Resonance Raman spectra and excited state properties of methyl viologen and its radical cation from time-dependent density functional theory.

Time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) was applied to gain insights into the electronic and vibrational spectroscopic properties of an important electron transport mediator, methyl viologen (MV 2+ ). An organic dication, MV 2+ has numerous applications in electrochemistry that include energy conversion and storage, environmental remediation, and chemical sensing and electrosynthesis. MV 2+ is easily reduced by a single electron transfer to form a radical cation species (MV •+ ), which has an intense UV-visible absorption near 600 nm. The redox properties of the MV 2+ /MV •+ couple and light-sensitivity of MV •+ have made the system appealing for photo-electrochemical energy conversion (e.g., solar hydrogen generation from water) and the study of photo-induced charge transfer processes through electronic absorption and resonance Raman spectroscopic measurements. The reported work applies leading TDDFT approaches to investigate the electronic and vibrational spectroscopic properties of MV 2+ and MV •+ . Using a conventional hybrid exchange functional (B3-LYP) and a long-range corrected hybrid exchange functional (ωB97X-D3), including with a conductor-like polarizable continuum model to account for solvation, the electronic absorption and resonance Raman spectra predicted are in good agreement with experiment. Also analyzed are the charge transfer character and natural transition orbitals derived from the TDDFT vertical excitations calculated. The findings and models developed further the understanding of the electronic properties of viologens and related organic redox mediators important in renewable energy applications and serve as a reference for guiding the interpretation of electronic absorption and Raman spectra of the ions.