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1 gezelter 4007 \documentclass[journal = jpccck, manuscript = article]{achemso}
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41    
42     \title{Nitrile vibrations as reporters of field-induced phase
43 gezelter 4033 transitions in 4-cyano-4'-pentylbiphenyl (5CB)}
44 gezelter 4007 \author{James M. Marr}
45     \author{J. Daniel Gezelter}
46     \email{gezelter@nd.edu}
47     \affiliation[University of Notre Dame]{251 Nieuwland Science Hall\\
48     Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry\\
49     University of Notre Dame\\
50     Notre Dame, Indiana 46556}
51    
52     \date{\today}
53    
54     \begin{document}
55    
56     \maketitle
57    
58     \begin{doublespace}
59    
60     \begin{abstract}
61 gezelter 4028 4-cyano-4'-pentylbiphenyl (5CB) is a liquid-crystal-forming compound
62 gezelter 4026 with a terminal nitrile group aligned with the long axis of the
63     molecule. Simulations of condensed-phase 5CB were carried out both
64 gezelter 4027 with and without applied electric fields to provide an understanding
65 gezelter 4028 of the the Stark shift of the terminal nitrile group. A
66     field-induced isotropic-nematic phase transition was observed in the
67     simulations, and the effects of this transition on the distribution
68     of nitrile frequencies were computed. Classical bond displacement
69     correlation functions exhibit a $\sim 40 \mathrm{~cm}^{-1}$ red
70     shift of a portion of the main nitrile peak, and this shift was
71     observed only when the fields were large enough to induce
72     orientational ordering of the bulk phase. Our simulations appear to
73     indicate that phase-induced changes to the local surroundings are a
74     larger contribution to the change in the nitrile spectrum than
75     direct field contributions.
76 gezelter 4007 \end{abstract}
77    
78     \newpage
79    
80     \section{Introduction}
81    
82 gezelter 4028 Nitrile groups can serve as very precise electric field reporters via
83     their distinctive Raman and IR signatures.\cite{Boxer:2009xw} The
84     triple bond between the nitrogen and the carbon atom is very sensitive
85     to local field changes and has been observed to have a direct impact
86     on the peak position within the spectrum. The Stark shift in the
87     spectrum can be quantified and mapped into a field value that is
88     impinging upon the nitrile bond. This has been used extensively in
89     biological systems like proteins and
90     enzymes.\cite{Tucker:2004qq,Webb:2008kn}
91    
92     The response of nitrile groups to electric fields has now been
93     investigated for a number of small molecules,\cite{Andrews:2000qv} as
94     well as in biochemical settings, where nitrile groups can act as
95     minimally invasive probes of structure and
96     dynamics.\cite{Lindquist:2009fk,Fafarman:2010dq} The vibrational Stark
97     effect has also been used to study the effects of electric fields on
98     nitrile-containing self-assembled monolayers at metallic
99     interfaces.\cite{Oklejas:2002uq,Schkolnik:2012ty}
100    
101     Recently 4-cyano-4'-pentylbiphenyl (5CB), a liquid crystalline
102     molecule with a terminal nitrile group, has seen renewed interest as
103     one way to impart order on the surfactant interfaces of
104     nanodroplets,\cite{Moreno-Razo:2012rz} or to drive surface-ordering
105     that can be used to promote particular kinds of
106     self-assembly.\cite{PhysRevLett.111.227801} The nitrile group in 5CB
107     is a particularly interesting case for studying electric field
108     effects, as 5CB exhibits an isotropic to nematic phase transition that
109     can be triggered by the application of an external field near room
110     temperature.\cite{Gray:1973ca,Hatta:1991ee} This presents the
111     possiblity that the field-induced changes in the local environment
112     could have dramatic effects on the vibrations of this particular CN
113     bond. Although the infrared spectroscopy of 5CB has been
114     well-investigated, particularly as a measure of the kinetics of the
115     phase transition,\cite{Leyte:1997zl} the 5CB nitrile group has not yet
116     seen the detailed theoretical treatment that biologically-relevant
117     small molecules have
118     received.\cite{Lindquist:2008bh,Lindquist:2008qf,Oh:2008fk,Choi:2008cr,Waegele:2010ve}
119    
120 gezelter 4007 The fundamental characteristic of liquid crystal mesophases is that
121     they maintain some degree of orientational order while translational
122     order is limited or absent. This orientational order produces a
123     complex direction-dependent response to external perturbations like
124 gezelter 4028 electric fields and mechanical distortions. The anisotropy of the
125 gezelter 4007 macroscopic phases originates in the anisotropy of the constituent
126     molecules, which typically have highly non-spherical structures with a
127 gezelter 4028 significant degree of internal rigidity. In nematic phases, rod-like
128 gezelter 4007 molecules are orientationally ordered with isotropic distributions of
129 gezelter 4028 molecular centers of mass. For example, 5CB has a solid to nematic
130     phase transition at 18C and a nematic to isotropic transition at
131     35C.\cite{Gray:1973ca}
132 gezelter 4007
133 gezelter 4028 In smectic phases, the molecules arrange themselves into layers with
134     their long (symmetry) axis normal ($S_{A}$) or tilted ($S_{C}$) with
135     respect to the layer planes. The behavior of the $S_{A}$ phase can be
136     partially explained with models mainly based on geometric factors and
137     van der Waals interactions. The Gay-Berne potential, in particular,
138     has been widely used in the liquid crystal community to describe this
139     anisotropic phase
140     behavior.~\cite{Gay:1981yu,Berne72,Kushick:1976xy,Luckhurst90,Cleaver:1996rt}
141     However, these simple models are insufficient to describe liquid
142     crystal phases which exhibit more complex polymorphic nature.
143     Molecules which form $S_{A}$ phases can exhibit a wide variety of
144     subphases like monolayers ($S_{A1}$), uniform bilayers ($S_{A2}$),
145     partial bilayers ($S_{\tilde A}$) as well as interdigitated bilayers
146     ($S_{A_{d}}$), and often have a terminal cyano or nitro group. In
147     particular, lyotropic liquid crystals (those exhibiting liquid crystal
148     phase transition as a function of water concentration), often have
149     polar head groups or zwitterionic charge separated groups that result
150     in strong dipolar interactions,\cite{Collings:1997rz} and terminal cyano
151     groups (like the one in 5CB) can induce permanent longitudinal
152     dipoles.\cite{Levelut:1981eu}
153 gezelter 4007
154 gezelter 4028 Macroscopic electric fields applied using electrodes on opposing sides
155     of a sample of 5CB have demonstrated the phase change of the molecule
156     as a function of electric field.\cite{Lim:2006xq} These previous
157     studies have shown the nitrile group serves as an excellent indicator
158     of the molecular orientation within the applied field. Lee {\it et
159     al.}~showed a 180 degree change in field direction could be probed
160     with the nitrile peak intensity as it changed along with molecular
161     alignment in the field.\cite{Lee:2006qd,Leyte:1997zl}
162 gezelter 4007
163 gezelter 4028 While these macroscopic fields work well at indicating the bulk
164 gezelter 4007 response, the atomic scale response has not been studied. With the
165     advent of nano-electrodes and coupling them with atomic force
166     microscopy, control of electric fields applied across nanometer
167 gezelter 4028 distances is now possible.\cite{citation1} While macroscopic fields
168     are insufficient to cause a Stark effect without dielectric breakdown
169     of the material, small fields across nanometer-sized gaps may be of
170     sufficient strength. For a gap of 5 nm between a lower electrode
171     having a nanoelectrode placed near it via an atomic force microscope,
172     a potential of 1 V applied across the electrodes is equivalent to a
173     field of 2x10\textsuperscript{8} $\frac{V}{M}$. This field is
174     certainly strong enough to cause the isotropic-nematic phase change
175     and as well as Stark tuning of the nitrile bond. This should be
176     readily visible experimentally through Raman or IR spectroscopy.
177 gezelter 4007
178 gezelter 4028 In the sections that follow, we outline a series of coarse-grained
179     classical molecular dynamics simulations of 5CB that were done in the
180     presence of static electric fields. These simulations were then
181     coupled with both {\it ab intio} calculations of CN-deformations and
182     classical bond-length correlation functions to predict spectral
183     shifts. These predictions made should be easily varifiable with
184     scanning electrochemical microscopy experiments.
185 gezelter 4007
186     \section{Computational Details}
187 gezelter 4027 The force field used for 5CB was taken from Guo {\it et
188     al.}\cite{Zhang:2011hh} However, for most of the simulations, each
189     of the phenyl rings was treated as a rigid body to allow for larger
190     time steps and very long simulation times. The geometries of the
191     rigid bodies were taken from equilibrium bond distances and angles.
192     Although the phenyl rings were held rigid, bonds, bends, torsions and
193 gezelter 4028 inversion centers that involved atoms in these substructures (but with
194     connectivity to the rest of the molecule) were still included in the
195     potential and force calculations.
196 gezelter 4007
197 gezelter 4028 Periodic simulations cells containing 270 molecules in random
198     orientations were constructed and were locked at experimental
199     densities. Electrostatic interactions were computed using damped
200     shifted force (DSF) electrostatics.\cite{Fennell:2006zl} The molecules
201     were equilibrated for 1~ns at a temperature of 300K. Simulations with
202     applied fields were carried out in the microcanonical (NVE) ensemble
203     with an energy corresponding to the average energy from the canonical
204     (NVT) equilibration runs. Typical applied-field runs were more than
205     60ns in length.
206 gezelter 4007
207 gezelter 4027 Static electric fields with magnitudes similar to what would be
208     available in an experimental setup were applied to the different
209     simulations. With an assumed electrode seperation of 5 nm and an
210     electrostatic potential that is limited by the voltage required to
211     split water (1.23V), the maximum realistic field that could be applied
212 gezelter 4028 is $\sim 0.024$ V/\AA. Three field environments were investigated:
213     (1) no field applied, (2) partial field = 0.01 V/\AA\ , and (3) full
214     field = 0.024 V/\AA\ .
215 gezelter 4007
216 gezelter 4027 After the systems had come to equilibrium under the applied fields,
217 gezelter 4028 additional simulations were carried out with a flexible (Morse)
218     nitrile bond,
219     \begin{displaymath}
220     V(r_\ce{CN}) = D_e \left(1 - e^{-\beta (r_\ce{CN}-r_e)}\right)^2
221 gezelter 4036 \label{eq:morse}
222 gezelter 4028 \end{displaymath}
223 gezelter 4036 where $r_e= 1.157437$ \AA , $D_e = 212.95 \mathrm{~kcal~} /
224 gezelter 4029 \mathrm{mol}^{-1}$ and $\beta = 2.67566 $\AA~$^{-1}$. These
225 gezelter 4036 parameters correspond to a vibrational frequency of $2358
226 gezelter 4029 \mathrm{~cm}^{-1}$, a bit higher than the experimental frequency. The
227     flexible nitrile moiety required simulation time steps of 1~fs, so the
228     additional flexibility was introducuced only after the rigid systems
229     had come to equilibrium under the applied fields. Whenever time
230     correlation functions were computed from the flexible simulations,
231 gezelter 4028 statistically-independent configurations were sampled from the last ns
232     of the induced-field runs. These configurations were then
233     equilibrated with the flexible nitrile moiety for 100 ps, and time
234     correlation functions were computed using data sampled from an
235     additional 200 ps of run time carried out in the microcanonical
236     ensemble.
237 gezelter 4027
238     \section{Field-induced Nematic Ordering}
239    
240     In order to characterize the orientational ordering of the system, the
241     primary quantity of interest is the nematic (orientational) order
242     parameter. This was determined using the tensor
243     \begin{equation}
244     Q_{\alpha \beta} = \frac{1}{2N} \sum_{i=1}^{N} \left(3 \hat{e}_{i
245     \alpha} \hat{e}_{i \beta} - \delta_{\alpha \beta} \right)
246     \end{equation}
247     where $\alpha, \beta = x, y, z$, and $\hat{e}_i$ is the molecular
248     end-to-end unit vector for molecule $i$. The nematic order parameter
249     $S$ is the largest eigenvalue of $Q_{\alpha \beta}$, and the
250     corresponding eigenvector defines the director axis for the phase.
251     $S$ takes on values close to 1 in highly ordered (smectic A) phases,
252 gezelter 4028 but falls to zero for isotropic fluids. Note that the nitrogen and
253     the terminal chain atom were used to define the vectors for each
254     molecule, so the typical order parameters are lower than if one
255     defined a vector using only the rigid core of the molecule. In
256     nematic phases, typical values for $S$ are close to 0.5.
257 gezelter 4027
258 gezelter 4029 The field-induced phase transition can be clearly seen over the course
259     of a 60 ns equilibration runs in figure \ref{fig:orderParameter}. All
260 gezelter 4027 three of the systems started in a random (isotropic) packing, with
261     order parameters near 0.2. Over the course 10 ns, the full field
262     causes an alignment of the molecules (due primarily to the interaction
263     of the nitrile group dipole with the electric field). Once this
264 gezelter 4029 system started exhibiting nematic ordering, the orientational order
265     parameter became stable for the remaining 50 ns of simulation time.
266     It is possible that the partial-field simulation is meta-stable and
267     given enough time, it would eventually find a nematic-ordered phase,
268     but the partial-field simulation was stable as an isotropic phase for
269 gezelter 4032 the full duration of a 60 ns simulation. Ellipsoidal renderings of the
270     final configurations of the runs shows that the full-field (0.024
271     V/\AA\ ) experienced a isotropic-nematic phase transition and has
272     ordered with a director axis that is parallel to the direction of the
273     applied field.
274    
275     \begin{figure}[H]
276     \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{Figure1}
277     \caption{Evolution of the orientational order parameters for the
278 gezelter 4029 no-field, partial field, and full field simulations over the
279     course of 60 ns. Each simulation was started from a
280 gezelter 4032 statistically-independent isotropic configuration. On the right
281     are ellipsoids representing the final configurations at three
282     different field strengths: zero field (bottom), partial field
283     (middle), and full field (top)}
284 gezelter 4027 \label{fig:orderParameter}
285     \end{figure}
286    
287    
288 gezelter 4029 \section{Sampling the CN bond frequency}
289 gezelter 4027
290 gezelter 4035 The vibrational frequency of the nitrile bond in 5CB depends on
291     features of the local solvent environment of the individual molecules
292     as well as the bond's orientation relative to the applied field. The
293     primary quantity of interest for interpreting the condensed phase
294     spectrum of this vibration is the distribution of frequencies
295     exhibited by the 5CB nitrile bond under the different electric fields.
296     Three distinct methods for mapping classical simulations onto
297     vibrational spectra were brought to bear on these simulations:
298 gezelter 4029 \begin{enumerate}
299     \item Isolated 5CB molecules and their immediate surroundings were
300 gezelter 4035 extracted from the simulations. These nitrile bonds were stretched
301 gezelter 4029 and single-point {\em ab initio} calculations were used to obtain
302     Morse-oscillator fits for the local vibrational motion along that
303     bond.
304     \item The potential - frequency maps developed by Cho {\it et
305     al.}~\cite{Oh:2008fk} for nitrile moieties in water were
306     investigated. This method involves mapping the electrostatic
307     potential around the bond to the vibrational frequency, and is
308     similar in approach to field-frequency maps that were pioneered by
309 gezelter 4032 Skinner {\it et al.}\cite{XXXX}
310 gezelter 4029 \item Classical bond-length autocorrelation functions were Fourier
311     transformed to directly obtain the vibrational spectrum from
312     molecular dynamics simulations.
313     \end{enumerate}
314    
315     \subsection{CN frequencies from isolated clusters}
316 gezelter 4033 The size of the periodic condensed phase system prevented direct
317     computation of the complete library of nitrile bond frequencies using
318     {\it ab initio} methods. In order to sample the nitrile frequencies
319     present in the condensed-phase, individual molecules were selected
320     randomly to serve as the center of a local (gas phase) cluster. To
321     include steric, electrostatic, and other effects from molecules
322     located near the targeted nitrile group, portions of other molecules
323     nearest to the nitrile group were included in the quantum mechanical
324     calculations. The surrounding solvent molecules were divided into
325     ``body'' (the two phenyl rings and the nitrile bond) and ``tail'' (the
326     alkyl chain). Any molecule which had a body atom within 6~\AA of the
327     midpoint of the target nitrile bond had its own molecular body (the
328 gezelter 4035 4-cyano-biphenyl moiety) included in the configuration. For the alkyl
329     tail, the entire tail was included if any tail atom was within 4~\AA
330     of the target nitrile bond. If tail atoms (but no body atoms) were
331     included within these distances, only the tail was included as a
332     capped propane molecule.
333 gezelter 4029
334 gezelter 4033 \begin{figure}[H]
335     \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{Figure2}
336     \caption{Cluster calculations were performed on randomly sampled 5CB
337 gezelter 4035 molecules (shown in red) from each of the simulations. Surrounding
338     molecular bodies were included if any body atoms were within 6
339     \AA\ of the target nitrile bond, and tails were included if they
340     were within 4 \AA. Included portions of these molecules are shown
341     in green. The CN bond on the target molecule was stretched and
342     compressed, and the resulting single point energies were fit to
343     Morse oscillators to obtain frequency distributions.}
344 gezelter 4033 \label{fig:cluster}
345     \end{figure}
346 gezelter 4032
347 gezelter 4035 Inferred hydrogen atom locations were added to the cluster geometries,
348     and the nitrile bond was stretched from 0.87 to 1.52~\AA\ at
349     increments of 0.05~\AA. This generated 13 configurations per gas phase
350     cluster. Single-point energies were computed using the B3LYP
351     functional~\cite{Becke:1993kq,Lee:1988qf} and the 6-311++G(d,p) basis
352     set. For the cluster configurations that had been generated from
353     molecular dynamics running under applied fields, the density
354     functional calculations had a field of $5 \times 10^{-4}$ atomic units
355     ($E_h / (e a_0)$) applied in the $+z$ direction in order to match the
356     molecular dynamics simulations.
357 gezelter 4007
358 gezelter 4035 The energies for the stretched / compressed nitrile bond in each of
359     the clusters were used to fit Morse oscillators, and the frequencies
360     were obtained from the $0 \rightarrow 1$ transition for the energy
361     levels for this potential.\cite{Morse:1929xy} To obtain a spectrum,
362     each of the frequencies was convoluted with a Lorentzian lineshape
363     with a width of 1.5 $\mathrm{cm}^{-1}$. Available computing resources
364     limited the sampling to 67 clusters for the zero-field spectrum, and
365     59 for the full field. Comparisons of the quantum mechanical spectrum
366     to the classical are shown in figure \ref{fig:spectrum}.
367 gezelter 4033
368 gezelter 4029 \subsection{CN frequencies from potential-frequency maps}
369 gezelter 4035 One approach which has been used to successfully analyze the spectrum
370     of nitrile and thiocyanate probes in aqueous environments was
371     developed by Choi {\it et al.}~\cite{Choi:2008cr,Oh:2008fk} This
372     method involves finding a multi-parameter fit that maps between the
373     local electrostatic potential at selected sites surrounding the
374     nitrile bond and the vibrational frequency of that bond obtained from
375     more expensive {\it ab initio} methods. This approach is similar in
376     character to the field-frequency maps developed by Skinner {\it et
377     al.} for OH stretches in liquid water.\cite{XXXX}
378    
379     To use the potential-frequency maps, the local electrostatic
380     potential, $\phi$, is computed at 20 sites ($a = 1 \rightarrow 20$)
381     that surround the nitrile bond,
382 gezelter 4029 \begin{equation}
383 gezelter 4035 \phi_{a} = \frac{1}{4\pi \epsilon_{0}} \sum_{j}
384     \frac{q_j}{\left|r_{aj}\right|}.
385 gezelter 4029 \end{equation}
386 gezelter 4036 Here $q_j$ is the partial site on atom $j$ (residing on a different
387     molecule) and $r_{aj}$ is the distance between site $a$ and atom $j$.
388     The original map was parameterized in liquid water and comprises a set
389     of parameters, $l_a$, that predict the shift in nitrile peak
390     frequency,
391 gezelter 4029 \begin{equation}
392 gezelter 4036 \delta\tilde{\nu} =\sum^{20}_{a=1} l_{a}\phi_{a}.
393 gezelter 4029 \end{equation}
394 gezelter 4035
395 gezelter 4036 The simulations of 5CB were carried in the presence of
396     externally-applied uniform electric fields. Although uniform fields
397     exert forces on charge sites, they only contribute to the potential if
398     one defines a reference point that can serve as an origin. One simple
399     modification to the potential at each of the $a$ sites is to use the
400     centroid of the \ce{CN} bond as the origin for that site,
401 gezelter 4029 \begin{equation}
402 gezelter 4036 \phi_a^\prime = \phi_a + \frac{1}{4\pi\epsilon_{0}} \vec{E} \cdot
403     \left(\vec{r}_a - \vec{r}_\ce{CN} \right)
404 gezelter 4029 \end{equation}
405 gezelter 4036 where $\vec{E}$ is the uniform electric field, $\left( \vec{r}_{a} -
406     \vec{r}_\ce{CN} \right)$ is the displacement between the
407     cooridinates described by Choi {\it et
408     al.}~\cite{Choi:2008cr,Oh:2008fk} and the \ce{CN} bond centroid.
409     $\phi_a^\prime$ then contains an effective potential contributed by
410     the uniform field in addition to the local potential contributions
411     from other molecules.
412 gezelter 4029
413 gezelter 4036 The sites $\{\vec{r}_a\}$ and weights $\left\{l_a \right\}$ developed by
414     Choi {\it et al.}~\cite{Choi:2008cr,Oh:2008fk} are quite symmetric
415     around the \ce{CN} centroid, and even at large uniform field values we
416     observed nearly-complete cancellation of the potenial contributions
417     from the uniform field. In order to utilize the potential-frequency
418     maps for this problem, one would therefore need extensive
419     reparameterization of the maps to include explicit contributions from
420     the external field. This reparameterization is outside the scope of
421     the current work, but would make a useful addition to the
422     potential-frequency map approach.
423 gezelter 4029
424     \subsection{CN frequencies from bond length autocorrelation functions}
425    
426 gezelter 4036 The distributions of nitrile vibrational frequencies can also be found
427     using classical time correlation functions. This was done by
428     replacing the rigid \ce{CN} bond with a flexible Morse oscillator
429     described in Eq. \ref{eq:morse}. Since the systems were perturbed by
430     the addition of a flexible high-frequency bond, they were allowed to
431     re-equilibrate in the canonical (NVT) ensemble for 100 ps with 1 fs
432     timesteps. After equilibration, each configuration was run in the
433     microcanonical (NVE) ensemble for 20 ps. Configurations sampled every
434     fs were then used to compute bond-length autocorrelation functions,
435 gezelter 4007 \begin{equation}
436 gezelter 4036 C(t) = \langle \delta r(t) \cdot \delta r(0) ) \rangle
437 gezelter 4007 \end{equation}
438     %
439 gezelter 4036 where $\delta r(t) = r(t) - r_0$ is the deviation from the equilibrium
440     bond distance at time $t$. Ten statistically-independent correlation
441     functions were obtained by allowing the systems to run 10 ns with
442     rigid \ce{CN} bonds followed by 120 ps equilibration and data
443     collection using the flexible \ce{CN} bonds.
444 gezelter 4007
445 gezelter 4036 The correlation functions were filtered using exponential apodization
446     functions,\cite{FILLER:1964yg} $f(t) = e^{-c |t|}$, with a time constant, $c =$ 6
447     ps, and Fourier transformed to yield a spectrum,
448     \begin{equation}
449     I(\omega) = \int_{-\infty}^{\infty} C(t) f(t) e^{-i \omega t} dt.
450     \end{equation}
451     The sample-averaged classical nitrile spectrum can be seen in Figure
452     \ref{fig:spectra}. Note that the Morse oscillator parameters listed
453     above yield a natural frequency of 2358 $\mathrm{cm}^{-1}$,
454     significantly higher than the experimental peak near 2226
455     $\mathrm{cm}^{-1}$. This shift does not effect the ability to
456     qualitatively compare peaks from the classical and quantum mechanical
457     approaches, so the classical spectra are shown as a shift relative to
458     the natural oscillation of the Morse bond.
459 gezelter 4007
460 jmarr 4013 \begin{figure}
461 gezelter 4036 \includegraphics[width=3.25in]{Convolved}
462 jmarr 4013 \includegraphics[width=3.25in]{2Spectra}
463 gezelter 4036 \caption{Lorentzian convolved Gaussian frequencies of the zero field
464     system (black) and the full field system (red), and the
465     classically calculated nitrile bond spectrum for no external field
466     application (black) and full external field application (red)}
467     \label{fig:spectra}
468 jmarr 4013 \end{figure}
469 jmarr 4020
470 gezelter 4036 Note that due to electrostatic interactions, the classical approach
471     implicitly couples \ce{CN} vibrations to the same vibrational mode on
472     other nearby molecules. This coupling is not handled in the {\it ab
473     initio} cluster approach.
474 jmarr 4020
475 gezelter 4036 \section{Discussion}
476    
477 jmarr 4023 Due to this, Gaussian calculations were performed in lieu of this
478     method. A set of snapshots for the zero and full field simualtions,
479     they were first investigated for any dependence on the local, with
480     external field included, electric field. This was to see if a linear
481     or non-linear relationship between the two could be utilized for
482     generating spectra. This was done in part because of previous studies
483     showing the frequency dependence of nitrile bonds to the electric
484     fields generated locally between solvating water. It was seen that
485     little to no dependence could be directly shown. This data is not
486     shown.
487    
488 jmarr 4020 Since no explicit dependence was observed between the calculated
489     frequency and the electric field, it was not a viable route for the
490     calculation of a nitrile spectrum. Instead, the frequencies were taken
491 jmarr 4024 and convolved together with a lorentzian line shape applied around the
492 gezelter 4036 frequency value. These spectra are seen below in Figure 4. While the
493     spectrum without a field is lower in intensity and is almost bimodel
494     in distrobution, the external field spectrum is much more
495     unimodel. This tighter clustering has the affect of increasing the
496 jmarr 4020 intensity around 2226 cm\textsuperscript{-1} where the peak is
497 jmarr 4023 centered. The external field also has fewer frequencies of higher
498 gezelter 4036 energy in the spectrum. Unlike the the zero field, where some
499     frequencies reach as high as 2280 cm\textsuperscript{-1}.
500    
501    
502 jmarr 4024 Interestingly, the field that is needed to switch the phase of 5CB
503     macroscopically is larger than 1 V. However, in this case, only a
504     voltage of 1.2 V was need to induce a phase change. This is impart due
505 gezelter 4036 to the short distance of 5 nm the field is being applied across. At
506     such a small distance, the field is much larger than the macroscopic
507     and thus easily induces a field dependent phase change. However, this
508     field will not cause a breakdown of the 5CB since electrochemistry
509     studies have shown that it can be used in the presence of fields as
510     high as 500 V macroscopically. This large of a field near the surface
511     of the elctrode would cause breakdown of 5CB if it could happen.
512 jmarr 4024
513 jmarr 4020 The absence of any electric field dependency of the freuquency with
514 jmarr 4025 the Gaussian simulations is interesting. A large base of research has been
515 jmarr 4024 built upon the known tuning of the nitrile bond as the local field
516     changes. This difference may be due to the absence of water or a
517     molecule that induces a large internal field. Liquid water is known to have a very high internal field which
518 jmarr 4020 is much larger than the internal fields of neat 5CB. Even though the
519 jmarr 4024 application of Gaussian simulations followed by mapping it to
520 jmarr 4020 some classical parameter is easy and straight forward, this system
521     illistrates how that 'go to' method can break down.
522 gezelter 4007
523 jmarr 4020 While this makes the application of nitrile Stark effects in
524 jmarr 4024 simulations without water harder, these data show
525 jmarr 4021 that it is not a deal breaker. The classically calculated nitrile
526     spectrum shows changes in the spectra that will be easily seen through
527     experimental routes. It indicates a shifted peak lower in energy
528 jmarr 4024 should arise. This peak is a few wavenumbers from the leading edge of
529     the larger peak and almost 75 wavenumbers from the center. This
530     seperation between the two peaks means experimental results will show
531     an easily resolved peak.
532 jmarr 4021
533 jmarr 4024 The Gaussian derived spectra do indicate an applied field
534 jmarr 4023 and subsiquent phase change does cause a narrowing of freuency
535 jmarr 4025 distrobution. With narrowing, it would indicate an increased
536     homogeneous distrobution of the local field near the nitrile.
537 gezelter 4007 \section{Conclusions}
538 jmarr 4024 Field dependent changes
539 gezelter 4036
540     \section{Acknowledgements}
541     The authors thank Steven Corcelli for helpful comments and
542     suggestions. Support for this project was provided by the National
543     Science Foundation under grant CHE-0848243. Computational time was
544     provided by the Center for Research Computing (CRC) at the University
545     of Notre Dame.
546    
547 gezelter 4007 \newpage
548    
549     \bibliography{5CB}
550    
551     \end{doublespace}
552     \end{document}