Ab initio study on the photochemical behavior of styrene

Ab initio complete active space self‐consistent field (CASSCF) and the second order multireference Møller‐Plesset calculations have been performed to examine the photochemical behavior of styrene upon the strong S₀‐S₂ electronic excitation in the low‐lying excited states. The optimized structure at the S₂/S₁ conical intersection (CIX) is characterized by a quinoid structure. The transition state (TS) in S₁ is in the vicinity of the S₂/S₁‐CIX. At the S₁‐TS, two reaction paths branch. One is the relaxation into the stable structure in S₁ and then emission into S₀. The other is the radiationless decay through the S₁/S₀‐CIX. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 10: 950–956, 2002     

Ab initio quantum dynamical study of the vinylidene-acetylene isomerization

The dynamics of vinylidene-acetylene isomerization has been studied quantum mechanically, based on a new ab initio calculated potential energy surface (PES). The grid underlying the PES and the dynamic treatment rest on planar 4-atom Jacobi-like coordinates. Three degrees of freedom, the C-C bond length and the two Jacobi-like angles are treated explicitly, while the two other coordinates relating to the C-H bond lengths have been optimized in the ab initio treatment. The energies of the resulting 3D grid have been computed with the CCSD(T) method, using a cc-pVTZ basis set, while selected stationary points have been characterized at a higher level of theory. The subsequent dynamic treatment reproduces very satisfactorily the experimental photodetachment spectrum of Lineberger and coworkers. Preliminary results are also reported for the lifetime of vinylidene. Received: 5 June 1998/Accepted: 23 July 1998 / Published online: 9 October 1998     

Ab initio method study on the isomerization of 3-amino-2-pyridone

Ab initio caculations with RHF/6-31G and MP2/6-31G have been used to study the isomerization of 3-amino-2-pyridone in gas-phase and in water. The results obtained show that 3-amino-2-pyridone is isomerized into 3-amino-2-hydroxy pyridine via a four-center cyclic transition state in the gas-phase, and via a six-center cyclic transition state in water. The activation energies of this reaction are 226.3336(RHF/6-31G) and 171.2269(MP2/6-31G) in gas-phase, and 81.6398(RHF/6-31G) and 59.8668(MP2/6-31G) kJ mol⁻¹ under the condition of a single water molecule as the catalyst, respectively.     

Ab initio quantum dynamical study of photoinduced ring opening in furan

The nonadiabatic photoinduced ring opening occurring in the two lowest excited singlet states of furan is investigated theoretically, using wave-packet propagation techniques. The underlying multidimensional potential energy surfaces (PESs) are obtained from ab initio computations, using the equation-of-motion coupled cluster method restricted to single and double excitations (EOM-CCSD), reported in earlier recent work [E. V. Gromov, A. B. Trofimov, F. Gatti, and H. Ko?ppel, J. Chem. Phys. 133, 164309 (2010)]. Up to five nuclear degrees of freedom are considered in the quantum dynamical treatment. Four of them represent in-plane motion for which the electronic states in question (correlating with the valence (1)B(2)(V) and Rydberg (1)A(2)(3s) states at the C(2v) ground-state molecular configuration) have different symmetries, A(') and A('), respectively. The fifth mode, representing out-of-plane bending of the oxygen atom against the carbon-atom plane, leads to an interaction of these states, as is crucial for the photoreaction. The nonadiabatic coupling and conical intersection cause an electronic population transfer on the order of ～10 fs. Its main features, and that of the wave-packet motion, are interpreted in terms of properties of the PES. The lifetime due to the ring-opening process has been estimated to be around 2 ps. The dependence of this estimate on the nuclear degrees of freedom retained in the computations is discussed.     

Ab initio calculations on the isomerization of alkene radical cations

Ab initio calculations on the isomerization of butene and pentene radical cations indicate that, for all classical ion structures, the lowest barrier for a rearrangement to the most stable ion structure is below the dissociation limit. Isomerizations of linear butene radical cations to the isobutene structure take place via the CH₃CC₂H₅^·+ structure, whereas in the pentene case the connection between linear and branched ion structures proceeds via the 1,2-dimethylcyclopropane radical cation. From the results a qualitative model is derived which suggests that for larger alkene radical cations an isomerization to structures with four alkyl substituents on the double bond may be in close competition with dissociation.     

Ab initio study of ultrafast photochemical reaction dynamics of phenol blue

Phenol blue (PB) is a primary skeletal structure part of indoaniline dyes and well-known as a solvatochromic dye. It has been recently observed by pump-probe (PP) transient absorption measurements that PB shows ultrafast ground state recovery within a few hundred femtoseconds after photoexcitation. In this work, the ultrafast photochemical reaction mechanism of PB has been investigated using direct ab initio (CASSCF) nonadiabatic molecular dynamics with the trajectory surface hopping (TSH) method. The swarm of trajectories starting from the S1 Franck-Condon (FC) point has mostly shown surface hops (nonadiabatic transitions) from the S1 state to the S0 state at 110-120 fs in the vicinity of an S1/S0 conical intersection and after decay to the S0 state bifurcated into two (Reverse and Forward) directions with almost the same branching ratio and reached the vicinity of the S0 minimum energy point at 200-300 fs, which is in good agreement with the fast time component of the ground state recovery in the PP measurements. After reaching the vicinity of the S0 minimum energy point, the trajectories showed a coherent vibration of bending motion between quinoneimine and aniline rings with a low frequency of 43 cm-1, which presumably corresponds to a coherently photoexcitation-induced vibrational mode with a low frequency recently observed by the PP measurements.     

Ab initio calculations on furan with a new computer program

Two ab initio calculations with different basis sets have been performed on the molecule furan, C₄H₄O. The calculations were done with a new computer program, REFLECT, which is presented. A preliminary analysis of the molecular wave functions has been made by looking at total and orbital energies and also by means of a population analysis. One inner shell ionization energy has been calculated by taking the difference in total energy for the molecule and the corresponding ion. The result is compared with the ionization energy obtained from Koopmans' theorem.     

Ab initio calculations on the isomerization of the 1,5-hexadiyne radical cation

Ab initio calculations at the MRCI//ROHF/6-31G** level suggest that the 1,5-hexadiyne radical cation is not stable and isomerizes to the 1,2,4,5-hexatetraene radical cation without a barrier. After this rearrangement, the internal energy of the ions will be sufficient for a subsequent isomerization to the benzene structure. At energies of about 1 eV above the vertical ionization energy, the 1,5-hexadiyne radical cation may dissociate to linear neutral and ionic C₃H₃ fragments. These results are in excellent agreement with previous experiments.     

Ab initio studies of isomerization and dissociation reactions of methyl peroxynitrate

Using the CCSD(T)/cc-pVDZ//B3LYP/6-311G(2d,2p) method, we calculated the detailed potential energy surfaces (PESs) for the unimolecular isomerization and decomposition of methyl peroxynitrate (CH₃O₂NO₂). The results show that there are the two most stable isomers, IS1a and IS1b, which are a pair of mirror image isomers. From IS1a and IS1b, different isomerization and unimolecular decomposition reaction channels have been studied and discussed. Among them, the predominant thermal decomposition pathways are those leading to CH₃O₂ + NO₂ and cis-CH₃ONO + O₂. The former is the lowest-energy path through the direct O–N bond rupture in IS1a or IS1b. The PES along the O–N bond in IS1a has been scanned, where the energy of IS1a reaches maximum value of 23.5 kcal/mol when the O–N bond is stretched to about 2.8 Å. This energy is 2.7 kcal/mol larger than the O–N bond dissociation energy (BDE) and 2.8 kcal/mol larger than the experimental active energy. In addition, because the energy barriers of IS1a isomerization to IS2a are 23.8 kcal/mol, close to the 20.8 kcal/mol O–N BDE in IS1a or IS1b, the isomerization reaction may compete with the direct bond rupture dissociation reaction.     

Ab initio study of KN

The potential energy curves for the lowest (3)Sigma(-), (3)Pi, and (5)Sigma(-) states of the KN molecule have been calculated by the multireference singles and doubles configuration interaction method, including Davidson's corrections for quadruple excitations [MRCI(+Q)]. It is shown that the former two are bound, while the last one is repulsive. The electronic ground state of KN is predicted as (3)Sigma(-) state, although the term energy of the (3)Pi state is very small, 177.3 cm(-1). The binding energy for the (3)Sigma(-) state is evaluated as 0.838 eV, the rotational constant B(0) as 0.250 63 cm(-1), and harmonic frequency as 324.4 cm(-1). The spin-orbit coupling effects between the (3)Sigma(-) and (3)Pi states of KN are evaluated and discussed. The same MRCI(+Q) computational procedures are applied to the isovalent LiN, KC, KO, and KCl to confirm the accuracy of present calculations. Theoretical spectroscopic constants presented here will inspire experimental studies of KN.     

Ab initio study of the pathways and barriers of tricyclo[4.1.0.0(2,7)]heptene isomerization

The thermal isomerization of tricyclo[4.1.0.0(2,7)]heptene has been studied using computational chemistry with structures determined at the MCSCF level and energies at the MRMP2 level. Both the allowed conrotatory and forbidden disrotatory pathways have been elucidated resulting in cycloheptatriene isomers. Four reaction channels are available for the conrotatory pathway depending on which bond breaks first in the bicyclobutane moiety leading to enantiomeric pairs of (E,Z,Z)-1,3,5-cycloheptatriene and (Z,E,Z)-1,3,5-cycloheptatriene intermediates. The activation barrier is calculated to be 31.3 kcal·mol?1 for two channels and 37.5 kcal·mol?1 for the other two. The lower activation barrier leading to the (E,Z,Z)-1,3,5-cycloheptatriene enantiomeric pair is proposed to be due to resonance within the transition state. The same behavior was observed for the disrotatory pathway with activation barriers of 42.0 kcal·mol?1 and 55.1 kcal·mol?1 for the two channels, again with one transition state resonance stabilized. The barriers for trans double bond rotation of the intermediate cycloheptatrienes are determined to be 17.1 and 17.4 kcal·mol?1, about 5 kcal·mol?1 more than that for the seven carbon diene (E,Z)-1,3-cycloheptadiene. The electrocyclic ring closure of the trans cycloheptatrienes have been modeled and barriers determined to be 11.1 and 11.9 kcal·mol?1 for the formation of bicyclo[3.2.0]hepta-2,6-diene. This structure was previously reported as the end product for thermolysis of the parent tricyclo[4.1.0.0(2,7)]heptene. The thermodynamically more stable cycloheptatriene can be formed from bicyclo[3.2.0]hepta-2,6-diene through a two step process with a calculated pseudo first-order barrier of 36.4 kcal·mol?1. The trans-cycloheptatrienes reported herein are the first characterization of a small seven-membered ring triene with a trans double bond.     

Ab initio study of the cyclooctatetraenyl radical

Ab initio calculations have been carried out on the 1,3,5,7- and 1,2,4,7-tetraene configurations of the cyclooctatetraenyl radical at UHF, ROHF, MCSCF, ROCISD, QCISD, and CCSD(T) levels of theory with 6-311G(d,p) and cc-pVDZ basis sets. Although spin contamination is present, the ROCISD calculations support the energies obtained from less intensive, UHF-based coupled cluster calculations over the energies obtained from MCSCF analysis of the pi-electron orbitals. The 1,3,5,7-form is a local minimum at the coupled cluster levels, higher in energy than the resonance-stabilized 1,2,4,7-form by 10-13 kJ/mol, but bounded by a barrier of less than 0.5 kJ/mol. The isomerization surface connecting these two structures is described and results reported from integration of the vibrational Schr?dinger equation on that surface. Excited vibrational states at energies just above the isomerization barrier are dominated by the character of the 1,3,5,7-tetraenyl radical, which suggests that chemistry involving this intermediate at typical combustion temperatures may branch at this juncture.     

Ab initio calculations of isomerization reaction of diphosphene 1-sulfide to thiadiphosphirane

Ab initio Calculations of the isomerization reaction of diphosphene 1-sulfide (2′) to thiadiphosphirane (3′) suggest that the energy barrier of the reaction in the ground state is 25 kcal/mol and that 2′ lies 21 kcal/mol above 3′, while the calculations show that there exists one local minimum on the lowest triplet energy surface.     

Ab initio study on cyanamide and isocyanamide

Spectroscopic parameters, namely force constants and dipole-moment derivatives of cyanamide and isocyanamide at their equilibrium geometry, are studied by the ab initio MO method. The configuration of the former of the two structural isomers has amide character, and the latter amine character. The assignments of skeletal-deformation vibrations are reinvestigated experimentally as well. This study supports Ogilvie's attribution of what he observed to the vibrational spectrum of isocyanamide and explains the anomalous infrared intensity in the spectrum. A special theoretical treatment of amino wagging motion is presented, which includes the inversion effect, and which enables the prediction of the inversion splitting of isocyanamide.     

用从头算研究Shilov反应的机理

Shilov反应在CH~4活化中占有中心地位,它有氧化加成和σ迁移两种可能的机理。本文用较大基组的从头算研究了这两种机理的反应过程,认为Shilov反应应按氧化加成机理进行。     

Ab initio study of hydrazoic acid

SCF and CI calculations were carried out on the ground^1A state of HN₃. The equilibrium geometry and vibration frequencies were computed. The results point to a planar structure (groupC _s) but to a non-linear (170 °) N-N-N conformation. The calculated vibration frequencies are in fair agreement with experimental assignments.The dissociation path of the molecule to NH and N₂ products was investigated and compared to the isoelectronic reaction of diazomethane. The dissociation energy of hydrazoic acid is estimated to be about –8 kcal/mole, with a potential barrier to dissociation of about 30 kcal/mole.Boursier IRSIA     

Ab initio study of cyclic hexahalotriphosphazenes

Using standard ab initio methods, the electronic structure and optimal geometries of cyclo-(NPX₂)₃ (X = F, Cl) are investigated at the DZ+P basis set level. Out-of-plane π overlap populations for P-N bonds (evaluated as the contribution of a“₂ and e” molecular orbitais) are roughly two times greater than the in-plane gp ones evaluated as half the difference between the gross and net d orbital Mulliken populations on phosphorus belonging to é molecular orbitais.     

Ab initio study of lithiated N-methylpyridones

Ab initio calculations were performed on the N-methylpyridones lithiated on the aromatic ring using a 6-31G* basis set. Whenever the lithium atom is on a carbon adjacent to the carbonylic group, a bridged structure is obtained where lithium is coordinated to both carbon and oxygen; these structures are the most stable isomers. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Ab initio investigation of the electronic structure of malonic dialdehyde derivatives

An ab initio quantum chemical investigation is performed for a series of ligands of Β-diketonate metal complexes: neutral and anionic forms of malonic dialdehyde and its nitrous analogs. The nature and sequence of molecular orbitals are established, and the influence of the basis set used on the results of electronic structure calculations of the compounds are analyzed. The electronic effects of oxygen substitution by the NH group are analyzed. The results are compared with the photoelectron spectroscopy data of the ligands. Translated fromZhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 38, No. 6, pp. 1061–1066, November–December, 1997.