Concerted-asynchronous reaction path of the excited-state double proton transfer in the 7-azaindole homodimer and 6H-indolo[2,3-b] quinoline/7-azaindole heterodimer

Reaction path of the excited-state double proton transfer (ESDPT) in the homodimer of 7-azaindole (7AI(2) homodimer) and heterodimer of 6H-indolo[2,3-b]quinoline and 7-azaindole (6HIQ-7AI heterodimer) is computationally studied by means of intrinsic reaction coordinate (IRC) calculations. The IRC path determined at the TDDFT level predicts the concerted-asynchronous mechanism for the ESDPT in 6HIQ-7AI as well as in 7AI(2), where the N-H center dot center dot center dot N hydrogen bonds exhibit asymmetric structures along the reaction path with a single energy barrier. The IRC calculations at the CIS level, however, exhibits a local minimum for single-proton-transferred intermediate, suggesting the stepwise mechanism. Single-point energy calculations at the RI-CC2 level reproduce the TDDFT results, but do not the CIS results. On the basis of potential-energy profiles calculated against intermolecular distance, the discrepancy between the TDDFT and CIS methods is likely attributed to the underestimation of intermolecular interaction energy in the latter method due to the lack of dynamical electron correlation. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.