Structure and stability of XeF6 isomers: density functional theory study and the maximum hardness principle

The geometrical configurations of the four possible isomers with C_3v, O_h, C_s and C_2v symmetry on the potential energy surface of the XeF₆ molecule are optimized by using DFT-LDA/NL. Their relative energies, vibration frequencies, electronic chemical potential and hardness have been calculated. It is found that the C_2v configuration has one imaginary frequency. The relative energies of the four isomers increase in order of C_3v, O_h, C_s and C_2v, and the hardness values in same order. The isomer stability obeys the maximum hardness principle (MHP), while their hardness values are very close to each other. It is quite evident that the very close hardness is the main reason for the structure fluxionality of XeF₆.     

Gas-phase detection of HSOH: synthesis by flash vacuum pyrolysis of di-tert-butyl sulfoxide and rotational-torsional spectrum

Gas-phase oxadisulfane (HSOH), the missing link between the well-known molecules hydrogen peroxide (HOOH) and disulfane (HSSH), was synthesized by flash vacuum pyrolysis of di-tert-butyl sulfoxide. Using mass spectrometry, the pyrolysis conditions have been optimized towards formation of HSOH. Microwave spectroscopic investigation of the pyrolysis products allowed-assisted by high-level quantum-chemical calculations--the first measurement of the rotational-torsional spectrum of HSOH. In total, we have measured approximately 600 lines of the rotational-torsional spectrum in the frequency range from 64 GHz to 1.9 THz and assigned some 470 of these to the rotational-torsional spectrum of HSOH in its ground torsional state. Some 120 out of the 600 lines arise from the isotopomer H(34)SOH. The HSOH molecule displays strong c-type and somewhat weaker b-type transitions, indicating a nonplanar skew chain structure, similar to the analogous molecules HOOH and HSSH. The rotational constants (MHz) of the main isotopomer (A=202 069, B=15 282, C=14 840), determined by applying a least-squares analysis to the presently available data set, are in excellent agreement with those predicted by quantum-chemical calculations (A=202 136, B=15 279, C=14 840). Our theoretical treatment also derived the following barrier heights against internal rotation in HSOH (when in the cis and trans configurations) to be V(cis) approximately equal to 2216 cm(-1) and V(trans) approximately equal to 1579 cm(-1). The internal rotational motion results in detectable torsional splittings that are dependent on the angular momentum quantum numbers J and K(a).     

Ab initio torsional potential and transition frequencies of acetaldehyde

High-level ab initio electronic structure calculations, including extrapolations to the complete basis set limit as well as relativistic and diagonal Born-Oppenheimer corrections, resulted in a torsional potential of acetaldehyde in its electronic ground state. This benchmark-quality potential fully reflects the symmetry and internal rotation dynamics of this molecule in the energy range probed by spectroscopic experiments in the infrared and microwave regions. The torsional transition frequencies calculated from this potential and the ab initio torsional inverse effective mass function are within 2 cm(-1) of the available experimental values. Furthermore, the computed contortional parameter rho of the rho-axis system Hamiltonian is also in excellent agreement with that obtained from spectral analyses of acetaldehyde.     

Theory of Stereomutation Dynamics and Parity Violation in Hydrogen Thioperoxide Isotopomers 1,2,3HSO1,2,3H

We present quantitative calculations of the mode‐selective stereomutation tunneling and parity violation in chiral hydrogen thioperoxide (‘oxadisulfane') isotopomers XSOY with X, Y=H, D, and T. The torsional tunneling stereomutation dynamics are investigated with a quasi‐adiabatic channel quasi‐harmonic reaction path Hamiltonian approach, which treats the torsional motion anharmonically in detail and all remaining coordinates as harmonic (but anharmonically coupled to the reaction coordinate). We predict how stereomutation is catalyzed or inhibited by excitation of various vibrational modes compared to the corresponding stereomutation dynamics of the vibrational ground state. Parity‐violating potentials were calculated with our recent multiconfiguration linear response (MC‐LR) approach in the random phase approximation (RPA). We find that, in agreement with general scaling expectations, the parity‐violating energy difference for the equilibrium structures of the two HSOH enantiomers (ca. 5×10^?12J mol^?1) is situated intermediate between HOOH and HSSH. Our results on the stereomutation dynamics and the influence of parity violation on these are discussed in relation to investigations for the analogous molecules H₂O₂, H₂S₂, and Cl₂S₂. As expected in XSOY (X, Y=H, D, and T), this influence is much larger than in the corresponding H₂O₂ isotopomers, but smaller than in H₂S₂ or Cl₂S₂.     

簇合物(p-H2)N-HCCCN的结构和能量

采用两体作用势模型和遗传算法对簇合物(p-H2)N-HCCCN的极小能量结构和能量进行了理论研究.结果表明,20个para-H2分子形成HCCCN周围的第一个溶剂层,第一个溶剂层包含三个溶剂环,每个溶剂环都有6个para-H2分子,第19和20个para-H2分子分别聚集在HCCCN分子的N、H原子末端.进一步计算了(p-H2)N-HCCCN的化学势,发现化学势随para-H2分子个数的增加呈震荡变化.     

Partition theory: a very simple illustration

We illustrate the main features of a recently proposed method based on ensemble density functional theory to divide rigorously a complex molecular system into its parts (J. Phys. Chem. A 2007, 111, 2229). The illustrative system is an analog of the hydrogen molecule for which analytic expressions for the densities of the parts (hydrogen "atoms") are found along with the "partition potential" that enters the theory. While previous formulations of chemical reactivity theory lead to zero, or undefined, values for the chemical hardness of the isolated parts, we demonstrate they can acquire a finite and positive hardness within the present formulation.     

The Fukui function of an atom in a molecule: A criterion to characterize the reactive sites of chemical species

The principle of hard and soft acids and bases is interpreted as the result of two opposing tendencies, one related to the charge transfer process (chemical potential equalization principle), and the other one related to the reshuffling of the electronic density (maximum hardness or minimum softness principle). A local version of the principle is elucidated by assuming that these tendencies are dominated by the local properties rather than by the global properties of the molecule. This principle is used together with the Fukui function of the atoms in the molecule to characterize the reactive sites. The results presented for the nucleophilic addition to the pyridinium ion, and for the electrophilic substitution on pyridine oxide show the usefulness of these concepts in describing the inherent reactivity of chemical species.     

Potential function of internal rotation for isoprene from ab initio calculations and experimental data

Ab initio computations of the potential energy curve of internal rotation around the central single C---C bond of isoprene have been performed at the Hartree—Fock level with a 3·21G basis set. The similarity of the slope of the curve obtained and the potential energy curve calculated for a more complete basis set (7s3p/4s2p) [Kavana-S2ebø, J. Mol. Struct. 106 (1984) 259] is discussed. The values of the Pitzer function F(φ), its Fourier expansion coefficients, and coefficients of the potential energy expansion were calculated from data given in the above reference. The correction of the potential energy expansion coefficients was carried out from frequencies of torsional “hot” bands of isoprene and torsional overtone of its second rotational isometric form. It was shown that the isoprene second isomer is realized as a gauche-form. The potential energy expansion coefficients were obtained as follows: V₁ = 399.9, V₂ = 1330.22, V₃ = 781.8 and V₄ = −175.8 cm⁻¹.     

Estimation of the absolute internal-rotation entropy of molecules with two torsional degrees of freedom from stochastic simulations

A method of statistical estimation is applied to the problem of evaluating the absolute entropy of internal rotation in a molecule with two torsional degrees of freedom. The configurational part of the entropy is obtained as that of the joint probability density of an arbitrary form represented by a two-dimensional Fourier series, the coefficients of which are statistically estimated using a sample of the torsional angles of the molecule obtained by a stochastic simulation. The internal rotors in the molecule are assumed to be attached to a common frame, and their reduced moments of inertia are initially calculated as functions of the two torsional angles, but averaged over all the remaining internal degrees of freedom using the stochastic-simulation sample of the atomic configurations of the molecule. The torsional-angle dependence of the reduced moments of inertia can be also averaged out, and the absolute internal-rotation entropy of the molecule is obtained in a good approximation as the sum of the configurational entropy and a kinetic contribution fully determined by the averaged reduced moments of inertia. The method is illustrated using Monte Carlo simulations of isomers of stilbene and halogenated derivatives of propane. The two torsional angles in cis-stilbene are found to be much more strongly correlated than those in trans-stilbene, while the degree of the angular correlation in propane increases strongly on substitution of hydrogen atoms with chlorine.     

Effect of torsional potential on the predicted phase behavior of n-alkanes

The effect of torsional potential on the predictions of simulation for vapor–liquid equilibria of n-alkanes is determined. Calculations are performed with histogram-reweighting Monte Carlo simulations in the grand canonical ensemble. Decreasing the magnitude of energy barriers to dihedral rotation or allowing free rotation is found to have no effect on the predicted vapor–liquid equilibria. Restriction of the dihedral angles to a Gaussian distribution around the minimum energy conformation causes an under-prediction of the liquid densities and critical temperatures by a maximum of 7% and 2%, respectively, with discrepancies increasing monotonically with the number of dihedral angles present in a molecule. No significant deviation in vapor pressure is observed for any compound, regardless of torsional potential used. An analysis of the conformational behavior reveals that restriction of the dihedral sampling has a measurable effect on excluded volume of the molecule, and this change of conformational behavior is responsible for the reduction in the predicted saturated liquid densities observed in this work. Similar calculations for force fields employing reduced dihedral potentials or freely jointed chains show little change in the predicted excluded volume compared to the reference force field.     

One- and Two-Dimensional Torsion-Inversion Models for the Fluoral Molecule (CF3CHO) in Excited Electronic States

The structure of the conformationally nonrigid fluoral molecule (CF₃CHO) in the ground (S₀) and lowest excited triplet (T₁) and singlet (S₁) electronic states was studied by ab initio quantum-chemical methods. The equilibrium geometric parameters and harmonic vibrational frequencies of the molecule in these electronic states were determined. The calculations demonstrated that the electronic excitation causes substantial changes in the molecular structure involving the rotation of the CF₃ top and the deviation of the CCHO carbonyl fragment from planarity. The quantum-mechanical problems for large-amplitude vibrations, namely, for the torsional vibration in the S₀ state and the torsional and inversion vibrations (nonplanar carbonyl fragment) in the T₁ and S₁ states, were solved in the one- and two-dimensional approximations. A comparison of the results of calculations revealed the correlation between the torsional and inversion motions.     

Internal rotation of fluorinated butane compounds: The maximum hardness principle and carbon-carbon rotational barriers

A density functional study of the internal rotation, about the central carbon-carbon bond, of butane, 1,1,1,3,3-pentafluorobutane (PFB) and perfluorobutane (PerFB), has been investigated. The bond length, torsional potential energy and hardness profiles were obtained using the B3LYP density functional method with the basis set 6-311G. The maximum hardness principle (MHP) is only verified for butane. It was also found that for butane and PerFB there is a reciprocal relationship between the central carbon-carbon bond length variations and the hardness profile, being the agreement for butane excellent. This could provide an alternative approach for studying the MHP.     

Methylsalicylate: a rotational spectroscopy study

We report the free-jet rotational spectra of methylsalicylate, a molecule with a possible tautomeric and conformational equilibrium. In the ground electronic state, the molecule adopts a form stabilized by an intramolecular hydrogen bond between the phenolic hydrogen and the carbonylic oxygen, and this structure is characterized as the lowest-energy form by quantum chemical calculations. All rotational transitions are split because of the internal rotation of the methyl group, and the value of the barrier for this motion was determined to be V(3) = 5.38 kJ mol(-1).     

The internal rotation potential functions of the methacryloyl chloride molecule in the ground and excited electronic states

The systems of torsional vibration levels of the trans and cis methacryloyl chloride isomers in the ground (S ₀) and excited (S ₁) electronic states obtained by analyzing the vibrational structure of the gas-phase UV spectrum were used to reproduce the internal rotation potential functions of the molecule in both electronic states. The kinematic F factor in the S ₀ and S ₁ electronic states was calculated taking into account the relaxation of geometric parameters depending on the internal rotation angle. The internal rotation potential function parameters in the S ₀ state are substantially different from the parameters obtained using the torsional levels of the IR Fourier transform spectrum; at the same time, they are substantiated by quantum-mechanical calculations.     

Inter- and intramolecular potential for the N-formylglycinamide-water system. A comparison between theoretical modeling and empirical force fields

An intramolecular NEMO potential is presented for the N-formylglycinamide molecule together with an intermolecular potential for the N-formylglycinamide-water system. The intramolecular N-formylglycinamide potential can be used as a building block for the backbone of polypeptides and proteins. Two intramolecular minima have been obtained. One, denoted as C5, is stabilized by a hydrogen bonded five member ring, and the other, denoted as C7, corresponds to a seven membered ring. The interaction between one water molecule and the N-formylglycinamide system is also studied and compared with Hartree-Fock SCF calculations and with the results obtained for some of the more commonly used force fields. The agreement between the NEMO and SCF energies for the complexes is in general superior to that of the other force fields. In the C7 region the surfaces obtained from the intramolecular part of the commonly used force fields are too flat compared to the NEMO potential and the ab initio calculations. We further analyze the possibility of using a charge distribution obtained from one conformation to describe the charge distribution of other conformations. We have found that the use of polarizabilities and generic dipoles can model most of the changes in charge density due to the different geometry of the new conformations, but that one can expect additional errors in the interaction energies that are of the order of 1 kcal/mol.     

Modeling of the mutual molecular polarization with an electronegativity equalization approach

A model for the mutual polarization of two approaching molecules is proposed, exploiting the principle of electronegativity equalization. The deformation of the electronic density of one molecule is the response to the perturbation of its chemical potential due to the electrostatic potential of the other molecule. The electronic densities, the density deformations, and the electrostatic potentials of both molecules are described with a previously developed asymptotic density model (ADM ). The ADM model allows a partitioning of all relevant properties in terms of atomic quantities. The perturbation of the chemical potential is given in atomic resolution, and the change of the electronic density is represented in terms of atomic charges. A hardness tensor, which determines the changes of the atomic chemical potentials due to the changes of the atomic charges, is modeled consistently with the ADM and earlier approaches. The results of the model, the changes of atomic charges within the molecules due to their mutual interaction, are compared with the changes of atomic charges obtained from population analysis of ab initio calculations. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A semiclassical adiabatic calculation of state densities for molecules exhibiting torsion: application to hydrogen peroxide and its isotopomers

A practical computational method is discussed for obtaining the rotational–vibrational molecular state densities of molecules with large amplitude torsional degrees of freedom (DoFs). This method goes beyond the traditional harmonic oscillator/rigid rotor or separable hindered rotor approximations in that it includes coupling between the torsion, the remaining vibrational modes, and the overall rotation. The method is based on the vibrationally adiabatic approximation whereby the torsional motion is assumed to be slow compared to the remaining vibrational DoFs although the nonseparability may be large. The torsional coordinate therefore parameterizes the rotational constants and the effective vibrational potential. A semiclassical method is then introduced to calculate the total state density in which the torsion is treated classically while the remaining coordinates are treated quantum mechanically. The method is also formulated for reactive problems in which the density of states is parameterized by a second large amplitude degree of freedom, the reaction coordinate. The performance of the method is assessed using the dissociation reaction of the hydrogen peroxide molecule and its isotopomers. It is found that the method performs well based on numerical tests. The torsional nonseparability is found to yield errors of factors of 2–3 in the statistical rate coefficient when compared with results of traditional separable models.     

Internal rotation potential functions of the acryloyl chloride molecule in the ground (<Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis><Subscript>0</Subscript>) and excited (<Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis><Subscript>1</Subscript>) electronic states

The internal rotation potential function of the acryloyl chloride molecule in the S ₀ and S ₁ electronic states was reproduced using systems of torsional vibration levels obtained for its trans and cis isomers by analyzing the vibrational structure of the UV spectrum of the molecule. The kinematic factor F in the S ₀ ground state was calculated including geometric parameter relaxation as a function of internal rotation angle. The torsional potential parameters in the S ₀ state obtained in this work were substantially different from those determined from the infrared Fourier-transform spectrum ignoring the resonance perturbation of the level with v = 3. The form of the internal rotation potential function and the higher stability of the trans isomer (the main isomer) were substantiated by high-level quantum-mechanical calculations.