Assigning the NH stretches of the guanine tautomers using adiabatic separation: CCSD(T) benchmark calculations

Using an adiabatic separation of the NH stretching vibration from the remaining vibrational molecular motions, the NH fundamental frequencies and absolute intensities of several keto/enol and 7/9NH tautomers of guanine are evaluated ab initio within the framework of a one-dimensional "semirigid" stretching Hamiltonian. The frequencies (calculated by means of the standard MP2, CCSD(T) and DFT procedures) are in a close one-to-one harmony with their experimental counterparts, thus evidencing the adequacy of the used separation for reliable assigning of the NH stretches in the vibrational spectra of very large molecular systems.     

Separation of the vibrational,rotational, and translational motions of polyatomic molecules using curvilinear vibrational coordinates

A new method is suggested for separating the vibrational, rotational, and translational motions of polyatomic molecules using curvilinear vibrational coordinates that are linear with respect to the natural vibrational coordinates. It is shown that, in this case, Coriolis interactions between the vibrational and rotational motions are absent. The solutions of the anharmonic vibrational-rotational problems in the curvilinear and linear vibrational coordinates are compared. The absence of Coriolis interactions between the vibrational and rotational motions in the curvilinear vibrational coordinates is proved numerically. The same conclusion is additionally supported by calculations of the anharmonic vibrational energy levels for the H₂O, H₂S, NO₂, SO₂, and ClO₂ molecules in the linear and curvilinear vibrational coordinates using the Hamiltonian designed in the curvilinear vibrational coordinates with and without Coriolis vibrational-rotational interactions. Volgograd Pedagogical University. Translated fromZhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 239–254, March–April, 1995. Translated by I. Izvekova     

Matrix elements for dipole transitions in the statement of the quantum problem for molecules with restrictions on nuclear motion

Based on the previously proposed solution for the Schrödinger equation, which corresponds to the representation of a molecule as a dynamically stable geometric figure [1–3] and explicitly reflects the continuous correlation between electronic and nuclear motions with retaining the separation of variables, expressions for the matrix elements of the dipole transition are obtained. It is shown that the equation common for all states has the matrix form. The appearance of parameters having simple meanings and simultaneously affecting both vibrational and electronic components of the general wave function and electron vibrational energy levels is noted. This enables the statement and solution of the corresponding inverse spectral problems.     

Excited vibrational states near dissociation in weakly bound triatomic systems

The vibrational motion of a weakly bound M₃ complex is investigated using hyperspherical coordinates and an adiabatic separation of the radial and angular motions within the molecule. It is shown that the vibrational energy levels near dissociation correlate to an M atom orbiting about a rotating M₂ core. Application is made to the neon trimer assuming an approximate pairwise additive potential.     

Rotational decoupling of vibrational modes due to rotational excitation: Application to a model of the HDO stretching motions

Rotational motion can have a significant effect on intramolecular vibrational dynamics. In this paper, we explore the recently discovered phenomenon of rotational decoupling through both quantum mechanical and classical methods. It is found in a model system for the stretching motions of HDO, that rotational motion about the c axis can decouple the stretches. This fact can be understood as a cancellation between kinetic and centrifugal coupling as illuminated using classical resonance analysis and quantum matrix element calculations. The significance of this phenomenon is discussed in infrared multiple photon absorption experiments with specific application to isotope separation in HDO.     

Vibrational raman optical activity as a mean for revealing the helicity of oligosilanes: a quantum chemical investigation

Using theoretical simulations based on Hartree-Fock and density-functional theory calculations, the simulated vibrational Raman optical activity spectra of helical conformers of heptasilane are shown to present signatures sensitive to the helicity. These signatures are associated with collective wagging, twisting, and rocking motions. These simulated spectra have been obtained by combining analytical and numerical differentiation procedures to evaluate the geometry derivatives of the optical tensors entering into the expressions of the vibrational Raman optical activity intensities. From an investigation of basis set and electron correlation effects, it is shown that, like for local vibrations, diffuse functions are compulsory for evaluating the vibrational Raman optical activity intensities of collective vibrational motions.     

Time-domain theoretical analysis of the noncoincidence effect, diagonal frequency shift, and the extent of delocalization of the C=O stretching mode of acetone/dimethyl sulfoxide binary liquid mixtures

A time-domain method for simulating vibrational band profiles that simultaneously takes into account both the diagonal and off-diagonal effects is developed and applied to the C=O stretching bands of neat liquid acetone and the acetone/dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) binary liquid mixtures. By using this method, it is possible to examine the influence of liquid dynamics on the noncoincidence effect (NCE), which arises from the off-diagonal vibrational interactions, as well as the frequency shifts and band broadening, which are related to both the diagonal and off-diagonal effects. It is shown that the simulations for the C=O stretching bands of acetone in acetone/DMSO binary liquid mixtures on the basis of this method can reproduce the experimentally observed concave curvature of the concentration dependence of the NCE and the unusually large frequency shift of the anisotropic Raman band. The widths of the infrared, isotropic Raman, and anisotropic Raman bands calculated for neat liquid acetone are also in good agreement with those observed. Based on these calculations, the extent of delocalization of the C=O stretching vibrational motions is examined by referring to two quantitative measures of this property, one calculated in the frequency domain and the other in the time domain. It is shown that the extent of delocalization gets larger as the mole fraction of acetone increases, the C=O stretching vibrations being delocalized over a few tens of molecules in neat liquid acetone. It is also shown that the extent of delocalization is related to the quantity called NCE detectability, which is the ratio between the magnitude of NCE and the bandwidth. It is therefore suggested that the extent of delocalization of vibrational motions may be estimated from observable features of Raman band profiles.     

Spectroscopic properties of the methyl radical calculated from UHF SCEP wavefunctions

The potential energy surface of symmetric stretching and out-of-plane bending motions for the methyl radical has been calculated from UHF SCEP wavefunctions. Anharmonic vibrational frequencies are computed by a variational method and transition dipole moments and Einstein coefficients of spontaneous emission are reported. Isotropic hyperfine coupling constants are obtained in agreement with experiment to within 4% when calculated by differentiation of the perturbed CEPA-1 energy and taking vibrational averaging into account. Also, the temperature dependence of the proton hyperfine coupling constant compares well with experimental results. The vibrational fine structure of the first band of the photoelectron spectra of CH₃ and CD₃ is calculated in good agreement with experiment.     

Molecular dynamics with quantum transitions study of the vibrational relaxation of the HOD bend fundamental in liquid D2O

The molecular dynamics with quantum transitions method is used to study the vibrational relaxation of the HOD bend fundamental in liquid D(2)O. All of the vibrational bending degrees of freedom of the HOD and D(2)O molecules are described by quantum mechanics, while the remaining translational and rotational degrees of freedom are described classically. The effect of the coupling between the rotational and vibrational degrees of freedom of the deuterated water molecules is analyzed. A kinetic mechanism based on three steps is proposed in order to interpret the dynamics of the system. It is shown that intermolecular vibrational energy transfer plays an important role in the relaxation process and also that the transfer of energy into the rotational degrees of freedom is favored over the transfer of energy into the translational motions. The thermalization of the system after the relaxation is reached in a shorter time scale than that of the recovery of the hydrogen bond network. The relaxation and equilibration times obtained compare well with experimental and previous theoretical results.     

The breakdown of the minimum polarizability principle in vibrational motions as an indicator of the most aromatic center

The vibrational motions that disobey the minimum polarizability principle (MPP) in pi-conjugated molecules are distortions of the equilibrium geometry that produce a reduction in the polarizability due to the localization of pi electrons. For aromatic species, this electronic localization is responsible for the subsequent reduction in the aromaticity of the system. In the present work, we diagonalize the Hessian matrix of the polarizability with respect to the vibrational nontotally symmetric normal coordinates, to calculate the nontotally symmetric distortions that produce the maximum breakdown of the MPP in a series of twenty polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. It is shown that the nuclear displacements that break the MPP have larger components in those rings that possess the highest local aromaticity. Thus, these vibrational motions can be used as an indicator of local aromaticity.     

The identification of normal mode behavior in the resonance picture of local mode dynamics: normal mode splitting,stability of periodic orbits and energy transfer rates for coupled morse oscillators

The resonance model of coupled anharmonic local mode oscillators is extended to include second-order variations of the Fourier amplitude. Using this extension, all of the usual normal mode behavior including normal mode splittings, stability of periodic motions, and the energy transfer rate for degenerate stretching modes is recovered. A method is developed to predict the identity and energy of fundamental periodic orbits which become unstable. This method is more accurate and more general than previous analytic methods. These results may be of use in fitting or interpreting vibrational spectra and in studies of intramolecular vibrational energy flow.     

Quantum-dynamics study of the H5+ cluster: full dimensional benchmark results on its vibrational states

A full-dimensional quantum dynamics study is carried out for the highly fluxional H(5)(+) cation on a recent reference potential energy surface by using the multi configuration time-dependent Hartree method. With five equivalent light atoms and shallow barriers between various low-lying stationary points on the surface, the spectroscopic characterization of H(5)(+) represents a huge challenge for accurate quantum dynamics simulations. The present calculation is the first such a study on this cation, which together with its isotope analogies are of primary importance in the interstellar chemistry. The vibrational ground state properties and several vibrationally excited states corresponding to low vibrational frequency motions, not yet directly observable by the experiment, are presented and analyzed.     

Simple model for the description of anharmonic vibrations of polyatomic molecules

We propose a simple, in respect to computations, model and the calculation method for energy levels and intensities in IR spectra of polyatomic molecules in the anharmonic approximation for sufficiently high values of vibrational quantum numbers but with a restriction of possible motions of nuclei within the region not reaching yet the dissociation limit.     

Theoretical analysis of the terahertz spectrum of the high explosive PETN.

The experimental solid-state terahertz (THz) spectrum (3 to 120 cm(-1)) of the high explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN, C(5)H(6)N(4)O(12)) has been modeled using solid-state density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Solid-state DFT, employing the BP density functional, is in best qualitative agreement with the features in the previously reported THz spectrum. The crystal environment of PETN includes numerous intermolecular hydrogen-bonding interactions that contribute to large (up to 80 cm(-1)) calculated shifts in molecular normal-mode positions in the solid state. Comparison of the isolated-molecule and solid-state normal-mode calculations for a series of density functionals reveals the extent to which the inclusion of crystal-packing interactions and the relative motions between molecules are required for correctly reproducing the vibrational structure of solid-state THz spectra. The THz structure below 120 cm(-1) is a combination of both intermolecular (relative rotations and translations) and intramolecular (torsions, large amplitude motions) vibrational motions. Vibrational-mode analyses indicate that the first major feature (67.2 cm(-1)) in the PETN THz spectrum contains all of the optical rotational and translational cell modes and no internal (molecular) vibrational modes.     

Intensity-carrying modes important for vibrational polarizabilities and hyperpolarizabilities of molecules: derivation from the algebraic properties of formulas and applications

The intensity-carrying mode (ICM) theory is developed for analyzing the vibrational motions that mainly contribute to vibrational polarizabilities and hyperpolarizabilities, which are important for describing intermolecular electrostatic interactions and nonlinear optical properties of molecules. The ICMs are derived from dipole derivatives, polarizability derivatives, and first hyperpolarizability derivatives by using algebraic properties of intensity formulas. The way to obtain explicit forms of ICMs, including the optimization method of the basis of the ICM vector space, is discussed in detail. One- and two-dimensional models are constructed on the basis of the ICMs. The theory is applied to three molecules (a push-pull type polyene, a streptocyanine dye cation, and a symmetric neutral polyene) taken as typical examples. It is shown that the ICM theory provides a reasonable picture on the vibrational polarization properties of these molecules. On the basis of this result, the validity of the valence-bond charge transfer (VB-CT) model, which is a one-dimensional model and is widely used to describe the electronic and vibrational properties of dye molecules, is also discussed.     

Torsionally broken symmetry assists infrared excitation of biomimetic charge-coupled nuclear motions in the electronic ground state

The concerted interplay between reactive nuclear and electronic motions in molecules actuates chemistry. Here, we demonstrate that out-of-plane torsional deformation and vibrational excitation of stretching motions in the electronic ground state modulate the charge-density distribution in a donor-bridge-acceptor molecule in solution. The vibrationally-induced change, visualised by transient absorption spectroscopy with a mid-infrared pump and a visible probe, is mechanistically resolved by ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. Mapping the potential energy landscape attributes the observed charge-coupled coherent nuclear motions to the population of the initial segment of a double-bond isomerization channel, also seen in biological molecules. Our results illustrate the pivotal role of pre-twisted molecular geometries in enhancing the transfer of vibrational energy to specific molecular modes, prior to thermal redistribution. This motivates the search for synthetic strategies towards achieving potentially new infrared-mediated chemistry.

Channelling vibrational excitation energy to achieve ground-state charge-transfer (CT)-assisted isomerization in a donor-bridge-acceptor molecule in solution.     

Electronic vibrational problem for molecules with inversion motions

A general approach to the solution of the electronic vibrational problem with imposed conditions on possible vibrational nuclear motions in a double-minimum potential well is proposed.