Structure and Energetics of Ground-State Hypericin: Comparison of Experiment and Theory

Calculations of the energies of the ground-state un-ionized tautomers of hypericin have been performed at the RMP2/6-31G(d) level of theory, using geometries obtained with the 3-21G basis set and Hartree−Fock wave functions. It is found that only the so-called normal form is likely to be populated at room temperature and that only two of the three possible double tautomers correspond to minima on the potential energy surface. The effect of continuum aqueous solvation on the tautomer energies is negligible. The O---O distances between which the proton is transferred are reported and are consistent with that required for an adiabatic proton transfer, i.e., ∼2.5 A. All 156 vibrational frequencies are tabulated and may be viewed at www.msg.ameslab.gov. For example, the vibrations in the range 320−660 cm-1 are coupled with O---O vibrations. The vibrations that are most clearly O---O vibrations occur in the range 400−500 cm-1. Twisting of the backbone occurs in a wide range of frequencies, from 230 to 1150 cm-1...