Reliable predictions of the thermochemistry of boron-nitrogen hydrogen storage compounds: BxNxHy, x = 2, 3

Thermochemical data calculated using ab initio molecular orbital theory are reported for 16 BxNxHy compounds with x = 2, 3 and y > or = 2x. Accurate gas-phase heats of formation were obtained using coupled cluster with single and double excitations and perturbative triples (CCSD(T)) valence electron calculations extrapolated to the complete basis set (CBS) limit with additional corrections including core/valence, scalar relativistic, and spin-orbit corrections to predict the atomization energies and scaled harmonic frequencies to correct for zero point and thermal energies and estimate entropies. Computationally cheaper calculations were also performed using the G3MP2 and G3B3 variants of the Gaussian 03 method, as well as density functional theory (DFT) using the B3LYP functional. The G3MP2 heats of formation are too positive by up to approximately 6 kcal/mol as compared with CCSD(T)/CBS values. The more expensive G3B3 method predicts heats of formation that are too negative as compared with the CCSD(T)/CBS values by up to 3-4 kcal/mol. DFT using the B3LYP functional and 6-311+G** basis set predict isodesmic reaction energies to within a few kcal/mol compared with the CCSD(T)/CBS method so isodesmic reactions involving BN compounds and the analogous hydrocarbons can be used to estimate heats of formation. Heats of formation of c-B3N3H12 and c-B3N3H6 are -95.5 and -115.5 kcal/mol at 298 K, respectively, using our best calculated CCSD(T)/CBS approach. The experimental value for c-B3N3H6 appears to be approximately 7 kcal/mol too negative. Enthalpies, entropies, and free energies are calculated for many dehydrocoupling and dehydrogenation reactions that convert BNH6 to alicyclic and cyclic oligomers and H2(g). Generally, the reactions are highly exothermic and exergonic as well because of the release of 1 or more equivalents of H2(g). For c-B3N3H12 and c-B3N3H6, available experimental data for sublimation and vaporization lead to estimates of their condensed phase 298 K heats of formation: DeltaHf degrees [c-B3N3H12(s)] = -124 kcal/mol and DeltaHf degrees [c-B3N3H6(l)] = -123 kcal/mol. The reaction thermochemistries for the dehydrocoupling of BNH6(s) to c-B3N3H12(s) and the dehydrogenation of c-B3N3H12(s) to c-B3N3H6(l) are much less exothermic compared with the gas-phase reactions due to intermolecular forces which decrease in the order BNH6 > cyclo-B3N3H12 > cyclo-B3N3H6. The condensed phase reaction free energies are less negative compared with the gas-phase reactions but are still too favorable for BNH6 to be regenerated from either c-B3N3H12 or c-B3N3H6 by just an overpressure of H2.     

Performance of the correlation consistent composite approach for transition states: a comparison to G3B theory

The correlation consistent composite approach (ccCA) was applied to the prediction of reaction barrier heights (i.e., transition state energy relative to reactants and products) for a standard benchmark set of reactions comprised of both hydrogen transfer reactions and nonhydrogen transfer reactions (i.e., heavy-atom transfer, SN2, and unimolecular reactions). The ccCA method was compared against G3B for the same set of reactions. Error metrics indicate that ccCA achieves "chemical accuracy" with a mean unsigned error (MUE) of 0.89 kcal/mol with respect to the benchmark data for barrier heights; G3B has a mean unsigned error of 1.94 kcal/mol. Further, the greater accuracy of ccCA for predicted reaction barriers is compared to other benchmarked literature methods, including density functional (BB1K, MUE=1.16 kcal/mol) and wavefunction-based [QCISD(T), MUE=1.10 kcal/mol] methods.     

Accurate prediction of heats of formation by a combined method of B3LYP and neural network correction

Recently, we proposed the X1 method which combines the B3LYP/6‐311+G(3df,2p)//B3LYP/6‐311+G(d,p) method with a neural network correction for an accurate yet efficient prediction of heats of formation (Wu and Xu, J Chem Phys 2007, 127, 214105). In this contribution, we discuss in detail how to set up the X1 neural network. We give examples, showing how to apply the X1 method and how the applicability of X1 can be extended. The overall mean absolute deviation of the X1 method from experiment for the 488 heats of formation is 1.52 kcal/mol compared with 9.44 kcal/mol for the original B3LYP results. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 2009     

The X1 method for accurate and efficient prediction of heats of formation

We propose the X1 method which combines the density functional theory method with a neural network (NN) correction for an accurate yet efficient prediction of heats of formation. It calculates the final energy by using B3LYP6-311+G(3df,2p) at the B3LYP6-311+G(d,p) optimized geometry to obtain the B3LYP standard heats of formation at 298 K with the unscaled zero-point energy and thermal corrections at the latter basis set. The NN parameters cover 15 elements of H, Li, Be, B, C, N, O, F, Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, and Cl. The performance of X1 is close to the Gn theories, giving a mean absolute deviation of 1.43 kcalmol for the G399 set of 223 molecules up to 10 nonhydrogen atoms and 1.48 kcal/mol for the X107 set of 393 molecules up to 32 nonhydrogen atoms.     

Reactivity of alkyl versus silyl peroxides. The consequences of 1, 2-silicon bridging on the epoxidation of alkenes with silyl hydroperoxides and bis(trialkylsilyl)peroxides

The bond dissociation energies for a series of silyl peroxides have been calculated at the G2 and CBS-Q levels of theory. A comparison is made with the O-O BDE of the corresponding dialkyl peroxides, and the effect of the O-O bond strength on the activation barrier for oxygen atom transfer is discussed. The O-O bond dissociation enthalpies (DeltaH(298)) for bis (trimethylsilyl) peroxide (1) and trimethylsilyl hydroperoxide (2) are 54.8 and 53.1 kcal/mol, respectively at the G2 (MP2) and CBS-Q levels of theory. The O-O bond dissociation energies computed at G2 and G2(MP2) levels for bis(tert-butyl) peroxide and tert-butyl hydroperoxide are 45.2 and 48.3 kcal/mol, respectively. The barrier height for 1,2-methyl migration from silicon to oxygen in trimethylsilyl hydroperoxide is 47.9 kcal/mol (MP4//MP2/6-31G). The activation energy for the oxidation of trimethylamine to its N-oxide by bis(trimethylsilyl) peroxide is 28.2 kcal/mol (B3LYP/6-311+G(3df,2p)// B3LYP/6-31G(d)). 1,2-Silicon bridging in the transition state for oxygen atom transfer to a nucleophilic amine results in a significant reduction in the barrier height. The barrier for the epoxidation of E-2-butene with bis(dimethyl(trifluoromethyl))silyl peroxide is 25.8 kcal/mol; a reduction of 7.5 kcal/mol relative to epoxidation with 1. The activation energy calculated for the epoxidation of E-2-butene with F(3)SiOOSiF(3) is reduced to only 2.2 kcal/mol reflecting the inductive effect of the electronegative fluorine atoms.     

Trends in R-X bond dissociation energies (R = Me, Et, i-Pr, t-Bu; X = H, CH3, OCH3, OH, F): a surprising shortcoming of density functional theory

The performance of a variety of high-level composite procedures, as well as lower-cost density functional theory (DFT)- and second-order perturbation theory (MP2)-based methods, for the prediction of absolute and relative R-X bond dissociation energies (BDEs) was examined for R = Me, Et, i-Pr and t-Bu, and X = H, CH(3), OCH(3), OH and F. The methods considered include the high-level G3(MP2)-RAD and G3-RAD procedures, a variety of pure and hybrid DFT methods (B-LYP, B3-LYP, B3-P86, KMLYP, B1B95, MPW1PW91, MPW1B95, BB1K, MPW1K, MPWB1K and BMK), standard restricted (open-shell) MP2 (RMP2), and two recently introduced variants of MP2, namely spin-component-scaled MP2 (SCS-MP2) and scaled-opposite-spin MP2 (SOS-MP2). The high-level composite procedures show very good agreement with experiment and are used to evaluate the performance of the lower-level DFT- and MP2-based procedures. The best DFT methods (KMLYP and particularly BMK) provide very reasonable predictions for the absolute heats of formation and R-X BDEs for the systems studied. However, all of the DFT methods overestimate the stabilizing effect on BDEs in going from R = Me to R = t-Bu, leading in some cases to incorrect qualitative behavior. In contrast, the MP2-based methods generally show larger errors (than the best DFT methods) in the absolute heats of formation and BDEs, but better behavior for the relative BDEs, although they do tend to underestimate the stabilizing effect on BDEs in going from R = Me to R = t-Bu. The potentially less computationally expensive SOS-MP2 method offers particular promise as a reliable method that might be applicable to larger systems.     

Thermochemistry of Lewis adducts of BH3 and nucleophilic substitution of triethylamine on NH3BH3 in tetrahydrofuran

The thermochemistry of the formation of Lewis base adducts of BH(3) in tetrahydrofuran (THF) solution and the gas phase and the kinetics of substitution on ammonia borane by triethylamine are reported. The dative bond energy of Lewis adducts were predicted using density functional theory at the B3LYP/DZVP2 and B3LYP/6-311+G** levels and correlated ab initio molecular orbital theories, including MP2, G3(MP2), and G3(MP2)B3LYP, and compared with available experimental data and accurate CCSD(T)/CBS theory results. The analysis showed that the G3 methods using either the MP2 or the B3LYP geometries reproduce the benchmark results usually to within ~1 kcal/mol. Energies calculated at the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ level for geometries optimized at the B3LYP/DZVP2 or B3LYP/6-311+G** levels give dative bond energies 2-4 kcal/mol larger than benchmark values. The enthalpies for forming adducts in THF were determined by calorimetry and compared with the calculated energies for the gas phase reaction: THFBH(3) + L → LBH(3) + THF. The formation of NH(3)BH(3) in THF was observed to yield significantly more heat than gas phase dative bond energies predict, consistent with strong solvation of NH(3)BH(3). Substitution of NEt(3) on NH(3)BH(3) is an equilibrium process in THF solution (K ≈ 0.2 at 25 °C). The reaction obeys a reversible bimolecular kinetic rate law with the Arrhenius parameters: log A = 14.7 ± 1.1 and E(a) = 28.1 ± 1.5 kcal/mol. Simulation of the mechanism using the SM8 continuum solvation model shows the reaction most likely proceeds primarily by a classical S(N)2 mechanism.     

The 6-31B(d) basis set and the BMC-QCISD and BMC-CCSD multicoefficient correlation methods

Three new multicoefficient correlation methods (MCCMs) called BMC-QCISD, BMC-CCSD, and BMC-CCSD-C are optimized against 274 data that include atomization energies, electron affinities, ionization potentials, and reaction barrier heights. A new basis set called 6-31B(d) is developed and used as part of the new methods. BMC-QCISD has mean unsigned errors in calculating atomization energies per bond and barrier heights of 0.49 and 0.80 kcal/mol, respectively. BMC-CCSD has mean unsigned errors of 0.42 and 0.71 kcal/mol for the same two quantities. BMC-CCSD-C is an equally effective variant of BMC-CCSD that employs Cartesian rather than spherical harmonic basis sets. The mean unsigned error of BMC-CCSD or BMC-CCSD-C for atomization energies, barrier heights, ionization potentials, and electron affinities is 22% lower than G3SX(MP2) at an order of magnitude less cost for gradients for molecules with 9-13 atoms, and it scales better (N6 vs N,7 where N is the number of atoms) when the size of the molecule is increased.     

Accurate bond dissociation enthalpies by using doubly hybrid XYG3 functional

In this work, we examine the performance of XYG3, a newly developed doubly hybrid density functional (Zhang, Xu, and Goddard III, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2009, 106, 4963), to calculate covalent bond dissociation enthalpy (BDE). We use 5 atoms, 32 molecular radicals, and 116 closed-shell molecules to set up 142 bond dissociation reactions. For the total of 148 heats of formation (HOFs) and 142 BDEs, XYG3 leads to mean absolute deviations (MADs) of 1.45 and 1.87 kcal/mol, respectively. In comparison with some other functionals, MADs for HOFs are 2.31 (M06-2X), 2.98 (B2PLYP-D), 3.04 (BMK), 3.96 (B3LYP), 4.47 (B2PLYP), 5.42 (B2GP-PLYP), 6.46 (PBE0), and 29.93 kcal/mol (B3P86), and the corresponding errors for BDEs are 2.06 (M06-2X), 2.25 (BMK), 2.51 (B2PLYP-D), 2.89 (B2GP-PLYP), 3.30 (B3P86), 3.44 (B2PLYP), 3.87 (PBE0), and 6.14 kcal/mol (B3LYP).     

The correlation-consistent composite approach: application to the G3/99 test set

The correlation-consistent composite approach (ccCA), an ab initio composite technique for computing atomic and molecular energies, recently has been shown to successfully reproduce experimental data for a number of systems. The ccCA is applied to the G3/99 test set, which includes 223 enthalpies of formation, 88 adiabatic ionization potentials, 58 adiabatic electron affinities, and 8 adiabatic proton affinities. Improvements on the original ccCA formalism include replacing the small basis set quadratic configuration interaction computation with a coupled cluster computation, employing a correction for scalar relativistic effects, utilizing the tight-d forms of the second-row correlation-consistent basis sets, and revisiting the basis set chosen for geometry optimization. With two types of complete basis set extrapolation of MP2 energies, ccCA results in an almost zero mean deviation for the G3/99 set (with a best value of -0.10 kcal mol(-1)), and a 0.96 kcal mol(-1) mean absolute deviation, which is equivalent to the accuracy of the G3X model chemistry. There are no optimized or empirical parameters included in the computation of ccCA energies. Except for a few systems to be discussed, ccCA performs as well as or better than Gn methods for most systems containing first-row atoms, while for systems containing second-row atoms, ccCA is an improvement over Gn model chemistries.     

Extension of the PDDG/PM3 and PDDG/MNDO semiempirical molecular orbital methods to the halogens

The new semiempirical methods, PDDG/PM3 and PDDG/MNDO, have been parameterized for halogens. For comparison, the original MNDO and PM3 were also reoptimized for the halogens using the same training set; these modified methods are referred to as MNDO' and PM3'. For 442 halogen-containing molecules, the smallest mean absolute error (MAE) in heats of formation is obtained with PDDG/PM3 (5.6 kcal/mol), followed by PM3' (6.1 kcal/mol), PDDG/MNDO (6.6 kcal/mol), PM3 (8.1 kcal/mol), MNDO' (8.5 kcal/mol), AM1 (11.1 kcal/mol), and MNDO (14.0 kcal/mol). For normal-valent halogen-containing molecules, the PDDG methods also provide improved heats of formation over MNDO/d. Hypervalent compounds were not included in the training set and improvements over the standard NDDO methods with sp basis sets were not obtained. For small haloalkanes, the PDDG methods yield more accurate heats of formation than are obtained from density functional theory (DFT) with the B3LYP and B3PW91 functionals using large basis sets. PDDG/PM3 and PM3' also give improved binding energies over the standard NDDO methods for complexes involving halide anions, and they are competitive with B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) results including thermal corrections. Among the semiempirical methods studied, PDDG/PM3 also generates the best agreement with high-level ab initio G2 and CCSD(T) intrinsic activation energies for S(N)2 reactions involving methyl halides and halide anions. Finally, the MAEs in ionization potentials, dipole moments, and molecular geometries show that the parameter sets for the PDDG and reoptimized NDDO methods reduce the MAEs in heats of formation without compromising the other important QM observables.     

Heats of formation and proton affinities by the G3 method

Proton affinities of 29 simple organic molecules calculated with the G3 method agree well with experimental results from the literature as well as with results obtained with the G2(MP2) and CBS-Q methods. The choice of empirical correction in the G3 method introduces a small systematic error on either G3 heats of formation or G3 proton affinities.     

Rapid evaluation of the binding energies in hydrogen-bonded amide-thymine and amide-uracil dimers in gas phase

The binding energies and the equilibrium hydrogen bond distances as well as the potential energy curves of 48 hydrogen‐bonded amide–thymine and amide–uracil dimers are evaluated from the analytic potential energy function established in our lab recently. The calculation results show that the potential energy curves obtained from the analytic potential energy function are in good agreement with those obtained from MP2/6‐311+G** calculations by including the BSSE correction. For all the 48 dimers, the analytic potential energy function yields the binding energies of the MP2/6‐311+G** with BSSE correction within the error limits of 0.50 kcal/mol for 46 dimers, only two differences are larger than 0.50 kcal/mol and the largest one is only 0.60 kcal/mol. The analytic potential energy function produces the equilibrium hydrogen bond distances of the MP2/6‐311+G** with BSSE correction within the error limits of 0.050 Å for all the 48 dimers. The analytic potential energy function is further applied to four more complicated hydrogen‐bonded amide–base systems involving amino acid side chain and β‐sheet. The values of the binding energies and equilibrium hydrogen bond distances obtained from the analytic potential energy function are also in good agreement with those obtained from MP2 calculations with the BSSE correction. These results demonstrate that the analytic potential energy function can be used to evaluate the binding energies in hydrogen‐bonded amide–base dimers quickly and accurately. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2011     

Comparison of SCC-DFTB and NDDO-based semiempirical molecular orbital methods for organic molecules

Extensive testing of the SCC-DFTB method has been performed, permitting direct comparison to data available for NDDO-based semiempirical methods. For 34 diverse isomerizations of neutral molecules containing the elements C, H, N, and O, the mean absolute errors (MAE) for the enthalpy changes are 2.7, 3.2, 5.0, 5.1, and 7.2 kcal/mol from PDDG/PM3, B3LYP/6-31G(d), PM3, SCC-DFTB, and AM1, respectively. A more comprehensive test was then performed by computing heats of formation for 622 neutral, closed-shell H, C, N, and O-containing molecules; the MAE of 5.8 kcal/mol for SCC-DFTB is intermediate between AM1 (6.8 kcal/mol) and PM3 (4.4 kcal/mol) and significantly higher than for PDDG/PM3 (3.2 kcal/mol). Similarly, SCC-DFTB is found to be less accurate for heats of formation of ions and radicals; however, it is more accurate for conformational energetics and intermolecular interaction energies, though none of the methods perform well for hydrogen bonds with strengths under ca. 7 kcal/mol. SCC-DFTB and the NDDO methods all reproduce MP2/cc-pVTZ molecular geometries with average errors for bond lengths, bond angles, and dihedral angles of only ca. 0.01 A, 1.5 degrees , and 3 degrees . Testing was also carried out for sulfur containing molecules; SCC-DFTB currently yields much less accurate heats of formation in this case than the NDDO-based methods due to the over-stabilization of molecules containing an SO bond.     

Enthalpy of formation and bond energies on unsaturated oxygenated hydrocarbons using G3MP2B3 calculation methods

Enthalpies of unsaturated oxygenated hydrocarbons and radicals corresponding to the loss of hydrogen atoms from the parent molecules are intermediates and decomposition products in the oxidation and combustion of aromatic and polyaromatic species. Enthalpies (Δ_fH⁰₂₉₈) are calculated for a set of 27 oxygenated and nonoxygenated, unsaturated hydrocarbons and 12 radicals at the G3MP2B3 level of theory and with the commonly used B3LYP/6‐311g(d,p) density functional theory (DFT) method. Standard enthalpies of formation (Δ_fH⁰₂₉₈) are determined from the calculated enthalpy of reaction (ΔH⁰_rxn,298) using isodesmic work reactions with reference species that have accurately known Δ_fH⁰₂₉₈ values. The deviation between G3MP2B3 and B3LYP methods is under ±0.5 kcal mol^?1 for 9 species, 18 other species differs by less than ±1 kcal mol^?1 , and 11 species differ by about 1.5 kcal mol^?1. Under them are 11 radicals derived from the above‐oxygenated hydrocarbons that show good agreement between G3MP2B3 and B3LYP methods. G3 calculations have been performed to further validate enthalpy values, where a discrepancy of more than 2.5 kcal mol^?1 exists between the G3MP3B3 and density functional results. Surprisingly the G3 calculations support the density functional calculations in these several nonagreement cases. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 37: 633–648, 2005     

Protonation of phenylboronic acid: Comparison of G3B3 and G2MP2 methods

G3B3 and G2MP2 calculations using Gaussian 03 have been carried out to investigate the protonation preferences for phenylboronic acid. All nine heavy atoms have been protonated in turn. With both methodologies, the two lowest protonation energies are obtained with the proton located either at the ipso carbon atom or at a hydroxyl oxygen atom. Within the G3B3 formalism, the lowest‐energy configuration by 4.3 kcal · mol^?1 is found when the proton is located at the ipso carbon, rather than at the electronegative oxygen atom. In the resulting structure, the phenyl ring has lost a significant amount of aromaticity. By contrast, calculations with G2MP2 show that protonation at the hydroxyl oxygen atom is favored by 7.7 kcal · mol^?1. Calculations using the polarizable continuum model (PCM) solvent method also give preference to protonation at the oxygen atom when water is used as the solvent. The preference for protonation at the ipso carbon found by the more accurate G3B3 method is unexpected and its implications in Suzuki coupling are discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2007     

Keto<==>enol, imine<==>enamine, and nitro<==>aci-nitro tautomerism and their interrelationship in substituted nitroethylenes. Keto, imine, nitro, and vinyl substituent effects and the importance of H-bonding

Tautomeric isomers and conformers of 2-nitrovinyl alcohol (1), 2-nitrovinylamine (2), and 1-nitro-propene (3) are reported at the MP2 and B3LYP levels of theory, using the 6-31G* basis set, with energy evaluation at B3LYP/6-311+G** and G2MP2. The nitroalkenes are the global minima on their respective potential energy surfaces. The barriers for the concerted 1,5-H transfer to the corresponding nitronic acids amount to only 5.0 kcal/mol for 1, 13.2 kcal/mol for 2, and a sizable 37.8 kcal/mol for 3. Whereas the aci-nitro tautomer of 2-nitrovinyl alcohol is easily accessible, beta-iminonitronic acid has little kinetic stability. H-bonding is a strong stabilizing factor in these nitroalkenes, estimated at 7.0 and 3.7 kcal/mol for the OH and NH2 derivatives, respectively, while its stabilization in their nitronic acids amounts to as much as 13 kcal/mol. The H-bonds are evident from the very short O...H and N...H distances and are characterized by bond critical points. The NO2 substituent effect of about 11.4 kcal/mol at G2MP2 on both the classical keto <==> enol and imine <==> enamine tautomeric processes stabilizes the nitroethylene derivatives. The keto, imine, and vinyl substituent effects at G2MP2 on the nitro <==> aci-nitro tautomeric process are also determined as are their pi-resonance components. The substituents have a large influence on the ionization energies of the nitroethylene derivatives.     

Weakly bound complexes of N2O: an ab initio theoretical analysis toward the design of N2O receptors

Ab initio calculations at MP2/6-311++G(2d,2p) and MP2/6-311++G(3df,3pd) computational levels have been used to analyze the interactions between nitrous oxide and a series of small and large molecules that act simultaneously as hydrogen bond donors and electron donors. The basis set superposition error (BSSE) and zero point energy (ZPE) corrected binding energies of small N2O complexes (H2O, NH3, HOOH, HOO*, HONH2, HCO2H, H2CO, HCONH2, H2CNH, HC(NH)NH2, SH2, H2CS, HCSOH, HCSNH2) vary between -0.93 and -2.90 kcal/mol at MP2/6-311++G(3df,3pd) level, and for eight large complexes of N2O they vary between -2.98 and -3.37 kcal/mol at the MP2/6-311++G(2d,2p) level. The most strongly bound among small N2O complexes (HCSNH2-N2O) contains a NH..N bond, along with S-->N interactions, and the most unstable (H2S-N2O) contains just S-->N interactions. The electron density properties have been analyzed within the atoms in molecules (AIM) methodology. Results of the present study open a window into the nature of the interactions between N2O with other molecular moieties and open the possibility to design N2O abiotic receptors.