The University of Tokyo · Chemistry
Professor Daisuke Yokogawa's research lab specializes in the development and application of advanced computational methods to understand solvation effects and reaction mechanisms in condensed-phase chemical systems. The lab focuses on combining ab initio quantum chemistry with statistical mechanical theories—particularly the Reference Interaction Site Model (RISM) and its self-consistent field variants (RISM-SCF-SEDD)—to model molecular solvation, electronic structure, and reaction pathways with high accuracy. Key research directions include the simulation of excited-state processes such as intramolecular proton transfer in fluorescent materials, the mechanistic study of sugar isomerization in aqueous and ionic liquid environments, and the design of novel catalytic transformations like σ-bond activation in cyclopropanes. The lab also pioneers efficient computational strategies for 3D solvation structure analysis, enabling high-performance, atomistically detailed solvation models.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
The authors propose the new generation of the reference interaction site model self-consistent field (RISM-SCF) method for the solvation effect on the electronic structure of a solute molecule, in which the procedure proposed by Gill et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 96, 7178 (1992)] is adopted. Main improvements are the introduction of spatial electron density distribution and the removal of the grid dependency that is inherent in the original RISM-SCF. The procedure also provides very stable determinatio
Fluorophores that can undergo excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) represent promising scaffolds for the design of compounds that show red-shifted fluorescence. Herein, we disclose new near infrared-emissive materials based on a dialkylamine-strapped 2,5-dithienylpyrrole as an ESIPT scaffold. The introduction of electron-accepting units to the terminal positions of this scaffold generates acceptor-π-donor-π-acceptor (A-π-D-π-A) type π-conjugated compounds. Following the ESIPT, th
Analytical energy gradient formula was derived for reference interaction site model self-consistent field explicitly including spatial electron density distribution (RISM-SCF-SEDD). RISM-SCF-SEDD is a combination method of ab initio electronic structure theory and statistical mechanics for molecular liquids [D. Yokogawa et al., J. Chem. Phys. 126, 244504 (2007)]. As shown previously, RISM-SCF-SEDD is numerically stable and has expanded the applicability of the solvation theory. The energy gradie
Isomerization and transformation of glucose and fructose to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) in both ionic liquids (ILs) and water has been studied by the reference interaction site model self-consistent field spatial electron density distribution (RISM-SCF-SEDD) method coupled with ab initio electronic structure theory, namely coupled cluster single, double, and perturbative triple excitation (CCSD(T)). Glucose isomerization to fructose has been investigated via cyclic and open chain mechanisms. I
Three dimensional (3D) hydration structure is informative to clarify the functions of hydrated waters around a protein. We develop a new approach to calculate 3D solvation structure with reasonable computational cost. In the present method, the total solvation structure is obtained using conventional one dimensional reference interaction site model (RISM) followed by integrating the 3D fragment data, which are evaluated around each atom (site) of solute. Thanks to this strategy, time-consuming 3
Hydroboration of alkenes is a classical reaction in organic synthesis in which alkenes react with boranes to give alkylboranes with subsequent oxidation resulting in alcohols. The double bond (π-bond) of alkenes can be readily reacted with boranes owing to its high reactivity. However, the single bond (σ-bond) of alkanes has never been reacted. To pursue the development of σ-bond cleavage, we selected cyclopropanes as model substrates since they present a relatively weak σ-bond. Herein, we descr
Abstract Quantum mechanical (QM) calculation in solution is becoming a popular and useful tool in chemistry. We have developed a hybrid method between QM and reference interaction site model (RISM). To combine RISM with QM calculations, we have to employ charge fitting approaches. By introducing constrained spatial electron density distribution (cSED) in the fitting, we developed a new generation of RISM self-consistent field (SCF). Our method (RISM-SCF-cSED) overcame the instability of the orig
The ligand exchange process of cis-platin in aqueous solution was studied using RISM-SCF-SEDD (reference interaction site model-self-consistent field with spatial electron density distribution) method, a hybrid approach of quantum chemistry and statistical mechanics. The analytical nature of RISM theory enables us to compute accurate reaction free energy in aqueous solution based on CCSD(T), together with the microscopic solvation structure around the complex. We found that the solvation effect
Theoretical approach to design bright bio-imaging molecules is one of the most progressing ones. However, because of the system size and computational accuracy, the number of theoretical studies is limited to our knowledge. To overcome the difficulties, we developed a new method based on reference interaction site model self-consistent field explicitly including spatial electron density distribution and time-dependent density functional theory. We applied it to the calculation of indole and 5-cy
For theoretically studying molecules with fluorescence in the near-infrared region, high-accuracy determination of state energy level is required for meaningful analyses since the spectra of interest are of very narrow energy range. In particular, these molecules are in many cases handled in solution; therefore, consideration of the solvation effect is essential upon calculation together with the electronic structure of the excited state. Earlier studies showed that they cannot be described with
Creutz-Taube complex, [(NH3)5Ru-pyrazine-Ru(NH3)5]5+ (1), and its analogues, [(NH3)5Os-pyrazine-Os(NH3)5]5+ (2), [(NH3)5Ru(4,4'-bipyridine)Ru(NH3)5]5+ (3), and [(NH3)5Os(4,4'-bipyridine)Os(NH3)5]5+ (4), were theoretically investigated by the combination of a two-state model and the dielectric continuum model. Their electronic structures are very sensitive to the metal, ligand, and solvent. In the gas phase, the electronic structures of 1-4 would be completely delocalized. In aqueous solution, th
Although three dimensional (3D) solvation structure is much more informative than one dimensional structure, its evaluation is difficult experimentally and theoretically. In our previous Communication [Yokogawa et al., J. Chem. Phys. 123, 211102 (2005)], we proposed a new method to present reconstructed spatial distribution function (RC-SDF) from a set of radial distribution functions (RDFs). In this article, we successfully extended the method more accurately with new basis sets. This new metho
Osawa et al. recently studied density dependence of electronic absorption spectra of p-aminobenzonitrile (ABN) in supercritical and subcritical water. They reported the peak position exhibits a minimum in a specific density. RISM-SCF-SEDD, which is a combination method of ab initio electronic structure theory and a statistical mechanics for molecular liquids, was applied to address the origin of this challenging phenomena. Highly accurate electronic structure theories (CASSCF and MCQDPT2) couple
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