Symmetry forbidden vibronic spectra and internal conversion in benzene

Abstract

The spectra of symmetry-forbidden transitions and internal conversion were investigated in the present work. Temperature dependence was taken into account for the spectra simulation. The vibronic coupling, essential in the two processes, was calculated based on the Herzberg–Teller theory within the Born–Oppenheimer approximation. The approach was employed for the symmetry-forbidden absorption/fluorescence, and internal conversion between 1¹A_1g and 1¹B_2u states in benzene. Vibrational frequencies, normal coordinates, electronic transition dipole moments, and non-adiabatic coupling matrix elements were obtained by ab initio quantum chemical methods. The main peaks, along with the weak peaks, were in good agreement with the observed ones. The rate constant of the 1¹A_1g ← 1¹B_2u internal conversion was estimated within the order of 10³ s⁻¹. This could be regarded as the lower limit (about 4.8 × 10³ s⁻¹) of the internal conversion. It is stressed that the distortion effect was taken into account both in the symmetry-forbidden absorption/fluorescence, and the rate constants of internal conversion in the present work. The distortion effects complicate the spectra and increase the rate constants of internal conversion.