Ab initio molecular orbital study on the structures and energetics of CH3OH\documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$_{2}^{+}$\end{document}(H2O)n and CH3SH\documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$_{2}^{+}$\end{document}(H2O)n in the gas phase

The purpose of this study was to calculate the structures and energetics of CH₃OH$_{2}^{+}$(H₂O)_n and CH₃SH$_{2}^{+}$(H₂O)_n in the gas phase: we asked how the CH₃OH$_{2}^{+}$ and CH₃SH$_{2}^{+}$ moieties of CH₃OH$_{2}^{+}$(H₂O)_n and CH₃SH$_{2}^{+}$(H₂O)_n change with an increase in n and how can we reproduce the experimental values ΔH°_n?1,n. For this purpose, we carried out full geometry optimizations with MP2/6‐31+G(d,p) for CH₃OH$_{2}^{+}$(H₂O)_n (n=0,1,2,3,4,5) and CH₃SH$_{2}^{+}$(H₂O)_n (n=0,1,2,3,4). We also performed a vibrational analysis for all clusters in the optimized structures to confirm that all vibrational frequencies are real. All of the vibrational frequencies of these clusters are real, and they correspond to equilibrium structures. For CH₃OH$_{2}^{+}$(H₂O)_n, when n increases, (1) the C? O bond length decreases, (2) the C? H bond lengths do not change, (3) the O? H bond lengths increase, (4) the OCH bond angles increase, (5) the COH bond angles decrease, (6) the charge on CH₃ becomes less positive, and (7) these predicted values, except for the O? H bond lengths of CH₃OH$_{2}^{+}$(H₂O)_n, approach the corresponding values in CH₃OH. The C? O bond length in CH₃OH$_{2}^{+}$(H₂O)₅ is shorter than that in CH₃OH$_{2}^{+}$ in the gas phase by 0.061 Å at the MP2/6‐31+G(d,p) level. Except for the S? H bond lengths in CH₃SH$_{2}^{+}$(H₂O)_n, however, the structure of the CH₃SH$_{2}^{+}$ moiety does not change with an increase in n. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 22: 125–131, 2001