Instantaneous normal modes, resonances, and decay channels in the vibrational relaxation of the amide I mode of N-methylacetamide-D in liquid deuterated water.

A nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (MD) study of the vibrational relaxation of the amide I mode of deuterated N-methylacetamide (NMAD) in aqueous (D(2)O) solution is carried out using instantaneous normal modes (INMs). The identification of the INMs as they evolve over time, which is necessary to analyze the energy fluxes, is made by using a novel algorithm which allows us to assign unequivocally each INM to an individual equilibrium normal mode (ENM) or to a group of ENMs during the MD simulations. The time evolution of the energy stored in each INM is monitored and the occurrence of resonances during the relaxation process is then investigated. The decay of the amide I mode, initially excited with one vibrational quantum, is confirmed to fit well to a biexponential function, implying that the relaxation process involves at least two mechanisms with different rate constants. By freezing the internal motions of the solvent, it is shown that the intermolecular vibration-vibration channel to the bending modes of the solvent is closed. The INM analysis reveals then the existence of a major and faster decay channel, which corresponds to an intramolecular vibrational redistribution process and a minor, and slower, decay channel which involves the participation of the librational motions of the solvent. The faster relaxation pathway can be rationalized in turn using a sequential kinetic mechanism of the type P-->M+L-->L, where P (parent) is the initially excited amide I mode, and M (medium) and L (low) are specific midrange and lower-frequency NMAD vibrational modes, respectively.