A theoretical study of the cohesion of noble gases on graphite

The interactions of the noble gases with a graphene sheet are investigated theoretically. The short range repulsive interaction between the noble gas and each carbon atom is described using Hartree-Fock atomic densities and a local density functional theory with the exchange functional corrected for the finite range of the interaction by introducing a Rae-type correction depending on the effective number of electrons. The long range interactions are introduced as the sum of the Axilrod-Teller triple-dipole interaction plus the dipole-dipole and dipole-quadrupole dispersive attractions damped according to the theory of Jacobi and Csanak. The energy arising from the interactions between the permanent quadrupoles on the carbon atoms with the dipole they induce on the noble gas is negligible, being nonzero only on account of the atomistic structure of graphene. The mobile and delocalized nature of the graphene pi electrons causes the effective number of electrons to be around 500 rather than that of 12 appropriate for a system of entirely localized interactions with individual carbon atoms. Inclusion of the Axilrod-Teller term is required to obtain reliable predictions for the binding energies and equilibrium geometries. Absorption of a noble gas atom is predicted to occur at the site above the center of a six membered ring although this is preferred over two other sites by only about 5 meV. The methods presented for generating all the potentials can be applied to derive the interactions between any ion and carbon atom in the wall of a single-walled nanotube. Knowledge of these interactions is required to study the alkali halide nanocrystals encapsulated in single-walled carbon nanotubes of current interest.     

Periodicity in the formulae of carbonyls and the electronic basis of the Periodic Table

The basis of the Periodic Table is discussed. Electronic configuration recurs in only 21 out of the 32 groups. A better basis is derived by considering the highest classical valency (v) exhibited by an element and a new measure, the highest valency in carbonyl compounds (v*). This leads to a table based on the number of outer electrons possessed by an atom (N) and the number of electrons required for it to achieve an inert (noble) gas configuration (N*). Periodicity of these is nearly complete. The new basis helps to settle the question of the best form of table and related issues.     

Investigating the nature of intermolecular and intramolecular bonds in noble gas containing molecules

This article presents a theoretical study on a number of selected noble gas containing systems of the general formula FNgR and NgR (Ng = He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe and R = CH₃, CN, CCH, BO, BNH, H, BeO, and AuF). The principal structures, bond energies, spectroscopic, and electronic properties of 28 noble gas containing molecules were investigated using density functional theory at the BMK level. Quantum theory of atoms in molecules, natural bond orbital, and several other analysis methods have been used to provide more insight into the nature of noble gas bonds. Although both F? Ng and Ng? R bonds in the investigated molecules are assigned to have partially covalent and partially electrostatic nature, the covalent character is dominant in Ng? R bonds. In the second part, the intermolecular interactions between FNgR molecules and hydrogen fluoride are overviewed with emphasis on the hydrogen bonding through the fluorine side of noble gas molecule with hydrogen of HF. The calculated interaction energies were found to decrease in magnitude going down the noble gas series. For all noble gases, the strongest hydrogen bond has been observed in the case R=CH₃. On the contrary, using R=CN in the FNgR moiety weakens the interaction strength. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Electron dynamics of image potential states in weakly bound adsorbate layers: A short review

Image potential states on physisorbate-covered metal surfaces are fascinating model systems for the transition from the quasi-free behavior of electrons at bare metal surfaces towards the molecular electronics in more complex organic overlayers. This article discusses the fundamental properties of these systems and the experimental highlights in the study of rare gas and simple molecular overlayers on noble metal surfaces since the early 90s.     

Conformational relaxation and water penetration coupled to ionization of internal groups in proteins

Molecular dynamics simulations were used to examine the effects of ionization of internal groups on the structures of eighteen variants of staphylococcal nuclease (SNase) with internal Lys, Asp, or Glu. In most cases the RMSD values of internal ionizable side chains were larger when the ionizable moieties were charged than when they were neutral. Calculations of solvent-accessible surface area showed that the internal ionizable side chains were buried in the protein interior when they were neutral and moved toward crevices and toward the protein-water interface when they were charged. The only exceptions are Lys-36, Lys-62, and Lys-103, which remained buried even after charging. With the exception of Lys-38, the number of internal water molecules surrounding the ionizable group increased upon charging: the average number of water oxygen atoms within the first hydration shell increased by 1.7 for Lys residues, by 5.2 for Asp residues, and by 3.2 for Glu residues. The polarity of the microenvironment of the ionizable group also increased when the groups were charged: the average number of polar atoms of any kind within the first hydration shell increased by 2.7 for Lys residues, by 4.8 for Asp residues, and by 4.0 for Glu residues. An unexpected correlation was observed between the absolute value of the shifts in pK(a) values measured experimentally, and several parameters of structural relaxation: the net difference in the polarity of the microenvironment of the charged and neutral forms of the ionizable groups, the net difference in hydration of the charged and neutral forms of the ionizable groups, and the difference in RMSD values of the charged and neutral forms of the ionizable groups. The effects of ionization of internal groups on the conformation of the backbone were noticeable but mostly small and localized to the area immediately next to the internal ionizable moiety. Some variants did exhibit local unfolding.     

Plasmonic photocatalysts: harvesting visible light with noble metal nanoparticles

The efforts to produce photocatalysts operating efficiently under visible light have led to a number of plasmonic photocatalysts, in which noble metal nanoparticles are deposited on the surface of polar semiconductor or insulator particles. In the metal-semiconductor composite photocatalysts, the noble metal nanoparticles act as a major component for harvesting visible light due to their surface plasmon resonance while the metal-semiconductor interface efficiently separates the photogenerated electrons and holes. In this article, we survey various plasmonic photocatalysts that have been prepared and characterized in recent years.     

Noble gas-transition-metal complexes: coordination of VO2 and VO4 by Ar and Xe atoms in solid noble gas matrixes

The matrix isolation infrared spectroscopic and quantum chemical calculation results indicate that vanadium oxides, VO2 and VO4, coordinate noble gas atoms in forming noble gas complexes. The results showed that VO2 coordinates two Ar or Xe atoms and that VO4 coordinates one Ar or Xe atom in solid noble gas matrixes. Hence, the VO2 and VO4 molecules trapped in solid noble gas matrixes should be regarded as the VO2(Ng)2 and VO4(Ng) (Ng = Ar or Xe) complexes. The total V-Ng binding energies were predicted to be 12.8, 18.2, 5.0, and 7.3 kcal/mol, respectively, for the VO2(Ar)2, VO2(Xe)2, VO4(Ar), and VO4(Xe) complexes at the CCSD(T)//B3LYP level of theory.     

Rydberg Matter Clusters: Theory of Interaction and Sorption Properties

Sorption capacity of Rydberg matter (RM) clusters is examined for both electronegative and neutral molecules. Sorption isotherm of RM has been determined as a function of gas pressure and time. It is shown that chemisorption is characteristic for electronegative molecules whereas molecules with no affinity to electrons are absorbed by physisorption mechanism. Sorption capacity of RM is shown to be highest for physisorption mechanism. Absorption of molecules by RM clusters can be used either to detect condensed RM formation or both to maintain high vacuum conditions and high purity of noble gas atmospheres. Sorption capacity of RM can significantly exceed conventional getter sorption capacities.     

Matrix isolation infrared spectroscopic and theoretical study of NgMO (Ng = Ar, Kr, Xe; M = Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) complexes

The matrix isolation infrared spectroscopic and quantum chemical calculation results indicate that late transition metal monoxides CrO through NiO coordinate one noble gas atom in forming the NgMO complexes (Ng = Ar, Kr, Xe; M = Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) in solid noble gas matrixes. Hence, the late transition metal monoxides previously characterized in solid noble gas matrixes should be regarded as the NgMO complexes, which were predicted to be linear. The M-Ng bond distances decrease, while the M-Ng binding energies increase from NgCrO to NgNiO. In contrast, the early transition metal monoxides, ScO, TiO, and VO, are not able to form similar noble gas atom complexes.     

In-silico exploration of noble gas dimer enforced by noncovalent interaction

Density functional calculations have been carried out to investigate the possibility of trapping of noble gas dimers by cyclo[18]carbon dimer. Parallel-displaced conformation of the cyclo[18]carbon dimer is found to be the minimum energy structure. Noncovalent interaction is found to hold the noble gas dimers. The lighter noble gases (He, Ne) posses weaker attractive interactions while the heavier one (Ar, Kr) are held by stronger attractive interactions forming genuine bonds. Each of the noble gas atoms in turn forms noncovalent interaction with the cyclo[18]carbon monomers. The bond dissociation energy of the noble gas dimers dramatically increases inside the cyclo[18]carbon dimer. Energy decomposition analysis reveals that dispersion plays the major role toward the stabilization energy.     

Identification of the matrix shift: a fingerprint for neutral neon complex?

Ar-NiCO and Ne-NiCO have been predicted as novel neutral noble gas charge-transfer complexes, with binding energies of 7.70 and 2.16 kcal/mol, respectively, by the highly correlated coupled-cluster singles and doubles including a perturbational estimate of triple excitations calculations. The calculated shifts in the Ni-C-O bending frequency are 48 and 36 cm(-1) for Ar-NiCO and Ne-NiCO, while the corresponding experimental matrix shifts are 46 and 36 cm(-1), respectively. The anharmonicity effects for these frequencies are verified to be very small. The interaction between a noble gas atom and NiCO is discussed through natural population analyses and the electron density difference map. We further examined the noble gas matrix effects on the geometrical structure and vibrational frequencies of NiCO by performing density functional theory calculations for the Ng31-NiCO (Ng = Ar, Ne, He) system. The present results will inspire the further experimental investigation on the complexes of noble gas and transition metal compounds generated in the matrix isolation experiments.     

Are matrix isolated species really “isolated”? Infrared spectroscopic and theoretical studies of noble gas-transition metal oxide complexes

In this review, we summarize our recent results on matrix isolation infrared spectroscopic studies and theoretical investigations of noble gas-transition metal oxide complexes. The results show that some transition metal oxide species trapped in solid noble gas matrices are chemically coordinated by one or multiple noble gas atoms forming noble gas complexes and, hence, cannot be regarded as isolated species. Noble gas coordination alters the vibrational frequencies as well as the geometric and electronic structures of transition metal oxide species trapped in solid noble gas matrixes. The interactions between noble gas atoms and transition metal oxides involve ion-induced dipole interactions as well as chemical bonding interactions. Periodic trends in the bonding in these noble gas-transition metal complexes are discussed.     

Long-range interaction between Hg*(1,3P1) and noble gas atoms

The long-range, van der Waals interaction is considered for the system M^*(nsnp ^1,3P₁)/noble gas (¹S₀), where M^* is any atom with two valence electrons outside closed shells. An important “correlation” effect is shown to arise due to the different symmetry properties of the spatial parts of the singlet and triplet wavefunctions; this is the direct analogue of the effect of angular correlation in the ground-state problem. Detailed calculations are carried out for Hg^*(6s6p ^1,3P₁) interacting with the noble gases.     

High coordination chemically bound compounds of noble gases with hydrocarbons: Ng(CCH)4 and Ng(CCH)6, (Ng=Xe or Kr)

Ab initio calculations predict the existence of the compounds Ng(-C[triple bond]CH)4 and Ng(-C[triple bond]CH)6, where Ng=Xe or Kr. Presently known organic noble gas compounds have a coordination number of two at most. The Ng(-C[triple bond]CH)(4) molecules have D(4h) symmetry, and Ng(-C[triple bond]CH)(6) molecules have O(h) symmetry. The bonding in all these compounds is partly ionic and partly covalent, with significant contributions from both types of bonding. The relatively high vibrational frequencies and the substantial Ng-(C[triple bond]CH) binding energy in these species indicate that these compounds should be fairly stable, at least in cryogenic conditions. These compounds could be a very interesting addition to the range of known organic noble gas compounds. Suggestions are made on possible approaches to their preparation.     

Pentavalent Lanthanide Compounds: Formation and Characterization of Praseodymium(V) Oxides

The chemistry of lanthanides (Ln=La–Lu) is dominated by the low‐valent +3 or +2 oxidation state because of the chemical inertness of the valence 4f electrons. The highest known oxidation state of the whole lanthanide series is +4 for Ce, Pr, Nd, Tb, and Dy. We report the formation of the lanthanide oxide species PrO₄ and PrO₂⁺ complexes in the gas phase and in a solid noble‐gas matrix. Combined infrared spectroscopic and advanced quantum chemistry studies show that these species have the unprecedented Pr^V oxidation state, thus demonstrating that the pentavalent state is viable for lanthanide elements in a suitable coordination environment.     

Noble gas-transition metal complexes: coordination of ScO+ by multiple Ar, Kr, and Xe atoms in noble gas matrixes

The combination of matrix isolation infrared spectroscopic and density functional calculation results provides strong evidence that the transition metal monoxide cation, ScO+, coordinates five noble gas atoms in forming the [ScO(Ng)5]+ (Ng = Ar, Kr, or Xe) complexes in noble gas matrixes.     

Calculations of nuclear quadrupole coupling in noble gas-noble metal fluorides: interplay of relativistic and electron correlation effects

The nuclear quadrupole coupling constants (NQCCs) of noble gas and noble metal nuclei in the recently found noble gas-noble metal fluorides (NgMF, where Ng=Ar,Kr,Xe and M=Cu,Ag,Au) are obtained theoretically by high-level ab initio calculations, where both relativistic and electron correlation effects are included, and compared to experimental results. Fully relativistic four-component Dirac-Hartree-Fock (DHF) calculations are carried out at the basis set limit for electric field gradient that couples with the electric quadrupole moment of the nucleus, and uncorrelated relativistic effects are extracted by comparing DHF results to nonrelativistic (NR) HF calculations. Electron correlation effects are investigated both at fully relativistic second-order Moller-Plesset (DMP2) and at NR MP2 levels of theory, as well as at the NR coupled-cluster singles and doubles with perturbational triples [CCSD(T)] level. The validity of the approximation where relativistic effects, on the one hand, and nonrelativistically obtained correlation effects, on the other hand, are evaluated separately and assumed to be additive, is investigated by comparison with the DMP2 results. Inclusion of relativistic effects is shown to be necessary for obtaining the correct NQCC trends as the nucleus of interest and/or its neighbors become heavier. Electron correlation treatment is needed for approaching quantitative agreement with the experimental NQCCs. The assumption of additive electron correlation and relativistic effects, corresponding to the NR correlation treatment added on top of relativistic DHF data, gives qualitatively correct noble gas NQCCs. For noble metal NQCCs, correlation treatment at the relativistic level of theory is mandatory for reaching agreement with experimental results. Current work also confirms the experimental trends of NQCCs, which have been taken as an indication of nearly covalent interaction between noble gas and noble metal in the heaviest present systems, especially in XeAuF.     

Core-electron relaxation energy in small metallic particles

A general calculation method for screening in a finite electron gas proposed by Cini, is applied to study of core-hole relaxation energy in small metallic particles. In order to obtain quantitative results, a pseudopotential theory is developed for the core-hole perturbation which provides excellent agreement with the generally accepted excited-atom model in the bulk limit. The transition and noble metals treated by means of a semi-empirical extension of the method. The present calculation method of extra-atomic relaxation energies, involving an electron gas approximation for the conduction electrons allows straightforward applications of the method of Cini in the case of a finite-spherical metal particle. The relaxation energy is found to give an important contribution to core-hole binding energy shifts in small particles.