Communication: Oscillating charge migration between lone pairs persists without significant interaction with nuclear motion in the glycine and Gly-Gly-NH-CH{sub 3} radical cations
Coupled electron-nuclear dynamics has been studied, using the Ehrenfest method, for four conformations of the glycine molecule and a single conformation of Gly-Gly-NH-CH{sub 3}. The initial electronic wavepacket was a superposition of eigenstates corresponding to ionization from the σ lone pairs associated with the carbonyl oxygens and the amine nitrogen. For glycine, oscillating charge migration (when the nuclei were frozen) was observed for the 4 conformers studied with periods ranging from 2 to 5 fs, depending on the energy gap between the lone pair cationic states. When coupled nuclear motion was allowed (which was mainly NH{sub 2} partial inversion), the oscillations hardly changed. For Gly-Gly-NH-CH{sub 3}, charge migration between the carbonyl oxygens and the NH{sub 2} lone pair can be observed with a period similar to glycine itself, also without interaction with nuclear motion. These simulations suggest that charge migration between lone pairs can occur independently of the nuclear motion.