A Kohn–Sham-like formalism is introduced for the treatment of excited singlet states. Motivated by ideas of Ziegler’s sum method and of restricted open-shell Hartree–Fock theory, a self-consistent scheme is developed that allows the efficient and accurate calculation of excited state geometries. Vertical as well as adiabatic excitation energies for the n→π* transitions of several small molecules are obtained with reasonable accuracy. As is demonstrated for the cis-trans isomerization of formaldimine, our scheme is suited to perform molecular dynamics in the excited singlet state. This represents a first step towards the simulation of photochemical reactions of large systems.

We present a hybrid Car-Parrinello quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) approach that is capable of treating the dynamics of molecular systems in electronically excited states in complex environments. The potential energy surface in the excited state is described either within the restricted open-shell Kohn-Sham (ROKS) formalism or within time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). As a test case, we apply this technique to the study of the solvent effects on the ground state and on the first excited singlet state of acetone in water. Our results demonstrate that for this system a purely classical description of the solvent is sufficient, since inclusion of the first solvent shell of 12 water molecules into the quantum system does not show a significant effect on this transition. The excited-state energies calculated with ROKS are red shifted by a constant value compared to the TDDFT results, while the relative variations of the excitation energy for different configurations are in very good agreement. The experimentally observed blue shift of the excitation energy in going from gas phase to condensed phase is well reproduced. Excited-state dynamics carried out with ROKS yield the relaxation of the solute and the rearrangement of the solvent structure on a picosecond timescale. The calculated Stokes shift is in reasonable agreement with experimental data.

Single dye molecules incorporated into a mesoporous matrix can act as highly sensitive reporters of their environment. Here, we use single TDI molecules incorporated as guests into hexagonal mesoporous films containing highly structured domains. The dye molecules allow us to map the size of these domains which can extend to over 100 microm. Investigation of the translational and orientational dynamics via single molecule fluorescence techniques gives structural as well as dynamical information about the host material. In an air atmosphere, the guest molecules show no movement but perfect orientation along the pore direction. The diffusion of the TDI molecules can be induced by placing the mesoporous film in a saturated atmosphere of chloroform. In single molecule measurements with very high positioning accuracy (down to 2-3 nm) the movement of molecules could be observed even between neighboring channels. This reveals the presence of defects like dead ends closing the pores or small openings in the silica walls between neighboring channels, where molecules can change from one channel to the next. A statistical analysis demonstrates that the diffusion of TDI in the mesoporous film cannot be described with a 1D-random diffusion but is more complicated due to the presence of adsorption sites in which the TDI molecules can be occasionally trapped.

Light absorption by the visual pigment rhodopsin leads to vision via a complex signal transduction pathway that is initiated by the ultrafast and highly efficient photoreaction of its chromophore, the retinal protonated Schiff base (RPSB). Here, we investigate this reaction in real time by means of unrestrained molecular dynamics simulations of the protein in a membrane mimetic environment, treating the chromophore at the density functional theory level. We demonstrate that a highly strained all-trans RPSB is formed starting from the 11-cis configuration (dark state) within approximately 100 fs by a minor rearrangement of the nuclei under preservation of the saltbridge with Glu113 and virtually no deformation of the binding pocket. Hence, the initial step of vision can be understood as the compression of a molecular spring by a minor change of the nuclear coordinates. This spring can then release its strain by altering the protein environment.