Ab initio calculations on ethylene and fluoroethylene. A comparative study

Self-consistent-field calculations are reported on the ethylene and fluoroethylene molecules. A comparative analysis of the two molecules shows that the effects of substituting a hydrogen atom with a fluorine atom in ethylene are fairly local. Ionization potentials in the ethylene molecule are calculated. The effects of hydrogen p-functions are studied in both molecules, and these effects are found to be rather small, particularly in fluoroethylene. A number of molecular properties are reported for both molecules.

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Zusammenfassung Für Äthylen und Fluoroäthylen werden SCF-Rechnungen durchgeführt. Eine vergleichende Analyse der beiden Moleküle zeigt, daß die Effekte der Substitution eines Wasserstoffatoms durch Fluor in Äthylen ziemlich lokal begrenzt sind. Die Ionisationspotentiale für Äthylen werden berechnet. Die Auswirkung von Funktionen am Wasserstoffatom werden in beiden Molekülen untersucht; sie sind relativ gering, besonders im Fluoroäthylen. Eine Reihe von molekularen Eigenschaften wird für beide Moleküle angegeben.

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Résumé Calculs SCF sur l'éthylène et le fluoroéthylène. Une analyse comparée des deux molécules montre que les effets de la substitution d'un atome d'hydrogène par un atome de fluor dans l'éthylène sont pratiquement locaux. Les potentiels d'ionisation de la molécule d'éthylène sont calculés. L'effet de l'introduction de fonctions p sur l'hydrogène est étudié dans les deux molécules; on le trouve faible, en particulier dans le fluoroéthylène. Etude de quelques autres propriétés moléculaires.

     

Ab initio calculations of the rotational barrier in dimethyl diselenide

The heights of the rotational barriers of the diselenide bridge in dimethyl diselenide have been calculated at the Hartree-Fock level with the 3-21G basis set. The minimum in the rotational potential energy function occurs at a torsional angle of 85.64°. The barriers were determined by complete geometry optimization at each point along the potential surface. The results are compared with other calculations and with the available experimental results. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Ab initio SCF and CI calculations on the barrier to internal rotation of 1,3-butadiene

Ab initio SCF and CI calculations employing a set of gaussian lobe functions have been carried out for the ground and excited states of five geometrical C₄H₆-structures occurring in the course of rotation from cis-butadiene to the trans-isomer. The rotational potential curves are discussed for the ground and excited states. Particularly the potential curve of the lowest triplet state is considered in this connection thereby substantiating quantitatively the proposed mechanism for induced dimerisation of C₄H₆. Possible assignments of the lowest singlet excited states in trans-butadiene are discussed.

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Zusammenfassung Mit einem Satz von Gaußfunktionen wurden ab initio SCF und CI Rechnungen für den Grundzustand und angeregte Zustände von fünf C₄H₆-Konformeren, die durch Drehung von cis-Butadien in trans-Butadien entstehen, durchgeführt. Die Potentialkurve für die innere Rotation von 1,3-Butadien wird für den Grundzustand und die Anregungszustände diskutiert. Besonders wird in diesem Zusammenhang die Potentialkurve des niedrigsten Triplettzustandes betrachtet, da hierbei der vorgeschlagene Mechanismus der induzierten Dimerisierung von Butadien quantitativ bestätigt wurde. Weiterhin werden mögliche Zuordnungen für die niedrigsten Singulettzustände von trans-Butadien diskutiert.

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Résumé Calculs SCF et CI ab initio en orbitales gaussiennes pour les états fondamentaux et excités de cinq structures géométriques de C₄H₆ intervenant au cours de la rotation du cis-butadiène à l'isomère trans. Les courbes de potentiel correspondant à la rotation pour l'état fondamental et les états excités sont l'objet d'une discussion. En particulier on examine la courbe correspondant à l'état triplet le plus bas confirmant ainsi quantitativement le mécanisme proposé pour la dimérisation induite de C₄H₆. Discussion des attributions possibles des états excités singulets les plus bas dans le trans-butadiène.

     

Ab initio study of substituent effect on the addition of hydrogen fluoride to fluoroethylenes

An ab initio 3-21G study of the direct addition of HF to C₂H_nF_(4–n), with n = 0 to 4, has been performed to investigate the effect of the substituent on the reaction. Geometry optimization of all charge-transfer complexes and transition states has been done. Standard analysis of activation energies of addition reactions, vibrational and thermodynamical analysis, as well as Morokuma energy decomposition, BSSE correction, PMO analysis, and Pauling bond orders were used to explain the results. A subset of the reactions, including that of C₂H₄ as reference one and the two most favorable cases, was also studied at the MP2/6–31G(d,p)//HF/6–31G(d,p) level. The barriers so obtained are in agreement with the indirectly found from experimental data. It was found that the effect of the substituent is not monotonic for the additions. Decomposition of the interaction energy is shown to be adequate to explain this nonmonotonic behavior. The implications for laser chemistry of the addition of hydrogen halides to fluorosubstituted olefins is briefly discussed.     

Ab initio MP2 calculations of the products of acetylene addition to HgCl2

Gas-phase reaction of acetylene with HgCl₂ resulting in -chlorovinylmercury derivatives and their interaction with Cl^– and I^– anions and KI molecule was studied by the ab initio MP2 method with the Dunning—Hay double zeta basis set and LanL pseudopotential for Hg, K, and I atoms. The reaction was shown to proceed via a -complex of acetylene and HgCl₂ (the calculated enthalpy of formation is –6.5 kcal mol^–1). According to calculations, the activation energy of formation of cis--chlorovinylmercury chloride from acetylene and HgCl₂ is 31 kcal mol^–1. Chloride and iodide anions and KI molecule are readily added to both cis- and trans-isomer of -chlorovinylmercury chloride to give stable species.     

Ab initio molecular orbital calculations on the transition state for the addition of a methyl radical to vinyl monomers

Ab initio molecular orbital calculations have been performed on the transition state for the addition of methyl radical to twelve vinyl monomers using the SV 3–21G basis set. A linear relationship has been found between the calculated energies of activation and previously calculated energies of reaction. This supports the assumption of an Evans-Polanyi type rule in previous work which attempted to correlate reactivity with calculated energies of reaction. The activation energies obtained for methyl addition to butadiene and styrene were calculated to be negative. This is caused by errors introduced by a number of sources, viz. basis set superposition error, spin contamination and zero point energy. These errors are discussed. Previous authors have reported reasonable agreement between calculated activation energies at SV3–21G and experimental values for methyl addition to ethylene, this work suggests that this agreement was coincidental and results from the fortuitous cancellation of errors. The nature of the transition state for these radical addition reactions is discussed and the limitations of the SV3–21G basis set are highlighted. The theoretical prediction of activation energies for radical addition reactions would require much larger calculations, beyond the computational means of most research laboratories.     

Ab initio quantum-mechanical calculations of the propagation enthalpies for the radical and anionic polymerizations of formaldehyde and methanimine

The gas phase enthalpies of formation for oligomeric radicals and anions H(CH₂NH)_n^* and H(CH₂O)_n^* were theoretically determined by ab initio quantum-mechanical calculations with n in the range 1 to 6. From these results, the reaction enthalpies for each of the first five propagation steps of the polymerization were estimated for methanimine (H₂C = NH) and formaldehyde (H₂C = O). At the same step of oligomerization, enthalpies associated with anionic polymerizations are always more negative than enthalpies corresponding to radical polymerizations, but the difference between them decreases with increasing n. Both Delta;H (propagation) vs. n curves tend rapidly, particularly for radical polymerizations, towards an asymptotic value independent of the mode of polymerization and equal to - 12 kcal/mol for formaldehyde and - 14 kcal/mol for methanimine. Experimental data for the gas phase polymerization of formaldehyde are in good agreement with our theoretical value. These results demonstrate that heats of polymerization can be reasonably estimated by intensive calculation methods if a careful choice of the reaction mimicking the propagation step is done.     

Ab initio HF versus semi-empirical results of chemisorption calculations of hydrogen on graphite

The regular chemisorption of hydrogen on graphite in four different configurations has been studied with a Hartree-Fock ab initio technique. No stable phase was found; previous CNDO calculations indicated stable adsorption to occur in three cases out of four. However, the positions of relative minima and the corresponding electronic structure are reasonably described by the semi-empirical scheme.     

Ab initio MO calculations on binding energies and stabilities of Na+ with ethylene diamine

Binding energies and stabilities of Na⁺ with bidentate ethylene diamine were studied using ab initio MO calculations with a 6-31G^* basis set. The computed results for bidentate ethylene diamine were compared with those for two (monodentate) CH₃NH₂ molecules.     

Ab initio MO LCAO UHF calculations of the stability in dimeric ethylene radical ions

The stability of ethylene dimer ions has been computed by ab initio methods. The positively charged dimer is stable (0.6–0.7 eV) while the neutral and the negatively charged dimers are unstable with respect to decomposition into monomers. The magnetic hyperfine coupling constants have also been evaluated, hyperfine splittings are half those in the monomer in agreement with experimental data.     

Clusters of hydrogen molecules: Ab initio SCF calculations corrected semiempirically for correlation energies

Stabilization energy of the (H₂) _n clusters (n = 2–8) was calculated as a sum of the SCF interaction energy and the semiempirical interaction correlation energy estimated according to Sinanolu and Pamuk. Optimum successive attachment of hydrogen molecules leads to the formation of a gas-phase solvation shell consisting of seven hydrogen molecules. Basis set effect has been found to be important with all clusters under study. The non-additivity effect was investigated with the (H₂)₄ cluster. Vertical ionization potentials of the clusters considered are predicted to be 0.4–0.6 eV lower than the ionization potential of the parent H₂ molecule.     

Ab initio calculations of potential energy surface for reaction of nucleophilic addition of H− ion to methylacetylene

Within the framework of the Hartree-Fock-Roothaan Method, using double- basis sets 3-21++G and (6-31-H-G//3-21++G), the minimum energy paths (MEPs) have been calculated for reactions of nucleophilic addition of the hydride ion H^– to the methylacetylene molecule: CH₃-CCH+H^–[CH₃-CH=CH]^– (1) CH₃-CCH+H^–[CH₃-C=CH₂]^– (2). It has been established that the activation energy for reaction (2) is 7.02 kJ/mole lower than for reaction (1). An analysis has been made of the character of electron density distribution along the MEP of each reaction. It has been shown that distortion of geometry of the reactants plays an important role in intensifying the interaction of the frontier orbitals. The reasons for nonfulfillment of Markownikoff's rule for these reactions have been determined. The results from the calculations are compared with calculations reported in the literature for the related reaction of nucleophilic addition of the hydride ion H^– to the acetylene molecule: HCCH+H^–[CH₂=CH]^–.Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Éxperimental'naya Khimiya, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 303–309, May–June, 1985.     

Ab initio calculations on the molecular structure of fluorocyanopolyynes

The molecular structure of the first three members of the fluorocyanopolyynes was studied by ab initio Hartree-Fock calculations with a polarized double zeta basis set and at MP2 level with the same basis set. Alternating triple and single bonds were found; a theoretical estimate of rotational constants and dipole moments was performed and a comparison with the available experimental data was made. An analysis of the theoretical vibrational frequencies of the title compounds was carried out.     

Ab initio and density functional theory studies of the gas-phase hydrogen fluoride addition to ethylene. An example of catalytic effect from a second molecule of the reagent

The accuracy of three popular DFr methods (hybrid, gradient-corrected, and local) has been evaluated on the HF-assisted addition of HF to ethylene. The possibility of forming trimolecular (two HF and one ethylene) and dimolecular (one HF and one ethylene) complexes and transition state structures during the transformation of HF and ethylene in fluoroethane is discussed. An energetically favorable pathway was selected on the basis of the computed potential energy surface for these two reactions.     

Ab initio benchmark study for the oxidative addition of CH4 to Pd: importance of basis-set flexibility and polarization

To obtain a state-of-the-art benchmark potential energy surface (PES) for the archetypal oxidative addition of the methane C-H bond to the palladium atom, we have explored this PES using a hierarchical series of ab initio methods (Hartree-Fock, second-order M?ller-Plesset perturbation theory, fourth-order M?ller-Plesset perturbation theory with single, double and quadruple excitations, coupled cluster theory with single and double excitations (CCSD), and with triple excitations treated perturbatively [CCSD(T)]) and hybrid density functional theory using the B3LYP functional, in combination with a hierarchical series of ten Gaussian-type basis sets, up to g polarization. Relativistic effects are taken into account either through a relativistic effective core potential for palladium or through a full four-component all-electron approach. Counterpoise corrected relative energies of stationary points are converged to within 0.1-0.2 kcal/mol as a function of the basis-set size. Our best estimate of kinetic and thermodynamic parameters is -8.1 (-8.3) kcal/mol for the formation of the reactant complex, 5.8 (3.1) kcal/mol for the activation energy relative to the separate reactants, and 0.8 (-1.2) kcal/mol for the reaction energy (zero-point vibrational energy-corrected values in parentheses). This agrees well with available experimental data. Our work highlights the importance of sufficient higher angular momentum polarization functions, f and g, for correctly describing metal-d-electron correlation and, thus, for obtaining reliable relative energies. We show that standard basis sets, such as LANL2DZ+1f for palladium, are not sufficiently polarized for this purpose and lead to erroneous CCSD(T) results. B3LYP is associated with smaller basis set superposition errors and shows faster convergence with basis-set size but yields relative energies (in particular, a reaction barrier) that are ca. 3.5 kcal/mol higher than the corresponding CCSD(T) values.     

Ab initio calculations on the thermodynamic properties of azaspiropentanes

Following our recent study on the usefulness of borospiropentanes as new potential high-energy materials, we propose a new series of substituted spiropentane molecules, the azaspiropentanes. Presented here are the results of our ab initio calculations at the MP2 and B3LYP levels of theory using the 6-311++G(d,p) basis set. Results include optimized structural parameters, enthalpies of formation, specific enthalpies of combustion, and proton affinities. Our results indicate that azaspiropentane gives off the most energy of any of the nitrogen-containing spiropentanes, as indicated by its specific enthalpy of combustion of -41 kJ g(-1); however, it does not give off as much energy as spiropentane itself, which gives off about 48 kJ g(-1).     

Ab initio calculations of activation energy of the reaction of hydrogen exchange on strongly acidic centers

Ab initio calculations of fragments of the potential energy surfaces of hydrogen exchange reactions between H₂, CH₄, and alanine molecules and the H₃O⁺ ion were performed by the restricted Hartree-Fock method, at the second-order Møller-Plesset level of perturbation theory, and by the method of coupled clusters using the 6–31G^* and aug-cc-pVDZ basis sets. The one-center synchronous mechanism of hydrogen exchange reaction was studied and the activation energies and structures of transition states were determined. It was found that the geometric parameters of the H₂ and CH₄ molecules in the transition states are close to those of the H₃ ⁺ and CH₅ ⁺ ions. The higher the proton affinity of the reacting molecule in the reaction studied the lower the activiation energy of hydrogen exchange. The one-center mechanism studied can be used to describe the high-temperature solid-state catalytic isotope exchange (HSCIE) reaction. The results ofab initio calculations of synchronous hydrogen exchange between the H₃O⁺ ion and hydrogen atoms in different positions of the alanine molecule are in good agreement with experimental data on the regioselectivity and stereoselectivity of the HSCIE reaction with spillover-tritium.     

Ab initio calculations and vibrational spectroscopy on the phenylenediamine isomers

Molecular orbital calculations at HF and MP2 levels have been performed using the 6-31G⁷ basis set for full geometry optimization of the phenylenediamine isomers. Our results show that only a transoid conformer is found for o-phenylenediamine, whereas cis and trans conformers exist for m- and p-phenylenediamine. Vibrational normal modes have been also analyzed for the gas phase and in chloroform solution, and compared with experimental data we have obtained using FTIR spectroscopy.