atomic motions, which allow to relate observable properties of proteins to microscopic processes. Unfortunately, such MD simulations require an enormous amount of computer time and, therefore, are limited to time scales of nanoseconds. We describe first a fast multiple time step structure adapted multipole method (FA-MUSAMM) to speed up the evaluation of the computationally most demanding Coulomb interactions in solvated protein models, secondly an application of this method aiming at a microscopic understanding of single molecule atomic force microscopy experiments, and, thirdly, a new method to predict slow conformational motions at microsecond time scales. 

Excited-State Relaxation. A further photophysical topic of intense interest is pathways for thermal relaxation of excited states in condensed phases. According to the Franck-Condon principle, photoexcitation occurs with no concurrent relaxation of atomic positions in space, either of the photoexcited chromophore or of the solvating medium. Subsequent to excitation, but typically on the picosecond time scale, atomic positions change to a new equihbrium position, sometimes termed the (28)- Relaxation of the solvating medium is often more dramatic than that of the chromophore... 

For 25 years, molecular dynamics simulations of proteins have provided detailed insights into the role of dynamics in biological activity and function [1-3]. The earliest simulations of proteins probed fast vibrational dynamics on a picosecond time scale. Fifteen years later, it proved possible to simulate protein dynamics on a nanosecond time scale. At present it is possible to simulate the dynamics of a solvated protein on the microsecond time scale [4]. These gains have been made through a combination of improved computer processing (Moore s law) and clever computational algorithms [5]. 

Protein-DNA complexes present demanding challenges to computational biophysics The delicate balance of forces within and between the protein, DNA, and solvent has to be faithfully reproduced by the force field, and the systems are generally very large owing to the use of explicit solvation, which so far seems to be necessary for detailed simulations. Simulations of such systems, however, are feasible on a nanosecond time scale and yield structural, dynamic, and thermodynamic results that agree well with available experimen-... 

Water molecules do not react with the solvated electrons in the time scale of charge recapture, and hence do not fnnction as acceptors. 

The observation of slow, confined water motion in AOT reverse micelles is also supported by measured dielectric relaxation of the water pool. Using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy, the dielectric properties of water in the reverse micelles have been investigated by Mittleman et al. [36]. They found that both the time scale and amplitude of the relaxation was smaller than those of bulk water. They attributed these results to the reduction of long-range collective motion due to the confinement of the water in the nanometer-sized micelles. These results suggested that free water motion in the reverse micelles are not equivalent to bulk solvation dynamics. 

In addition, water motion has been investigated in reverse micelles formed with the nonionic surfactants Triton X-100 and Brij-30 by Pant and Levinger [41]. As in the AOT reverse micelles, the water motion is substantially reduced in the nonionic reverse micelles as compared to bulk water dynamics with three solvation components observed. These three relaxation times are attributed to bulklike water, bound water, and strongly bound water motion. Interestingly, the overall solvation dynamics of water inside Triton X-100 reverse micelles is slower than the dynamics inside the Brij-30 or AOT reverse micelles, while the water motion inside the Brij-30 reverse micelles is relatively faster than AOT reverse micelles. This work also investigated the solvation dynamics of liquid tri(ethylene glycol) monoethyl ether (TGE) with different concentrations of water. Three relaxation time scales were also observed with subpicosecond, picosecond, and subnanosecond time constants. These time components were attributed to the damped solvent motion, seg-... 

Solvated electrons are known to be formed in amines, amides, dimethyl sulfoxide, and many other liquids that will not be discussed here. Note that, except for the yield and time scale of observation, the production of es itself is not related to polarity. Thus, the es absorption spectrum has indeed been observed in nonpolar liquids both at low temperatures and room temperature (Taub and... 

In spectroscopy we may distinguish two types of process, adiabatic and vertical. Adiabatic excitation energies are by definition thermodynamic ones, and they are usually further defined to refer to at 0° K. In practice, at least for electronic spectroscopy, one is more likely to observe vertical processes, because of the Franck-Condon principle. The simplest principle for understandings solvation effects on vertical electronic transitions is the two-response-time model in which the solvent is assumed to have a fast response time associated with electronic polarization and a slow response time associated with translational, librational, and vibrational motions of the nuclei.92 One assumes that electronic excitation is slow compared with electronic response but fast compared with nuclear response. The latter assumption is quite reasonable, but the former is questionable since the time scale of electronic excitation is quite comparable to solvent electronic polarization (consider, e.g., the excitation of a 4.5 eV n — n carbonyl transition in a solvent whose frequency response is centered at 10 eV the corresponding time scales are 10 15 s and 2 x 10 15 s respectively). A theory that takes account of the similarity of these time scales would be very difficult, involving explicit electron correlation between the solute and the macroscopic solvent. One can, however, treat the limit where the solvent electronic response is fast compared to solute electronic transitions this is called the direct reaction field (DRF). 49,93 The accurate answer must lie somewhere between the SCRF and DRF limits 94 nevertheless one can obtain very useful results with a two-time-scale version of the more manageable SCRF limit, as illustrated by a very successful recent treatment... 

Quantum yields for the formation of 141 from 138 in TFE-MeCN were estimated by transient absorption actinometry (Table l).62 The data refer to solvated carbocations (141) since ion pairs (140) are too short-lived for detection on the ns time scale. The modest to poor yields of 141 could be due to predominant ion-pair recombination (140 -> 142), or to parallel protonation (139 — 140) and insertion (139 — 142). Picosecond LFP studies on photoheterolyses of A CH-X in MeCN revealed that the ratio of collapse to escape (k /ki) for [Ar2CH+ X-] is slightly affected by p-substituents (H, Me, OMe) and by X (Cl, Br).66 In contrast, 4>M1 was found to increase by a factor of 17 as p-H (138d) was replaced with p-OMe (138a).62 Hence the ion-pair hypothesis seems difficult to reconcile with the effect of p-substituents on unless the strong nucleophile RO in 140 behaves differently from the weakly nucleophilic halide ions. 

Abstract This chapter reviews the theoretical background for continuum models of solvation, recent advances in their implementation, and illustrative examples of their use. Continuum models are the most efficient way to include condensed-phase effects into quantum mechanical calculations, and this is typically accomplished by the using self-consistent reaction field (SCRF) approach for the electrostatic component. This approach does not automatically include the non-electrostatic component of solvation, and we review various approaches for including that aspect. The performance of various models is compared for a number of applications, with emphasis on heterocyclic tautomeric equilibria because they have been the subject of the widest variety of studies. For nonequilibrium applications, e.g., dynamics and spectroscopy, one must consider the various time scales of the solvation process and the dynamical process under consideration, and the final section of the review discusses these issues. 

A fully realistic picture of solvation would recognize that there is a distribution of solvent relaxation times (for several reasons, in particular because a second dispersion is often observable in the macroscopic dielectric loss spectra [353-355], because the friction constant for various types or modes of solute motion may be quite different, and because there is a fast electronic component to the solvent response along with the slower components due to vibration and reorientation of solvent molecules) and a distribution of solute electronic relaxation times (in the orbital picture, we recognize different lowest excitation energies for different orbitals). Nevertheless we can elucidate the essential physical issues by considering the three time scales Xp, xs, and Xelec-... 

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