Reviews in Computational Chemistry Volume 18
Reviews in Computational Chemistry Volume 18
Reviews in Computational Chemistry Volume 18
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Introduction 153<br />
Equations [6]–[12] establish a theoretical basis for calculat<strong>in</strong>g the activation<br />
barrier of ET from spectroscopic observables. This formalism rests on a<br />
set of fundamental assumptions of the MH picture that can be summarized as<br />
follows: (1) The electronic coupl<strong>in</strong>g between the donor and acceptor states is<br />
neglected <strong>in</strong> the calculation of the Franck–Condon weighted density. The latter<br />
depends only on electronic energies of localized electronic states and their<br />
coupl<strong>in</strong>g to the nuclear modes of the solvent and the donor–acceptor complex.<br />
(2) A two-state solute is considered. The manifold of the donor and acceptor<br />
electronic levels is limited to only two states between which the electron is<br />
transferred. (3) The <strong>in</strong>tramolecular vibrations and solvent molecular motions<br />
are decoupled. (4) The l<strong>in</strong>ear response approximation is used for the <strong>in</strong>teraction<br />
of the donor–acceptor complex with the solvent. The l<strong>in</strong>ear response<br />
approximation assumes that the free energy of solvation of an electric charges<br />
localized on the donor–acceptor complex is a quadratic function of this<br />
charge.<br />
The neglect of the electronic coupl<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the calculation of the FCWD<br />
(assumption 1) was adopted <strong>in</strong> the orig<strong>in</strong>al Marcus and Hush formulation. 6,12<br />
With<strong>in</strong> this framework, the ET matrix element does not strongly affect the<br />
nuclear fluctuations, although a nonzero value of jH abj is required for electronic<br />
transitions to occur. In other words, the transferred electron is assumed to<br />
be fully localized <strong>in</strong> the calculation of the FCWD. To classify electronic delocalization,<br />
Rob<strong>in</strong> and Day dist<strong>in</strong>guished between three classes of symmetrical<br />
( F0 ¼ 0) systems. 19<br />
* In Class I systems, the coupl<strong>in</strong>g is very weak, and there are essentially no<br />
electronic transitions.<br />
* Class II systems rema<strong>in</strong> valence-trapped (localized), and 0 < 2jH abj l cl.<br />
* In Class III systems, 2jH abj > l cl, and the electron is fully delocalized<br />
between the donor and acceptor.<br />
The MH formulation is designed to describe the case of <strong>in</strong>termediate coupl<strong>in</strong>gs<br />
(weak-coupl<strong>in</strong>g limit of Class II) when jH abj can be neglected <strong>in</strong> the FCWD(0)<br />
for activated transitions and the transition moment m12 can be neglected <strong>in</strong> the<br />
FCWDðnÞ for optical transitions. In the absence of a theory <strong>in</strong>corporat<strong>in</strong>g<br />
jH abj and m12 <strong>in</strong>to the FCWD, there is no general understand<strong>in</strong>g when this<br />
approximation is applicable to particular ET systems or how the relations<br />
between optical and activation observables are affected by <strong>in</strong>clusion of electronic<br />
delocalization <strong>in</strong>to the FCWD. 20<br />
The limitations of the MH picture considerably narrow the range of systems<br />
covered by the theory. A considerable range of processes <strong>in</strong> which the<br />
donor–acceptor coupl<strong>in</strong>g is strong enough to change the molecular charge<br />
distribution under the <strong>in</strong>fluence of nuclear fluctuations cannot be treated theoretically.<br />
All such processes can be characterized as CT reactions. Weak<br />
electronic coupl<strong>in</strong>g characteristic of ET exists for <strong>in</strong>termolecular and