Structural Origin and Vibrational Fingerprints of the Ultrafast Excited State Proton Transfer of the Pyranine-Acetate Complex in Aqueous Solution

The excited state proton transfer (ESPT) reaction from the photoacid 8-hydroxypyrene-1,3,6-trisulfonic acid (HPTS or pyranine) to an acetate molecule has been investigated in explicit aqueous solution via excited state ab initio molecular dynamics simulations based on hybrid quantum/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) potentials. In all the trajectories, the direct proton transfer has been observed in the excited state within 1 ps. We find that the initial structural configuration extracted from the ground state distribution strongly affects the ESPT kinetics. Indeed, the relative orientation of the proton donor-acceptor pair and the presence of a water molecule hydrogen bonded to the phenolic acid group of the pyranine are the key factors to facilitate the ESPT. Furthermore, we analyze the vibrational fingerprints of the ESPT reaction, reproducing the blue shift of the acetateCOstretching (COac), from 1666 to 1763 cm-1testifying the transformation of acetate to acetic acid. Finally, our findings suggest that the acetateCCstretching (CCac) is also sensitive to the progress of the ESPT reaction. TheCCacstretching is indeed ruled by the two vibrational modes (928 and 1426 cm-1), that in the excited state are alternately activated when the proton is shared or bound to the donor/acceptor, respectively.