BORIS F.

KIM and JOSEPH BOHANDY

SPECTROSCOPY OF PORPHYRINS

Porphyrins are an important class of compounds that are of interest in molecular biology because
of the important roles they play in vital biochemical systems such as biochemical energy conversion
in animals, oxygen transport in blood, and photosynthetic energy conversion in plants. We are
studying the physical properties of the energy states of porphyrins using the techniques of ex-
perimental and theoretical spectroscopy with the aim of contributing to a basic understanding of
their biochemical behavior.

INTRODUCTION
Metalloporphin
Porphyrins are a class of complex organic chemical
compounds found in such diverse places as crude oil,
plants, and human beings. They are, in most cases,
tailored to carry out vital chemical transformations
in intricate biochemical or biophysical systems. They
are the key constituents of chlorophyll in plants and
of hemoglobin in animals. Without them, life would y
be impossible. t Free base porphin
These molecules display a wide range of chemical
and physical properties that depend on the structural
~x
details of the particular porphyrin molecule. All por-
phyrins are vividly colored and absorb light in the
visible and ultraviolet regions of the spectrum. Some
exhibit luminescence, paramagnetism, photoconduc-
tion, or semiconduction. Spme are photosensitizers Wavelength (nanometers)
or catalysts. Scientists from several disciplines have
been interested in unraveling the principles that cause Fig. 1-The chemical structures for the two forms of por·
this diversity of properties. phin are shown on the left. A carbon atom and a hydrogen
The simplest compound of all porphyrins is por- atom are understood to be at each apex not attached to a
nitrogen atom. Metalloporphin has a metal atom (desig·
phin. This aromatic molecule exists in two basic con- nated by M) complexed at the center of the molecule, wh ile
figurations (Fig. 1), depending upon the nature of the free base porphin has two hydrogen atoms in the center.
material at its center. When a metal ion (such as iron, The general class of porphyrins are obtained from porphin
magnesium, zinc, or cobalt) is attached at the center, by replacing the peripheral hydrogen atoms with other
chemical groups. The optical absorption spectra shown
the compound is said to be a "metalloporphin." characterize these compounds when they are in solution at
When two hydrogen atoms are attached, the com- room temperature. 0 0 in metalloporphin is due to a pure
pound is termed "free base porphin." The periphery electronic transition (no molecular vibrations) between the
of these structures contains hydrogen atoms that can electronic ground state and the first electron ic excited
readily be displaced by one or more molecular state; 0 1 is due to the same electronic t ransit ion but, in ad·
dition, molecular vibrations are involved. This band is
groups, thus forming the general class of porphyrins. called a vibronic band. The subscripts 0 and 1 for free base
In some cases, these peripheral groups playa role in porphin carry a similar interpretation. The x and y sub·
the particular properties of the porphyrin. In other scripts refer to the orientation (polarization) of the electric
cases, they serve to attach the porphyrin molecule to vector of the absorbed light with respect to the axes shown
on the chemical structure diagram for free base porphin.
a chemically inert substrate such as a large protein
molecule. In some highly sophisticated biochemical
systems, the substrate places the chemically active phyrins in molecular biology. Figure 2b shows sche-
porphyrin into a highly specific spatial position to matically the structure of hemoglobin, which trans-
permit its interaction with other chemically active ports oxygen in the blood. There are four porphyrin
species. groups attached to four protein chains. Other impor-
The metal ion in metalloporphyrins has a great in- tant heme-containing proteins are myoglobin, which
fluence on the properties of the particular porphyrin stores oxygen in muscle, and the cytochromes, which
molecule. The iron porphyrin shown in Fig. 2a is perform many cellular functions involving oxygen
called "heme" and is one of the most important por- metabolism and the production of stored biochemi-

Vo lum e 2, N umber 3, 1981 153

 Chlorophyl l a Vitam in B1 2
(a) (b)

Fig. 3- The chemical structures . of two important mol·

ecules that contain a metalloporphyrin, chlorophyll a, and
vitamin 812. .

tronic charge in the molecule and by its electronic

energy states. The vibrational modes of the molecule
and their corresponding vibrational energy states
comprise the vibrational structure. Collectively, these
structures are referred to as "vibronic structure."
The basis for the chemical action of porphyrins is
Fig. 2-(a) The chemical structure of heme (iron protopor·
phyrin); (b) a representation of the entire hemoglobin founded in their quantum structure. Although a de-
molecule, consisting of four protein chains denoted by CX1, tailed and valid theory that relates structure to activi-
CX 2 , {31, and {32 . The four planar structures represent heme ty does not yet exist, in a few cases the relationship of
molecules to which oxygen binds in the lungs and which structure to the chemical role of porphyrins is under-
release oxygen in the capillaries. stood, as, for example, in recent reports of photode-
struction of malignant tissue by a hematoporphyrin
cal energy from foodstuffs. The heme group is usual- derivative. I Its role is understood in terms of its
ly attached to a large protein molecule by a bond be- quantum structure, which permits absorption of light
tween the iron atom and a nitrogen atom of a histi- in the red region of the spectrum of the molecule and
dine amino acid residue of the protein. The chemical subsequent transfer of the excitation energy to a
activity is due to the heme group . Two other impor- triplet oxygen molecule. This, in turn, forms excited
tant porphyrin derivatives, as seen in Fig. 3, are mag- singlet oxygen molecules that attack and destroy the
nesium-containing chlorophyll and cobalt-containing malignant tissue. In another example, two hydrogen
vitamin B 12 • atoms on the periphery of the porphyrin structure in
We are interested in the quantum structure of por- chlorophyll change the electronic structure of the
phyrins. Atoms and molecules are comprised of molecule sufficiently so that it absorbs more light in
bound particles, which can be described by standing the redl green region of the spectrum, causing the
wave functions using the theoretical methodology molecule to perform photosynthesis more efficiently.
called quantum mechanics. The conditions to which The overall objective of the porphyrin spectros-
the standing wave modes correspond are called copy project at APL is to advance the state of knowl-
"states." The quantum structure of molecules in edge of the electronic and vibrational energy struc-
solids or liquids may be considered to consist of their ture of porphyrins and to study the effects of chemi-
electronic and vibrational structures. The electronic cal perturbations on this structure. Implicit in this
structure is determined by the distribution ofelec- objective is a desire to contribute to the understand-

154 J ohns H opkins A PL Technical Digest

ing of the relationship between structure and chemi-
cal and biological function. ----- ej +En

Optical and microwave spectroscopies are the ex- ~:~ited

perimental methods that are used to probe the quan-
state
r
- - - - - e l + En
-------....:...-~---- En
tum structure of porphyrins. In optical spectroscopy,
changes in quantum states are detected when the
molecule absorbs energy to achieve a higher excited
energy state or when it loses energy as it decays into a
lower energy state. The energy is related to the fre-
Second
excited
state
I-----ei'
--'!-;?--- - - e l
+ E2
+ E2
quency of the radiation by the Einstein relation -+t --------'---=------ E2

E = hv,
where h is Planck's constant and v is the frequency.
Figure 4 is a diagram of typical energy levels. For
porphyrins, the light absorption at Qo (see Fig. 1)
corresponds to the El energy level in Fig. 4. In ab-
sorption spectra, one observes transitions from the
ground state (Eo) to the various excited vibronic
states of the molecule (El + e 1 , El + e2 , etc.).
Thus, the absorption spectra reveal excited electronic
energy levels (El' E 2 , ••• ) and associated vibrational
energy levels (e I , e2 , ••• ). The molecule will eventually Abso rpti on Em ission (lumi nescence)
release the excitation energy and return to its elec-
tronic ground state (Eo). When the molecules are in a
solid or liquid phase, which is the case in these
studies, an excited molecule (in E 2 , for example) will
decay to the first (or lowest) excited state (E 1 ), with
the energy loss being released in the form of heat.
The subsequent decay from this state to the ground
Ground
state
I ej

el
+ Eo

+ Eo

electronic state is often accompanied by the emission

of electromagnetic radiation, which is referred to as Fig. 4-Absorption and emission processes. The E's are
"luminescence." The transition from the lowest ex- electronic energy levels, typically greater than 16,000 cm- 1
cited state, E 1 , to the electronic ground state, Eo, for porphyrins. The e's are vibrational energy levels
may terminate on a ground-state vibrational level as superimposed on the E's. For porphins (porphyrins with no
shown in Fig. 4. Thus, it follows that the side groups on their periphery) the e's are less than 3600
cm -1. For metalloporphyrins, transitions to E1 correspond
luminescence spectra can yield vibrational energy to 00 while transitions to E2 correspond to the Soret band
levels in the ground electronic state. in Fig.1.
Electron spin resonance is a microwave spectro-
scopic technique that is used when the molecular
species in its ground state contains a magnetic mo- phyrins have only two . The structure of the spectra in
ment. Here, the ground state consists of a pair of this region is similar for most porphyrins although
states (doublet), each with a magnetic moment ori- the reduced porphyrins, such as chlorophyll, exhibit
ented in opposition to the other. In the absence of a the departures from this structure described pre-
magnetic field, the two states have the same energy. viously. The region of the Q bands has been the prin-
However, in the presence of a magnetic field, the cipal focus of spectroscopic study in our laboratory.
energies of the two states are different. If microwave The apparent simplicity of the spectra is surprising
energy of the proper frequency is imposed on the for a molecule with the structural complexity of por-
sample, the energy will be absorbed by the molecules, phyrin. The spectra should be rich in spectral com-
causing a transition from the lower energy compo- ponents (lines) due to energy transitions between vi-
nent of the doublet to the higher energy component. bronic states. In fact, there are many such com-
This technique can give valuable information about ponents in porphyrin spectra, but they are masked or
the local environment of such paramagnetic species. hidden beneath the broad spectral structure shown in
Much work has been done in the field of porphyrin Fig. 1, obscuring the details of the quantum structure
spectroscopy. The optical spectra shown in Fig. 1, of the molecules. Following is a description of how
obtained in solution at room temperature, are typical we resolved the sharp spectral components contained
of most metalloporphyrin and free base porphyrin in the broad bands and how this information is being
spectra. The strong band at approximately 400 nano- used to probe the quantum structure of porphins.
meters, called the Soret band, is common to all por-
phyrins. The weaker bands in the region of 500 to 600 EXPERIMENT
nanometers are called "Q bands." Free base porphy- Initially, our work on porphyrin spectroscopy
rins have four bands in this region, while metallopor- focused on two main areas. First, we wanted to ob-

Volu me 2, N umber 3, 1981 155

tain high-resolution, sharp-line optical spectra in- which, in an ideal case, makes each site equivalent to
stead of the broad structureless spectra observed in any other because of the periodic array of atoms or
solutions at room temperature. Thermal line broad- molecules in the structure and results in a single spec-
ening and inhomogeneous broadening due to nonuni- tralline.
form interactions between solvent and porphyrin are Although rare gas matrices are more generally ap-
the two main mechanisms that must be reduced or plicable, crystalline hosts offer the advantage of pro-
eliminated before sharp-line spectra can be obtained. viding spatially oriented guest molecules so that po-
Thermal broadening can be eliminated by recording larization characteristics of the spectra can be stud-
spectra with the sample immersed in liquid helium at ied. Russian workers 3 had reported the use of normal
4.2 K. Inhomogeneous broadening can be a more dif- alkane hosts, primarily n-octane, for obtaining por-
ficult problem. This type of broadening is shown phyrin spectra. These hosts are liquids at room
schematically in Fig . 5a. Basically, it results from the temperature and usually yield polycrystalline samples
porphyrin molecules being in a random environment. upon cooling. We found that the aromatic hydrocar-
Each porphyrin experiences slightly different per- bon triphenylene would accept small amounts of por-
turbing forces from the neighboring solvent mole- phin molecules as guest molecules. 4 Single crystals of
cules. The resulting spectrum can be thought of as a triphenylene, which is a solid at room temperature,
continuous distribution of sharp-line spectra of por- containing trace amounts of various porphins, were
phyrins in nonequivalent solvent environments, lead- grown from solution. We have used crystalline hosts
ing to a broad band. of this type exclusively. Figure 6 shows the absorp-
One way of reducing spectral broadening due to tion spectrum of zinc porphin in an amorphous
nonuniform solvent interactions is to use frozen inert matrix compared to the polarized absorption spec-
gas matrices as the solvent, 2 which reduces solvent trum of zinc porphin in triphenylene at 4.2 K. The
interactions to a minimum. A second approach (Fig. sharp lines are apparent in the single crystal spectra.
5b) involves the use of a single crystal host lattice, The second main thrust of our effort concerned the
observation, by Russian workers and at APL, of
multiplets in the spectra. A multiplet is the occur-
rence of several spectral lines in a region of the spec-
trum where only a single line is expected. The ques-
•• 0 • tion arose of whether the multiplets were an intrinsic
• property of a single type of porphyrin site or if they
• • • resulted from the existence of several types of non-
• •
• •
.0 • ·0 •
• • (a)

• • •
(a)

• • • • 568.6
0 (b)
567.7" 1570.1

• • • •

•
0
• •
0
• A a

1r

• • • •
(b) 500 550 600
Wavelen gth (nan ometers )

Fig. 5- The effect of host lattice symmetry on spectral

linewidth. (a) In a random lattice, the guest molecules Fig. 6-The absorption spectrum of zinc porphin at low
reside in lattice sites that are each different from one temperature, showing the effect of the host lattJce on spec-
another. This causes the energies of the guest porphyrins tral bandwidth. In (a), zinc porphin is in an amorphous (ran-
in nonequivalent host lattice sites to be slightly different, dom) matrix. The spectra are broad. In (b), zinc porphin is in
resulting in slightly displaced spectral lines. The observed triphenylene, a crystalline (periodic) matrix. The spectra
spectrum is a superposition of sl ightly displaced lines, and consist of sharp lines. The symbols a and 7r refer to the po-
a broad band is observed. (b) In a periodic matrix or lattice, larization of the light relative to the optic axis of the triphe-
guest porphyrin molecules reside in equivalent host sites. nylene crystal; a refers to the case when the electric vector
Therefore, each guest porphyrin has the same energy and a of the absorbed light is perpendicular to the optic axis; 7r
spectral line at the same wavelength , resulting in the obser- designates light absorption with the electric vector parallel
vation of a single sharp line. to the optic axis.

156 J ohns H opkins APL Technical Digesi

 equivalent sites, each giving rise to a sharp spectral
line. If the multiplets were due to porphyrins in non-
equivalent lattice sites, there was then a problem of (a)
separately recording the spectra of these nonequiv-
alent porphyrin site species. Our solution was to use
selective excitation techniques involving a scanning
tunable dye laser pumped by a nitrogen laser. 5 First)
one obtains the conventional sharp-line absorption
and fluorescence spectra. Then the fluorescence spec-
trum corresponding to a particular site is recorded by
exciting a single sharp absorption line of the multi-
plet. The process is repeated for the other lines in the
multiplet. Then the spectrograph is tuned to the
wavelength of a single sharp fluorescence line in the
fluorescence spectrum, and the excitation source,
i.e., the dye laser, is scanned through the region of
the absorption spectrum. Whenever the excitation
wavelength matches that of an absorption line of the
site species being detected, fluorescence is observed.
Thus, the absorption spectrum corresponding to the
site species is obtained. The two procedures give the
absorption and fluorescence spectra of a single type
of porphin site. The results for the case of zinc por-
phin in triphenylene are shown in Fig. 7. There were
three strong absorption lines in the conventional
spectrum in the region near 570 nanometers. Figure
7a shows the conventional fluorescence spectrum
taken with broadband excitation. Figures 7b, 7c, and Fig. 7- Luminescence spectra of zinc porphin in
7d show the fluorescence spectra upon exciting each triphenylene at 4.2 K, illustrating the effects of broadband
of the three strong absorption lines. One sees that the excitation and narrow-band (line) excitation on the
top spectrum is a superposition of the lower three fluorescence spectra: (a) broadband excitation; (b), (c), and
(d), narrow-band excitation at 570.1, 568.6, and 567.7
spectra. Excitation spectra were also recorded. The nanometers, respectively. Note that (a) is a superposition of
results prove that the multiplet structure of zinc por- (b), (c), and (d). Narrow-band excitation excites fluores-
phin in triphenylene is due to three nonequivalent cence from porphyrins that reside in equivalent lattice
sites and is not an intrinsic property of a single type sites. These results show that the three spectra shown in
(b), (c), and (d) correspond to porphyrins in three nonequiva-
of porphyrin site species. The results also demon- lent types of host lattice sites.
strate a method for separately recording their spec-
tra.
Our current interest centers around the vibronic
structure of porphins as modified by external forces it will aid in the understanding of the fundamental
or perturbations. They fall into two classes: those basis of the chemical behavior of porphyrins in bio-
due to the host solvent or matrix and those due to logically significant processes such as the oxygena-
discrete chemical species, particularly biologically tion of hemoglobin. An important incentive for this
important species, such as oxygen, that interact with avenue of study is our observation of additional lines
some of the porphyrin molecules. Our interest in the in porphyrin spectra that could be attributed to the
effects of the host solvent on the guest porphyrin presence of small amounts of impurity molecules that
molecules arises from our desire to characterize the had been introduced into the host. The additional
structure of unperturbed porphyrin molecules . Be- lines are interpreted to result from a zinc porphyrin
cause it is very difficult to obtain suitable spectra of that is interacting with a nearby impurity species. A
porphyrins in the free (vapor phase) state (because of full exploitation of these experimental observations,
their very low vapor pressure), a solvent or host ma- however, will also require a detailed theory for the in-
terial is necessary. Therefore, it is important to deter- terpretation of sharp-line porphyrin spectra.
mine the extent of the perturbation of the guest por- Effects of the host lattice on porphyrin spectra
phyrin molecule by the host material. were observed in crystalline samples of the aromatic
The effects of discrete chemical species on the host, anthracene, containing small amounts of free
structure of porphyrins are of fundamental interest. base porphin. Polarized sharp-line absorption spec-
The observation and interpretation of spectral shifts tra were obtained at 4.2 K. 6 Selective excitation tech-
that can be correlated with the addition of specific niques gave single site absorption and fluorescence
chemical species are pertinent to the relationship be- spectra. Absorption lines associated with Q ox and Qoy
tween chemical and physical properties and molecu- (see Fig. 1) were identified on the basis of the similar-
lar structure. This information is of interest because ity of the vibronic (electronic-vibrational) spectra of

Volume 2, N umber 3, 1981 157

 the Qx and Qy spectral systems. (The Qx system
refers to the pure electronic transition, QoX' and the
associated vibronic transitions contained in Ql x' The Zero phonon line
same holds for the Qy system.) The excitation spec- /
trum in the region of Qy was characterized by weak,
sharp lines, called "quasilines," superimposed on
top of a strong continuum. Conversely, the Q x sys-
tem had strong quasilines and a weak continuum.
To discuss the significance of this result, some
understanding of the mechanisms responsible for
quasilines and continua is necessary. In general, the
spectral characteristics of a given vibronic transition
of a guest molecule imbedded in a frozen matrix de-
pend upon the coupling between the guest species and
the host matrix. 7 The vibronic transition consists of
two components: a sharp line called the "zero
phonon" line; and a broad component-the
"phonon wing" -which is due to coupling of local
host lattice vibrations (phonons) to the vibronic Phonon wing
state. Thus, quasilines are the sharp zero phonon
lines, while the broad components are the phonon
wings, which occur on the high-energy side of a
quasiline in absorption and on the low-energy side in
fluorescence. Figure 8 shows an example of these
Wavelength
spectral characteristics. At low temperature, the
relative strength of the phonon wing with respect to
the zero phonon line in a given transition is a measure Fig. 8-Spectral structure of a vibronic transition of a
of the guest/host coupling for that transition. If a guest molecule in a host lattice at low temperature. The
region contains many vibronic transitions that have zero phonon line is associated with the guest porphyrin
molecule, while the phonon wing is due to the interaction of
strong phonon wings, the phonon wings can superim- the host lattice vibrations with the guest porphyrin.
pose upon one another to form a broad continuum in
this region. On this basis, the Q x and Qy transitions
of free base porphin in anthracene exhibit weak and broadband spectra is due in large measure to the
strong guest/host coupling, respectively. This con- guest/ host interaction (which provides the con-
clusion was also supported by theory based upon a tinuum in this region). When the intensities of the
simple model of porphyrin (the cyclic polyene sharp components (quasilines) of Qox and Qoy are
model). That model of porphyrin has been successful compared, the Qox component is stronger. Thus, for
in describing the qualitative character of porphyrin a free porphin species, our results indicate that Qox is
electronic spectra. stronger than QOy, in contradiction to broadband
The relative strengths of the broad and sharp com- spectra.
ponents provide a qualitative indication of the appro- Another system that we have studied is magnesium
priateness of particular experimental spectra for porphin in triphenylene. 8 The temperature depen-
comparison with theoretical results. If the spectra in dence of the lowest pure electronic fluorescence tran-
a region consist of strong quasilines with little con- sition (also called the 0-0 transition) is shown in Fig.
tinua or phonon structure, the transitions in this re- 9. At low temperature, a sharp zero phonon line lies
gion can be judged to be weakly coupled to the host on the high-energy side of a broad phonon wing. As
matrix and, thus , to approach those of a free por- the temperature is increased, the intensity of the zero
phyrin molecule. Most theoretical studies of por- phonon line relative to the phonon wing decreases,
phyrins deal with models of free porphyrins. Thus, the line shifts to higher energy, and, above 40 K, the
experimental spectra that consist of weak quasilines zero phonon linewidth increases. These temperature
with strong continua or phonon structure may repre- effects are of great interest because they can be
sent a physical system that cannot be described by analyzed in terms of coupling between the lattice
theoretical studies that do not account for guest/ phonons and the electronic state of the guest, thereby
host coupling. The relative intensities of the pure allowing a quantitative assessment of guest/host
electronic transitions, Qox and QOy, provide an il- coupling.
lustration of the importance of accounting for strong Figures lOa and lOb show plots of the temperature
guest/host coupling when it exists. The broad spectra dependence of the shift of the zero phonon line from
(Fig. 1) indicate that Qoy is stronger than Qox ' There- its unshifted position at low temperature and of the
fore, theories that predict this have been considered zero phonon linewidth of magnesium porphin in
to be in agreement with experiment. Our results, triphenylene. These quantities may be calculated
however, indicate that the observed strength of Qoy in theoretically; the pertinent equations are given

158 J ohns H opkins A PL Technical Digest

 elsewhere. 8 For the purposes of our discussion, the
important parameters are ()D' the Debye temperature
of the host; n ( T) , the line position at temperature T;
r (T), the linewidth at temperature T; and {3 and 'Y,
293 K which are average coupling parameters for the shift
and width of the line, respectively. The two curves in
Figs. lOa and lOb were obtained by numerically fit-
211 K ting the data to theoretical expressions, using two dif-
35 K ferent Debye temperatures to get the values of {3 and
'Y. Although 144 K is a typical ()D value for organic
146 K materials, the value of 200 K provided a slightly bet-
ter fit to the data, giving values for {3 and 'Y of 133
and 73.3 cm - I, respectively. The lattice coupling
parameters, {3 and 'Y, give a measure of the strength
of the guest/host interaction in doped crystal
74 K systems. The measured values are small and indicate
a weak coupling between magnesium porphin and the
19 K triphenylene lattice.
(X2) Everything else being equal, for spectroscopic
studies one would choose a host lattice with minimal
guest/host interaction. The expressions that describe
the temperature dependence of the intensity, line-
590 580 570 width, and lineshift of the zero phonon line in terms
Wavelength (nanometers)
of average coupling parameters involve several ap-
proximations. However, the formalism allows one to
Fig. 9-Temperature dependence of the 0·0 fluorescence compare quantitatively the guest/host interactions of
transition of magnesium porphin in triphenylene. The various similar host crystals and to choose the host
broadening of the line at higher temperatures is due to the that has minimum effect on the spectra of the guest
increase in the lattice vibrations at high temperature.
porphin molecules. The small values of the coupling
parameters of triphenylene provide some justifica-
tion for our approach to the investigation of por-
12~--~--~---,,---.----.---,
phyrin spectra.
Another way to assess the effects of the host lattice
on the spectra of the guest porphyrin is to compare
10
the spectra of porphyrins in different hosts. To this
end, the spectra of zinc porphin in anthracene were
8 studied. Conventional polarized optical absorption
'I
E spectra at 4.2 K revealed multiplet structure, which
~
.:: 6 made the identification of the 0-0 transition difficult.
~Q) Site-selective techniques were employed again to
c:::
::i 4
record the single site absorption and fluorescence
spectra. The vibrational frequencies obtained for this
system could be compared to those of zinc porphin in
2 triphenylene. The patterns of vibrational frequencies
were consistent in the two systems, indicating mini-
OL-~~~~----~--~--~~--~ mal host/lattice perturbations on the spectra.
14.---.----.----.---.---~---.
A complete and detailed theory of porphyrin spec-
I
(b) tra is not yet available. In past work, interpretation
E12 of spectra was based upon available theory. For ex-
ample, group theory and the polarization characteris-
tics of the absorption spectra were used to classify
- prominent vibrational transitions according to their
symmetry type. In zinc porphin, the vibrational fre-
quencies were assigned to recently calculated fre-
Temperature (K) quencies of a similar metalloporphin, copper por-
phin.9 Interpretation of spectra was also aided by
comparisons of spectra of metalloporphin and free
Fig. 10-Temperature dependence of (a) the zero phonon base porphin. For example, by comparing the zinc
lineshift and (b) the zero phonon linewidth of the 0·0 fluores-
cence transition of magnesium porphin in triphenylene. The porphin frequencies to those observed for free base
solid and dotted lines represent two fits of theoretical porphin in the same host, we were able to assign lines
calculations to the data points. that occurred in zinc porphin but could not do so in

Volume 2, Number 3, 1981 159

free base porphin to vibrations that involve the cen- strengths of the spectral lines in which they are in-
tral metal volved. Figure 11 shows the effect of a vibration on
the spectra. The result of a vibration is a vibronic line
THEORY displaced from that corresponding to a vibrationless
A theory that describes the spectra of free por- transition by the energy hv. The frequency v and the
phyrins is necessary to interpret changes in the spec- relative nuclear displacements can be calculated by
tra that are due to external perturbations on the mol- well established methods of vibrational analysis.
ecules. An effort is under way to establish a suitable Present theoretical methodology is sufficient to de-
model to describe experimental spectra. Such a scribe the position of the vibronic spectral lines and
model should be capable of predicting both the posi- the strengths and positions of lines due to pure elec-
tions and strengths of spectral lines. We will review tronic transitions, which involve no vibrational
briefly the nature of our theoretical work and its rela- modes. No detailed calculations of the strengths of
tionship to existing theories. vibronic lines have been made, however, and it is in
The physical principles that govern the emission this area that our present effort lies. Figure 12 il-
and absorption of light by molecules are based upon lustrates schematically the present state of theory and
classical concepts of electromagnetic radiation. In
particular, light can be emitted (or absorbed) by a
molecule when it changes states if the distribution of
electronic charge averaged between the two states is a
dipole distribution. The strength of the emission is
proportional to the square of the magnitude of the
dipole. The electronic charge distribution can be de-
Ca lculated electronic energy levels and transition strengths
termined by calculating the electronic energy states of
the molecule, the distribution being embodied in the
electronic wave functions. There are many methods
for performing electronic energy calculations, and in-
deed, many calculations have been performed for Soret 00
porphyrins.
The spectra are further complicated, however, be-
cause the nuclear constituents are not fixed but can
Calculated vibrational energy levels
move relative to one another, setting up vibrational
modes in the molecule. These vibrations affect the
spectra in two ways. First, the positions of the spec-
tral lines reflect the total energy of each state in-
volved in the transition and thus must include the
vibrational energy. Second, the vibrations affect the
Experimental vibronic spectra

(a-a)
No vibration Vibration frequency = v
o o 0-- --0

o 0

Energy -

Fig. 12-Present status of theoretical and experimental

~-----------hv----------~~ porphyrin vibronic spectra. The lower spectrum indicates
an experimental fluorescence spectrum consisting of a
pure electronic transition (0-0) and a number of vibronic
Eo lines. The two top spectra indicate the present theoretical
Energy capability. The line positions and intensities of pure elec-
tronic transitions (So ret band and 0 0 ) can be calculated if
molecular vibrations are not included. The positions of
Fig. 11-The effect of a molecular vibration on the spec· vibronic lines can be calculated (middle spectrum) by
trum. Eo is a pure electronic transition. A molecular vibra- classical vibrational analysis while ignoring the electronic
tion will introduce an additional line in the absorption spec- structure of the molecule. Intensities of vibronic lines have
trum at energy Eo + hv for a vibration in the excited state not been calculated previously. To do so, the interaction
and an additional line in the fluorescence spectrum at between the pure electronic structure of the molecule and
Eo - hI' for a vibration in the ground state (see Fig. 4). the molecular vibrations must be taken into account.

160 Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest

experimental results. The top row illustrates the re- to account for the vibronic transition strengths. The
sults of theory in which the electronic energy levels electronic and vibrational structures, therefore, must
(in the visible region) and transition strengths have be determined first. Electronic structure calculations
been calculated. The middle row exemplifies results have been done for porphyrins at APL and other
of vibrational analyses of porphyrins. In that case, laboratories. The general method that we used for
only the energy levels are calculated. The bottom row calculating electronic structure is 7{"-electron molecu-
illustrates a fluorescence spectrum that contains the lar orbital theory. The principal results of interest for
Qo transition and the vibronic lines that are due to porphyrin spectroscopy are the energy levels and
transitions from Qo to the vibrational states in the transition intensities for the Soret band and Qo states
ground electronic state. The lack of theoretical vi- and their corresponding wave functions.
bronic line strengths greatly restricts valid interpreta- The vibrational analysis is the classical problem of
tion of experimental spectra. finding the frequencies and normal modes of a sys-
The effect of molecular vibrations on spectral line tem of coupled oscillators. The normal modes are the
strengths can be determined by assessing the effect of relative displacements of the components of the oscil-
the vibrations on the molecular electric dipole mo- lator system (the nuclei) for a given vibration fre-
ments. There are two ways in which the displaced quency. The two essential ingredients for an oscilla-
nuclei in a vibration affect the dipole moment. The tor system, masses connected by forces that have the
first is a geometrical effect in which a dipole moment characteristics of mechanical springs, are provided
is induced because of the changes in distances be- by the nuclear masses and the forces that hold the ad-
tween the charges, q, that are centered on the constit- jacent nuclei together. The model that we used takes
uent atoms. This is illustrated for a particular exam- into account stretching forces (between two nuclei)
ple in Fig. 13. Figure 13a shows the molecule with the and bending forces (torques). This type of force
nuclei in their equilibrium positions (no vibration). field, called a valence field, is in common use for
The dipole moment is zero in this nuclear configura- vibrational analyses of polyatomic molecules.
tion and charge distribution. In Fig. 13b, the nuclei The results of a recent vibrational analysis of free
are displaced a distance d/ 4 from their equilibrium base porphin by our group are given in Tables 1 and
positions, corresponding to a particular vibrational 2,1 0 which show the force constants used and the
mode. A dipole moment of magnitude qd exists when vibrational energies. The normal modes are not listed
the molecule is in this nuclear configuration. The sec- because of the great amount of detail involved; in-
ond effect occurs because the distances between the stead, the principal components in the potential
nuclei have changed, resulting in a change in the elec- energy distributions, which are related to the normal
tronic energy of the molecule. This change in energy mode coordinates, are shown. The distribution in-
will change the distribution of electronic charge on dicates the percentage contribution of each force
the nuclei, thus changing the dipole moment.
Our effort in this area has been to incorporate
these ideas within the framework of quantum me-
chanics and the theory of vibrations of polyatomic
molecules. This problem is split into three parts in Table 1
practice: the electronic structure calculation, the
vibrational analysis, and the calculation of the inter- FORCE CONSTANTS FOR FREE BASE PORPHIN
action of the electronic states and vibrational modes
1. NH stretch 6.86 mdynl A
2. CN stretch 6.82
3. CH stretch 5.12
(a) (b) 4. C cx C/3 stretch 5.41
-ql 5. C{3 C{3' stretch 6.87
+q -q
o o ~ 6. Ccx Cm stretch 5.62
I 7. Ccx NH bend 0.45 mdyn.A
I 8. CCH bend 0.43
I 9. C{3 Ccx N bend 1.02
o o ~ 10. CmC cx N bend 1.27
-q +q I +q 11. Ccx NC cx ' bend 2.00
12. C cx C/3 C W bend 1.24
Dipole moment = 0 Dipole moment = qd 1.37
13. Ccx CmC cx ' bend
14. C{3 Ccx Cm bend 0.98
Fig. 13-The effect of a vibrational distortion of a molecule 15. CC,CC; CC,CN; CN,CN
on the molecular dipole moment. In (a), the electric dipole stretch-stretch 0.42 mdynl A
moment is zero. In (b) , the atoms are displaced as in a
16. CC,CCH stretch-bend 0.18 mdyn
molecular vibration , and a dipole moment of magnitude qd
is induced as a result of the change in interatomic 17. CC,CCC; CC,CCN;
distances. The charges on each atom in this example are CN,CCN; CN,CNC
assumed to be unchanged during the displacement of the stretch-bend 0.21
atoms.

Volu me 2, N umber 3, 1981 161

Q\
tv
Table 2
CA L ULAT 0 AND O BSE RV ED F REQ UE NC I ES O F IN-PL A N E V IBRAT IO NS O F
FREE BASE PORPHIN

Frequency (cm - I ) Potential Energy Distribution- Frequency (cm - I ) Potential Energy Distribution-
Symmetry Obs. Obs. Calc. (070 ) Symmetry Obs. Calc. (070 )

Ag 3531 99(1) B 2u 3076 99(3)

3076 99(3) 3072 99(3)
3075 99(3) 3070 99(3)
3071 99(3) 1715 47(7) + 37(2) + 13(6)
1607 s 1599 41(2) + 13(10) + 11(14) + 10(4) 1575 33(2) + 21(4) + 15(10) + 10(11)
1595 vs 1600 vs 1593 48(6) + 29(4) + 11(11) + 11(10) 1559 40(6) + 21(5) + 18(4) + 13(8)
1529 vw 1540 36(5) + 31(4) + 14(6) + 12(8) 1479 34(4) + 21(5) + 20(8) + 14(2)
1490 m 1516 33(2) + 30(5) + 18(8) 1406 1412 32(6) + 24(2) + 22(7) + 18(5)
1400 vw 1418 40(5) + 31 (6) + 28(2) 1352 1374 37(8) + 17(4) + 16(7) + 15(6)
1348 m 1358 w 1346 42(5) + 30(6) 1252 1257 56(8) + 19(6)
1174 s 1219 m 1188 82(8) 1137 1144 74(8) + 12(4)
1128 w 1107 80(8) + 11(5) 1106 80(8) + 11(5)
1057 w 1103 80(8) + 12(5) 995 991 34(2) + 18(6) + 11(8)
972 w 968 53(4) + 13(2) 970 966 37(4) + 18(2) + 10(11)
950 s 950 m 952 32(4) + 20(2) + 15(11) 841 835 32(12) + 15(10) + 13(4) + 13(13)
748 22(13) + 20(4) + 17(2) + 17(10) 719 710 17(9) + 15(14) + 13(12) + 13(11)
719 m 720w 704 27(11) + 18(9) + 15(6) + 15(14) 368 39(10) + 27(14)
272 w 309 w 292 39(6) + 13(11) 344 30(6) + 15(14)
151 vw 152 vw 172 45(10) + 28(14) + 12(2)
B3u 3531 99(1)
Bi g 3073 99(3) 3075 99(3)
3071 99(3) 3072 99(3)
3069 99(3) 3069 99(3)
1688 vw 1714 ·48(7) + 37(2) + 12(6) 1589 1602 36(2) + 25(6) + 16(4) + 10(10)
1575 w 1616 vs 1575 58(2) + 26(6) 1570 32(6) + 22(5) + 15(2) + 14(4)
1490 m 1481 37(4) + 36(6) + 20(8) 1521 59(2)
1469 41(4) + 28(2) + 13(8) 1474 36(4) + 23(5) + 21(6) + 21(8)
1383 s 1387 s 1388 28(8) + 26(7) + 22(4) + 19(6) 1385 26(8) + 25(5) + 23(4) + 20(6)
c.....
c
:::-
1314 m 1318 m 1325 77(8) + 11(6) + 10(4) 1262 1260 64(8) + 15(6)
~ 1223 m 1178 m 1193 59(8) + 13(6) 1158 1151 74(8) + 13(4)
=t
.g 1137 w 1133 75(8) + 14(4) 1098 1104 80(8) + 11(5)
;0,- 1051 m 1041 30(2) + 28(6) 1033 1032 30(2) + 27(6) + 13(8)
S
'"~ 986 w 974 w 991 31(2) + 18(8) + 16(6) 951 958 40(4) + 17(2)
""0 864 45(12) + 14(8) + 11(13) 809 822 29(12) + 16(4) + 15(10) + 13(13)
r--
722m 787 w 722 40(12) + 18(9) 690 708 17(9) + 17(12) + 11(11) + 11(6)
~
,.., 488 w 506 48(10) + 36(14) 370 39(10) + 27(14)
~ 420 vw 407 28(6) + + 16(4)
;::: - 23(14) 340 30(6) + 15(14)
~ 118 w 124 51(13) + 23(10) + 11(14)
tJ
1iQ -
~ - Percentage contribution of each force constant (in parentheses) shown in Table 1.
constant in Table 1 to the potential energy of each spectra in sufficient detail to match the experimental
vibration. The energies (which are related to the fre- spectra. Such a procedure has been established, but
quencies by E = hv) are given in wave numbers its validity has not yet been completely tested.
(cm - I) and compared with experimental results . When the theoretical development is completed, it
The intensities of vibronic transitions are deter- will be used to study the effects of perturbations on
mined by the dipole moment average between the two porphyrin quantum structure that might be ascribed
states involved in the transition. When the molecule to discrete impurity species. The specific changes in
undergoes a vibration characterized by a normal co- the spectra that the theory will address are changes in
ordinate, Q, the dipole transition moment may be line positions and line intensities. This theory will
written as complement experimental spectra obtained from por-
phyrin specimens in which small amounts of impurity
species have been introduced to produce observable
-
M(Q) - + (aM)
= M(Qo) - Q, (1) changes in the spectra. In this way, the spectroscopic
aQ Qo
studies will bear directly on the chemistry of por-
phyrins in a fundamental manner by correlating
where M(Qo) is the dipole moment when the mole- changes in porphyrin quantum structure to interac-
cule is in the equilibrium nuclear configuration. The tions of porphyrins with other species.
calculation of this expression, using quantum me-
chanics, involves the electronic wave functions and
energy levels and the normal mode vibration coordi- REFERENCES
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BioJizika 14, 827-835 (1969) .
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ond part was due to the changes in interatomic dis- tra of Zn Porphin in Triphenylene," J . Chem . Phys. 59,213-224 (1973) .
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Triphenylene," J. Mol. Spectrosc. 65, 90-101 (1977) .
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Electron-Vibrational Spectra in Crystals. I. Theory of the Shpol'skii Ef-
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95477-5481 (1980).
The porphyrin spectroscopy project at APL in- S. Sunder and H. J . Bernstein, "The Vibrational Spectra of the
Metalloporphins: A Normal Coordinate Analysis of the Planar Vibra-
volves both experimental and theoretical work. The tions in the Cu-Chelates of Porphin, Porphin-d 4 (meso), 1:3 :5:7-
initial work was heavily oriented toward experiment Tetramethyl Porphin and 1:2:3:4:5 :6:7 :8-0ctamethyl Porphin," J.
because of the lack of available detailed porphyrin Raman Spectrosc. 5, 351-371 (1976).
10 J. Bohandy and B. F. Kim, " A Normal Mode Analysis of Free Base Por-
spectra. The spectra now available, resulting in large phin," Spectrochim . Acta 36A, 463-466 (1980).
measure from the work at APL, exceed the present
theoretical description of porphyrin spectra. Recent
ACKNOWLEDGMENT-This work was supported by U.S. Public
work here has been directed toward establishing a Health Services Grant GM-21897 , National Institute of General Medical
theoretical procedure that can describe porphyrin Sciences.

Volume 2, Number 3,1981 163