Computational study of linear and nonlinear optical properties of substituted thiophene imino dyes using long-range corrected hybrid DFT methods

The molecular structures, linear and nonlinear optical properties of a series constituted by four R-substituted thiophene imino dyes, namely A(R?=?SO₂Me), B(R?=?SO₂Ph), C(R?=?NO₂), and D(R?=?C₂(CN)₃) were analysed using CAM-B3LYP, ωB97XD and LC-ωPBE hybrid DFT functionals in combination of the 6-311++G(d,p) standard basis set. The dipole moments, polarisabilities, HOMO-LUMO energy gaps, maximum absorption wavelengths and first hyperpolarisabilities were calculated in the gas phase and the obtained results are in good agreement with experimental NLO activity order A?<?B?<?C. Compared to synthesised dyes A-C, the designed dye D presents a longer maximum absorption wavelength and a lower HOMO-LUMO gap because of the appreciable stabilisation of its LUMO energy. These results were confirmed by the calculation of the total second-order stabilisation energy E⁽²⁾ defined in the context of the NBO population analysis. Consequently, dye D is predicted to exhibit a higher first hyperpolarisability in comparison with dyes A-C. This result can be justified by the enhanced intramolecular charge transfer in dye D due to the stronger electron-withdrawing ability and the cumulative action of the long π-conjugation of the tricyanovinyl moiety. The very high total hyperpolarisability (27 times greater than that of para-nitroaniline) of the designed dye D suggests its promising use in organic NLO devices.     

Computational study of the decomposition mechanisms of ammonium dinitramide in the gas phase

CBS-QB3 method has been employed to determine the geometries, the vibrational frequencies of the reactants, the products and the transition states involved in intramolecular hydrogen-transfer and decomposition reactions of the free gas-phase H₃N···HN(NO₂)₂ (ADN^*). The results show that the intramolecular hydrogen-transfer reaction of ADN^* is more feasible than that of HDN. ADN^* and its hydrogen-transfer isomers ADN^*-IIa,b,c decompose along four channels to form NH₃ + HONO + 2NO (P_I), ?H + ?O₃ + N₂ + NH₃ (P_II), ?H + ?O₂ + N₂O + NH₃ (P_III), and HNO₃ + N₂O + NH₃ (P_IV), respectively. It has been found that the dominant decomposition channels are P_I and P_III. The hydrogen-transfer reaction can reduce the barrier of elimination of NO₂ and forming N₂O reactions in ADN^* and HDN. The decomposition of ADN^*-IIc to form NO₂ and N₂O is more feasible than that of the gas-phase HDN. The rate constants (k) of rate-determining step of ADN^* show that k_PI and k_PIII are higher than k_PIV and k_PII. Compared with HDN-IIc → N₂O+?H+?O₂, k_PIII of ADN^*-IIc is significantly higher than that of k^HDN-IIc. These results reveal that NH₃ (as a chaperon) has a certain influence on the decomposition mechanisms and kinetics of ADN^*.     

Acidities of azoles in the gas phase and in DMSO: an ab initio and DFT study

Acidity of azoles, a very important family of biological molecules with useful pharmacological applications, is examined in the gas phase and in DMSO. The gas phase proton affinities of the corresponding conjugate bases are calculated by the G3 computational scheme and used as a measure of acidity. A good accordance with available experimental data is obtained. It is confirmed that acidity increases with the number of nitrogen atoms in the five-membered ring. The calculated deprotonation energies are interpreted by the triadic formula. It turns out that acidity of azoles is a result of the final state effect and the relaxation energy contribution. It is shown, by using NICS(1) values, that azoles are aromatic compounds and that their aromatic character increases with the number of N atoms. It is also found that aromaticity slightly increases upon deprotonation. Acidity of azoles in DMSO is considered using the isodensity polarized continuum model (IPCM) at the DFT-B3LYP level. A good agreement with accessible experimental results is obtained again. In other cases pK_a values are theoretically predicted and it was found that pentaazole is the most acidic compound with pK_a?=?2. A very good linear relation between theoretical pK_a values and calculated proton affinities of conjugate bases is obtained implying that the trend of changes in the gas phase and in the DMSO solutions is the same.     

Computational studies of vibrational spectra and molecular properties of 6-methyluracil using HF, DFT and MP2 methods

Theoretical investigations of atomic charges, conformers, frontier molecular orbitals, molecular geometries, thermodynamic properties, hyperpolarizabilities and harmonic vibrational frequencies of 6-methyluracil (6MU) have been carried out using ab initio Hartree-Fock (HF), density functional theory (DFT) and second order M?ller-Plesset (MP2) methods. All calculations were performed using the GAMESS-US program package with the basis sets 6-31G(d,p) and 6-311G(d,p). FT-IR and Raman spectra of 6MU were recorded in the regions 50–4000 cm⁻¹ and 60–4000 cm⁻¹ respectively. Optimized geometries were obtained using the global optimization procedure. The calculated structural parameters for two conformers of 6MU have been compared with experimentally observed values. The energy barrier (ΔE=ELUMO-EHOMO) between the HOMO and LUMO is predicted on the basis of theoretical calculations. The simulated TD-DFT spectrum has been compared with experimental electronic spectrum for 6MU. The calculated potential energy distribution (PED) values have been utilized to perform vibrational assignment of the infrared and Raman spectra.     

A DFT study on the mechanisms for gas phase reaction of yttrium with propene

The gas phase reaction of ground‐state yttrium (Y) with propene, previously examined by crossed molecular beams (CMBs) experiment, has been theoretically investigated in detail using B3LYP method. Three concerted and five stepwise pathways were found for H₂ elimination. The calculated PESs indicate that the concerted mechanisms are energetically much more favorable than the stepwise mechanisms for the elimination of H₂. Three isomers, Y‐propyne, Y‐allene, and Y(CHCHCH₂), were assigned to the experimentally observed H₂‐elimination product, YC₃H₄. Three pathways were identified for the C? C bond cleavage products, YCH₂ + C₂H₄. The energetically most favorable pathway involves the formation of a metallacyclobutane intermediate, which can decay to YCH₂ + C₂H₄. The results of this study confirmed some previous inferences and provided more details for the title reaction. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Computational study of lean premixed turbulent flames using RANSPDF and LESPDF methods

A computational study is performed on a series of four piloted, lean, premixed turbulent jet flames. These flames use the Sydney Piloted Premixed Jet Burner (PPJB), and with jet velocities of 50, 100, 150 and 200 m/s are denoted PM150, PM1100, PM1150 and PM1200, respectively. Calculations are performed using the RANSPDF and LESPDF methodologies, with different treatments of molecular diffusion, with detailed chemistry and flamelet-based chemistry modelling, and using different imposed boundary conditions. The sensitivities of the calculations to these different aspects of the modelling are compared and discussed. Comparisons are made to experimental data and to previously-performed calculations. It is found that, given suitable boundary conditions and treatment of molecular diffusion, excellent agreement between the calculations and experimental measurements of the mean and variance fields can be achieved for PM150 and PM1100. The application of a recently developed implementation of molecular diffusion results in a large improvement in the computed variance fields in the LESPDF calculations. The inclusion of differential diffusion in the LESPDF calculations provides insight on the behaviour in the near-field region of the jet, but its effects are found to be confined to this region and to the species CO, OH and H₂. A major discrepancy observed in many previous calculations of these flames is an overprediction of reaction progress in PM1150 and PM1200, and this discrepancy is also observed in the LESPDF calculations; however, a parametric study of the LESPDF mixing model reveals that, with a sufficiently large mixing frequency, calculations of these two flames are capable of yielding improved reaction progress in good qualitative agreement with the mean and RMS scalar measurements up to an x/D of 30. Lastly, the merits of each computational methodology are discussed in light of their computational costs.     

A computational study into the reactivity of epichlorohydrin and epibromohydrin under basic conditions in the gas phase and solution

Ab initio molecular orbital calculations were carried out on epibromohydrin (EBH) and epichlorohydrin (ECH) in an attempt to elucidate their reactivity with respect to a hard nucleophile, hydroxide. These systems were modeled in both the gas phase and a polar solvent under basic conditions. In the gas phase, it was determined that a direct displacement mechanism (nucleophilic attack at the C1 position) was operative for EBH, while an indirect pathway (nucleophilic attack at the C3 position and subsequent intramolecular displacement) was followed for ECH. In an acetone solution, only the indirect displacement mechanism was found to occur. An electrostatic argument is advanced to account for this behavior in polar solution. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Theoretical investigation of magnetic parameters in two-dimensional sheets of pure organic BEDT-TTF and BETS molecules by using ab initio MO and DFT methods

The effective exchange integrals (J _ab(M)) between two cation radicals of title compounds in the Heisenberg model were calculated by ab initio molecular orbital (MO) and density functional theory (DFT) methods, together with hybrid DFT methods. The J _ab(D) values between two dimer mono-cation radicals were also estimated assuming J _ab(D) = J _ab(M)/2. It is found that the spin lattice obtained by the ab initio method is square planar and linear in BEDT-TTF and BETS planes, respectively, although other previous calculations show that spin lattice in the BEDT-TTF plane is a triangular one. The J _ab and overlap integrals (s_ab ) values by the ab initio methods were used to determine transfer integral (t_ab ) and Coulomb repulsion (U_cff ) parameters of the Hubbard model, which were compared with those of the previous results. Implications of the calculated results are discussed in relation to the spin-mediated mechanism for superconductivity.     

Collisions of low-energy electrons with carbonyl-containing molecules in a gas phase

Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 62, No. 6, pp. 135–139, November–December, 1995.     

A computational study into the reactivity of epichlorohydrin and epibromohydrin under acidic conditions in the gas phase and aqueous solution

Ab initio molecular orbital calculations have been carried out upon epichlorohydrin and epibromohydrin at the Hartree–Fock (HF) and Møller–Plesset (MP2) levels of theory to explore the reactivity of these species with respect to nucleophilic attack by water under acidic conditions in the gas phase and aqueous solution. These results suggest that nucleophilic attack occurs preferentially at the epoxy carbon atoms in both the gas phase and aqueous solution. These results are in contrast to those found for nucleophilic attack under basic conditions, where attack at the halocarbon atom is competitive with that at the epoxy carbon atoms. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Computational study of the mechanism of thermal decomposition of xanthates in the gas phase (the Chugaev reaction)

A theoretical study on the mechanism of the thermal decomposition of a series of xanthates, O‐alkyl S‐methyl and S‐alkyl O‐methyl dithiocarbonates, has been carried out, and the alkyl groups being ethyl, isopropyl, and tert‐butyl. Kinetically, these xanthates can be classified in two groups: those where the oxygen atom is involved in the bonding changes of the transition state (properly the Chugaev reaction), and those where it is not, O‐alkyl S‐methyl and S‐alkyl O‐methyl dithiocarbonates, respectively. We have studied not only the thermal elimination reactions but also the other possible reactions such as the thione‐to‐thiol rearrangement and the nucleophilic substitution to give ethers or thioethers. Two possible mechanisms for the thermal elimination reactions, in one and in two steps, respectively, have been studied. Calculations were made at the MP2/6‐31G(d) level of theory, and the progress of the reactions has been followed by means of the Wiberg bond indices. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Photochemical reactions of triplet benzophenone and anthraquinone molecules with amines in the gas phase

The intermolecular photoinduced reactions between triplet ketone molecules and aliphatic amines and pyridine are studied by the quenching of delayed fluorescence of anthraquinone and benzophenone vapors by diethylamine, dibutylamine, cyclohexylamine, triethylamine, and pyridine. In the temperature range 423–573 K, the delayed fluorescence quenching rate constants k _q are estimated from changes in the decay rate constant and the intensity of delayed fluorescence upon increasing pressure of bath gases. It is ascertained that, in the gas phase, the mixtures under study exhibit both a negative and a positive dependence of k _q on temperature, which indicates that some photoinduced reactions do not have activation barriers. The rate constant k _q is shown to increase with decreasing ionization potential of the electron donors. This points to the importance of interactions with charge transfer in the photoreaction of triplet ketone molecules with aliphatic amines and pyridine in the gas phase. The relationship between k _q and the change in the free energy ΔG upon the photoinduced intermolecular electron transfer, which is the primary stage of the photochemical reaction, is studied. It is shown that the dependence k _q (ΔG) for the donor-acceptor pairs under study is described well by the Marcus equation, in which the average vibrational energies of the donor and acceptor are taken into account for the estimate of ΔG.     

分子和金表面相互作用的DFT和HF研究之比较

从第一性原理出发,分别利用密度泛函理论和哈特利-福克方法优化了4 ,4-二巯基联苯分子的几何结构,计算了电子结构,讨论了分子与金表面的相互作用.结果表明,在描述分子的电子结构以及分子与金表面的相互作用时,密度泛函理论可以给出更好的结果.