The ground state (S0) geometry of the firefly luciferin (LH2) was optimized by both DFT B3LYP and CASSCF methods. The vertical excitation energies (Tv) of three low-lying states (S1, S2, and S3) were calculated by TD-DFT B3LYP//CASSCF method. The S1 geometry was optimized by CASSCF method. Its Tv and the transition energy (Te) were calculated by MS-CASPT2//CASSCF method. Both the TD-DFT and MS-CASPT2 calculated S1 state Tv values agree with the experimental one. The IPEA shift greatly affects the MS-CASPT2 calculated Tv values. Some important excited states of LH2 and oxyluciferin (oxyLH2) are charge-transfer states and have more than one dominant configuration, so for deeply researching the firefly bioluminescence, the multireference calculations are desired.
