Nature and physical origin of CH/pi interaction: significant difference from conventional hydrogen bonds

Recently reported high-level ab initio calculations and gas phase spectroscopic measurements show that the nature of CH/pi interactions is considerably different from conventional hydrogen bonds, although the CH/pi interactions were often regarded as the weakest class of hydrogen bonds. The major source of attraction in the CH/pi interaction is the dispersion interaction and the electrostatic contribution is small, while the electrostatic interaction is mainly responsible for the attraction in the conventional hydrogen bonds. The nature of the "typical" CH/pi interactions is similar to that of van der Waals interactions, if some exceptional "activated" CH/pi interactions of highly acidic C-H bonds are excluded. Shifts of C-H vibrational frequencies and electronic spectra also support the similarity. The hydrogen bond is important in controlling structures of molecular assemblies, since the hydrogen bond is sufficiently strong and directional due to the large electrostatic contribution. On the other hand, the directionality of the "typical" CH/pi interaction is very weak. Although the "typical" CH/pi interaction is often regarded as an important interaction in controlling the structures of molecular assemblies as in the cases of conventional hydrogen bonds, the importance of the "typical" CH/pi interactions is questionable.     

Limitations of the molecular multipole expansion treatment of electrostatic interactions for C-H...O and O-H...O hydrogen bonds and application of a general charge density approach

A molecular multipole expansion treatment (up to hexadecapole) is examined for its accuracy in describing hydrogen-bond electrostatic interactions, with particular reference to explaining the differences between blue-shifted C-H...O and red-shifted O-H...O bonds. In interactions of H2O and CH4 with point charges at hydrogen-bonding distances, we find that the molecular multipole treatment not only fails to reproduce ab initio energies but also forces on OH or CH bonds, and therefore cannot properly account for the electrostatic component of the interaction. A treatment based on a molecule's permanent charge density and its derivatives and the charge density and its derivatives induced by an external multipole distribution is in full accord with ab initio results, as shown by application to models of the H2O-H2O and CH4-FH systems. Such a charge density approach provides a fundamental basis for understanding the importance of interaction forces in initiating structural change and thereby altering molecular properties.     

Blue shifting hydrogen bonding in the complexes of chlorofluoro haloforms with acetone-d(6) and oxirane-d(4)

Mixtures of haloforms of the type HCClnF3-n (n = 0-3) with oxirane-d4 and acetone-d6 have been studied in liquid krypton, using infrared spectroscopy. Analysis of the spectra shows that a small fraction of the monomers is transformed into 1:1 complexes in which the haloform C-H bond is hydrogen bonded to the oxygen atom of the base. For all complexes, the haloform CH stretch is blue shifted, with the shift increasing from chloroform to fluoroform, while the ratio of the infrared intensities of the C-H stretching bands of complexed and free C-H bonds changes from a value well over 50 for the chloroform to a value near 0.1 for the fluoroform complexes. These observations have been corroborated by ab initio calculations using CP-corrected gradient techniques.     

Ab initio molecular dynamics study on the electron capture processes of protonated methane (CH5+)

Electron capture dynamics of protonated methane (CH5(+)) have been investigated by means of a direct ab initio molecular dynamics (MD) method. First, the ground and two low-lying state structures of CH5 (+) with eclipsed Cs , staggered Cs and C2v symmetries were examined as initial geometries in the dynamics calculation. Next, the initial structures of CH5 (+) in the Franck-Condon (FC) region were generated by inclusion of zero point energy and then trajectories were run from the selected points on the assumption of vertical electron capture. Two competing reaction channels were observed: CH5 (+) + e (-)--> CH4 + H (I) and CH5 (+) + e (-) --> CH3 + H2 (II). Channel II occurred only from structures very close to the s- Cs geometry for which two protons with longer C-H distances are electronically equivalent in CH5 (+). These protons have the highest spin density as hydrogen atoms following vertical electron capture of CH5 (+) and are lost as H2. On the other hand, channel I was formed from a wide structural region of CH5 (+). The mechanism of the electron capture dynamics of CH5 is discussed on the basis of the theoretical results.     

Weak C-H...O and C-H...F-C hydrogen bonds in the oxirane-trifluoromethane dimer

The oxirane-trifluoromethane dimer generated in a supersonic expansion has been characterized by Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. The rotational spectra of the parent species and of its two (13)C isotopomers in combination with ab initio calculations have been used to establish a C(s)() geometry for the dimer with the two monomers bound by one C-H.O and two C-H.F-C hydrogen bonds. An overall bonding energy of about 6.7 kJ/mol has been derived from the centrifugal distortion analysis. The lengths of the C-H.O and C-H.F hydrogen bonds, r(O.H) and r(F.H), are 2.37 and 2.68 A, respectively. The C-H.F-C interactions give rise to the HCF(3) internal rotation motion barrier of 0.55(1) kJ/mol, which causes the A-E splittings observed in the rotational spectra. The analysis of the structural and energetic features of the C-H.O and C-H.F-C interactions allows us to classify them as weak hydrogen bonds. Ab initio calculations predict these weak interactions to produce blue shifts in the C-H vibrational frequencies and shortenings of the C-H lengths.     

Ab initio rate constants from hyperspherical quantum scattering: application to H + CH4 --> H2 + CH3

A general and practical procedure is described for calculating rate constants for chemical reactions using a minimal number of ab initio calculations and quantum-dynamical computations. The method exploits a smooth interpolating functional developed in the hyperspherical representation. This functional is built from two Morse functions and depends on a relatively small number of parameters with respect to conventional functionals developed to date. Thus only a small number of ab initio points needs to be computed. The method is applied to the H + CH4 --> H2 + CH3 reaction. The quantum scattering calculations are performed treating explicitly the bonds being broken and formed. All the degrees of freedom except the breaking and forming bonds are optimized ab initio and harmonic vibrational frequencies and zero-point energies for them are calculated at the MP2(full) level with a cc-pVTZ basis set. Single point energies are calculated at a higher level of theory with the same basis set, namely CCSD(T, full). We report state-to-state cross sections and thermal rate constants for the title reaction and make comparisons with previous results. The calculated rate constants are in good agreement with experiments.     

Distance dependence analysis of the electron transfer reactivity for the metastable FeOH2/FeOH2 system: an ab initio investigation

A novel theoretical scheme and ab initio application in discussing the electron transfer (ET) reactivity are presented in this paper, and are also calibrated in terms of the mono-hydrated iron ion system, Fe²⁺–OH₂/Fe³⁺–OH₂. The detailed geometry optimizations have been made at UMP2(full)/6-311+G^* level, and the activation geometrical configuration and the energy have been obtained at this level of theory using the activation model and the ab initio potential energy surface fitted from MP2(full)/6-311+G^* single point energies. The corresponding energy quantities (such as the activation energy, and dissociation energy) have also been obtained at different levels of theory (HF, MP2, MP3, MP4, QCISD and PUHF, PMP2 and PMP3 with the spin-projection) and a same basis set (6-311+G^*). The electron correlation calculations include the all electron correlation and the valence electron correlation. The electronic transmission coefficient is calculated using the ab initio potential energy surface slopes and the coupling matrix element determined from the two-state model and the Slater-type d-electron wave functions. The pair distribution function is calculated using two different schemes. Taking the pair distribution function and the local ET rate into account, a statistically averaged overall observed ET rate scheme and a spherically averaged local ET rate scheme are proposed. The relevant kinetic parameters are obtained in terms of these new schemes at different ab initio calculational levels. The contact distance dependence of these parameters and the applicability of the presented models and ab initio calculational method are also discussed.     

Energy-flow dynamics in the molecular channel of propanal photodissociation, C2H5CHO --> C2H6 + CO: direct ab initio molecular dynamics study

Direct ab initio molecular dynamics calculations have been carried out for the molecular channel of the photodissociation of propanal, C2H5CHO --> C2H6 + CO, at the RMP2(full)/cc-pVDZ level of ab initio molecular orbital theory. The initial conditions were generated using the microcanonical sampling to put the excess energy randomly into all vibrational modes of the TS. Starting from the TS, a total of approximately 700 trajectories were numerically integrated for 100 fs. The obtained final energy distributions for the C2H6 and CO fragments and their relative translational motion were found to be quite similar to those obtained for the acetaldehyde reaction, CH3CHO --> CH4 + CO, in our previous study (Chem. Phys. Lett. 2006, 421, 549) despite the fact that the number of degree of freedom for C2H6 is larger than that for CH4. The coupling between the intrinsic reaction coordinate and one of the generalized normal modes orthogonal to it was predicted substantially strong around s = 1.4 amu(1/2) bohr, and it is expected that the energy flow out of C2H6 proceeds through this coupling. However, the obtained energy distributions strongly suggest that the coupling among the modes in C2H6 is quite small and the intramolecular energy redistribution does not occur efficiently in this molecule.     

Three-center-two-electron and four-center-four-electron bonds. A study by electron charge density over the structure of methonium cations

We study the electronic density charge topology of CH(5)(+) species 1 (C(s)()), 2 (C(s)()), and 3 (C(2)(v)) at ab initio level using the theory of atoms in molecules developed by Bader. Despite the reports of previous studies concerning carbocationic species, the methane molecule is protonated at the carbon atom, which clearly shows its pentacoordination. In addition to the fact that hydrogen atoms in the methonium molecule behave in a very fluxional fashion and that the energy difference among the species 1, 2, and 3 are very low, is important to point out that two different topological situations can be defined on the basis of our study of the topology of the electronic charge density. Then, the species 1 and 2 present a three-center-two-electron (3c-2e) bond of singular characteristics as compared with other carbocationic species, but in the species 3, the absence of a 3c-2e bond is noteworthy. This structure can be characterized through the three bond critical points found, corresponding to saddle points on the path bonds between the C-H(2,3,5) that lie in the same plane. These nuclei define a four-center interaction where the electronic delocalization produced among the sigma(C-H) bonds provide a stabilization of the three C-H bonds involved in this interaction (the remaining two C-H bonds are similar to those belonging to the nonprotonated species). Our results show that bonding situations with a higher number of atom arrays are possible in protonated hydrocarbons.     

Competition between C-C and C-H insertion in prototype transition metal-hydrocarbon reactions

The competition between C-C and C-H insertion in model transition-metal reactions with cyclopropane and propene (C3H6) was studied as a function of total energy. Insertion of neutral transition metal atoms M (= Y, Zr, Nb, and Mo*) into the C-C bonds of cyclopropane led to formation of MCH2 + C2H4, whereas C-H insertion produced MC3H4 + H2. The measured product branching ratios verify the relative potential energy barrier heights for C-C and C-H insertion predicted by ab initio calculations.     

Origin of the attraction in aliphatic C-H/pi interactions: infrared spectroscopic and theoretical characterization of gas-phase clusters of aromatics with methane

An attractive intermolecular interaction between an aliphatic C-H bond and a pi-electron system (C-H/pi interaction) was characterized on the basis of infrared spectroscopy and high level ab initio calculations. Infrared spectroscopy was applied to several isolated methane clusters with benzene, toluene, p-xylene, mesitylene, and naphthalene in the gas phase, and the spectral changes of the C-H stretch bands in the methane moiety upon the cluster formation were observed. In the theoretical approach, interaction energies of the clusters were evaluated by high-level ab initio calculations. The forbidden symmetric C-H stretch transition weakly appeared in the IR spectra of the clusters, and it confirmed the small deformation of the methane moiety from the T(d)() symmetry, which was predicted by the ab initio calculations. On the other hand, the degenerated asymmetric C-H stretch band showed complicated splitting, which is qualitatively interpreted by a hindered rotor model. Low-frequency shifts upon the cluster formation were seen in the symmetric C-H stretch frequency, though the magnitude of the shifts was extremely small and no clear correlation with the interaction energy was found. On the other hand, the size of the calculated interaction energy well correlates with the polarizability of aromatics. The S(1)-S(0) electronic transition of the aromatic moiety was also observed, and it showed low-frequency shifts upon cluster formation. These results support the dominance of the dispersion interaction over the electrostatic and charge-transfer terms in the aliphatic C-H/pi interaction.     

用神经网络方法拟合的反应体系H＋CH4←→H2＋CH3的一个全域势能面

利用神经网络力法,基于47783个高精度从头算能量点构建了反应体系H＋CH4←→H2＋CH3的一个全域势能面．通过大最的准经典轨线以及量子散射计算测试了势能面的收敛性质．这个势能面对于拟合过程以及从头算点的数目都已经完全收敛,拟合误差很小县比Shepard插值的势能面计算速度更快,代表了此标志性多原子反应体系最好的势能面．     

CX_2(X=H,F,Cl)与甲基异丙基醚C-H键插入反应的理论研究

用从头计算方法在MP2 /6 31G(d)水平上研究了CX2 (X =H ,F ,Cl)与甲基异丙基醚的C -H键插入反应。CCl2 与甲基异丙基醚两个不同的α C的C -H键插入势垒分别为 117.2kJ/mol (甲基 )和 2 0 .6kJ/mol (异丙基 )。CF2 与异丙基α C的C -H键上插入势垒为 12 0 .0kJ/mol,在插入甲基上C -H键时会引起C -O键的断裂。CH2 的插入反应则不需要势垒。对CX2 与二甲醚、甲乙醚、甲基异丙基醚、甲基苄基醚上各种不同的C -H键插入势垒进行了比较 ,甲基和苯基都促使其毗邻的C -H键更容易被CX2 所插入     

Pt(II) as a proton shuttle during C-H bond activation in the Shilov process

The C-H activation in Shilov's system on cis- and trans-PtCl(2)(H(2)O)(CH(4)) was investigated by ab initio molecular dynamics in water. Simulations revealed an easy C-H bond cleavage forming a transient 5-coordinated species Pt(H)Cl(2)(H(2)O)(CH(3)) that spontaneously releases a proton to the bulk solution.     

Nature of the chemical bond in protonated methane

Protonated methane, CH(5)(+), is a key reactive intermediate in hydrocarbon chemistry and a borderline case for chemical structure theory, being the simplest example of hypercoordinated carbon. Early quantum mechanical calculations predicted that the properties of this species could not be associated with only one structure, because it presents serious limitations of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. However, ab initio molecular dynamics and diffusion Monte Carlo calculations showed that the most populated structure could be pictured as a CH(3) tripod linked to a H(2) moiety. Despite this controversy, a model for the chemical bonds involved in this ion still lacks. Here we present a modern valence bond model for the electronic structure of CH(5)(+). The chemical bond scheme derived directly from our calculations pictures this ion as H(3)C...H(2)(+). The fluxionality can be seen as the result of a proton transfer between C-H bonds. A new insight on the vibrational bands at approximately 2400 and approximately 2700 cm(-1) is suggested. Our results show that the chemical bond model can be profitably applied to such intriguing systems.     

Ab initio and direct quasiclassical-trajectory study of the Cl + CH4-->HCl + CH3 reaction

We present an electronic structure and dynamics study of the Cl + CH(4)--> HCl + CH(3) reaction. We have characterized the stationary points of the ground-state potential-energy surface using various electronic structure methods and basis sets. Our best calculations, CCSD(T) extrapolated to the complete basis-set limit based on geometries and harmonic frequencies obtained at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pvtz level, are in agreement with the experimental reaction energy and indirect measurements of the barrier height. Using ab initio information, we have reparametrized a semiempirical Hamiltonian so that the predictions of the improved Hamiltonian agree with the higher-level calculations in various regions of the potential-energy surface. This improved semiempirical Hamiltonian is then used to propagate quasiclassical trajectories and characterize the reaction dynamics. The good agreement of the calculated HCl rotational and angular distributions with the experiment indicates that reparametrizing semiempirical Hamiltonians is a promising approach to derive accurate potential-energy surfaces for polyatomic reactions. However, excessive energy leakage from the initial vibrational energy of the CH(4) molecule to the reaction coordinate in the trajectory calculations calls into question the suitability of the standard quasiclassical-trajectory method to describe energy partitioning in polyatomic reactions.     

Electronic state dependence of the ion-molecule reaction CH(3)CN(+) + CH(3)CN → CH(4)CN(+) + CH(2)CN: threshold electron-secondary ion coincidence (TESICO) and direct ab initio molecular dynamics study

The ion-molecule reaction, CH(3)CN(+) + CH(3)CN → CH(3)CNH(+) + CH(2)CN, has been investigated using the threshold electron-secondary ion coincidence (TESICO) technique. Relative reaction cross sections for two microscopic reaction mechanisms, i.e., proton transfer (PT) from the acetonitrile ion CH(3)CN(+) to neutral acetonitrile CH(3)CN and hydrogen atom abstraction (HA) by CH(3)CN(+) from CH(3)CN, have been determined for two low-lying electronic states, (2)E and (2)A(1) of the CH(3)CN(+) primary ion. The cross section for PT of the (2)A(1) state was smaller than that of the (2)E state, whereas that of HA are almost the same in the two states. Ab initio calculations showed that the dissociation of the C-H(+) bond of CH(3)CN(+) is easier in the (2)E state than that in the (2)A(1) state. The direct ab initio molecular dynamics (MD) calculations showed that two mechanisms, direct proton transfer and complex formation, contribute the reaction dynamics.     

A theoretical approach to the photochemical activation of matrix isolated aluminum atoms and their reaction with methane

The photochemical activation of Al atoms in cryogenic matrices to induce their reaction with methane has been experimentally studied before. Here, a theoretical study of the nonadiabatic transition probabilities for the ground ((2)P:3s(2)3p(1)) and the lowest excited states ((2)S:3s(2)4s(1) and (2)D:3s(2)3d(1)) of an aluminum atom interacting with a methane molecule (CH(4)) was carried out through ab initio Hartree-Fock self-consistent field calculations. This was followed by a multiconfigurational study of the correlation energy obtained by extensive variational and perturbational configuration interaction analyses using the CIPSI program. The (2)D state is readily inserted into a C-H bond, this being a prelude to a sequence of avoided crossings with the initially repulsive (to CH(4)) lower lying states (2)P and (2)S. We then use a direct extension of the Landau-Zener theory to obtain transition probabilities at each avoided crossing, allowing the formation of an HAlCH(3) intermediate that eventually leads to the final pair of products H+AlCH(3) and HAl+CH(3).     

Vibrationally controlled chemistry: mode- and bond-selected reaction of CH3D with Cl

Selective vibrational excitation controls the competition between C-H and C-D bond cleavage in the reaction of CH(3)D with Cl, which forms either HCl + CH(2)D or DCl + CH(3). The reaction of CH(3)D molecules with the first overtone of the C-D stretch (2nu(2)) excited selectively breaks the C-D bond, producing CH(3) exclusively. In contrast, excitation of either the symmetric C-H stretch (nu(1)), the antisymmetric C-H stretch (nu(4)), or a combination of antisymmetric stretch and CH(3) umbrella bend (nu(4) + nu(3)) causes the reaction to cleave only a C-H bond to produce solely CH(2)D. Initial preparation of C-H stretching vibrations with different couplings to the reaction coordinate changes the rate of the H-atom abstraction reaction. Excitation of the symmetric C-H stretch (nu(1)) of CH(3)D accelerates the H-atom abstraction reaction 7 times more than excitation of the antisymmetric C-H stretch (nu(4)) even though the two lie within 80 cm(-1) of the same energy. Ab initio calculations and a simple theoretical model help identify the dynamics behind the observed mode selectivity.     

The molecular structure of toluene

Discrepancies between two recently reported electron diffraction studies of toluene have provided the incentive for an ab initio structural determination at the 4-21 level. The methyl C-H bonds are on the average 0.011 Å longer than the ring C-H bonds. While the average ring C-C and C-H distances are nearly identical with those of benzene, the ring exhibits marked asymmetry, including an unexpected coupling between the ring C-C distances and the angle of methyl rotation.