Ab initio computations of spin-orbit interactions in polyatomic molecules. Splitting of sulfur LII,III states and singlet–triplet transitions in SO2

Spin-orbit interactions among the ground and the first few excited electronic states of SO₂, are computed with ab initio molecular wave functions and Gaussian atomic orbitals. All spin-other orbits contributions to the matrix elements are included. The computed intensity of the first singlet–triplet transition is found to be in broad agreement with experiment and sensitive to an extension of the configuration interaction expansion of molecular wave functions. Also, the splitting of sulfur L_{II ,III} states in SO₂ is derived as an example of large spin-orbit interactions among electronic states.     

Theoretical analysis of the electronic spectrum of GeH4 from ab initio CI calculations

Ab initio CI calculations using pseudopotentials to describe germanium inner electrons are carried out on the low-lying excited singlet states (T₂) of GeH₄. A theoretical analysis of these states in terms of Mulliken population of Rydberg orbitals for each state and oscillator strengths allow us to reinterpret its experimental Vacuum UV electronic spectrum.     

Ab Initio Analysis of Metal–Ligand Bonding in An(COT)2 with An=Th,U in Their Ground- and Core-Excited States

Relativistic multireference ab initio wave function calculations with the restricted active space second-order perturbation theory (RASPT2) were performed on thorocene and uranocene to determine the actinide N_4,5-edge and carbon K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) intensities and the metal–ligand orbital mixing in the ground state and core-excited states. Calculated spectral intensities show very good agreement with the experiments and therefore allow detailed and unambiguous assignment of the observed spectral features. φ-type covalent bonding or antibonding interactions are observed for thorocene in the core-excited states, though not in the ground state. This is because the molecular orbital of φ symmetry, which is the in-phase combination of the ligand L_φ and the Th 5f_φ orbitals, can be populated with electrons in core-excited states, whereas it is essentially unoccupied in the ground state. For uranocene, the XANES spectra do not reveal much information beyond multiplet broadening, despite the presence of distinct peaks in the spectra. Every core-excited peak is best characterized by its own set of bond orbitals, as the excited state covalency is clearly different from the ground state covalency.     

A CASSCF study of the singlet-singlet and triplet-triplet spectroscopy of naphthalene

Ab initio complete active space (CAS) SCF calculations have been carried out for the singlet and triplet excited states of naphthalene molecule. The CASSCF active space comprised 10-type molecular orbitals. The basis set was of ANO type and included both diffuse functions and polarization functions. The calculated excitation energies and transition moment provide a sound theoretical basis for the assignment of the experimental singlet-singlet and triplet-triplet spectra of the naphthalene molecule.     

Quantum-mechanical treatment of molecules. I. Calculations of the potential energy curves and molecular constants of the ground and ionized states of N2

The self-consistent-field molecular-orbital method in LCAO (linear combination of atomic orbitals) approximation is applied to the ground and three ionized states of N₂ at a number of internuclear distances for the computation of the potential energy curves. In these calculations both the linear coefficients and the screening constants of the atomic orbitals have been optimized. The molecular constants ω_e, ω_ex_e, B_e, α_e, and R_e have also been calculated for the above states from the computed potential energy curves. The computed spectral results are compared with the experimental data as well as with the results reported by others from ab initio calculations.     

Joint X-ray spectroscopic and quantum-chemical study of the electronic structure of pentafluorophenylalkyl ethers

The high resolution X-ray emission O-Kα spectra of pentafluorophenylalkyl ethers C₆F₅OR (R=Et, Prⁱ, and Bu^t) exhibit differences related to a change in the electronic structure of the compounds as R is varied. The search for stable conformers was performed by the semiempirical PM3 method. The most probable structures of C₆F₅OR were determined by the comparison of the experimental and theoretical X-ray spectra plotted for each conformer usingab initio calculations in the 6–31 G basis set. Substituent R in pentafluorophenylalkyl ethers is situated outside of the ring plane. The fluorination of the benzene ring changes the energy level of the lone electron pair of oxygen relative to the levels of orbitals of the ring and substituent R and leads to an increase in the efficiency of interactions in the σ-system. Deceased. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 12, pp. 2443–2450, December, 1998.     

Note on the ab initio PUHF treatment of open-shell systems

Ab initio projected-unrestricted Hartree-Fock calculations have been carried out on a number of excited and ionic states of the water molecule. Results have been compared with large-scale CI calculations, with IVO calculations, and with those of Mrozek and Golebiewski obtained by the 2 × 2 rotation method applied to orbitals. It is concluded that the PUHF method may provide the most useful alternative to large-scale CI for calculating properties of open-shell systems. But it will not be generally useful for calculating spectral transition energies.     

Electronic structure and bonding of the pentasulfur hexanitride (S5N6) molecule

An ab initio version of the Hartree–Fock–Slater method is applied to obtain molecular orbitals and eigenvalues for S₅N₆. The electronic structure, bonding, stability, and electronic spectrum are discussed.     

Vacuum ultraviolet spectra of CClF2CH2Cl and CClF2CHCl2, and Rydberg assignment based on ab initio molecular orbital calculations

The absorption spectra of CClF₂CH₂Cl and CClF₂CHCl₂ are measured in the spectral range 115–200 nm. The bands observed are assigned on the basis of ab initio molecular orbital calculations. The strong absorption bands in the 115–150 nm range are assigned to the transitions from lone pair orbitals of chlorine atoms to the Rydberg states. The population of the electrons in each molecular orbital (MO) is calculated to clarify the MO character. The four highest MOs for CClF₂CH₂Cl and six for CClF₂CHCl₂, which contribute to the absorption spectra in the 115–150 nm range, are typical chlorine lone pair orbitals, and are responsible for the spectra in this range.     

Broken symmetry in valence molecular region within Hartree-Fock calculations

Symmetry restricted and unrestricted Hartree-Fock calculations at theab initio LCAO-MO-SCF level have been carried out on the ground, core and valence hole states of N₂ at various N-N distances. A one-particle criterion for symmetry breaking is discussed. Strong broken-symmetry effects in the inner valence molecular region of N₂ have been found at larger N-N distances. This breaking of symmetry accompanying the symmetry unrestricted Hartree-Fock calculations of the inner valence hole states at large internuclear separations can be considered to be a common phenomenon with all highly symmetric molecules. The outer valence broken-symmetry effects with N₂ have showed some deviations as compared with these effects in the inner valence and core molecular regions.     

Theoretical insight into the magnetic circular dichroism of uranium N6,7-edge X-ray absorption

We use ligand-field density functional theory to determine the electronic structure and to model magnetic circular dichroism in the X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) of uranium compounds. This study extends earlier work on tetravalent uranium ion, in which a model Hamiltonian was set up in order to study electronic structure with three nonequivalent 4f, 5f, and 6d electrons. In the earlier work, the model Hamiltonian took into consideration the interelectron repulsion, spin-orbit coupling interaction, and ligand-field splitting. Uranium N_6,7-edge XAS spectra were calculated on the basis of the 5f² → 4f¹³5f²6d¹ electron transition, showing spectral profiles that were mainly dominated by 4f electron spin-orbit coupling, as well as 6d ligand-field splitting. Fine structures were also observed due to the interelectronic repulsion between 4f-5f, 4f-6d, and 5f-6d electrons. Here, the theoretical study is extended to take into consideration the presence of an external magnetic field, incorporating into the model Hamiltonian for three-open-shell electron configuration a term for Zeeman interaction. Therefore, we are able to model spectra with a left-circularly and right-circularly polarized X-ray, demonstrating evidence of X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) for a tetravalent U⁴⁺ ion in the molecular (U(η⁸-C₈H₈)₂) complex. The XMCD originates from a ground-state electronic structure with open-shell 5f electrons. Furthermore, the present calculation of uranium N_6,7-edge XAS and XMCD spectra also enables the ligand-field bonding analysis of the coordination compound.     

An ab initio calculation of K-spectra in molecules HCl and HF

An ab initio calculation of energies and intensities of K-emission and K-absorption spectra in molecules HCl and HF are carried out. An electronic readjustment due to a hole in a molecular core is taken into account. A vibrational structure of K-emission and K-absorption spectra is also calculated. The calculation shows that it is possible to detect a vibrational structure of valence bonding levels in X-ray emission spectra. A good agreement with experiment is obtained.     

Dependence of the Interaction Potentials of Ar-HF and N2-HF on HF Bond Length

We explore in detail the nature of the intermolecular interactions in two HF containing complexes, ArHF and N₂ HF, at vibrationally excited HF stretching states using both high overtone spectroscopic and ab initio computational methods. By using an infrared intracavity laser-induced fluorescence technique, second overtone spectra of the two HF complexes have been obtained for the HF stretches and their combination modes with low-frequency van der Waals vibrations. The two complexes show the same trend that both van der Waals bond strength and rotational constant increase smoothly with v of the HF stretch. The investigation of the intermolecular potential above minimum provides a rigorous test of ab initio calculations. In particular for the ab initio calculations using an efficient basis set incorporating bond functions, the technique reproduces reasonably well the anisotropy of the interaction potential of Ar and HF. It is found that the intermolecular potential depends strongly upon the HF bond length only at the linear Ar-H-F geometry.     

A study of the electronic structure of the hexafluorobenzene and pentafluorobenzene molecules by ultrasoft X-ray emission spectroscopy

The electronic structure of the hexafluorobenzene and pentafluorobenzene molecules was studied by ultrasoft X-ray emission spectroscopy. The FK _α and CK _α spectra of these compounds in the gas phase were obtained. The results of quantum-chemical calculations performed at the RHF/STO-6G//6-31G level were used to construct the theoretical spectra. The highest occupied molecular orbitals were found to consist largely of the 2p _π carbon atomic orbitals. The contribution of fluorine orbitals was small. π-Type interactions mainly involved deeper valence orbitals.     

Calculation of excited-state properties of some small molecules: Comparative study of the CNDO/S and CNDO/2-vn−1 potential methods

The transition energy and geometry of the lowest excited (nπ*) singlet and triplet states of CO, CS, HNO, H₂CO, HFCO, and F₂CO molecules are calculated by CNDO /S and CNDO /2-V_N?1 potential methods, and the results are compared with those of experimental and ab initio theoretical studies, wherever available. In the calculation of the vertical transition energy, the performance of the CNDO /S method is seen to be generally more satisfactory than that of the CNDO /2-V_N?1 potential method, while the reverse is true for the excited-state geometry. The CNDO /S method as such fails to describe the geometry of the excited state, but a combined version (CNDO /S-2) of CNDO /S and CNDO /2, as well as the CNDO /2-V_N?1 potential method is fairly successful in this regard.     

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy-based valence band spectra of passive films on titanium

Titanium (Ti) is always covered by thin passive films. Thus, valence band (VB) spectra, obtained using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), are superpositions of the VB spectra of passive films and that of the metallic Ti substrate. In this study, to obtain the VB spectra only of passive films, angular resolution (for eliminating the substrate Ti contribution) and argon ion sputtering (for removing passive films) were used along with XPS. The passive film on Ti was determined to consist of a very thin TiO₂layer with small amounts of Ti₂O₃, TiO, hydroxyl groups, and water with a thickness of 5.9 nm. The VB spectra of Ti were deconvoluted into four peak components: a peak at ~1 eV, attributed to the Ti metal substrate; a broad peak in the 3–10 eV range, mainly attributed to O 2p (~6 eV) and O 2p-Ti 3d hybridized states (~8 eV), owing to the π (non-bonding) and σ (bonding) orbitals in the passive oxide film; and a peak at ~13 eV, attributed to the 3σ orbital of O 2p as OH⁻or H₂O. The VB region spectrum between approximately 3 and 14 eV from Ti is originating from the passive film on Ti. In particular, characterization of VB spectrum obtained with a takeoff angle of less than 24° is effective to obtain VB spectrum only from the passive film on Ti. The property as n-type semiconductor of the passive film on Ti is probably higher than that of rutile TiO₂ceramics.     

The Electronic Structure of Cubane (C8H8) as Revealed by Photoelectron Spectroscopy

High resolution He (Iα) and He (IIα) photoelectron spectra of cubane are reported. The assignments of the bands to different states of the cubane radical cation are made on the basis of ab initio STO-3G and MINDO/3 calculations, using geometries optimized within each treatment. The vibrational fine-structure observed supports the proposed assignment. An open shell MINDO/3 model for ground state cubane radical cation suggests that the Jahn-Teller distorted system fluctuates between twelve equivalent structures of C_2v-symmetry. Localized molecular orbitals derived from the STO-3G model of cubane indicate that the major feature which discriminates this molecule with respect to other hydrocarbons is the large interaction matrix element between the opposed CC-σ-orbitals of each face.     

X-ray spectra and core hole energy curves of some diatomic molecules

Soft X-ray emission spectra of the molecules CO, N₂, NO and O₂ are examined for the purpose of deriving information on their core hole energy curves. Molecular force constant and equilibrium bond lengths are determined for the core hole species C*O and N₂*, and a qualitative analysis is made for CO*, N*O, NO* and O₂*. The results show that differences of equilibrium geometries between the core hole states and the ground states are very well reproduced (better than 1 pm) by SCF calculations within the Hartree-Fock formalism. Inclusion of anharmonicity in the Franck-Condon analysis gives a small but significant effect on the best fitted value for the core hole state bond lengths (about 0.5 pm). Oxygen is binding energies determined from the X-ray spectra are shown to agree with ESCA data, in most cases within a few tenths of an eV. Calculated ΔSCF transition energies reproduce the experimental data within a few eV.     

HeI-Photoelektronen-Spektrum von Cl-NSO

The ultraviolet photoelectron spectrum of the N-chlorothionylimide molecule (Cl-NSO) has been obtained and analyzed. The spectrum is interpreted by comparison with the known spectra of the parent compounds H-NSO, SO₂ and the related molecules Cl-NCO and H-NCO as well as with the aid ofab initio SCF-calculations in terms of ionization from the eight highest filled valence molecular orbitals in this molecule.

     

New ab initio potential energy surfaces for both the ground (X̃1A') and excited (Ã1A″) electronic states of HSiCl and the absorption and emission spectra of HSiCl/DSiCl

New ab initio potential energy surfaces for the ground ( ) and excited ( ) electronic states of HSiCl were obtained by using the single and double excitation coupled‐cluster theory with a noniterative perturbation treatment of triple excitations and the multi‐reference configuration interaction with Davidson correction, respectively, employing an augmented correlation‐consistent polarized valence quadruple zeta basis set. For the excited state , an extended active space (18 electrons in 12 orbitals) was used. The calculated vibrational energy levels of HSiCl and DSiCl of the ground and excited electronic states are in better agreement with the available experimental values than the previous theoretical results. In addition, with the calculated transition dipole moment, the absorption and emission spectra of HSiCl and DSiCl were calculated using an efficient single Lanczos propagation method and are in reasonable agreement with the available observed spectra. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2011