Elucidating the NuclearQuantum Dynamics of Intramolecular Double Hydrogen Transfer in Porphycene

TL;DR

This study combines advanced quantum mechanical simulations with density-functional theory to elucidate the temperature-dependent double hydrogen transfer mechanisms in porphycene, revealing quantum tunneling effects and matching experimental reaction rates.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive quantum dynamical approach using path-integral ring-polymer methods to accurately model hydrogen transfer in a complex anharmonic system, advancing understanding of nuclear quantum effects.

Findings

Concerted DHT tunneling dominates below 100 K.

Reaction rates align with experimental data at 100-150 K.

Reproduction of N-H stretching band confirms model accuracy.

Abstract

We address the double hydrogen transfer (DHT) dynamics of the porphycene molecule: A complex paradigmatic system where the making and breaking of H-bonds in a highly anharmonic potential energy surface requires a quantum mechanical treatment not only of the electrons, but also of the nuclei. We combine density-functional theory calculations, employing hybrid functionals and van der Waals corrections, with recently proposed and optimized path-integral ring-polymer methods for the approximation of quantum vibrational spectra and reaction rates. Our full-dimensional ring-polymer instanton simulations show that below 100 K the concerted DHT tunneling pathway dominates, but between 100 K and 300 K there is a competition between concerted and stepwise pathways when nuclear quantum effects are included. We obtain ground-state reaction rates of $2.19 \times 10^{11} \mathrm{s}^{-1}$ at 150 K and $0.63 \times 10^{11} \mathrm{s}^{-1}$ at 100 K, in good agreement with experiment. We also reproduce the puzzling N-H stretching band of porphycene with very good accuracy from thermostatted ring-polymer molecular dynamics simulations. The position and lineshape of this peak, centered at around 2600 cm$^{-1}$ and spanning 750 cm$^{-1}$, stems from a combination of very strong H-bonds, the coupling to low-frequency modes, and the access to $cis$-like isomeric conformations, which cannot be appropriately captured with classical-nuclei dynamics. These results verify the appropriateness of our general theoretical approach and provide a framework for a deeper physical understanding of hydrogen transfer dynamics in complex systems.