Dependence of NMR isotropic shift averages and nuclear shielding tensors on the internal rotation of the functional group X about the C-X bond in seven simple vinylic derivatives H2C=CH-X

The ‘Gauge Including Atomic Orbitals’ (GIAO) approach is used to investigate the question of intramolecular rotation. Ab initio GIAO calculations of NMR chemical shielding tensors carried out with GAUSSIAN 94 within the SCF-Hartree-Fock approximation are described. In order to compare the calculated chemical shifts with experimental ones, it is important to use consistent nuclear shieldings for NMR reference compounds like TMS. The influence of rotating functional groups X=CH₃, CHO, NO₂, NH₂, CONH₂, COOH or C₆H₅ on the shielding tensors in seven vinylic derivatives H₂C=CH-X is studied; the molecules are propene, acrolein, nitroethylene, ethyleneamine, acrylamide, acrylic acid and styrene. We observe a marked dependence of nuclear shielding and chemical shift on the torsional movement. Different Boltzmann averages over the conformational states are considered and compared for gas phase, liquid and solid state NMR. Their applicability to model cases for rigid or freely rotating molecules and for fixed molecules (e.g. polymers or proteins) with rapidly rotating groups is discussed and simple calculation models are presented. On the basis of this work it can be concluded that intramolecular rotation clearly affects the observed averages. Effects of up to 2 ppm have been observed for isotropic chemical shifts, and up to 17 ppm difference have been observed for individual tensor components, for example, of the carboxylic ¹³C atom in acrylic acid. The variation of the shielding tensor on a nucleus in a fixed molecular backbone resulting from an attached rotating group furthermore leads to a new relaxation mechanism by chemical shift anisotropy.     

A study on the GVFF of CHF3, CH2F2, and CH3F

The complete GVFF of CHF₃, CH₂F₂, and CH₃F has been calculated from self-consistent-field ab initio energies, using a 4–31 G basis set. The larger part of the interaction force constants is close to those of the best available force fields from experimental data. Only one interaction term in CH₃F and the interaction force constants of the A₁ species in CH₂F₂ differ appreciably from the experimental ones. Using constraints from the ab initio studies we have improved the GVFF of CH₃F and CH₂F₂. It is shown that all comparable stretch-stretch interaction terms are of the same order of magnitude in the three molecules. The sign of all stretch/bend force constants are in accordance with those predicted by the hybrid orbital force field.     

Isotopic substitution shifts in methane and vibrational band assignment in the 5560-6200 cm region

The absorption spectra of the ¹²CH₄ and ¹³CH₄ molecules have been recorded and assigned in the 5560-6200 cm⁻¹ region. The effects of isotopic substitution for ¹²C by ¹³C on the methane vibrational energy levels have been calculated from an ab initio potential energy surface and compared with experiment. Comparison of the results obtained for two isotopic species allows us to confirm the vibrational assignment for the strongest bands of ¹²CH₄ in this region. Good agreement of ab initio calculations with observed energy levels has been demonstrated. A list of the assigned ¹³CH₄ lines valuable in atmospheric applications is reported.     

A Definitive Example of Aluminum-27 Chemical Shielding Anisotropy

Solid-state²⁷Al NMR spectra have been obtained for a crystalline 1:1 complex of AlCl₃and OPCl₃. Aluminum chloride phosphoryl chloride, AlCl₃· OPCl₃(1), is unusual in that the Al–O–P bond angle is close to 180°. From analysis of the²⁷Al MAS NMR spectra, it was determined that the²⁷Al nuclear quadrupole coupling constant is 6.0(1) MHz, the asymmetry in the electric field gradient (efg) tensor is 0.15(2), and the isotropic chemical shift, δ_iso(²⁷Al), is 88(1) ppm. Solid-state²⁷Al NMR of a stationary sample reveals a line shape affected by a combination of anisotropic chemical shielding and second-order quadrupolar interactions. Analysis of this spectrum yields a chemical shift anisotropy of 60(1) ppm and orientations of the chemical shift and electric field gradient tensors in the molecular frame. Experimental results are compared with those calculated usingab initioHartree–Fock and density functional theory.     

Ab initio calculation of force constants and equilibrium geometries

Force constants of the molecules HF, NH₃, CH₄ and BH₄ ^- have been calculated ab initio by the force method with a 73/3 + 1 gaussian lobe basis set. The results, including a former calculation on H₂O, agree well with experiment: the average relative error is 12 per cent for the diagonal force constants and the average absolute error is 0·06 mdyn/Å for the off-diagonal ones. The trends are also correctly reproduced. It is concluded that ab initio calculations of this accuracy can help to solve a number of spectroscopic problems. Force constants of BH₄ ^- have been determined from a combination of spectroscopic and ab initio information. Geometries have been obtained with little computing work and show good agreement with experiment.     

Ab initio prediction of the infrared absorption spectrum of the C2Br radical

The first three electronic states of the C₂Br radical, correlating at linear geometries with ²Σ⁺ and ²Π states, have been studied ab initio, using Multi Reference Configuration Interaction techniques. The electronic ground state is found to have a bent equilibrium geometry, RCC=1.2621Å, R _CBr=1.7967Å, ∠ CCBr=156.1°, with a very low barrier to linearity. Similarly to the valence isoelectronic radicals C₂F and C₂Cl, this anomalous behaviour is attributed to a strong three-state non-adiabatic electronic interaction. The Σ ,Π_1/2,Π_3/2 vibronic energy levels and their absolute infrared absorption intensities at a temperature of 5 K have been calculated for the ¹² C¹² C⁷⁹Br isotopomer, to an upper limit of 2000 cm^?1, using ab initio diabatic potential energy and dipole moment surfaces and a recently developed variational method.     

Rate coefficients and kinetic isotope effects of the abstraction reaction of H atoms from methylsilane

ABSTRACT

Thermal rate constants for chemical reactions using improved canonical variational transition state theory (ICVT) with small-curvature tunnelling (SCT) contributions in a temperature range 180–2000 K are reported. The general procedure is used with high-quality ab initio computations and semi-classical reaction probabilities along the minimum energy path (MEP). The approach is based on a vibrational adiabatic reaction path and is applied to the multiple-channel hydrogen abstraction reaction H + SiH₃CH₃ → products and its isotopically substituted variants. All the degrees of freedom are optimised and harmonic vibrational frequencies and zero-point energies are calculated at the MP2 level with the cc-pVTZ basis set. Single-point energies are calculated at a higher level of theory; CCSD(T)-F12a/VTZ-F12. ICVT/SCT rate constants show that the quantum tunnelling contributions at low temperatures are relatively important and the H-abstraction channel from SiH₃ group of SiH₃CH₃ is the major pathway. The total rate constants are given by the following expression: k_tot(ICVT/SCT) = 2.29 10^?18 T^2.42 exp(?350.9/T) cm³ molec^?1 s^?1. These calculated rates are in agreement with the available experiments. The ICVT/SCT method is further exploited to predict primary and secondary kinetic isotope effects, respectively).     

Anisotropies in carbon-13 chemical shift tensor,H-C-H bond angles and the signs of the coupling constants in 13CH3I, 13CH3Br, 13CH3Cl

A pulsed fast Fourier transform N.M.R. spectrometer is used to investigate the temperature dependence of the ¹³C chemical shifts in the nematic liquid crystal solutions of the following halides: ¹³CH₃I, ¹³CH₃Br, ¹³CH₃Cl. The H-C-H bond angles are accurately measured in this investigation from proton magnetic resonance studies. The signs of the coupling constants D _13CH , D _HH, J _13CH and the ordering parameter have been assigned to be all positive. The ¹³C magnetic shielding anisotropy is found to become more positive with the increasing electronegativity of the halogen substituents. The values of the anisotropies are: Δσ = σ _∥ - σ _⊥ = - 101 ± 15 p.p.m. (¹³CH₃I), - 10 ± 5 p.p.m. (¹³CH₃Br), 22 ± 5 p.p.m. (¹³CH₃Cl). Results for Δσ obtained from the slope of σ_n versus S ₃₃ agree with those obtained from the nematic-isotropic phase subtraction method.     

An ab initio calculation of the rotational-vibrational energies in the electronic ground state of NH2

We have calculated ab initio the three-dimensional potential-energy surface of the NH₂ molecule at 145 nuclear geometries spanning energy ranges of about 18 000 cm^-1 for the NH stretch and 12 000 cm^-1 for the bend. The ab initio configuration-interaction calculations were done using the multireference MRD-CI method. The calculated equilibrium configuration has NH bond length r _e = 1·0207 Å and bond angle α = 103·1°. The rotational-vibrational energies for ¹⁴NH₂, ¹⁴NHD and ¹⁴ND₂ were calculated variationally using the Morse-oscillator rigid-bender internal-dynamics Hamiltonian. For ¹⁴NH₂ we calculate that υ₁ = 3267 (3219) cm^-1, υ₂ = 1462 (1497) cm^-1 and υ₃ = 3283 (3301) cm^-1, where experimental values are given in parentheses.     

Ab initio pair potential and phase equilibria predictions for the refrigerant methyl fluoride

Ab initio pair interaction energies for methyl fluoride (CH₃F) were calculated using symmetry adapted perturbation theory with the aug-cc-pVDZ basis set plus bond functions for a large number of configurations of a pair of methyl fluoride molecules in order to obtain a good representation of the two-body potential energy surface. These interaction energies were used to develop a site-site intermolecular potential that accurately reproduced the calculated energies and had the correct asymptotic behaviour at long range. This pair potential was used in Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo simulations to predict the phase behaviour of methyl fluoride. The predicted equilibrium properties with the ab initio pair potential are in good agreement with the experimentally measured phase boundary, and give an estimated critical point in excellent agreement with measured values. Multi-body effects were then added to the pair potential using a polarizable model. The small changes to the phase behaviour that resulted established that pairwise interactions account for most of the molecular interactions in CH₃F.     

Theoretical prediction of a linear isomer for NeBr2(X1Γg + an ab initio approach

A supermolecular approach is used to predict the stationary structures of the NeBr₂(X¹Γ_g ⁺) van der Waals cluster. The intermolecular potential is calculated using the single and double excitation coupled-cluster method with non-iterative perturbation treatment of triple excitations [CCSD(T)]. Relativistic effects are included for the Br atoms using effective core potentials (ECPs) and their efficiency is tested for Br₂ and NeBr₂ molecules. Our results for NeBr₂ show minima for both linear and T-shaped configurations, in accord with previous ab initio calculations for rare gas-Br₂ species. The dependence of the interaction potential, as a function of the Br-Br bond, is also presented. Finally, vibrational analysis is carried out to examine the stability of the two isomers including zero-point vibrational energy effects.     

Experimental and theoretical structure and vibrational analysis of ethyl trifluoroacetate,CF3CO2CH2CH3

The molecular structure and conformational properties of ethyl trifluoroacetate, CF₃CO₂CH₂CH₃, were determined in the gas phase by electron diffraction, and vibrational spectroscopy (IR and Raman). The experimental investigations were supplemented by ab initio (MP2) and DFT quantum chemical calculations at different levels of theory. Experimental and theoretical methods result in two structures with C_s (anti–anti) and C₁ (anti–gauche) symmetries, the former being slightly more stable than the latter. The electron‐diffraction data are best fitted with a mixture of 56% anti–gauche and 44% anti–anti conformers. The conformational preference was also studied using the total energy scheme, and the natural bond orbital scheme. Also, the infrared spectra of CF₃CO₂CH₂CH₃ are reported for the gas, liquid and solid states, as is the Raman spectrum of the liquid. The comparison of experimental averaged IR spectra of C_s and C₁ conformers provides evidence for the predicted conformations in the IR spectra. Harmonic vibrational wavenumbers and scaled force fields have been calculated for both conformers. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Theoretical studies of vibrational spectra of [N(CH3)4]2ZnCl4−yBry compounds with y = 0, 2 and 4

The infrared and Raman spectra of [N(CH₃)₄]₂ZnCl_4?yBr_y, where y = 0, 2 and 4, have been analyzed with ab initio calculations of the vibrational characteristics of constitutive polyhedra, tetramethylammonium [N(CH₃)₄]⁺ and [ZnCl_4?xBr_x]^2? (x = 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4) tetrahedra. The optimized geometries, calculated vibrational frequencies, infrared intensities and Raman activities are calculated using Hartree–Fock and density functional theory B3LYP methods with 3-21G, 6-31G(d) and 6-311G⁺(d,p) basis sets. Calculation of the root mean square difference δ_rms between the observed and calculated frequencies allows to give scaling factors and to deduce that the best agreements are obtained by B3LYP/6-311G⁺(d,p) for [N(CH₃)₄]⁺ and B3LYP/3-21G for [ZnCl_4?xBr_x]^2?. The present study establishes a strongly reliable assignment of the vibrational modes of [ZnCl_4?xBr_x]^2? tetrahedra based on comparison between experimental and ab initio calculations, both of the frequencies and the intensities of the Raman signals.     

Ab initio pair potential energy curve for the argon atom pair and thermophysical properties of the dilute argon gas. I. Argon–argon interatomic potential and rovibrational spectra

An argon–argon interatomic potential energy curve was derived from quantum-mechanical ab initio calculations using basis sets of up to d-aug-cc-pV(6+d)Z quality supplemented with bond functions and ab initio methods up to CCSDT(Q). In addition, corrections for relativistic effects were determined. An analytical potential function was fitted to the ab initio values and utilised to compute the rovibrational spectrum. The quality of the interatomic potential function was tested by comparison of the calculated spectrum with experimental ones and those derived from other potentials of the literature. In a following paper the new interatomic potential is used to determine selected thermophysical properties of argon by means of quantum-statistical mechanics and the corresponding kinetic theory considering two-body and three-body interactions.     

Conformational energies of silacyclohexanes C5H10SiHMe,C5H10SiH(CF3) and C5H10SiCl(SiCl3) from variable temperature Raman spectra

From variable temperature vibrational Raman spectra, the axial/equatorial enthalpy differences for the substituted silacyclohexanes C₅H₁₀SiHMe, C₅H₁₀SiH(CF₃) and C₅H₁₀SiCl(SiCl₃) were determined. The pure liquids and solutions in various solvents were investigated. Preferred conformations are equatorial for methylsilacyclohexane and axial for trifluoromethylsilacyclohexane, consistent with earlier results from nuclear magnetic resonance experiments and ab initio calculations. For C₅H₁₀SiCl(SiCl₃) an enthalpy difference close to zero was found, which is supported by high‐level which is supported by high‐level quantum chemical calculations at the second‐order Møller‐Plesset (MP2) and coupled cluster with single, double, and perturbative triple excitations (CCSD(T)) levels, which employed various basis sets. A novel synthesis for C₅H₁₀SiCl(SiCl₃) was developed using ClMg(CH₂)₅MgCl instead of BrMg(CH₂)₅MgBr as a starting material. The procedure avoids the formation of partially brominated products, facilitating the purification of the compound. ¹H, ¹³C and ²⁹Si nuclear magnetic resonance data are reported. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ab initio potential energy curve for the neon atom pair and thermophysical properties of the dilute neon gas. I. Neon–neon interatomic potential and rovibrational spectra

A neon–neon interatomic potential energy curve was derived from quantum-mechanical ab initio calculations using basis sets of up to t-aug-cc-pV6Z quality supplemented with bond functions and ab initio methods up to CCSDT(Q). In addition, corrections for relativistic effects were determined. An analytical potential function was fitted to the ab initio values and utilised to calculate the rovibrational spectra. The quality of the interatomic potential function was tested by comparison of the calculated spectra with experimental ones and those derived from other potentials of the literature. In a following paper the new interatomic potential is applied in the framework of the quantum-statistical mechanics and of the corresponding kinetic theory to determine selected thermophysical properties of neon governed by two-body and three-body interactions.     

Two-photon vibronic spectroscopy of allene at 7.0–10.5 eV: experiment and theory

2?+?1 resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) spectra of allene at 7.0–10.5?eV have been observed. The excited vibronic symmetry has been determined from polarization-ratio measurements. Based on the vibronic energies and peak intensities calculated using ab initio MO and time-dependent density functional theory, the very congested REMPI spectra have been assigned as due to π*?←?π, 3p?←?π, 4s?←?π, 4p?←?π, and 4d?←?π transitions. Vibrational progressions related to the CH₂ twisting (ν₄ ～770?cm^?1) have been observed for several excited electronic states. Calculated Franck–Condon factors also confirm that CH₂ twisting is the most active mode in the vibronic spectra of allene. In this study, theoretical calculations of two-photon intensities and polarization ratios have been made through the ab initio computed one-photon transition dipole moments to various electronic states as intermediates. As a starting point to interpret the complicated vibronic spectrum of allene, the theoretical approach, without vibronic couplings, has been applied to predict the peak positions, spectral intensities, and polarization ratios of Rydberg states, and qualitatively shows a considerable agreement with experimental observations.     

High-resolution,near-infrared CW-CRDS,and ab initio investigations of N2O–HDO

We have investigated the N₂O–HDO molecular complex using ab initio calculations at the CCSD(T)-F12a/aug-cc-pVTZ level of theory and using cavity ring-down spectroscopy to probe an HDO/N₂O/Ar supersonic jet around 1.58 μm. A single a-type vibrational band was observed, 13 cm^?1 redshifted compared to the OH+OD excited band in HDO, and 173 vibration-rotation lines were assigned (T_rot ≈ 20 K). A weighted fit of existing microwave and present near infrared (NIR) data was achieved using a standard Watson's Hamiltonian (σ = 1.26), producing ground and excited states rotational constants. The comparison of the former with those calculated ab initio suggests a planar geometry in which the OD rather than the OH bond in water is almost parallel to NNO. The equilibrium geometry and dissociation energy (D_e = –11.7 kJ/mol) of the water–nitrous oxide complex were calculated. The calculations further demonstrate and allow characterising another minimum, 404 cm^?1 (ΔE₀) higher in energy. Harmonic vibrational frequencies and dissociation energies, D₀, were calculated for various conformers and isotopic forms of the complex, in both minima. The absence of N₂O–D₂O from dedicated NIR experiments is reported and discussed.     

Prediction of the inversion splittings of the nv 2 vibrational levels in phosphine (PH3, PD3 and PMu3)

Inversion splittings of the nv ₂ vibrational levels in PH₃ and PD₃ have been calculated using a theoretical model developed by us for molecular inversion in XY₃ pyramidal molecules and the slightly modified results of an ab initio SCF-LCAO-MO calculation of the double minimum potential function for PH₃ by Lehn and Munsch. Inversion splittings have been predicted also for the chemical compound PMu₃, where Mu is muonium.     

The ro-vibrational analysis of the v4 fundamental band of CF3Br from jet-cooled diode laser and FTIR spectra in the 8.3-μm region

The v₄ fundamental band of CF₃⁷⁹Br and CF₃⁸¹Br, present in natural isotopic abundance, was investigated in the 8.3-μm region by high-resolution infrared spectroscopic techniques. Tuneable diode laser spectra were recorded in the ranges 1202.5–1205.0 cm^?1, 1208.0–1210.1 cm^?1 and 1212.5–1214.5 cm^?1. The tuneable diode laser spectra were obtained at the reduced temperature of 200 K and in a free-jet expansion. The latter technique was used to reduce spectral congestion, achieving a rotational temperature of about 50 K, with a resolution up to 0.0008 cm^?1. A Fourier transform infrared spectrum covering the entire spectral region of the v₄ band, between 1190 and 1220 cm^?1, was recorded at 298 K with a resolution of 0.004 cm^?1. The experimental wavenumbers from the different spectroscopic techniques were combined to accomplish the complete ro-vibrational analysis of v₄. In total, 4651 transitions were assigned to CF₃⁷⁹Br, 4047 to CF₃⁸¹Br, with J″_max? = K″_max?=80; of these, 3171 for CF₃⁷⁹Br and 2755 for CF₃⁸¹Br are from diode laser measurements. The data of each isotopologue were analysed using the model Hamiltonian for a degenerate vibrational state of a molecule of C_3v symmetry. The v₄ band of both the isotopologues resulted essentially unperturbed, but the Δl = Δk = ±2 l-resonance was found to be active within the v₄ = 1 state. Precise values of the vibrational energy and of the ro-vibrational parameters of v₄ = 1 for CF₃⁷⁹Br and CF₃⁸¹Br were obtained. The bromine isotopic splitting amounts to 6.9 × 10^?3 cm^?1. In addition, the equilibrium geometry and the harmonic force field were calculated ab initio using the large-size basis set def2-QZVP in conjunction to the PBE0 functional.