Theoretical study on structures and stability of triplet SiC<Subscript>3</Subscript>O isomers

Various levels of calculations are carried out~for exploring the potential energy surface (PES) of triplet SiC₃O, a molecule of potential interest in interstellar chemistry. A total of 38 isomers are located on the PES including chain-like, cyclic and cage-like structures, which are connected by 87 interconversion transition states at the DFT/B3LYP/6-311G(d) level. The structures of the most relevant isomers and transition states are further optimized at the QCISD/6-311G(d) level followed by CCSD(T)/6-311+G(2df) single-point energy calculations. At the QCISD level, the lowest lying isomer is a linear SiCCCO 1 (0.0 kcal/mol) with the ³ ∑ electronic state, which possesses great kinetic stability of 59.5 kcal/mol and predominant resonant structure . In addition, the bent isomers CSiCCO 2 (68.3 kcal/mol) and OSiCCC 5 (60.1 kcal/mol) with considerable kinetic stability are also predicted to be candidates for future experimental and astrophysical detection. The bond natures and possible formation pathways in interstellar space of the three stable isomers are discussed. The predicted structures and spectroscopic properties for the relevant isomers are expected to be informative for the identification of SiC₃O and even larger SiC _n O species in laboratory and interstellar medium. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Global investigation on the potential energy surface of CH3CN: application of the scaled hypersphere search method

An extensive quantum chemical study of the potential energy surface (PES) for all possible isomerization and dissociation reactions of CH3CN is reported at the DFT (B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p)) and CCSD(T)/ cc-pVTZ//B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) levels of theory. The pathways around the equilibrium structures can be discovered by the scaled hypersphere search (SHS) method, which enables us to make a global analysis of the potential energy surface for a given chemical composition in combination with a downhill-walk algorithm. Seventeen equilibrium structures and 59 interconversion transition states have been found on the singlet PES. The four lowest lying isomers with thermodynamic stability are also kinetically stable with the lowest conversion barriers of 49.69-101.53 kcal/mol at the CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ//B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level, whereas three-membered-ring isomers c-CH2NCH, c-CH2CNH, and c-CHNHCH can be considered as metastable intermediates which can further convert into the low-lying chain-like isomers and higher lying acyclic isomers with the lowest conversion energies of 21.70-59.99 kcal/mol. Thirteen available dissociation channels depending on the different initial isomers have been identified. A prediction can be made for the possible mechanism explaining the migration of a hydrogen atom in competition with the CC bond dissociation. Several new energetically accessible pathways are found to be responsible for the migration of the hydrogen atom. The present results demonstrate that the SHS method is an efficient and powerful technique for global mapping of reaction pathways on PESs.     

A quest for triplet silylenes XHSi3 at ab initio and DFT levels (X = H, F, Cl and Br)

Four ground state triplet silylenes are found among 30 possible silylenic XHSi₃ structures (X = H, F, Cl and Br), at seven ab initio and DFT levels including: B3LYP/6-311++G^∗∗, HF/6-311++G^∗∗, MP3/6-311G^∗, MP2/6-311+G^∗∗, MP4(SDTQ)/6-311++G^∗∗, QCISD(T)/6-311++G^∗∗ and CCSD(T)/6-311++G^∗∗. The latter six methods indicate that the triplet states of 3-flouro-1,2,3-trisilapropadienylidene, 1-chloro-1,2,3-trisilapropargylene and 3-chloro-1,2,3-trisilapropargylene are energy minima. These triplets appear more stable than their corresponding singlet states which cannot even exist for showing negative force constants. Also, triplet state of 1-flouro-1,2,3-trisilapropargylene is possibly accessible for being an energy minimum, since its corresponding singlet state is not a real isomer. Some discrepancies are observed between energetic and/or structural results of DFT vs. ab initio data.     

Bonding and correlation analysis of various Si2CO isomers on the potential energy surface

At various levels of theory, singlet and triplet potential energy surfaces (PESs) of Si₂CO, which has been studied using matrix isolation infrared spectroscopy, are investigated in detail. A total of 30 isomers and 38 interconversion transition states are obtained at the B3LYP/6‐311G(d) level. At the higher CCSD(T)/6‐311+G(2d)//QCISD/6‐311G(2d)+ZPVE level, the global minimum ¹1 (0.0 kcal/mol) corresponds to a three‐membered ring singlet O‐cCSiSi (¹A′). On the singlet PES, the species ¹2 (0.2 kcal/mol) is a bent SiCSiO structure with a ¹A′ electronic state, followed by a three‐membered ring isomer Si‐cCSiO (¹A′) ¹3 (23.1 kcal/mol) and a linear SiCOSi ¹4 (¹Σ⁺) (38.6 kcal/mol). The isomers ¹1, ¹2, ¹3 , and ¹4 possess not only high thermodynamic stabilities, but also high kinetic stabilities. On the triplet PES, two isomers ³1 (³B₂) (18.8 kcal/mol) and ³7 (³A″) (23.3 kcal/mol) also have high thermodynamic and kinetic stabilities. The bonding natures of the relevant species are analyzed. The similarities and differences between C₃O, C₃S, SiC₂O, and SiC₂S are discussed. The present results are also expected to be useful for understanding the initial growing step of the CO‐doped Si vaporization processes. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2009     

Ab initio quantum chemical studies on the reactions of CF3O2 with OH

The potential energy surface for the CF₃O₂ + OH reaction has been theoretically investigated using the DFT (B3LYP/6-311G(d,p)) level of theory. Both singlet and triplet potential energy surfaces are investigated. The reaction mechanism on the triplet surface is simple. However, the reaction mechanism on the singlet surface is more complicated. It is revealed that the formation of CF₃O + HO₂ is the dominant channel on the triplet surface. The potential energy surface (PES) for this reaction has been given according to the relative energies calculated at the DFT/B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) level. Because this reaction involves both triplet and singlet states, triplet–singlet intersystem crossing (ISC) crossing also have been investigated in this paper.     

Halogen switching of azacarbenes C2NH ground states at ab initio and DFT levels

Relative stabilities and singlet–triplet energy differences are calculated for 24 C₂NX azacarbenes (where X is H, F, Cl, and Br). Three skeletal arrangements are employed including azacyclopropenylidene, [(imino)methylene]carbene, and cyanocarbene. Halogens appear to alternate the electronic ground states of C₂NH azacarbenes, from triplet to singlet states, at MP3/6‐311++G**, B1LYP/6‐311++G**, B3LYP/6‐311++G**, MP2/6‐311++G**, MP4(SDTQ)/6‐311++G**, QCISD(T)/6‐311++G**, CCSD(T)/6‐311++G**, CCSD(T)/cc‐pVTZ, G1, and G2 levels of theory. The aromatic characters of singlet cyclic azacyclopropenylidenes are measured using GIAO–NICS calculations. Linear correlations are found between the B3LYP/6‐311++G** calculated LUMO–HOMO energy gaps (ΔE_{HOMO ‐ LUMO}) of the singlet carbenes versus their corresponding singlet–triplet energy separations (ΔE). Electrophilic characters are found for all singlet azacarbenes in their addition reactions to alkenes with the highest electrophilicity being exhibited for X = F. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 19:377–388, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/hc.20442     

Theoretical study on reactions of cyclic-N3 with NO, NO2 and Cl2

In this article, we report our detailed mechanistic study on the reactions of cyclic-N₃ with NO, NO₂ at the G3B3//B3LYP/6-311+G(d) and CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ//QCISD/6-311+G(d)+ZPVE levels; the reactions of cyclic-N₃ with Cl₂ was studied at the G3B3//B3LYP/6-311+G(d) and CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ//QCISD/6-31+G(d)+ZPVE levels. Both of the singlet and triplet potential-energy surfaces (PESs) of cyclic-N₃ + NO, cyclic-N₃ + NO₂ and the PES of cyclic-N₃ + Cl₂ have been depicted. The results indicate that on singlet PESs cyclic-N₃ can undergo the barrierless addition–elimination mechanism with NO and NO₂ forming the respective dominant products N₂ + ¹cyclic-NON and ¹NNO(O) + N₂. Yet the two reactions on triplet PESs are much less likely to take place under room temperature due to the high barriers. For the cyclic-N₃ + Cl₂ reaction, a Cl-abstraction mechanism was revealed that results in the product cyclic-N₃Cl + Cl with an overall barrier as high as 14.7 kcal/mol at CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ//QCISD/6-31+G(d)+ZPVE level. So the cyclic-N₃ radical could be stable against Cl₂ at low temperatures in gas phase. The present results can be useful for future experimental investigation on the title reactions.     

Insight into global reaction mechanism of [C2, H4, O] system from ab initio calculations by the scaled hypersphere search method

A detailed computational study is performed on the singlet potential energy surface (PES) for possible isomerization and dissociation reactions of CH(3)CHO at the DFT (B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p)) and CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ//B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) levels. The pathways around the equilibrium structures can be discovered by the scaled hypersphere search (SHS) method, which enables us to make a global analysis of the PES for a given chemical composition. Fourteen isomers inclusive of 11 single-molecules and three "non-stabilized" oxygen-based ylides, 5 energetically favored complexes, and 79 interconversion transition states have been found on the singlet PES. Four lowest lying isomers with thermodynamic stability are also kinetically stable with respect to metastable intermediates. It was revealed that vinyl alcohols, which could be generated by the tautomerization of acetaldehyde, could undergo dissociation to form acetylene and water. In addition, recombination channels between some fragments, such as H(2)CO + (1)CH(2) and (1)CHOH + (1)CH(2), are energetically accessible via collision complex or oxygen-based ylides. Most of available unimolecular decompositions are found to be responsible for favorable hydrogen abstraction processes.     

Computational mechanistic study of methanol and molecular oxygen reaction on the triplet and singlet potential energy surfaces

The reaction of CH₃OH with the O₂ on the triplet and singlet potential energy surfaces (PES) was carried out using the B3LYP, MP2, and CCSD(T)//B3LYP theoretical approaches in connection with the 6-311++G(3df–3pd) basis set. Three pre-reactive complexes, ¹C1, ¹C2, and ³C1, on the singlet and triplet PES were formed between methanol and molecular oxygen. From a variety of the complexes, seven types of products are obtained, of which four types are found to be thermodynamically stable. Results reveal that there exists one intersystem crossing between triplet and singlet PES. For P4 adduct that is the main and kinetically the most favorable product, the rate constants are calculated in the temperature range of 200–1,000 K in the reliable pathway.     

Ab Initio Study on the Potential Energy Surfaces of B4 Cluster

The singlet and triplet potential energy surfaces (PES) for the isomerization and dissociation reactions of B₄ isomers have been investigated using ab initio methods. Ten B4 isomers have been identified and of these 10 species, 4 have not been reported previously. The singlet rhombic structure ¹1 is found to be the most stable on the B₄ surface, in agreement with the results of previous reports. Several isomerization and dissociation pathways have been found. On the singlet PES, the linear ¹3b can rearrange to rhombus ¹1 directly, while ¹3c rearranges to ¹1 through two‐step reactions involving a cyclic intermediate. On the triplet PES, the capped triangle structure ³2 undergoes ring opening to the linear isomer ³3b with a barrier of 34.8 kcal/mol and 44.9 kcal/mol, and the latter undergoes ring closure to the square structure ³1 with a barrier of 30.4 kcal/mol and 33.0 kcal/mol at the MP4/6–311+G(3df)//MP2/6–311G(d) and CCSD/aug‐cc‐pVTZ//MP2/6–311G(d) levels of theory, respectively. The direct decomposition of singlet B₄ yielding to B₃+B is shown to have a large endothermicity of 87.3 kcal/mol (CCSD), and that producing 2B₂ to have activation energy of 133.4 kcal/mol (CCSD).     

Computational mechanistic investigation of the gas phase C2H4 + CO reaction on the singlet and triplet potential energy surfaces

Reaction pathways of ethylene and carbon monoxide on the singlet and triplet potential energy surfaces (PESs) have been calculated at B3LYP/6-311++G (3df, 3dp), G3B3 and CCSD(T)//B3LYP levels. Reaction mechanisms have been investigated by analysis of various structures. Suggested reaction mechanisms reveal that ³P3(CH₂CHCHO) and ³P4(CH₃CCHO) are thermodynamically stable adducts with the negative value in Gibbs free energies on the triplet PES. In addition, results show that one intersystem crossing exists between triplet and singlet PESs, which are obtained by scanning of the C–C bond length in ¹IN3 and ³IN7 species.     

Ab initio MO study of potential energy surface of NH2 with CN reaction

An extensive quantum chemical study of the potential energy surfaces (PES) for the association reaction of NH₂ with CN and the subsequent isomerization and dissociation reactions has been carried out using density functional theory (DFT)/B3LYP/6‐311++G(3df,2p) level of theory on both singlet and triplet states. The reaction mechanism on the triplet surface is more complicated than that on the singlet surface. A total of 19 isomers and 46 transition states have been identified and characterized on the triplet PES. Among them, IM2 (IM2a), IM3 (IM3a, IM3b), and IM10 are the lowest‐lying isomers with thermodynamic stability. Twenty available dissociation channels, depending on the different initial isomers, have been identified. On the singlet surface, only 12 isomers and 16 transition states have been found, and among them IM1(S) and IM2(S) are the lowest‐lying isomers. The higher isomerization and dissociation barriers on the singlet surface indicate that the addition and the subsequent reactions of NH₂+CN are most likely to occur on the triplet PES because of the lower barriers. A prediction can be made for the possible mechanism explaining the production of H+HNCN. Besides HNCN, other major products are NH+HCN and NH+HNC, which are produced by direct dissociation reactions from triplet IM2 and IM3, respectively. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2006     

Tetrahedrane--dossier of an unknown

To probe whether tetrahedrane should be isolable the thermodynamics and kinetics of C4H4 singlet and triplet structures were studied extensively at the CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ//CCSD(T)/cc-pVDZ, CCSD(T)/cc-pVDZ, CCSD(T)/cc-pVDZ//B3 LYP/6-311G**, and B3 LYP/6-311G** levels of theory. The reaction of cyclopropene with atomic carbon, which was previously suggested to involve tetrahedrane as a reactive intermediate, was re-examined experimentally with low-temperature matrix-isolation techniques. While experimental and theoretical results exclude the intermediacy of tetrahedrane in the above reaction, it is predicted to be an isolable molecule. Among the many C4H4 species, we pay special attention to the electronic effects on the ground state multiplicity of the respective carbenes.     

Theoretical study on structures and stability of HC2P isomers

 The structures and isomerization pathways of various HC₂P isomers in both singlet and triplet states are investigated at the B3LYP/6-311G(d,p), QCISD/6-311G(d,p) (for isomers only) and single-point CCSD(T)/6-311G(d,p)//B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) levels. At the CCSD(T)/6-311G(d,p)//B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) level, the lowest-lying isomer is a linear HCCP structure ³ 1 in the ³∑⁻ state. The second low-lying isomer has a CPC ring with exocyclic CH bonding ¹ 5 in a singlet state at 10.5 kcal/mol. The following third and fourth low-lying isomers are a singlet bent HCCP structure ¹ 1 at 20.9 kcal/mol and a bent singlet HPCC structure ¹ 3 at 35.8 kcal/mol, respectively. Investigation of the HC₂P potential-energy surface indicates that in addition to the experimentally known isomer ³ 1, the other isomers ¹ 1, ¹ 3 and ¹ 5 also have considerable kinetic stability and may thus be observable. However, the singlet and triplet bent isomers HCPC ¹ 2 and ³ 2 as well as the triplet bent isomer HPCC ³ 3 are not only high-lying but are also kinetically unstable, in sharp contrast to the situation of the analogous HCNC and HNCC species that are both kinetically stable and that have been observed experimentally. Furthermore, the reactivity of various HC₂P isomers towards oxygen atoms is briefly discussed. The results presented here may be useful for future identification of the completely unknown yet kinetically stable HC₂P isomers ¹ 1, ¹ 3 and ¹ 5 either in the laboratory or in interstellar space. Received: 5 November 2000 / Accepted: 25 November 2001 / Published online: 8 April 2002     

Theoretical study on structures and stability of SiCP2 isomers

The structures, energetics, spectral parameters and stability of the singlet SiCP₂ isomers are explored at the density functional theory and ab initio levels. Eight isomers connected by ten interconversion transition states are located at the CCSD(T)/6-311G(2d)//B3LYP/6-311G(d)level. The kinetically stable isomers and their relevant interconversion transition states are further refined at CCSD(T)/6-311+G(2df)//QCISD/6-311G(d) level. At QCISD/6-311G(d) level, one four-membered ring isomer cSiPCP and two linear structures PSiCP, SiCPP possess considerable kinetic stability (more than 15 kcal/mol). The valence bond structures of three kinetically stable SiCP₂ isomers are analyzed. The similarities and discrepancies in structure, energy and stability between SiCP₂ and its analogous C₂P₂, Si₂P₂, SiCN₂ and CSiNP molecules are also discussed. The predicted structures and spectroscopic properties are expected to be informative for the identification of the SiCP₂ in the laboratory and space.     

HFSiS构型及其稳定性的理论研究

The structures and stability of triplet HFSiS system were investigated by density functional theory（DFT）in detail. The optimized geometrical parameters and vibrational frequencies of all species were obtained at the level of B3LYP/6-311G** and the assignments of them were performed. At the same theoretical level, IRC calculations were carried. In addition, the singlet-point energies and relative energies were calculated by high level electron-correlation CCSD（T）/6-311G**. The isomerized and dissociated processes were explained by vibrational mode analysis method. The triplet PES is compared to the singlet one. The results are as the following: there are six isomers on the triplet PES. Moreover, 3HFSiS is found to be the most thermodynamically and kinetically stable and is able to be observed in experiments. Structures 2 are the more stable ones between the two group bond cycled isomers and are predicted to be detected. 3SiSHF is the most unstable isomer in thermodynamics and kinetics.     

Structure and Stability of Isomers of the Promising Interstellar Molecule PC3O

DFT/B3LYP/6-311G(d) and CCSD(T)/6-311G(2d) single-point calculations are carried out for exploring the doublet potential energy surface (PES) of PC₃O, a molecule of potential interest in interstellar chemistry. A total of 29 minima connected by 65 interconversion transition states are located. The structures of the most relevant isomers and transition states are further optimized at the QCISD level followed by CCSD(T) single-point energy calculations. At the CCSD(T)/6-311G(2df)//QCISD/6-311G(d)+ZPVE level, the global minimum is the quasi-linear structure PCCCO 1 (0.0 kcal/mol) with a great kinetic stability of 47.9 kcal/mol, and the cumulenic form features largely in its resonance structures. Moreover, the chainlike isomer OPCCC 3 (64.5) and five-membered-ring species cPCCCO 19 (77.8) possess considerable kinetic stability of about 18.0 kcal/mol. All these three isomers are very promising candidates for future experimental and astrophysical detection. Additionally, a three-membered-ring isomer CC-cCOP 10 (69.6) has slightly lower kinetic stability of around 15 kcal/mol and may also be experimentally observable. Possible formation mechanisms of the four stable isomers in interstellar space are discussed. The present research is the first attempt to study the isomerization and dissociation mechanisms of PC _n O series. The predicted spectroscopic properties, including harmonic vibrational frequencies, dipole moments and rotational constants for the relevant isomers, are expected to be informative for the identification of PC₃O in laboratory and interstellar medium.     

Theoretical investigation on the reaction of HS+ with CH3NH2

The singlet and triplet potential energy surfaces for the reaction of HS⁺ with the simplest primary amine, CH₃NH₂, were determined at the CCSD(T)/6-311+G(d,p) level using the B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) and QCISD/6-311G(d,p) geometries. All possible reaction channels were explored. The results show that three paths on the singlet potential energy surface and one path on the triplet potential energy surface are competitive. These four feasible paths provide products which are presented in the paper and they are consistent with previous experimental results. On the other hand, the stationary points involved in the most favourable path all lie below those of the reactant and thus the title reaction is expected to be rapid, which is also consistent with the experiment.     

Ab initio and DFT energetics of silylenic X–CNSi (X=H, F, Cl, and Br)

Singlet–triplet energy splitting for 24 silylenic reactive intermediates, X–CNSi (where X=H, F, Cl and Br), are compared and contrasted at 11 levels of theory: B1LYP/6-31++G**, B3LYP/6-31++G**, B1LYP/6-311++G**, B3LYP/6-311++G**, MP3/6-31G*, MP3/6-311++G**, MP2/6-31+G**, MP2/6-311++G**, MP4 (SDTQ)/6-311++G**, QCISD(T)/6-311++G** and CCSD(T)/6-311++G**. Each X-substituted silylenic species may either be singlet (s) or triplet (t), with one of the following three structures: 3-X-2-aza-1-silacyclopropenylidene (1_s-X, 1_t-X); [(X-imino)methylene]silylene (2_s-X, 2_t-X); and X-cyanosilylene (3_s-X, 3_t-X). For all X–CNSi species studied, orders of singlet–triplet energy separations (ΔE_s-t,X), appear as a function of electro-negativity (F>Cl>Br>H). For the six H–CNSi isomers (X=H), stability order is: 3_s-H>1_s-H>2_t-H>3_t-H>2_s-H>1_t-H. Likewise, stability order for the six isomers with X=F, is: 3_s-F>3_t-F>1_s-F>1_t-F>2_s-F>2_t-F. For X=Cl, the order of stability is: 3_s-Cl>1_s-Cl>3_t-Cl>2_t-Cl>1_t-Cl>2_t-Cl. Finally, the order of stability for six isomers of Br–CNSi is: 3_s-Br>3_t-Br>1_s-Br>2_s-Br>2_t-Br>1_t-Br. The lowest energy minimum, among all 24 species scrutinized, appears to be the singlet acyclic 3_s-X. Triplet silylene 2_t-H is suggested to be more stable than its corresponding 2_s-H at MP3, MP2 and DFT levels of theory. Comparisons between relative stabilities; multiplicities and geometrical parameters of 1–3 are discussed.