The vibrational spectra of bactericide molecules: Terahertz spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations

Abstract

In the room temperature and nitrogen conditions, we presented well-resolved absorption spectra and indexes of refraction of bactericide molecules in the far infrared radiation (FIR) spectral region recorded by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS). As illustrative examples we discussed the absorption spectra of captan and folpet in THz region. The absorption coefficient and index of refraction of them were obtained. Meanwhile, density functional theory (DFT) with software package Gaussian 03 using B3LYP theory was employed for optimization and vibration analysis. With the help of Gaussian View 3.09, the distinct absorption peaks of those molecules were assigned with reliable accuracy. They were caused by intermolecular hydrogen-bonding, molecular torsion or vibration modes, absorption of water molecules, etc. As the absorption spectra are highly sensitive to the overall structure and configuration of the molecules, the THz-TDS procedure can provide a direct fingerprint of the molecular structure or conformational state of a compound.