Higher excitations for an exponential multireference wavefunction Ansatz and single-reference based multireference coupled cluster Ansatz: application to model systems H(4), P(4), and BeH(2)

This article reports on the convergence of the exponential multireference wavefunction Ansatz (MRexpT) [J. Chem. Phys. 123, 84102 (2005)] and the single-reference based multireference coupled cluster Ansatz [J. Chem. Phys. 94, 1229 (1991)] with respect to higher cluster excitations. The approaches are applied to the H(4), P(4), and BeH(2) model systems according to the recently published analysis by Evangelista et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 125, 154113 (2006)]. The results show both MRexpT and SRMRCC to be highly accurate although SRMRCC shows problems due to its lack of Fermi vacuum invariance (symmetry breaking).     

Solvation dynamics of electron produced by two-photon ionization of liquid polyols. III. Glycerol

The solvation dynamics of excess electrons in glycerol have been measured by the pump-probe femtosecond laser technique at 333 K. The electrons are produced by two-photon absorption at 263 nm. The change in the induced absorbance is followed up to 450 ps in the spectral range from 440 to 720 nm. The transient signals of electron solvation have been analyzed by two kinetic models: a stepwise mechanism and a continuous relaxation model, using a Bayesian data analysis method. The results are compared with those previously published for ethylene glycol (J. Phys. Chem. A 2006, 110, 175) and for propanediols (J. Phys. Chem. A 2007, 111, 4902). From the comparison, it is pointed out that solvation dynamics in glycerol is very fast despite its high viscosity. This is interpreted as the existence of efficient traps for the electrons in glycerol with low potential energy. The small shift of the absorption band of the excess electron indicates that the potential of these traps is very close to that corresponding to the fully solvated electron.     

Hydrogen adsorption strength and sites in the metal organic framework MOF5: Comparing experiment and model calculations

Hydrogen adsorption in porous, high surface area, and stable metal organic frameworks (MOF’s) appears a novel route towards hydrogen storage materials [N.L. Rosi, J. Eckert, M. Eddaoudi, D.T. Vodak, J. Kim, M. O’Keeffe, O.M. Yaghi, Science 300 (2003) 1127; J.L.C. Rowsell, A.R. Millward, K. Sung Park, O.M. Yaghi, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 126 (2004) 5666; G. Ferey, M. Latroche, C. Serre, F. Millange, T. Loiseau, A. Percheron-Guegan, Chem. Commun. (2003) 2976; T. Loiseau, C. Serre, C. Huguenard, G. Fink, F. Taulelle, M. Henry, T. Bataille, G. Férey, Chem. Eur. J. 10 (2004) 1373]. A prerequisite for such materials is sufficient adsorption interaction strength for hydrogen adsorbed on the adsorption sites of the material because this facilitates successful operation under moderate temperature and pressure conditions. Here we report detailed information on the geometry of the hydrogen adsorption sites, based on the analysis of inelastic neutron spectroscopy (INS). The adsorption energies for the metal organic framework MOF5 equal about 800 K for part of the different sites, which is significantly higher than for nanoporous carbon materials (550 K) [H.G. Schimmel, G.J. Kearley, M.G. Nijkamp, C.T. Visser, K.P. de Jong, F.M. Mulder, Chem. Eur. J. 9 (2003) 4764], and is in agreement with what is found in first principles calculations [T. Sagara, J. Klassen, E. Ganz, J. Chem. Phys. 121 (2004) 12543; F.M. Mulder, T.J. Dingemans, M. Wagemaker, G.J. Kearley, Chem. Phys. 317 (2005) 113]. Assignments of the INS spectra is realized using comparison with independently published model calculations [F.M. Mulder, T.J. Dingemans, M. Wagemaker, G.J. Kearley, Chem. Phys. 317 (2005) 113] and structural data [T. Yildirim, M.R. Hartman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95 (2005) 215504].     

Cyclopropylcarbinyl --> homoallyl-type ring opening of ketyl radical anions. Structure/reactivity relationships and the contribution of solvent/counterion reorganization to the intrinsic barrier

[reaction: see text] Following a protocol developed by Mathivanan, Johnston, and Wayner (J. Phys. Chem. 1995, 99, 8190-8195), the radical anions of several cyclopropyl- and oxiranyl-containing carbonyl compounds were generated in an effort to measure the rate constants for their ring opening (k(o)) by laser flash photolysis. The results of these experiments are compared to those obtained from earlier electrochemical studies, and the combined data set is used to rationalize the kinetics of radical anion ring opening in a general context by using Saveant's theory pertaining to stepwise dissociative electron transfer (Acc. Chem. Res. 1993, 26, 455-461). Compared to cyclopropylcarbinyl --> homoallyl rearrangements of neutral free radicals, at comparable driving force, the radical anion ring openings are slightly slower. The small difference in rate is attributed to the contribution of an additional, approximately 2 kcal/mol, solvent reorganization component for the radical anion rearrangements. The solvent reorganization energy for ring opening of these radical anions is believed to be small because the negative charge does not move appreciably in the progression reactant --> transition state --> product.     

Portably parallel construction of a configuration-interaction wave function from a matrix–product state using the Charm++ framework

The construction of configuration-interaction (CI) expansions from a matrix product state (MPS) involves numerous matrix operations and the skillful sampling of important configurations in a large Hilbert space. In this work, we present an efficient procedure for constructing CI expansions from MPS employing the parallel object-oriented Charm++ programming framework, upon which automatic load-balancing and object migrating facilities can be employed. This procedure was employed in the MPS-to-CI utility (Moritz et al., J. Chem. Phys. 2007, 126, 224109), the sampling-reconstructed complete active-space algorithm (SR-CAS, Boguslawski et al., J. Chem. Phys. 2011, 134, 224101), and the entanglement-driven genetic algorithm (EDGA, Luo et al., J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2017, 13, 4699). It enhances productivity and allows the sampling programs to evolve to their population-expansion versions, for example, EDGA with population expansion (PE-EDGA). Further, examples of 1,2-dioxetanone and firefly dioxetanone anion (FDO⁻) molecules demonstrated the following: (a) parallel efficiencies can be persistently improved by simply by increasing the proportions of the asynchronous executions and (b) a sampled CAS-type CI wave function of a bi-radical-state FDO⁻ molecule utilizing the full valence (30e,26o) active space can be constructed within a few hours with using thousands of cores.     

FTIR spectroscopic and theoretical study of the photochemistry of matrix-isolated coumarin

The infrared spectrum of monomeric unsubstituted coumarin (C9H6O2; 2H-1-benzopyran-2-one), isolated in solid argon at 10 K is presented and assigned. The UV-induced (lambda>200 nm) unimolecular photochemistry of the matrix-isolated compound was studied experimentally. Three main photoreactions were observed: (a) decarboxylation of the compound and formation of benzocyclobutadiene and CO2, with the Dewar form of coumarin as intermediate; (b) isomerization of the compound, leading to production of a conjugated ketene; and (c) decarbonylation, leading to formation of CO and benzofuran complex. Further decomposition of benzofuran to produce ethynol is suggested. Photochannels (a) and (b) correspond to those previously observed for matrix-isolated alpha-pyrone and its sulfur analogs (Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2004, 6, 929; J. Phys. Chem. A 2006, 110, 6415), while route (c) is similar to the UV-induced photochemistry of coumarin in the gaseous phase (J. Phys. Chem. A 2000, 104, 1095). Interpretation of the experimental data is supported by extensive calculations performed at the B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p), MP2/6-31G(d,p) and MP2/6-311++G(d,p) levels.     

Effect of Coulomb interactions on the vibronic couplings in C60(-)

Vibronic couplings in C(60)(-) anion are discussed on the basis of the concept of the vibronic coupling density (VCD) [T. Sato, K. Tokunaga, and K. Tanaka, J. Chem. Phys. 124, 024314 (2006); K. Tokunaga, T. Sato, and K. Tanaka, J. Chem. Phys. 124, 154303 (2006); and T. Sato, K. Tokunaga, and K. Tanaka, J. Phys. Chem. A 112, 758 (2008)]. The VCD analysis clearly reveals that the coupling to the bending h(g)(2) mode is weaker than the coupling to the stretching h(g)(7) and h(g)(8) modes. For the vibronic couplings with the stretching modes, polarizations of the electron density difference on the bonds play a crucial role in the vibronic couplings. Such a polarized electron density difference appears as a result of the Coulomb interactions between the electrons in the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital and relevant doubly-occupied orbitals.     

Electronic and geometrical structure of Mn13 anions, cations, and neutrals

We have computed the electronic and geometrical structures of thirteen atom manganese clusters in all three charge states, Mn(13) (-), Mn(13) (+), and Mn(13) by using density functional theory with the generalized gradient approximation. Our results for Mn(13) (-) are compared with our anion photoelectron spectrum of Mn(13) (-), published in this paper. Our results for Mn(13) (+) are compared with the previously published photoionization results of Knickelbein [J. Chem. Phys. 106, 9810 (1997)]. There is a good agreement between theoretical and experimental values of ionization and electron attachment energies.     

Monte Carlo simulations of critical cluster sizes and nucleation rates of water

We have calculated the critical cluster sizes and homogeneous nucleation rates of water at temperatures and vapor densities corresponding to experiments by Wolk and Strey [J. Phys. Chem B 105, 11683 (2001)]. The calculations have been done with an expanded version of a Monte Carlo method originally developed by Vehkamaki and Ford [J. Chem. Phys. 112, 4193 (2000)]. Their method calculates the statistical growth and decay probabilities of molecular clusters. We have derived a connection between these probabilities and kinetic condensation and evaporation rates, and introduce a new way for the calculation of the work of formation of clusters. Three different interaction potential models of water have been used in the simulations. These include the unpolarizable SPC/E [J. Phys. Chem. 91, 6269 (1987)] and TIP4P [J. Chem. Phys. 79, 926 (1983)] models and a polarizable model by Guillot and Guissani [J. Chem. Phys. 114, 6720 (2001)]. We show that TIP4P produces critical cluster sizes and a temperature and vapor density dependence for the nucleation rate that agree well with the experimental data, although the magnitude of nucleation rate is constantly overestimated by a factor of 2 x 10(4). Guissani and Guillot's model is somewhat less successful, but both the TIP4P and Guillot and Guissani models are able to reproduce a much better experimental temperature dependency of the nucleation rate than the classical nucleation theory. Using SPC/E results in dramatically too small critical clusters and high nucleation rates. The water models give different average binding energies for clusters. We show that stronger binding between cluster molecules suppresses the decay probability of a cluster, while the growth probability is not affected. This explains the differences in results from different water models.     

Conductor‐like screening model for relaxed excited states: Implementation in the semiempirical method MSINDO

Two approaches to treat solvent polarization and reorientation effects for excited states of molecules and surfaces have been implemented in the recently developed MSINDO‐sCIS method (Gadaczek, Krause, Hintze, Bredow, J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2011, 7, 3675). They allow for an efficient calculation of analytical energy gradients and hence open the opportunity to investigate fluorescence effects or photochemical reactions in solution for large molecules that are difficult to treat with high‐level methods. Both approaches are based on the conductor‐like screening model (COSMO) (Klamt and Schüürmann, J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1993, 2, 799) in combination with the configuration interaction singles (CIS) method (Foresman, Head‐Gordon, Pople, and Frisch, J. Phys. Chem. 1992, 96, 135). The paper gives a brief outline of the theoretical background. As a first application, solvent shifts of three well‐studied, environment‐sensitive fluorescent dyes (Kucherak, Didier, Mély, and Klymchenko, J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2010, 1, 616) have been calculated and compared with experimental results and standard time‐dependent density functional theory. A statistical evaluation of MSINDO‐COSMO‐sCIS is provided for a set of 39 molecules suggested recently by Jacquemin et al. (Jacquemin, Planchat, Adamo, and Mennucci, J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2012, 8, 2359). Calculated vertical and adiabatic excitation energies and fluorescence energies are compared to experimental data. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Experimental and modeling study of the oxidation of 1‐butyne and 2‐butyne

Ignition delays were measured behind shock waves in the cases of hydrocarbon–oxygen–argon mixtures containing 1‐butyne or 2‐butyne (1 or 2% of hydrocarbons for equivalence ratios from 0.5 to 2). Reflected shock waves permitted to obtain temperatures from 1100 to 1600 K and pressures from 6.3 to 9.1 atm. A detailed mechanism of the reactions of 1‐butyne and 2‐butyne has been explained in the line of the mechanism developed previously for the reaction of C₃–C₄ unsaturated hydrocarbons (propyne, allene, 1,3‐butadiene) [Int J chem Kin 1999, 31, 361]. It is based on the most recent kinetic data values published in the literature and is consistent with thermochemistry. This mechanism has been validated by comparing the results of our simulations to the experimental results obtained for ignition delays in our shock tube and to measurements of species obtained during thermal decomposition [Int J Chem Kin 1995, 27, 321; J Phys Chem 1993, 97, 10977]. The main reaction pathways have been derived from flow‐rate and sensitivity analyses. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 34: 172–183, 2002; DOI 10.1002/kin.10035     

Alchemical prediction of hydration free energies for SAMPL

Hydration free energy calculations have become important tests of force fields. Alchemical free energy calculations based on molecular dynamics simulations provide a rigorous way to calculate these free energies for a particular force field, given sufficient sampling. Here, we report results of alchemical hydration free energy calculations for the set of small molecules comprising the 2011 Statistical Assessment of Modeling of Proteins and Ligands challenge. Our calculations are largely based on the Generalized Amber Force Field with several different charge models, and we achieved RMS errors in the 1.4-2.2 kcal/mol range depending on charge model, marginally higher than what we typically observed in previous studies (Mobley et al. in J Phys Chem B 111(9):2242-2254, 2007, J Chem Theory Comput 5(2):350-358, 2009, J Phys Chem B 115:1329-1332, 2011; Nicholls et al. in J Med Chem 51:769-779, 2008; Klimovich and Mobley in J Comput Aided Mol Design 24(4):307-316, 2010). The test set consists of ethane, biphenyl, and a dibenzyl dioxin, as well as a series of chlorinated derivatives of each. We found that, for this set, using high-quality partial charges from MP2/cc-PVTZ SCRF RESP fits provided marginally improved agreement with experiment over using AM1-BCC partial charges as we have more typically done, in keeping with our recent findings (Mobley et al. in J Phys Chem B 115:1329-1332, 2011). Switching to OPLS Lennard-Jones parameters with AM1-BCC charges also improves agreement with experiment. We also find a number of chemical trends within each molecular series which we can explain, but there are also some surprises, including some that are captured by the calculations and some that are not.     

Using heat capacity and compressibility to choose among two-state models of liquid water

We extend to heat capacity Cp the model of Vedamuthu, Singh, and Robinson (J. Phys. Chem. 1994, 98, 2222). This model and that of Bartell (J. Phys. Chem. B 1997, 101, 7573) fit successfully, even in the supercooled region, the temperature dependence of Cp, volume, and isothermal compressibility kappa(T). The Robinson model is superior for kappa(T). Tanaka's model (J. Chem. Phys. 2000, 112, 799) fails for C(p) even after correction of a derivational error. All three models assume that the liquid consists of low-density component 1 and high-density component 2. We conclude that Robinson's tactics, ignoring the intercomponent equilibrium constant and determining compositions solely from volumes, yield the most reliable compositions and individual-component properties. Our fits of the Robinson model to C(p) yield at 0 degrees C H(2) - H(1) of (135 +/- 35) J/g, H(1) - H(ice) of 0.8DeltaH(fus), and C(2) - C(1) of (0.1 +/- 0.7) J/K.g. The enthalpy difference between the components is largely responsible for the rapid change of C(p) at the lowest supercooled temperatures. We propose an adjustment to Speedy and Angell's (J. Chem. Phys. 1976, 65, 851) experimental values of kappa(T) for supercooled water.     

Structural characterization of electron-induced proton transfer in the formic acid dimer anion, (HCOOH)2-, with vibrational and photoelectron spectroscopies

The (HCOOH)(2) anion, formed by electron attachment to the formic acid dimer (FA(2)), is an archetypal system for exploring the mechanics of the electron-induced proton transfer motif that is purported to occur when neutral nucleic acid base-pairs accommodate an excess electron [K. Aflatooni, G. A. Gallup, and P. D. Burrow, J. Phys. Chem. A 102, 6205 (1998); J. H. Hendricks, S. A. Lyapustina, H. L. de Clercq, J. T. Snodgrass, and K. H. Bowen, J. Chem Phys. 104, 7788 (1996); C. Desfrancois, H. Abdoul-Carime, and J. P. Schermann, ibid. 104, 7792 (1996)]. The FA(2) anion and several of its H∕D isotopologues were isolated in the gas phase and characterized using Ar-tagged vibrational predissociation and electron autodetachment spectroscopies. The photoelectron spectrum of the FA(2) anion was also recorded using velocity-map imaging. The resulting spectroscopic information verifies the equilibrium FA(2)(-) geometry predicted by theory which features a symmetrical, double H-bonded bridge effectively linking together constituents that most closely resemble the formate ion and a dihydroxymethyl radical. The spectroscopic signatures of this ion were analyzed with the aid of calculated anharmonic vibrational band patterns.     

Mass selective gas phase study of ClO, OClO, ClOO and ClAr by anion-ZEKE-photoelectron spectroscopy

Anion-ZEKE-photoelectron spectra of ClO-, OClO-, ClOO- and the van der Waals cluster ArCl- have been measured. Refined or new values for the electron affinity of ClO, OClO and ClOO have been found. The peak positions in these spectra are in very good agreement with former ClO- and OClO- anion-photoelectron spectra (K. M. Gilles, M. L. Polak and W. C. Lineberger, J. Chem. Phys., 1992, 96, 8012) and a recent ArCl- anion-ZEKE spectrum (T. Lenzer, I. Yourshaw, M. Furlanetto, G. Reiser and D. Neumark, J. Chem. Phys., 1992, 110, 9578). The higher resolution of our anion-ZEKE-photoelectron spectrum of OClO- led to a refined assignment of the corresponding anion-photoelectron spectrum. In addition, a strong difference in the relative intensities of the vibrational peaks has been found in the anion-ZEKE-spectrum of OClO- in comparison with the anion-photoelectron spectrum. For the first time, mass selective spectroscopic information has been obtained for ClOO. The strong similarity to the ArCl- spectrum indicates a weakly bound van der Waals cluster Cl.O2. Binding energies of the anion, neutral ground and neutral excited state could be deduced. These are in good agreement with the electron affinities of Cl and ClOO, but differ from theoretical values (K. A. Peterson and H. J. Werner, J. Chem. Phys., 1992, 96, 8948) by a factor of 4.5 and from thermochemically determined values (J. M. Nicovich, K. D. Kreutter, C. J. Shackelford and P. H. Wine, Chem. Phys. Lett., 1991, 179, 367 and S. Baer, H. Hippler, R. Rahn, M. Siefke, N. Seitzinger and J. Troe, J. Chem. Phys., 1991, 95, 6463) by a factor of 9.     

On the interaction of electrons with betaine zwitterions

Betaine is a permanent zwitterion. The molecular betaine anion has been generated in a hybrid, infrared desorption-electron photoemission source and its photoelectron spectrum recorded. The photoelectron spectrum of the betaine anion is characteristic of a dipole bound anion, and its vertical detachment energy was measured to be 0.29+/-0.03 eV. Calculations by Rak, Skurski, and Gutowski [J. Chem. Phys. 114, 10673 (2001)] had found the betaine anion to be a dipole bound anion with a vertical detachment energy of 0.28 eV. We also measured the vertical detachment energy of deprotonated betaine to be approximately 1.9 eV.     

Thermodynamical and structural properties of imidazolium based ionic liquids from molecular simulation

We have performed molecular dynamics simulations to determine the densities and heat of vaporization as well as structural information for the 1-alkyl-3-methyl-imidazolium based ionic liquids [amim][Cl] and [amim][BF(4)] in the temperature range from 298 to 363 K. In this simulation study, we used an united atom model of Liu et al. [Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 8, 1096 (2006)] for the [emim(+)] and [bmim(+)] cations, which we have extended for simulation in [hmim]-ILs and combined with parameters of Canongia Lopes et al. [J. Phys. Chem. B 108, 2038 (2004)] for the [Cl(-)] anion. Our simulation results prove that both the original united atoms approach by Liu et al. and our extension yield reasonable predictions for the ionic liquid with a considerably reduced computational expense than that required for all atoms models. Radial distribution functions and spatial distribution functions where employed to analyze the local structure of this ionic liquid, and in which way it is influenced by the type of the anion, the size of the cation, and the temperature. Our simulations give evidence for the occurrence of tail aggregations in these ionic liquids with increasing length of the side chain and also increasing temperature.