Exploring the Photophysical Properties of Molecular Systems Using Excited State Accelerated ab Initio Molecular Dynamics

In the present work, we employ excited state accelerated ab initio molecular dynamics (A-AIMD) to efficiently study the excited state energy landscape and photophysical topology of a variety of molecular systems. In particular, we focus on two important challenges for the modeling of excited electronic states: (i) the identification and characterization of conical intersections and crossing seams, in order to predict different and often competing radiationless decay mechanisms, and (ii) the description of the solvent effect on the absorption and emission spectra of chemical species in solution. In particular, using as examples the Schiff bases formaldimine and salicylidenaniline, we show that A-AIMD can be readily employed to explore the conformational space around crossing seams in molecular systems with very different photochemistry. Using acetone in water as an example, we demonstrate that the enhanced configurational space sampling may be used to accurately and efficiently describe both the prominent features and line-shapes of absorption and emission spectra.