First-principles quantum chemical approach has been used to understand the origin of the chiro-optical signal induced by the chiral aggregation of an achiral chromophore. The study was focused in predicting the circular dichroism (CD) spectra of different π-stacked columnar oligomers built with C3 star-shape molecular bricks. We studied the influence of the relevant structural self-assembly parameters on the CD spectra (i.e., the number of units, the rotation angle and the intermonomer distance). A detailed analysis was based on the MO topologies and the magnetic and electric transition dipole moments, the vectors which determine the CD intensities, has been conducted. We have rationalized the influence of the various structural factors of supramolecular self-assemblies in connection with the nature of their CD spectroscopic signal, which provides new avenues for structure-spectroscopic relationships.
α,α′-dimethyl substituted oligothiophenes with increasing chain length (from the dimer up to the hexamer) were recently synthesized by chemical methods. In this paper we have investigated the vibrational Fourier transform-IR and Fourier transform-Raman spectra of solid α,α′-dimethyl substituted oligothiophenes in the neutral state. The data are consistent with the existence of a chain-length dependent π electron delocalization: a large frequency dispersion with conjugation length is observed for some Raman and infrared active vibrational modes, particularly at the high-energy side of the aromatic C=C stretching region. Vibrational assignments are proposed for the main vibrational features in the whole spectral range. This vibrational spectroscopic analysis of the solid samples thus becomes a tool for deriving information on the structure of these neutral materials in solution and in the doped state.
Abstract The recently synthesized regio‐regular poly(3‐hexylthiophene‐2,5‐diyl) selectively deuterated on the main chain backbone and/or on the hexyl side chain have given the opportunity to record their infrared (IR) and Raman spectra, and to carry out a spectroscopic study supported by density functional theory calculations. The Effective Conjugation Coordinate associated with the collective C=C stretching mode, with Raman scattering and IR absorption near 1,450 cm −1 , is used as a probe of the electronic structure and the molecular conformation of the chain backbone. With the help of the data collected from the deuterated species, the vibrational assignment for the structurally relevant 1,600–1,300 cm −1 region has been clarified. The excitation‐dependent wavenumbers and intensities of the C=C stretching Raman modes are discussed. Raman spectra excited in‐resonance or off‐resonance show the existence of a multimodal distribution of effective conjugation lengths that are ascribed to a phase hairy‐A with a practically flat backbone chain, a phase hairy‐B where the conformation of the backbone is slightly distorted, and an amorphous phase. IR spectra provide additional information on the Effective Conjugation Coordinate.