Mono,di, tri and tetraethylene glycol: Spectroscopic characterization using density functional method and experiment

We report infrared and electronic absorption spectra of mono, di, tri and tetra ethylene glycol (EG) in gas phase, their cation and anion and in water solvent using density functional theory calculations at B3LYP/TZVP level. Structural paramaters, rotational and centrifugal distortional constants and dipole moments are also reported. A siginificant shifts in vibrational frequencies and peaks in electronic absorption spectra have been observed upon ionization of mono, di, tri and tetra ethylene glycols. We have also obtained experimental vibrational spectrum of monoethylene glycol. Vibrational frequencies of mono ethylene glycol from theory and experiment are compared. We have used integral equation formalism polarizable continuum model (IEFPCM) model to study the influence of water solvent on vibrational frequencies of neutral mono, di, tri and tetra ethylene glycol. Electronic absorption spectra for these molecules have been obtained using Time dependent density functional theory (TDDFT).     

Vibrational fundamentals and natural bond orbitals analysis of some tri-fluorinated benzonitriles in ground state

The theoretical IR and Raman spectra of the 2,3,4-, 2,3,6-, 2,4,5- and 3,4,5-tri-fluorobenzonitrile molecules have been calculated by using the density functional method in the ground state. The rigorous normal coordinate analyses based upon both an empirical force field and quantum chemical calculations have been performed and the detailed vibrational assignment has been made on the basis of the calculated potential energy distributions (PEDs). A comparison of molecular geometries, atomic charges and vibrational fundamentals of these molecules has been reported. The effects of fluorination upon the geometries, atomic charges and vibrational frequencies of benzonitrile have been discussed. Several ambiguities and contradictions in the previously reported vibrational assignments have been clarified. In addition, the variation of Raman intensity with excitation frequency and with temperature has also been studied.     

Water-silica force field for simulating nanodevices

Amorphous silica is an inorganic material that is central for many nanotechnology applications, such as nanoelectronics, microfluidics, and nanopore sensors. To use molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to study the behavior of biomolecules interacting with silica, we developed a force field for amorphous silica surfaces based on their macroscopic wetting properties that is compatible with the CHARMM force field and TIP3P water model. The contact angle of a water droplet on a silica surface served as a criterion to tune the intermolecular interactions. The resulting force field was used to study the permeation of water through silica nanopores, illustrating the influence of the surface topography and the intermolecular parameters on permeation kinetics. We find that minute modeling of the amorphous surface is critical for MD studies, since the particular arrangement of surface atoms controls sensitively electrostatic interactions between silica and water.     

Ab initio parametrized MM3 force field for the metal-organic framework MOF-5

A new valence force field has been developed and validated for a particular class of coordination polymers known as nanoporous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), introduced recently by the group of Yaghi. The experimental, structural, and spectroscopic data in combination with density functional theory calculations on several model systems were used to parametrize the bonded terms of the force field, which explicitly treats the metal-oxygen interactions as partially covalent as well as distinguishes different types of oxygens in the framework. Both the experimental crystal structure of MOF-5 and vibrational infrared spectrum are reproduced reasonably well. The proposed force field is believed to be useful in atomistic simulations of adsorption/diffusion of guest molecules inside the flexible pores of this important class of MOF materials.     

Structures, energetics, and spectra of aqua-cesium (I) complexes: an ab initio and experimental study

The design of cesium-selective ionophores must include the nature of cesium-water interactions. The authors have carried out extensive ab initio and density functional theory calculations of hydrated cesium cations to obtain reasonably accurate energetics, thermodynamic quantities, and IR spectra. An extensive search was made to find the most stable structures. Since water...water interactions are important in the aqua-Cs+ clusters, the authors investigated the vibrational frequency shifts as a function of the number of water molecules and the frequency characteristics with and without the presence of outer-shell water molecules. The predicted vibrational frequencies were then compared with the infrared photodissociation spectra of argon-tagged hydrated cesium cluster ions. This comparison allowed the identification of specific hydrogen-bonding structures present in the experimental spectra.     

Thermodynamic properties of water in the lattice gas model with сonsideration of the vibrational motions of molecules

A molecular model developed earlier for a polar fluid within the lattice gas model is supplemented by considering the vibrational motions of molecules using water as an example. A combination of point dipole and Lennard-Jones potentials from SPC parametrization is chosen as the force field model for the molecule. The main thermodynamic properties of liquid water (density, internal energy, and entropy) are studied as functions of temperature. There is qualitative agreement between the calculation results and the experimental data. Ways of refining the molecular theory are discussed.     

Inelastic neutron scattering study of water in hydrated LTA-type zeolites

The vibrational dynamics of water molecules encapsulated in synthetic Na-A and Mg-exchanged A zeolites were studied versus temperature by inelastic neutron scattering (INS) measurements (30-1200 cm(-1)) as a function of the induced ion-exchange percentage by using the indirect geometry tof spectrometer TOSCA at the ISIS pulse neutron facility (RAL, UK). The experimental INS spectra were compared with those of ice Ih to characterize the structural changes induced by confinement on the H2O hydrogen-bonded network. We observed, after increasing the Mg2+ content, a tendency of water molecules to restore the bulklike arrangements together with more hindered dynamics. These results are confirmed by the analysis of the evaluated one-phonon amplitude-weighted proton vibrational density of states aimed, in particular, to follow the evolution of the water molecules librational mode region.     

Modeling vibrational spectra using the self-consistent charge density-functional tight-binding method. I. Raman spectra

An extension of the self-consistent charge density-functional tight-binding (SCC-DFTB) method is presented that allows for calculating intensities of peaks in vibrational Raman spectra for very large molecules. The extension is based on a simple ansatz: an extra term, which describes interaction of an external electric field with induced atomic charges, is added to the SCC-DFTB energy expression. We apply the modified SCC-DFTB formalism for reproducing vibrational Raman spectra of 17 organic molecules. The calculated spectra are compared with experiment and with spectra obtained from density functional theory (DFT) calculations. We find that the SCC-DFTB method is capable of reproducing most of the features of experimental Raman spectra. Limitations and advantages of this approach are analyzed and suggestions for interpreting calculated SCC-DFTB Raman spectra are given.     

New theoretical and experimental infrared results on formaldehyde in solution

An extension of our combined procedure to determine a complete quartic force field and to resolve a vibrational problem thanks to a variational treatment is proposed for quantitative calculations of vibrational spectra in solution. Energies and gradients are obtained through a polarizable continuum model (PCM), the so-called self-consistent isodensity (SCI)-PCM. We present in this paper new experimental results dealing with formaldehyde in solution in cyclohexane, chloroform, THF, acetonitrile, DMSO and water; the obtained vibrational spectra are then compared with CCSD(T)/cc-pVQZ calculations. In addition, density functional theory (DFT) calculations have been carried out with the aim of both anticipating and positioning these approaches for larger sized molecules.     

Intermolecular interactions,vibrational spectra,and detonation performance of CL-20/TNT cocrystal

We report the structural properties, intermolecular interactions (Hirshfeld surface analysis and reduced density gradient [RDG] analysis), radial distribution function analysis, vibrational frequencies, and detonation performance for the pure ε-CL-20, TNT, and ε-CL-20/TNT cocrystal to understand how noncovalent interactions affect the impact sensitivity of the cocrystals. The results indicate that the simulated lattice parameters and densities of all the three crystals were consistent with the experiments. Major driving forces for the formation of the ε-CL-20/TNT cocrystal are O H and N O interactions, but the O O interactions may serve as a crucial stabilizing force. The calculated Raman spectra of the CL-20/TNT cocrystal and the experimental result have the same trend. The Roman peaks of the cocrystal in the range 1,200–1,750 cm⁻¹ may result from the coupling of the ε-CL-20 and TNT molecules. Similar crystal packing for TNT and CL-20 leads to the high density for the cocrystal. The cocrystal displays low impact sensitivity because of the p–π interactions. Our work may offer useful information for cocrystallization technology and its practical applications in the field of energetic materials.     

Vibrational spectra of anhydrous and monohydrated caffeine and theophylline molecules and crystals

Density functional theory and classical molecular dynamics simulations are used to investigate the vibrational spectra of caffeine and theophylline anhydrous and monohydrate molecules and those of their crystalline anhydrous and monohydrated states, with emphasis in the terahertz region of the spectra. To better understand the influence of water in the monohydrate crystal spectra, we analyze the vibrational spectra of water monomer, dimer, tetramer, and pentamer, and also those of liquid water at two different temperatures. In small water clusters, we observe the progressive addition of translational and librational modes to the terahertz region of the spectra. The water spectra predicted by rigid and flexible water models is examined with classical molecular dynamics, and the respective peaks, especially in the terahertz region, are compared with those found in the small clusters. Similar analysis done for caffeine and theophylline monohydrate molecules using density functional theory clearly shows the presence of water modes in the librational states and in the water stretching region. Molecular dynamics of caffeine and theophylline anhydrous and monohydrate crystals reveal the influence of vibrations from the molecule-molecule (caffeine or theophylline) crystal stacks and those from the water-molecule interactions found in the monohydrate molecules and new modes from molecule-molecule, water-molecule, and water-water hydrogen bonding interactions arising from collective effects in the crystal structure. Findings illustrate challenges of terahertz technology for the detection of specific substances in condensed phases.     

Ab Initio Calculations on Nitramide and Its Methyl Derivatives( Ⅱ )——The Harmonic Force Fields and Vibrational Spectra of Nitramide and Its Isotopic Derivatives

The harmonic force field and the vibrational spectrum of nitramide were calculated by using the ab initio gradient program TEXAS at the Hartree-Fock level with a 4-21G basis set. The directly computed theoretical harmonic force field was scaled by using empirical scale factors which are transferred from other molecules and provided an a priori prediction of fundamental frequencies and intensities. The average deviations between predicted vibrational frequencies of nitramide and experimental IR spectrum in an argon matrix are 63 cm-1 for symmetric vibrations and 41 cm-1 for antisymmetric modes. A new set of scale factors was optimized in this paper. These scale factors reduced the average deviations to 2. 3 cm-1 for symmetric modes and 0. 8 cm-1 for antisymmetric ones. The vibrational spectra of three isotopic derivatives of nitramide were predicted by using the force field resulted from the optimized set of scale factors, which are in good agreement with their experimental data in an argon matrix.     

The correlation of intermolecular effects in the vibration spectra of BF3 with alterations in its quadratic valence force field

The effect of weak and specific intermolecular interactions in the vibration spectra of molecules is considered and correlated with alterations in the potential energy of the molecule via the force field. The approach, which follows a previously developed method [3], shows how best to choose the perturbations in order to reproduce the intermolecular interaction and keep the internal consistency of the force field. The vibrational calculation is exemplified for XY₃molecules with D_3h symmetry and applied to the boron trifluoride molecule.     

鸟嘌呤红外光谱的密度泛函理论研究──标度量子力学(SQM)力场处理

用密度泛函理论DFT(B3LYP)/6-31G^*方法对鸟嘌呤分子的酮-胺式和醇-胺式异构体的几何结构、振动谐性力场和红外光谱进行了研究.理论力场由迁移自相关分子异胞嘧啶和咪唑的力常数标度因子进行标度.算得振动频率与鸟嘌呤的实验基质隔离IR光谱比较平均偏差对酮-胺式和醇-胺式分别为6.6和6.0cm^-1.根据振动频率的势能分布和DFT计算的光谱强度值对鸟嘌呤分子的实验振动基频进行了理论归属.     

An extended version of boyd''s force field method applicable to heteroatomic molecules Part 3. Glycine, -isoleucine, -norleucine

The force field method developed by Boyd is extended to include molecules containing atoms other than C and H (e.g., N, O, P, S, Cl, Br, …). A new set of force field parameters is determined in order to redefine the potential energy functions that govern the dynamics of the internal (valence coordinates) degrees of freedom of a molecule. It is shown that the minimum of the partial potential energy surface is significantly affected by electrostatic intramolecular interactions. In this regard the non-bonded interactions appear to be less important than the dipole—dipole type interactions for a given interatomic distance when heteroatoms are present in the molecular framework. The reliability of the extended method as regards minimized structure, vibrational spectra and thermodynamic properties has been checked for more than 20 polyatomic molecules. From the correlation between calculated and experimental properties it is concluded that the method has good potential for further applications on polyatomic molecules with increasing size and topological compexities such as adenine and uracil.     

Solvated calcium ions in charged silica nanopores

Hydroxyl surface density in porous silica drops down to nearly zero when the pH of the confined aqueous solution is greater than 10.5. To study such extreme conditions, we developed a model of slit silica nanopores where all the hydrogen atoms of the hydroxylated surface are removed and the negative charge of the resulting oxygen dangling bonds is compensated by Ca(2+) counterions. We employed grand canonical Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations to address how the Ca(2+) counterions affect the thermodynamics, structure, and dynamics of confined water. While most of the Ca(2+) counterions arrange themselves according to the so-called "Stern layer," no diffuse layer is observed. The presence of Ca(2+) counterions affects the pore filling for strong confinement where the surface effects are large. At full loading, no significant changes are observed in the layering of the first two adsorbed water layers compared to nanopores with fully hydroxylated surfaces. However, the water structure and water orientational ordering with respect to the surface is much more disturbed. Due to the super hydrophilicity of the Ca(2+)-silica nanopores, water dynamics is slowed down and vicinal water molecules stick to the pore surface over longer times than in the case of hydroxylated silica surfaces. These findings, which suggest the breakdown of the linear Poisson-Boltzmann theory, provide important information about the properties of nanoconfined electrolytes upon extreme conditions where the surface charge and ion concentration are large.     

Polarizable empirical force field for sulfur‐containing compounds based on the classical Drude oscillator model

Condensed‐phase computational studies of molecules using molecular mechanics approaches require the use of force fields to describe the energetics of the systems as a function of structure. The advantage of polarizable force fields over nonpolarizable (or additive) models lies in their ability to vary their electronic distribution as a function of the environment. Toward development of a polarizable force field for biological molecules, parameters for a series of sulfur‐containing molecules are presented. Parameter optimization was performed to reproduce quantum mechanical and experimental data for gas phase properties including geometries, conformational energies, vibrational spectra, and dipole moments as well as for condensed phase properties such as heats of vaporization, molecular volumes, and free energies of hydration. Compounds in the training set include methanethiol, ethanethiol, propanethiol, ethyl methyl sulfide, and dimethyl disulfide. The molecular volumes and heats of vaporization are in good accordance with experimental values, with the polarizable model performing better than the CHARMM22 nonpolarizable force field. Improvements with the polarizable model were also obtained for molecular dipole moments and in the treatment of intermolecular interactions as a function of orientation, in part due to the presence of lone pairs and anisotropic atomic polarizability on the sulfur atoms. Significant advantage of the polarizable model was reflected in calculation of the dielectric constants, a property that CHARMM22 systematically underestimates. The ability of this polarizable model to accurately describe a range of gas and condensed phase properties paves the way for more accurate simulation studies of sulfur‐containing molecules including cysteine and methionine residues in proteins. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2010     

Vibrational analysis of free and hydrogen bonded complexes of nicotinamide and picolinamide

Harmonic and anharmonic vibrations of free nicotinamide (NIA) and picolinamide (PIA) molecules together with their hydrogen bonded complexes H₂O–NIA and H₂O–PIA have been studied by means of density functional method. The calculation results of the vibrational spectra of free molecules have been investigated and are compared to the available experimental spectra. The vibrational wavenumbers of both molecules have also been calculated by polarizable continuum model (PCM) that represents the solvent as a polarizable continuum and places the solute in a cavity within the solvent (water is chosen as the solvent in this study). The results of PCM calculations and the H₂O–NIA, H₂O–PIA complexes, are used to investigate the H-bonding interactions of both molecules with the water molecule. The harmonic wavenumbers have been scaled by proper factors obtained by comparing the observed versus calculated wavenumbers and it is shown that anharmonic corrections on the vibrational spectra provided a better agreement between the observed and calculated wavenumbers compared to the results obtained by scaling factor method.