Nonadiabatic Molecular Dynamics Study of the Relaxation Pathways of Photoexcited Cyclooctatetraene
In the current study, we present nonadiabatic (NAMD) and adiabatic molecular dynamics simulations of the transition-state dynamics of photoexcited cyclooctatetraene (COT). The equilibrium-state structure and absorption spectra are analyzed using the semiempirical Austin Model 1 potential. The NAMD simulations are obtained by a surface-hopping algorithm. We analyzed in detail an active excited to ground state relaxation pathway accompanied by an S 2 /S 3 (D 2d ) → S 1 (D 8h ) → S o (D 4h ) → S o (D 2d ) double-bond shifting mechanism. The simulated excitation lifetime is in good agreement with experiment. The first excited singlet state S1 plays a crucial role in the photochemistry. Here, the obtained critical molecular conformations, energy barrier, and transition-state lifetime results will provide a basis for further investigations of the bond-order inversion and photoswitching process of COT.