Incorrectness of the self-consistent field approximation for the argon crystal

Division of Physicomechanical Problems in Power Engineering, Urals Branch, Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Translated from Zhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 178–179, March–April, 1988.     

Second-order many-body perturbation study of solid hydrogen fluoride under pressure

A linear-scaling, embedded-fragment, second-order many-body perturbation (MP2) method with basis sets up to aug-cc-pVTZ is applied to the antiparallel structure of solid hydrogen fluoride and deuterium fluoride under 0-20 GPa of ambient pressure. The optimized structures, including the lattice parameters and molar volume, and phonon dispersion as well as phonon density of states (DOS), are determined as a function of pressure. The basis-set superposition errors are removed by the counterpoise correction. The structural parameters at 0 GPa calculated by MP2 agree accurately with the observed, making the predicted values at higher pressures a useful pilot for future experiments. The corresponding values obtained by the Hartree-Fock method have large, systematic errors. The MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ frequencies of the infrared- and Raman-active vibrations of the three-dimensional solids are in good agreement with the observed and also justify previous vibrational analyses based on one-dimensional chain models; the non-coincidence of the infrared and Raman mode pairs can be explained as factor-group (Davydov) splitting. The exceptions are one pair of modes in the librational region, for which band assignments based on a one-dimensional chain model need to be revised, as well as the five pseudo-translational modes that exist only in a three-dimensional treatment. The observed pressure dependence of Raman bands in the stretching region, which red-shift with pressure, is accounted for by theory only qualitatively, while that in the pseudo-translational region is reproduced with quantitative accuracy. The present calculation proves to be limited in explaining the complex pressure dependence of the librational modes. The hydrogen-amplitude-weighted phonon DOS at 0 GPa is much less structured than the DOS obtained from one-dimensional models and may be more realistic in view of the also broad, structureless observed inelastic neutron scattering spectra. All major observed peaks can be straightforwardly assigned to the calculated peaks in the DOS. With increasing pressure, MP2 predicts further broadening of bands and breach of the demarcation between the pseudo-translational and librational bands.     

Semiclassical self-consistent field perturbation theory for the hydrogen atom in a magnetic field

A recently developed perturbation theory for solving self-consistent field equations is applied to the hydrogen atom in a strong magnetic field. This system has been extensively studied using other methods and is therefore a good test case for the new method. The perturbation theory yields summable large-order expansions. The accuracy of the self-consistent field approximation varies according to field strength and quantum state but is often higher than the accuracy from adiabatic approximations. A new derivation is presented for the asymptotic adiabatic approximation, the most useful of the adiabatic approaches. This derivation uses semiclassical perturbation theory without invoking an adiabatic hypothesis. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 69: 183–192, 1998     

On the acidity of hydrogen fluoride

An explanation is proposed for the rapid increase in acidity in progressing from dilute solutions of HF in H₂O to solutions of greater concentration ($\text{ca.}$ 10M). Anhydrous HF has been shown to be more acidic than generally believed and to require very small adventitious concentrations of F^? to become quite basic. Oxidation of I₂ is used to demonstrate the dependence of the nature of species in HF solution on the acidity or basicity of the medium.     

An equation of state for hydrogen fluoride

Using a similar approach as Lencka and Anderko [AIChE J. 39 (1993) 533], we developed an equation of state for hydrogen fluoride (HF), which can correlate the vapor pressure, the saturated liquid and vapor densities of it from the triple point to critical point with good accuracy. We used an equilibrium model to account for hydrogen bonding that assumes the formation of dimer, hexamer, and octamer species as suggested by Schotte [Ind. Eng. Chem. Process Des. Dev. 19 (1980) 432]. The physical and chemical parameters are obtained directly from the regression of pure component properties by applying the critical constraints to the equation of state for hydrogen fluoride. This equation of state together with the Wong–Sandler mixing rule as well as the van der Waals one-fluid mixing rule are used to correlate the phase equilibria of binary hydrogen fluoride mixtures with HCl, HCFC-124, HFC-134a, HFC-152a, HCFC-22, and HFC-32. For these systems, new equation of state with the Wong–Sandler mixing rule gives good results.     

Investigation of electronic interactions in solid hydrogen fluoride

Intermolecular interactions in solid hydrogen fluoride are studied by the combined quantum chemical and X- ray diffraction method. The structure of crystalline HF is modeled by (HF)_n chains (n =2, 3,...,20, by an (HF)₄₅ cluster consisting of five (HF)₉ chains, and by an (HF)₁₀₈ cluster consisting of twelve (HF)₉ chains with nearly zero dipole moment. The quantum chemical calculations of the clusters are performed by the semiempirical AM1 method, which is most suitable for electronic structure investigations of hydrogen fluoride, as shown by comparing the X- ray experimental and theoretical spectra. The theoretical X- ray spectra are also compared with the experimental FK_α spectra of gaseous and solid hydrogen fluoride. For more detailed studies of electronic interactions in crystalline HF, fragrnent analysis of MOs of the clusters with respect to the MOs of the central molecule is carried out. Translated fromZhumal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 38, No. 4, pp. 686–695, July–August, 1997.     

The hydrogen bond in the solid state

The hydrogen bond is the most important of all directional intermolecular interactions. It is operative in determining molecular conformation, molecular aggregation, and the function of a vast number of chemical systems ranging from inorganic to biological. Research into hydrogen bonds experienced a stagnant period in the 1980s, but re-opened around 1990, and has been in rapid development since then. In terms of modern concepts, the hydrogen bond is understood as a very broad phenomenon, and it is accepted that there are open borders to other effects. There are dozens of different types of X-H.A hydrogen bonds that occur commonly in the condensed phases, and in addition there are innumerable less common ones. Dissociation energies span more than two orders of magnitude (about 0.2-40 kcal mol(-1)). Within this range, the nature of the interaction is not constant, but its electrostatic, covalent, and dispersion contributions vary in their relative weights. The hydrogen bond has broad transition regions that merge continuously with the covalent bond, the van der Waals interaction, the ionic interaction, and also the cation-pi interaction. All hydrogen bonds can be considered as incipient proton transfer reactions, and for strong hydrogen bonds, this reaction can be in a very advanced state. In this review, a coherent survey is given on all these matters.     

A complete active space self-consistent field study of the photochemistry of nitrosamine

Photodissociation mechanisms of nitrosamine (NH2NO) have been studied at the complete active space self-consistent field level of theory in conjunction with atomic-natural-orbital-type basis sets. In addition, the energies of all the critical points and the potential energy curves connecting them have been recomputed with the multiconfigurational second-order perturbation method. Ground state minimum of nitrosamine has a C1 nonplanar structure with the hydrogen atoms of the amino moiety out of the plane defined by the N-N-O bonds. Electronic transitions to the three lowest states are allowed by selection rules: (i) S0-->S3 (7.41 eV) has an oscillator strength of f=0.0006 and it is assigned as an (npO)0-->(piNO*)2 transition, (ii) S0-->S2 (5.86 eV) has an oscillator strength of f=0.14 and it is assigned as an npN-->piNO* transition, and (iii) S0-->S1 (2.98 eV) has an oscillator strength of f=0.002 and it is assigned as an npO-->piNO* transition. It is found that N-N bond cleavage is the most likely process in all the photochemical relevant states, namely, S1 (1 1A"), S2 (2 1A'), and T1 (1 3A"). While S1 and T1 yield exclusively homolytic dissociation: NH2NO-->NH2 (1 2B1)+NO(X 2Pi), on S2 the latter process constitutes the major path, but two additional minor channels are also available: adiabatic homolytic dissociation: NH2NO-->NH2 (1 2A1)+NO(X 2Pi), and adiabatic oxygen extrusion: NH2NO-->NH2N (1 3A1)+O(3P). The excited species NH2 (1 2A1) experiences a subsequent ultrafast decay to the ground state, the final products in all cases the fragments being in their lowest electronic state. We have not found a unimolecular mechanism connecting excited states with the ground state. In addition, homolytic dissociation in the ground state, tautomerizations to NHNOH and NHNHO, and intersystem crossings to T1 are considered. The most favorable process on this state is the isomerization to NHNOH.     

A self-consistent field study of a hydrocarbon droplet at the air-water interface

A molecularly detailed self-consistent field (SCF) approach is applied to describe a sessile hydrocarbon droplet placed at the air-water interface. Predictions of the contact angle for macroscopic droplets follow from using Neumann's equation, wherein the macroscopic interfacial tensions are computed from one-gradient calculations for flat interfaces. A two-gradient cylindrical coordinate system with mirror-like boundary conditions is used to analyse the three dimensional shape of the nano-scale oil droplet at the air-water interface. These small droplets have a finite value of the Laplace pressure and concomitant line tension. It has been calculated that the oil-water and oil-vapour interfacial tensions are curvature dependent and increase slightly with increasing interfacial curvature. In contrast, the line tension tends to decrease with curvature. In all cases there is only a weak influence of the line tension on the droplet shape. We therefore argue that the nano-scale droplets, which are described in the SCF approach, are representative for macroscopic droplets and that the method can be used to efficiently generate accurate information on the spreading of oil droplets at the air-water interface in molecularly more complex situations. As an example, non-ionic surfactants have been included in the system to illustrate how a molecularly more complex situation will change the wetting properties of the sessile drop. This short forecast is aimed to outline and to stress the potential of the method.     

On the difference between hydrogen fluoride and hydrogen chloride crystals

The geometrical and energetical parameters of hydrogen fluoride and hydrogen chloride crystals are calculated using the periodic Hartree–Fock method with 6-31G and 6-31G(d,p) basis sets. The comparison of the stabilisation energies reveals that HCl crystals are about 75% less stable than HF crystals. The activation energy for collective proton movements are computed and discussed in view of data of isolated infinite chains. The barriers of 13.1 and 40.0 kcal mol⁻¹ at 6-31G(d,p) level are found for HF and HCl crystals.     

Lattice phonon mediation of solid state photoreaction in 7-methoxycoumarin crystal: laser Raman spectroscopic study

The photodimerization reaction in 7-methoxycoumarin (7MC) in the crystalline state is shown to be mediated by a lattice phonon. The phonon participation is through a mode softening in the excited state of the crystal on photoirradiation and not via strong exciton—phonon coupling as in generally observed. IR and Raman spectroscopy were used to characterize the reactant and product, and it is confirmed that the reaction occurs by cyclobutane ring formation through the bond of the pyrone ring. Electronic spectroscopy suggests that the exciton—phonon coupling is weak in the monomer crystal.     

Semidirect parallel self-consistent field: the load balancing problem in the input/output intensive self-consistent field iterations

The full capacity of contemporary parallel computers can, in the context of iterative ab initio procedures like, for example, self-consistent field (SCF) and multiconfigurational SCF, only be utilized if the disk and input/output (I/O) capacity are fully exploited before the implementation turns to an integral direct strategy. In a recent report on parallel semidirect SCF http://www.tc.cornell.edu/er/media/1996/collabrate.html, http://www.fp.mcs.anl.gd/grand-challenges/chem/nondirect/index.html it was demonstrated that super-linear speedups are achievable for algorithms that exploit scalable parallel I/O. In the I/O-intensive SCF iterations of this implementation a static load balancing, however, was employed, dictated by the initial iteration in which integral evaluation dominates the central processing unit activity and thus determines the load balancing. In the present paper we present the first implementation in which load balancing is achieved throughout the whole SCF procedure, i.e. also in subsequent iterations. The improved scalability of our new algorithm is demonstrated in some test calculations, for example, for 63-node calculation a speedup of 104 was observed in the computation of the two-electron integral contribution to the Fock matrix.Contribution to the Björn Roos Honorary Issue Acknowledgement.We thank J. Nieplocha for valuable help and making the toolkit (including ChemIO) available to us. R.L. acknowledges the Intelligent Modeling Laboratory and the University of Tokyo for financial support during his stay in Japan.     

Theoretical study on the hydrogen migration reactions in ground state vinyl fluoride: Basis set and correlation energy effects

We performed ab initio molecular orbital (MO) calculations using Hartree—Fock SCF, and second- and fourth-order Møller—Plesset perturbation theory for hydrogen migration reactions on the singlet vinyl fluoride potential energy surface. We used different basis sets and polarization functions to obtain the stationary point geometries and activation barriers. Basis set and the polarization function extension have small effects, while the correlation energy evaluation leads to new conclusions for one of the studied reactions: the product singlet CHCH₂F is not a true local minimum on the potential energy surface.     

A vibrational spectroscopic study of salicylaldoxime in the solid state

The infrared and Raman spectra of solid salicylaldoxime have been measured both for normal and deuterated substance; the polarized infrared spectra of oriented samples have been also obtained. Assignments have been proposed on the basis of i.r. dichroism, Raman data and isotopic effects. The possible occurrence of Fermi resonance effects in some regions of the i.r. spectra has been also investigated.     

Investigations in the field of radiation-induced solid state polymerization-XXXI

Binary systems of N-vinyl succinimide and endomethylene tetrahydrophtalic acid monoallyl ester with some additives were studied. It was established that the amount and nature of the quasi-eutectic structure could be regulated to the desired extent only when crystallization was performed under nearly isothermal conditions. In the present conditions for heat transfer, one component of the binary system should have a maximum linear crystallization rate low enough to produce a maximum linear crystallization rate of the quasi-eutectic structure less than 1 × 10^?2 mm/sec. In many cases, kinetic results could definitely be connected with qualitative and quantitative changes in the quasi-eutectic structure. Some phenomena suggested the roles of certain structural features and the phase conditions of the ternary system formed by the polymer produced.     

Sterically stabilized lock and key colloids: a self-consistent field theory study

A self-consistent field theory study of lock and key type interactions between sterically stabilized colloids in polymer solution is performed. Both the key particle and the lock cavity are assumed to have cylindrical shape and their surfaces are uniformly grafted with polymer chains. The lock-key potential of mean force is computed for various model parameters, such as length of free and grafted chains, lock and key size matching, free chain volume fraction, grafting density, and various enthalpic interactions present in the system. The lock-key interaction is found to be highly tunable, which is important in the rapidly developing field of particle self-assembly.     

A self-consistent field study on the adsorption of symmetrical triblock copolymers between two parallel planes

Using the continuum self-consistent field theory(SCFT), the adsorption of flexible symmetrical triblock polymers onto the surfaces of two identical parallel planes immersed in a neutral solution was studied. The effects of various parameters, such as the interface adhesive energy, the polymer composition and the bulk polymer concentration, on the conformations and total adsorption amount of polymers were explored. It was found that the dependence of the amount of bridges on the interface adhesion and that of the amount of tails on the length of adhesive blocks were both non-monotonous. The amounts of the four chain conformations scaled nearly linearly to the copolymer bulk concentration. The nonequivalence of the dependence of the adsorbed structure behaviors on the interface affinity and the length of sticky blocks was revealed as well.