Energy-adjustedab initio pseudopotentials for the second and third row transition elements

Summary Nonrelativistic and quasirelativisticab initio pseudopotentials substituting the M^(Z–28)+-core orbitals of the second row transition elements and the M^(Z–60)+-core orbitals of the third row transition elements, respectively, and optimized (8s7p6d)/[6s5p3d]-GTO valence basis sets for use in molecular calculations have been generated. Additionally, corresponding spin-orbit operators have also been derived. Atomic excitation and ionization energies from numerical HF as well as from SCF pseudopotential calculations using the derived basis sets differ in most cases by less than 0.1 eV from corresponding numerical all-electron results. Spin-orbit splittings for lowlying states are in reasonable agreement with corresponding all-electron Dirac-Fock (DF) results.     

Substituent effects in second-row molecules: Basis set performance in calculations of normal valency phosphorus and sulfur compounds

Ab inito molecular orbital calculations of the phosphorus- and sulfur-containing series PH₂X, PH₃X⁺, SHX, and SH₂X⁺ (X = H, CH₃, NH₂, OH, F) have been carried out over a range of Gaussian basis sets and the results (optimized geometrical structures, relative energies, and electron distributions) critically compared. As in first-row molecules there are large discrepancies between substituent interaction energies at different basis set levels, particularly in electron-rich molecules; use of basis sets lower than the supplemented 6-31G basis incurs the risk of obtaining substituent stabilizations with large errors, including the wrong sign. Only a small part of the discrepancies is accounted for by structural differences between the optimized geometries. Supplementation of low level basis sets by d functions frequently leads to exaggerated stabilization energies for π-donor substituents. Poor performance also results from the use of split valence basis sets in which the valence shell electron density is too heavily concentrated in diffuse component of the valence shell functions, again likely to occur in electron-rich molecules. Isodesmic reaction energies are much less sensitive to basis set variation, but d function supplementation is necessary to achieve reliable results, suggesting a marginal valence role for d functions, not merely polarization of the bonding density. Optimized molecular geometries are relatively insensitive to basis set and electron population analysis data, for better-than-minimal bases, are uniform to an unexpected degree.     

A new SCF procedure and its applications to ab initio calculations of the states of the fluorosulphate radical

Ab initio calculations using a small Gaussian basis set, including 3d orbitals on the sulphur atom, have been performed on the fluorosulphate radical and the related ions SO₃F⁺ and SO₃F^?. A new SCF procedure is described and applied to the open shell cases discussed here. The results are compared with recent CNDO calculations and with the experimental transition energies of the radical.     

Basis sets for molecular interactions. 1. Construction and tests on (HF)2 and (H2O)2

Basis set superposition error (BSSE) remains one of the major difficulties besetting current ab initio calculations of molecular interactions. Despite the widespread notion that lowering of the BSSE to negligible magnitude requires extremely large basis sets, we show that simple modifications of basis sets of only moderate size (e.g., 6-31G**) can accomplish the same end at much reduced computational expense. These modifications include reoptimization of the orbital exponents within the framework of the relevant molecules, plus addition of a single diffuse shell of sp orbitals on nonhydrogen centers. Subsequent addition of a second set of d-functions further lowers the SCF BSSE, bringing it below 0.1 kcal/mol for both (HF)₂ and (H₂O)₂. It is notable that addition of the latter d-functions without prior reoptimization of the valence orbitals produces the opposite effect of an increase in the BSSE. Although the MP2 BSSE is also substantially decreased by the above modifications, it appears difficult to reduce this quantity below about 0.4 kcal/mol.     

Compact basis sets for LCAO-LSD calculations. Part I: Method and bases for Sc to Zn

A method for preparing compact orbital and auxiliary basis sets for LCAO-LSD calculations has been developed. The method has been applied to construct basis sets for first row transition metal atoms from Sc to Zn for the 3d^n?14s¹ and 3d^n?24s² configurations. The properties of different expansion patterns have been tested in atomic calculations for the chromium atom.     

Ab initio calculations,using a small Gaussian basis set,of the electronic structure of the sulphate ion

Ab initio molecular orbital calculations of the electronic structure of the sulphate ion have been performed in which three Gaussian-type functions are used to simulate each member of a minimal basis of Slater-type orbitals. Comparative calculations on H₂S show that such a basis excellently reproduces the properties of the valence electrons given by calculations in a Slater basis. The expansion of the basis by the addition of sulphur 3d orbitals results in a large decrease in the molecular energy (1 a.u.) and has a pronounced effect on the ordering and energy of the molecular orbitals. The results of a number of semiempirical schemes are discussed in the light of these results.     

A systematic preparation of new contracted Gaussian-type orbital sets. III. Second-row atoms from Li through ne

Four minimal Gaussian basis sets are generated for the second-row atoms Li through Ne. The first one, MINI-1, consists of a 3-term contraction of primitive Gaussian-type orbitals for 1s, 2s, and 2p atomic orbitals. The convenient shorthand notation would be (3,3) for Li? Be and (3,3/3) for B? Ne. The second one, MINI-2, can be represented by (3,3/4) for B? Ne. In the same way, MINI-3 is described as (4,3) for Li? Be, and MINI-3 and MINI-4 are represented by (4,3/3) and (4,3/4) for B? Ne, respectively. Although the four basis sets are the minimal type, they give the valence shell orbital energies which are close to those of DZ. These four and other sets derived from them are tested for the hetero- and homodiatomic molecules and some organic molecules. They are found to give the orbital energies that agree well with those given by extended calculations. Atomization energies and other spectroscopic constants are also calculated and compared with those of extended calculations. The results clearly indicate that the present basis sets can be used very effectively in the molecular calculations.     

Valence 4p functions for the first-row transition metal atoms

For the valence 4p orbitals of the first-row transition metal atoms Sc through Zn, Gaussian-type basis functions are developed referring to excited 3d ^m 4s ¹4p ¹ electronic configurations. Molecular tests of the present work 4p sets are performed for the Cu atom, the diatomic Cu₂ molecule, and Cu₉ and Cu₁₃ clusters, and the results are compared with those from two literature sets. Received: 17 January 2000 / Accepted: 30 May 2000 / Published Online: 11 September 2000     

An Anomalous Electron Configuration Among 3d Transition Metal Atoms

Physical properties of materials are mainly determined by valence electron configurations, where different valence shells would induce divergent phenomena. In compounds containing Sc²⁺, 3d electron occupancy is expected, the same as other transition metal atoms like Ti³⁺. But this situation still awaits experimental verification in inorganic materials. Here, we selected ScS to measure the valence electron density and orbital population of Sc²⁺ through delicate quantitative convergent-beam electron diffraction. With the absence of 3d orbital features around Sc-atom sites and the nearly bare population of t_2g orbital, the unintuitive occupation of 4s orbital in Sc²⁺ is concluded. It should be the first time to report such a special electron configuration in a transition metal compound, in which 4s rather than 3d orbital is preferred. Our findings reveal the distinct behavior of Sc and probable ways to modulate material properties by controlling electron orbitals.     

Ab initio study,including electron correlation,of the electronic structures,the dipole moments,the static polarizabilities and of the harmonic force fields of H2CO,H2CS and H2SiO

Ab initio calculations including electron correlation (on the PNO-CI and CEPA-PNO levels) are carried out for the isovalence electronic molecules H₂CO, H₂CS and H₂SiO, and for comparison also for H₂O and CO. The CEPA equilibrium distances are accurate to within 0.003 Å, while SCF results show significantly larger errors. The harmonic force constants on CEPA level are satisfactory as well, but for stretching of double or triple bonds inclusion of singly substituted configurations is imperative. Dipole moments were obtained with an error of 0.1 Debye from CEPA calculations with sufficiently large basis sets and inclusion of singly substituted configurations. The dipole polarizabilities are less sensitive to correlation effects but require larger basis sets.The population analysis reveals that the SiO bond in H₂SiO is highly polar and thatd-AO's cannot be regarded as valence AO's in any of the molecules of this study. The binding energy of H₂SiO (with respect to H₂Si(¹ A ₁) + O(³ P)) is predicted as 140 ± 5 kcal/mol. The contributions of different pairs in terms of localized orbitals to the correlation energy of the molecules of this study are analyzed.     

Spectroscopic constants and molecular properties of the X2Π and a4Σ− electronic states of the SiF radical

The potential energy curves (PECs) of the X²Π and a⁴Σ^? electronic states of the SiF radical have been studied by an ab initio quantum chemical method. The calculations have been made using the complete active space self‐consistent field (CASSCF) method, which is followed by the valence internally contracted multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) approach in combination with several correlation‐consistent basis sets. The effects on the PECs by the core‐valence correlation and relativistic corrections are included. The way to consider the relativistic correction is to use the third‐order Douglas–Kroll Hamiltonian approximation. The relativistic corrections are made at the level of cc‐pV5Z basis set. The core‐valence correlation corrections are performed using the cc‐pCV5Z basis set. To obtain more reliable results, the PECs determined by the MRCI calculations are also corrected for size‐extensivity errors by means of the Davidson modification (MRCI+Q). These PECs are extrapolated to the complete basis set limit by the total‐energy extrapolation scheme. Using these PECs, the spectroscopic parameters are determined and compared with those reported in the literature. With these PECs obtained by the MRCI+Q/CV+DK+56 calculations, the vibrational levels, inertial rotation, and centrifugal distortion constants of the first 20 vibrational state of each electronic state are calculated when the rotational quantum number J equals zero. Comparison with the Rydberg‐Klein‐Rees (RKR) data shows that the present results are reliable and accurate. The molecular constants of the X²Π and a⁴Σ^? electronic states determined by the MRCI+Q/CV+DK+56 calculations should be good prediction for future laboratory experiment. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011     

A combination of quasirelativistic pseudopotential and ligand field calculations for lanthanoid compounds

Summary Improved energy-adjusted quasirelativistic pseudopotentials for lanthanoid atoms with fixed valency are presented and tested in molecular calculations for CeO, CeF, EuO, GdO, YbO, and YbF. The pseudopotential calculations treat the lanthanoid 4f shell as part of the core and yield accurate estimates for average bond lengths, vibrational frequencies and dissociation energies of all states belonging to a superconfiguration. Information for each individual state of the considered superconfiguration may be obtained from subsequent ligand field model calculations. The results of this combined pseudo-potential and ligand field approach (PPLFT) are compared to more accurate calculations with ab initio pseudopotentials that include the lanthanoid 4f orbitals explicitly in the valence shell and to available experimental data.