Interaction-induced dipoles of hydrogen molecules colliding with helium atoms: a new ab initio dipole surface for high-temperature applications

We report new ab initio results for the interaction-induced dipole moments Δμ of hydrogen molecules colliding with helium atoms. These results are needed in order to calculate collision-induced absorption spectra at high temperatures; applications include modeling the radiative profiles of very cool white dwarf stars, with temperatures from 3500 K to 9000 K. We have evaluated the dipoles based on finite-field calculations, with coupled cluster methods in MOLPRO 2006 and aug-cc-pV5Z (spdfg) basis sets for both the H and He centers. We have obtained values of Δμ for eight H(2) bond lengths ranging from 0.942 a.u. to 2.801 a.u., for 15 intermolecular separations R ranging from 2.0 a.u. to 10.0 a.u., and for 19 different relative orientations. In general, our values agree well with earlier ab initio results, for the geometrical configurations that are treated in common, but we have determined more points on the collision-induced dipole surface by an order of magnitude. These results make it possible to calculate transition probabilities for molecules in excited vibrational states, overtones, and rotational transitions with ΔJ > 4. We have cast our results in the symmetry-adapted form needed for absorption line shape calculations, by expressing Δμ as a series in the spherical harmonics of the orientation angles of the intermolecular vector and of a unit vector along the H(2) bond axis. The expansion coefficients depend on the H(2) bond length and the intermolecular distance R. For large separations R, we show that the ab initio values of the leading coefficients converge to the predictions from perturbation theory, including both classical multipole polarization and dispersion effects.     

Dipole moment and rovibrational intensities in the electronic ground state of NH3: bridging the gap between ab initio theory and spectroscopic experiment

We report theoretical values for the transition moments of an extensive set of vibrational bands in the electronic ground state of (14)NH(3). For selected bands, we have further made detailed simulations of the rotational structure. The calculations are carried out by means of recently developed computational procedures for describing the nuclear motion and are based on a high-level ab initio potential energy surface, and high-level dipole moment surfaces, for the electronic ground state of NH(3). The reported theoretical intensity values are compared to, and found to agree very well with, corresponding experimental results. It is believed that the computational method, in conjunction with high-quality ab initio potential energy and dipole moment surfaces, can simulate rotation-vibration spectra of XY(3) pyramidal molecules prior to observation with sufficient accuracy to facilitate the observation of these spectra. By degrading the accuracy of selected elements of the calculations, we have also investigated the influence of customary approximations on the computed intensity values.     

AB initio calculations of the dipole moments in low-lying electronic states of the ccn radical

The structures and dipole moments of the four low-lying electronic states (X²Π, A²Δ, B²Σ⁻ and C²Σ⁺) of the linear CCN radical are investigated by ab initio calculations at SDCI/DZP and TZP levels. For all the electronically excited states, the dipole moments are calculated to be ≈ 3.0 D. However, a significantly smaller dipole moment, ≈ 0.6 D, is predicted for the ground state. This result is consistent with the recent experiment by Suzuki, Saito and Hirota, where the MODR signals are observed for the A state CCN but not for the X state. Electronic correlation is important in determining both equilibrium bond lengths and dipole moments.     

Structure and dynamics of the aqueous liquid-vapor interface: a comprehensive particle-based simulation study

This research addresses a comprehensive particle-based simulation study of the structural, dynamic, and electronic properties of the liquid-vapor interface of water utilizing both ab initio (based on density functional theory) and empirical (fixed charge and polarizable) models. Numerous properties such as interfacial width, hydrogen bond populations, dipole moments, and correlation times will be characterized with identical schemes to draw useful conclusions on the strengths and weakness of the proposed models for interfacial water. Our findings indicate that all models considered in this study yield similar results for the radial distribution functions, hydrogen bond populations, and orientational relaxation times. Significant differences in the models appear when examining both the dipole moments and surface relaxation near the aqueous liquid-vapor interface. Here, the ab initio interaction potential predicts a significant decrease in the molecular dipole moment and expansion in the oxygen-oxygen distance as one approaches the interface in accordance with recent experiments. All classical polarizable interaction potentials show a less dramatic drop in the molecular dipole moment, and all empirical interaction potentials studied yield an oxygen-oxygen contraction as the interface is approached.     

Dipole moments of HDO in highly excited vibrational states measured by Stark induced photofragment quantum beat spectroscopy

We report here a measurement of electric dipole moments in highly vibrationally excited HDO molecules. We use photofragment yield detected quantum beat spectroscopy to determine electric field induced splittings of the J=1 rotational levels of HDO excited with 4, 5, and 8 quanta of vibration in the OH stretching mode. The splittings allow us to deduce mua and mub, the projections of dipole moment onto the molecular rotation inertial axes. We compare the measured HDO dipole moment components with the results of quantitative calculations based on Morse oscillator wave functions and an ab initio dipole moment surface. The vibrational dependence of the dipole moment components reflect both structural and electronic changes in HDO upon vibrational excitation; principally the vibrational dependence of the O-H bond length and bond angle, and the resulting change in orientation of the principal inertial coordinate system. The dipole moment data also provide a sensitive test of theoretical dipole moment and potential energy surfaces, particularly for molecular configurations far from equilibrium.     

Infrared spectroscopy of HCN-salt complexes formed in liquid-helium nanodroplets

Rotationally resolved infrared spectra are reported for the binary complexes of HCN and LiF, LiCl, NaF, and NaCl, formed in helium nanodroplets. Stark spectroscopy is used to determine the dipole moments for these complexes. Ab initio calculations are also reported for these complexes, revealing the existence of several different isomers of these binary systems. In the frequency region examined in this experimental study we only observe one of these, corresponding to the salt binding to the nitrogen end of the HCN molecule. The experimental rotational constants, dipole moments, and vibrational frequency shifts are all compared with the results from ab initio calculations for this isomer.     

Quantum and classical studies of vibrational motion of CH5+ on a global potential energy surface obtained from a novel ab initio direct dynamics approach

We report a full dimensional, ab initio based potential energy surface for CH(5) (+). The ab initio electronic energies and gradients are obtained in direct-dynamics calculations using second-order M?ller-Plesset perturbation theory with the correlation consistent polarized valence triple zeta basis. The potential energy and the dipole moment surfaces are fit using novel procedures that ensure the full permutational symmetry of the system. The fitted potential energy surface is tested by comparing it against additional electronic energy calculations and by comparing normal mode frequencies at the three lowest-lying stationary points obtained from the fit against ab initio ones. Well-converged diffusion Monte Carlo zero-point energies, rotational constants, and projections along the CH and HH bond lengths and the tunneling coordinates are presented and compared with the corresponding harmonic oscillator and standard classical molecular dynamics ones. The delocalization of the wave function is analyzed through comparison of the CH(5) (+) distributions with those obtained when all of the hydrogen atoms are replaced by (2)H and (3)H. The classical dipole correlation function is examined as a function of the total energy. This provides a further probe of the delocalization of CH(5) (+).     

Small basis sets for calculations of barrier heights, energies of reaction, electron affinities, geometries, and dipole moments

Beginning with the MIDI! basis set (also called MIDIX), we introduce the MIDIX+, MIDIY, and MIDIY+ basis sets. Using correlated ab initio and hybrid density functional theory, we compare their performance to that of several existing basis sets for electronic structure calculations. The new basis sets are tested with databases of 358 energies of reactions, 44 barrier heights, 31 electron affinities, 18 geometries, and 29 dipole moments. The MIDI!, MIDIX+, MIDIY, and MIDIY+ basis sets are shown to be cost-efficient methods for calculating relative energies, geometries, and dipole moments. The MIDIX+ basis is shown to be particularly efficient for calculating electron affinities of large molecules.Contribution to the Jacopo Tomasi Honorary Issue     

Comment on "Theory of photodissociation of ozone in the Hartley continuum; effect of vibrational excitation and O(1D) atom velocity distribution" by E. Baloïtcha and G. G. Balint-Kurti, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2005, 7, 3829

In this Comment we present quantum mechanical absorption spectra of the Hartley band originating from the four vibrationally excited levels of the ground electronic state. The calculations are performed using the diabatic B-state potential energy surface and the transition dipole moment vector constructed from the ab initio data of the title paper. The calculated spectra are multimodal (for the symmetric stretch pre-excitation) and strongly structured (for the symmetric stretch and bending pre-excitations). These results agree with the previous theoretical analysis and with the predictions of a simple model based on the reflection principle, but contradict the findings of Balo?tcha amd Balint-Kurti thus questioning the accuracy of their calculations.     

Experimental measurement of the induced dipole moment of an isolated molecule in its ground and electronically excited states: indole and indole-H2O

Reported here are measurements of the magnitude and orientation of the induced dipole moment that is produced when an indole molecule in its ground S(0) and electronically excited S(1) states is polarized by the attachment of a hydrogen bonded water molecule in the gas phase complex indole-H(2)O. For the complex, we find the permanent dipole moment values mu(IW)(S(0)) = 4.4 D and mu(IW)(S(1)) = 4.0 D, values that are substantially different from calculated values based on vector sums of the dipole moments of the component parts. From this result, we derive the induced dipole moment values mu(I) (*)(S(0)) = 0.7 D and mu(I) (*)(S(1)) = 0.5 D. The orientation of the induced moment also is significantly different in the two electronic states. These results are quantitatively reproduced by a purely electrostatic calculation based on ab initio values of multipole moments.     

Chiral self-recognition: direct spectroscopic detection of the homochiral and heterochiral dimers of propylene oxide in the gas phase

In this report, we describe rotational spectroscopic and high-level ab initio studies of the 1:1 chiral molecular adduct of propylene oxide dimer. The complexes are bound by weak secondary hydrogen bonds, that is, the O(epoxy)...H-C noncovalent interactions. Six homochiral and six heterochiral conformers were predicted to be the most stable configurations where each monomer acts as a proton acceptor and a donor simultaneously, forming two six- or five-membered intermolecular hydrogen-bonded rings. Rotational spectra of six, that is, three homochiral and heterochiral conformer pairs, out of the eight conformers that were predicted to have sufficiently large permanent electric dipole moments were measured and analyzed. The relative conformational stability order and the signs of the chiral recognition energies of the six conformers were determined experimentally and were compared to the ab initio computational results. The experimental observations and the ab initio calculations suggest that the concerted effort of these weak secondary hydrogen bonds can successfully lock the subunits in a particular orientation and that the overall binding strength is comparable to a classic hydrogen bond.     

Ab initio and quantum-defect calculations for the Rydberg states of ArH

Potential energy curves were evaluated for the ground and thirteen low-lying excited electronic states of the ArH molecule over a wide range of internuclear distances by the multi-reference averaged quadratic coupled cluster method. The ab initio energy differences and transition dipole moments were used to estimate Einstein emission coefficients, absorption oscillator strengths and radiative lifetimes. Diagonal and off-diagonal quantum defects, as functions of internuclear distance, were extracted from ab initio potentials of the lowest Rydberg states of the neutral ArH molecule by taking account of configuration interaction between Rydberg series converging to the ground and two electronic excited states of the ArH(+) cation. The derived quantum-defect functions were used to generate manifolds of higher excited Rydberg states. The agreement between experimental and calculated energies and radiative transition probabilities was found to be as good as or better than that obtained by earlier calculations.     

The infrared spectrum of cyclic-N3: theoretical prediction

We have carried out the first calculations of the infrared absorption spectrum of cyclic-N(3). Accurate vibrational energies and wave functions computed with incorporation of the geometric phase effect (via gauge theory) and using an ab initio potential energy surface were employed in this work. A sophisticated fully dimensional dipole moment function was constructed using accurate ab initio calculations and a three-dimensional-spline interpolation. Transformation of the dipole moment vector function from the reference frame associated with instantaneous principal axes of inertia to the laboratory-fixed reference frame was carried out using hyperspherical coordinates. We found that the permanent dipole moment of cyclic-N(3) in the ground vibrational state is relatively small (170 mD). The excited vibrational states show permanent dipole moments in the 10-25 mD range. The most intense part of the infrared absorption spectrum is observed in the deep infrared part of spectrum, 75-275?cm(-1), where five lines exhibit absolute absorption intensities in the range between 0.5 and 1.2 km/mol. These transitions correspond to excitation of the pseudorotational progression of states. Several unique spectroscopic features discussed in the paper should help to identify cyclic-N(3) in the laboratory.     

Ab initio quantum chemical calculations of enolized and deprotonated forms of Β-diketones and their derivatives

The data of ab initio quantum chemical calculations of Β-diketones and their anions performed in split valence-shell bases are presented. These compounds are of great interest as ligands in numerous chelate complexes. The electronic structures of substituted enolized Β-diketones containing the period III elements S and Cl are compared. It is shown that using the Huzinaga pseudopotential for describing core electronic shells makes it possible to adequately reproduce the main peculiarities of the structure of the outer electronic layers at a qualitative level. The basis used substantial affects on the calculated values of atomic charges, bond orders, and dipole moments, whereas the one-electron energies are less sensitive to the choice of the basis. Translated fromZhurnal Struktumoi Khimii, Vol.40, No. 2, pp. 234–241, March–April, 1999.     

Gas-phase NMR measurements, absolute shielding scales, and magnetic dipole moments of 29Si and 73Ge nuclei

New gas-phase NMR measurements of the shielding constants of 29Si, 73Ge, and 1H nuclei in SiH4 and GeH4 are reported. The results, extrapolated to zero density, provide accurate isolated molecule values, best suited for comparison with theoretical calculations. Using the recent ab initio results for these molecules and the measured chemical shifts, we determine the absolute shielding scales for 29Si and 73Ge. This allows us to provide new values of the nuclear magnetic dipole moments for these two nuclei; in addition, we examine the dipole moments of 13C and 119Sn.     

A semiempirical and ab initio MO study of the tautomers ofN-unsubstituted pyrazolones [hydroxy pyrazoles]

Semiempirical (MNDOC, MINDO/3, AM1, and MNDO) and ab initio (STO-3G and 4-31G basis sets) calculations on the relative stabilities, structures, and dipole moments of the 8 theoretically possible tautomeric forms of pyrazolone are reported. It is shown that MNDO + CI and MINDO/3 predict that 5-hydroxy pyrazole, 3-hydroxy pyrazole, and 2-pyrazolin-5-on are the most stable. These results correspond to the known experimental data. Of all used quantum chemical methods, the MINDO/3 results for the dipole moments of the investigated tautomers are in best agreement with the known experimental data. The electronic excitation energies were calculated using the CNDO/S-CI method. The results are in good agreement with the experimental UV spectra.     

Adiabatic states derived from a spin-coupled diabatic transformation: semiclassical trajectory study of photodissociation of HBr and the construction of potential curves for LiBr+

The development of spin-coupled diabatic representations for theoretical semiclassical treatments of photodissociation dynamics is an important practical goal, and some of the assumptions required to carry this out may be validated by applications to simple systems. With this objective, we report here a study of the photodissociation dynamics of the prototypical HBr system using semiclassical trajectory methods. The valence (spin-free) potential energy curves and the permanent and transition dipole moments were computed using high-level ab initio methods and were transformed to a spin-coupled diabatic representation. The spin-orbit coupling used in the transformation was taken as that of atomic bromine at all internuclear distances. Adiabatic potential energy curves, nonadiabatic couplings and transition dipole moments were then obtained from the diabatic ones and were used in all the dynamics calculations. Nonadiabatic photodissociation probabilities were computed using three semiclassical trajectory methods, namely, coherent switching with decay of mixing (CSDM), fewest switches with time uncertainty (FSTU), and its recently developed variant with stochastic decoherence (FTSU/SD), each combined with semiclassical sampling of the initial vibrational state. The calculated branching fraction to the higher fine-structure level of the bromine atom is in good agreement with experiment and with more complete theoretical treatments. The present study, by comparing our new calculations to wave packet calculations with distance-dependent ab initio spin-orbit coupling, validates the semiclassical trajectory methods, the semiclassical initial state sample scheme, and the use of a distance-independent spin-orbit coupling for future applications to polyatomic photodissociation. Finally, using LiBr(+) as a model system, it is shown that accurate spin-coupled potential curves can also be constructed for odd-electron systems using the same strategy as for HBr.     

Theory of the photodissociation of ozone in the Hartley continuum: potential energy surfaces, conical intersections, and photodissociation dynamics

Ab initio potential energy and transition dipole moment surfaces are presented for the five lowest singlet even symmetry electronic states of ozone. The surfaces are calculated using the complete active space self consistent field method followed by contracted multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) calculations. A slightly reduced augmented correlation consistent valence triple-zeta orbital basis set is used. The ground and excited state energies of the molecule have been computed at 9282 separate nuclear geometries. Cuts through the potential energy surfaces, which pass through the geometry of the minimum of the ground electronic state, show several closely avoided crossings. Close examination, and higher level calculations, very strongly suggests that some of these seemingly avoided crossings are in fact associated with non-symmetry related conical intersections. Diabatic potential energy and transition dipole moment surfaces are created from the computed ab initio adiabatic MRCI energies and transition dipole moments. The transition dipole moment connecting the ground electronic state to the diabatic B state surface is by far the strongest. Vibrational-rotational wavefunctions and energies are computed using the ground electronic state. The energy level separations compare well with experimentally determined values. The ground vibrational state wavefunction is then used, together with the diabatic B<--X transition dipole moment surface, to form an initial wavepacket. The analysis of the time-dependent quantum dynamics of this wavepacket provides the total and partial photodissociation cross sections for the system. Both the total absorption cross section and the predicted product quantum state distributions compare well with experimental observations. A discussion is also given as to how the observed alternation in product diatom rotational state populations might be explained.