DFT calculations of static dipole polarizabilities and hyperpolarizabilities for the boron clusters Bn (n=3–8,10)

The static electric dipole polarizabilities and second‐order hyperpolarizabilities of several bare boron clusters have been calculated with density functional theory. The average second‐order hyperpolarizability γ_av reaches a saturation limit of about 50,000 a.u. already with B₅ for a given type of structure. The average polarizability per atom shows overall a decrease with increasing cluster size, while the average second hyperpolarizability per atom first increases from B₃ to B₆, and then starts to decrease. For the noncentrosymmetric clusters dipole moments and first‐order hyperpolarizabilities are reported. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 78: 131–135, 2000     

An augmented effective core potential basis set for the calculation of molecular polarizabilities

Calculations of molecular polarizabilities require basis sets capable of accurately describing the responses of the electrons to an external perturbation. Unfortunately, basis sets that yield suitable quantitative results have traditionally been all-electron sets with large numbers of primitives, making their use computationally intractable even for moderately sized systems. We present a systematic augmentation of the effective core potential basis set of Stevens et al. [J Chem Phys 81, 12 (1984), Can J Chem 70, 612 (1992)] for 39 main group elements based on the procedure used to construct diffuse and polarization functions in the well-known Sadlej basis sets [Collec Czech Chem Comm 53, 1995 (1988)]. Representative calculations have been performed and we have shown that results to within 1% of all-electron calculations using the Sadlej basis set can be obtained for <1-35% of the computational cost using this new basis set.     

Sulfur makes the difference: synthesis and mesomorphic properties of novel thioether-functionalized imidazolium ionic liquid crystals

Novel thioether-linked imidazolium ionic liquid crystals were synthesized starting from methyl 2-mercaptoacetate. The mesomorphic properties were determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarizing optical microscopy (POM), and X-ray diffraction. All mesogens displayed smectic A mesophase geometries with strongly interdigitated bilayer structures. Comparison of the thioether-linked imidazolium salts with the corresponding amine- and amide-linked imidazolium salts as well as simple N-alkyl-imidazolium salts showed that both mesophase width and stability increased with increasing softness of the linking unit, thus indicating the beneficial effect of sulfur. Additionally, an increase of the length of the linking unit decreased the interdigitation of the alkyl chains.     

Kohn-Sham potentials corresponding to Slater and Gaussian basis set densities

A new method based on linear response theory is proposed for the determination of the Kohn-Sham potential corresponding to a given electron density. The method is very precise and affords a comparison between Kohn-Sham potentials calculated from correlated reference densities expressed in Slater-(STO) and Gaussian-type orbitals (GTO). In the latter case the KS potential exhibits large oscillations that are not present in the exact potential. These oscillations are related to similar oscillations in the local error function δ _i (r)=(−ɛ _i )ϕ _i (r) when SCF orbitals (either Kohn-Sham or Hartree-Fock) are expressed in terms of Gaussian basis functions. Even when using very large Gaussian basis sets, the oscillations are such that extreme care has to be exercised in order to distinguish genuine characteristics of the KS potential, such as intershell peaks in atoms, from the spurious oscillations. For a density expressed in GTOs, the Laplacian of the density will exhibit similar spurious oscillations. A previously proposed iterative local updating method for generating the Kohn-Sham potential is evaluated by comparison with the present accurate scheme. For a density expressed in GTOs, it is found to yield a smooth “average” potential after a limited number of cycles. The oscillations that are peculiar to the GTO density are constructed in a slow process requiring very many cycles. Received: 24 February 1997 / Accepted: 18 June 1997     

Application of the coupled-cluster theory to atomic frequency-dependent polarizabilities

Summary A time-dependent coupled-cluster approach may be employed to describe dynamic processes of many-electron systems. Atomic properties, such as the frequency-dependent polarizability, can be treated as a response of the system described by the coupled-cluster expansion to an external radiation field. The major difficulty in the realization of such a formalism is to deal with dynamic pair functions. The procedure reported here is to simplify the full set of single- and pair-excitation expansion equations to a subset of equations which includes polarization and relaxation effects to all orders and is solved by using a complete set of discrete basis functions. Calculations of excitation energies and frequency-dependent electric dipole polarizabilities for helium are presented. Application of the procedure to calculate photoionization cross sections is discussed.     

Synthesis and characterization of novel imidazolium-based ionic discotic liquid crystals with a triphenylene moiety

Two novel triphenylene-tethered imidazolium salts were synthesized either by the quaternization of 1-methylimidazole with an ω-bromo-substituted triphenylene or by the quaternization of a triphenylene-substituted imidazole with methyl iodide. Their chemical structures were determined by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, IR, UV spectroscopy and elemental analysis. The thermotropic liquid crystalline properties of these salts were investigated by polarizing optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. These triphenylene-based imidazolium salts with bromide or iodide as counterion show columnar mesophase properties over a wide temperature range.     

Design and synthesis of novel ionic liquid/liquid crystals (ILCs) with axial chirality

As the first examples of axially chiral ionic liquids, new pyridinium salts having a 1,3-dioxan ring in their central core were synthesized. Enantioselective dehydrohalogenation using chiral alkoxides provided a simple and practical approach for their synthesis. Some structures exhibit both low melting point and liquid crystalline behaviour.     

Ionic liquid crystals based on viologen dimers: tuning the mesomorphism by varying the conformational freedom of the ionic layer

We investigated the liquid crystal behaviour of newly synthesised bistriflimide salts of symmetric viologen dimers. A smectic A phase was observed for intermediate spacer lengths and for relatively long lateral alkyl chains. The systems were characterised by thermal analysis, polarised optical microscopy, X-ray scattering and solid-state NMR. An intermediate ordered smectic phase was also exhibited by the compounds (except for systems with very short lateral chains) consisting of molten layers of alkyl chains and partially ordered ionic layers. These results, relating to the mesomorphic behaviour of viologen salts, are qualitatively compared to those of the more common imidazolium salts, highlighting the importance of the conformational degrees of freedom of the anions and of the cationic core. It appears that fine tuning of the conformational degrees of freedom of the ionic layer is an important component of mesophase stabilisation.     

Charge distributions on polyatomic ions,and their relationships with cohesive energies of ionic crystals

Some current approaches to the determination of the charge distributions on polyatomic ions are considered. The methods involving cohesive energies of ionic solids on the one hand and those using molecular-orbital calculations on the other hand are compared and discussed. New charge distributions are presented for a series of polyatomic ions.     

Dynamic dipole polarizabilities of the ground and excited states of confined hydrogen atom computed by means of a mapped Fourier grid method

Accurate theoretical estimates of static and dynamic dipole polarizabilities are reported for the ground and excited states of hydrogen atom confined at the center of a spherical “box” with impenetrable walls using a novel theoretical algorithm that combines the variational–perturbation approach with an appropriately adapted mapped Fourier grid method and uniformly maintains the numerical accuracy. A variation of computed polarizabilities is observed as a function of the number of grid points. However, rapid convergence to their correct values, even far into the anomalous dispersion region, is achieved by an extrapolation procedure to the limit of an infinitely large number of grid points using a small number of the lowest‐order Padé approximants. It is shown that dipole polarizabilities strongly depend upon the electronic state and the radius of confinement. In particular, the static polarizability of 2s state changes sign under strong confinement. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2008     

Correlated dipole polarizabilities and dipole moments of the halides HX and CH3X (X=F,Cl and Br)

Summary We report values of the correlated dynamic dipole polarizability for the halides HX and CH₃X (X = F, Cl and Br). The polarizabilities are calculated within the second-order polarization propagator approximation (SOPPA). The correlated results are in much better agreement with the available experimental results, compared to RPA. We also report the second-order dipole moments using both the relaxed and unrelaxed MP2 density matrices. The relaxed results are in better agreement with experiment.     

氟代十二顶点碳硼烷结构和非线性光学性质的理论研究

采用密度泛函理论(DFT)方法,计算并分析了四氟取代十二顶点碳硼烷及其衍生物的结构和非线性光学(NLO)性质.结果表明,改变四氟碳硼烷取代基的共轭性或给吸电子能力,会使分子中碳硼笼原子间距离发生改变.碳硼烷取代基的给吸电子能力越强,其偶极矩越大.分子极化率随取代基共轭性和体积的增加而增大.引入强吸电子基或增加四氟碳硼烷取代基的共轭性,可使其二阶NLO响应明显增强.通过分析分子的电子光谱和对应的分子轨道组成可知,第一超极化率最大的分子4a’发生碳硼笼到并苯取代基的电荷转移.     

Study of the mesomorphic behaviour through the structure modification of azo and acetylene pyridinium and imidazolium-based ionic liquid crystals

ABSTRACT

In this work, 14 pyridinium and imidazolium-based ionic liquid crystal (ILC) with azo (N=N) and acetylene (C≡C) as linking group were synthesised in high yields and completely characterised. The structure of the molecules were planned in order to allow a complete investigation on how modifications such as presence and position of charges, linking group, number of alkoxy chains and their length affect the thermal stability and liquid crystalline behaviour. All compounds were thoroughly investigated using polarised optical microscopy (POM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). While the presence of charges favoured a liquid crystalline behaviour, especially SmA (and SmA₂) phase, a decrease of thermal stability was noticed. A strong dependence of the charge position and a preference for monolayer or bilayer molecular organisation was observed. On the other hand, it was demonstrated that the addition of a second alkoxy chain promoted layer distortions in some molecules, resulting in the formation of Smà and Cub phases. Also a direct comparison between the N=N and C≡C linking groups was realised, along with further comparison with literature data. The structure–properties are investigated in detail.     

Studies on the properties of ionic liquid EMIInCl4

This paper reports that an ionic liquid (IL) has been prepared by directly mixing InCl₃ and 1-methyl-3-ethylimidazolium chloride (EMIC) with molar ratio 1/1 under dry argon atmosphere. The densities, and surface tension of the pure IL were determined at temperature range of 293.15 to 343.15 ± 0.1 K. The volumetric properties and the properties of surface for ionic liquid based on group III were discussed by Glasser's theory and Yang's interstice model.     

Structure and conformational equilibrium of thiacalix[4]arene by density functional theory

Density functional theory calculations for the structure and conformational equilibrium of thiacalix[4]arene are reported. The conformational equilibrium of thiacalix[4]arene, a heterocalixarene in which the phenol groups are bridged by sulphur atoms is compared to the conformational equilibrium of calix[4]arene. Thiacalix[4]arene conformational energies relative to the cone conformer (ΔE's) are reduced in comparison with calix[4]arene. This conformational change is in qualitative agreement with recent NMR spectroscopy measurements of the conformational equilibrium for a tetraethylether of thiacalix[4]arene in a CDCl₃ solution which indicates an enhanced chemical exchange of thiacalixarene conformers in comparison with similar methylene bridged structures. Density functional theory results for the structure of thiacalix[4]arene are in good agreement with recent X-ray diffraction measurements. The electrostatic potentials in the cone conformers of thiacalix[4]arene and calix[4]arene suggest that their complexation or recognition abilities can be significantly different. Dipole moments of the four thiacalix[4]arene conformers are in the order: cone>1,2-alternate>partial-cone>1,3-alternate.     

Computational studies on glyceraldehyde and glycine Maillard reaction-II

Density-functional theory (BLYP/6-31G*) and semiempirical theory was used to study compounds related to a strained cyclic hexaalkyne that was postulated by Staab et al. as a trimeric intermediate in the copper-mediated oxidative coupling of 2,2′-diethynylbiphenyl. Among the products of this reaction is an ortho-arene cyclyne. It was found that the hexaalkyne→ortho-arene cyclyne rearrangement is quite exothermic (ca. 130 kcal/mol). Of the semiempirical methods tested, the AM1 results were closer than PM3 or MNDO to BLYP/6-31G*. For the intermediate, two conformations were found: the expected D₃-symmetric conformation and an unexpected C₂-symmetric conformation. Structures and energies of hexamethyl- and dodecamethyl-substituted analogues of the intermediate and product were also calculated at the AM1 level, in order to test whether steric effects might stabilize the intermediate, relative to the product. It was found that even very sterically crowded products were much more stable than the relevant intermediates. This suggested that the large exothermicity of the hexaalkyne→ortho-arene cyclyne rearrangement might be used to drive formation of interesting strained products. An example used to illustrate this is the rearrangement of a binaphthyl analogue of Staab's biphenyl intermediate. BLYP and AM1 calculations suggest that the rearrangement of this intermediate would be exothermic by ca. 105–110 kcal/mol, despite strain induced by formation of three [5]helicene moieties in the product.     

Geometry and tautomerism of sapphyrin—DFT studies

The structure and total energy have been investigated, applying the density functional theory (DFT), for idealized sapphyrin derivatives, created by replacements of meso-phenyl groups of 5,10,15,20-tetraphenylsapphyrin or β-alkyl groups of decaalkylsapphyrin with hydrogens or two methyl groups, respectively. The following species have been considered: the dication of plain sapphyrin (SapH₅²⁺) 12,13-dimethylsapphyrin (12,13-DMSapH₃), 12,13-dimethylsapphyrin dication (12,13-DMSapH₅²⁺), and the 10,15-dimethylsapphyrin dication (10,15-DMSapH₅²⁺). To address the issue of tautomerization the calculations have been carried out for the six feasible distribution patterns of NH protons among the five nitrogen centers of the planar sapphyrin P0_i (i=1–6). The B3LYP/6-31G optimized bond lengths and angles of sapphyrin or (dimethylated sapphyrin) skeletons are in satisfactory agreement with X-ray crystallographic values determined for decaalkylsapphyrin dications. The calculated total energies, using the B3LYP/6-31G**//3-21G approach demonstrate that the plain sapphyrin and 12,13-dimethylsapphyrin dications favor the planar geometry of the macrocycle. Localization of the methyl groups at the 10,15-meso positions of sapphyrin reversed the order of stability leading to the energy preference for the inverted structure. Thus, this steric factor related to the meso substitution seems to be instrumental in the C pyrrolic ring inversion. The DFT calculation also provided the relative stability frame for the complex tautomeric equilibria of SapH₃ which involve six different forms. Their relative stability decreases in the range: {25-NH, 26-N, 27-NH, 28-NH, 29-N} P0₃>({25-NH, 26-N, 27-NH, 28-N, 29-NH} P0₁>{25-NH, 26-NH, 27-N, 28-NH, 29-N} P0₅>{25-N, 26-NH, 27-NH, 28-NH, 29-N} P0₂>{25-NH, 26-N, 27-N, 28-NH, 29-NH} P0₆>{25-N, 26-N, 27-NH, 28-NH, 29-NH} P0₄. The stability order can be qualitatively related to the number and the nature of the cis NH interactions present in the sapphyrin core.     

Theoretical investigations on the thiol–thioester exchange steps of different thioesters

As the rate-determining step in native chemical ligation reactions, the thiol–thioester exchange step is important in determining the efficiency of the ligations of peptides. In the present study, systematic theoretical calculations were carried out on the relationships between the structure of different thioesters and the free energy barriers of the thiol–thioester exchange step. According to the calculation results, the thiol–thioester exchange step is disfavored by the steric hindrance around the carbonyl center, while the electronic effect(i.e. conjugation and hyper-conjugation effects) becomes important when the steric hindrance is insignificant.