Nonadiabatic scattering of NO off Au3 clusters: A simple and robust diabatic state manifold generation method for multiconfigurational wavefunctions

The presence of nonadiabatic effects during the interaction of small molecules with metals has been observed experimentally for the last decades. Specially remarkable are the effects found for NO/Au, where experiments have suggested the presence of very strong vibronic coupling during the molecular scattering. However, the accurate inclusion of the nonadiabatic effects in periodic boundary conditions (PBC) theoretical methods remain an unapproachable challenge. Here, aiming to give some theoretical insight to the strong vibronic coupling, we have adopted a pragmatic point of view, taking use of an auxiliary simplified system, NO/Au₃. We show the importance of nonadiabatic coupling, during the scattering of NO from a Au₃ cluster, using a diabatic representation of 12 electronic states of the system, including a few charge-transfer states. Our diabatic representation is obtained by rotating the orbital and configuration interaction (CI) vectors of a restricted active space (RAS) wavefunction. We present a strategy for extracting the best effective manifold of states relevant to the system, below some prescribed energy, directly from the RAS CI vectors. This scheme is able to disentangle a large dense manifold of adiabatic states with strong coupling and crossings. This approach is also shown to work for multireference configuration interaction (MRCI). By performing quantum propagations, we observed an increase in vibrational redistribution with increasing initial vibrational or translational energies. We suggest that these nonadiabatic effects should also be present at smaller energies in larger clusters. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

1 Bu–2 Ag conical intersection in trans-butadiene: ultrafast dynamics and optical spectra

The potential-energy functions of the 1 ¹B_u and 2 ¹A_g excited valence states of trans-butadiene have been characterised by the CASPT2 method. Based on these ab initio data, a vibronic-coupling model describing the conical intersection of the 1 ¹B_u and 2 ¹A_g states has been constructed. UV resonance-Raman and absorption spectra have been calculated, employing the time-dependent approach. The time-dependent wave-packet calculations reproduce the expected ultrafast (≈30 fs) radiationless decay of the optically bright 1 ¹B_u state into the dark 2 ¹A_g state.     

Ab initio calculation and quasi‐classical dynamics study of the two lowest potential energy surfaces of the O(1D)+HBr system*

The lowest singlet 1¹A′ and 1¹A″ potential energy surfaces (PES) of the O(¹D)+HBr system have been ab initio computed. The complete active space self‐consistent field (CASSCF) method was used in most of the calculations, considering all the valence orbitals as active. The calculations were complemented with both analytical gradient calculations to characterize the stationary points and multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) calculations at selected nuclear geometries to improve the determination of the barrier heights and of the energetics. Electronic energy values for both PESs were then independently fitted by polynomial expansions in bond order coordinates. On the fitted surfaces quasi‐classical trajectories were separately run. Single‐surface calculations behave qualitatively different for the ground and the excited PES at low collision energies. A satisfactory agreement with existing experimental data was obtained by using the ground PES while calculations performed on the excited 1¹A″ PES worsened the agreement. However, when collision energy is increased, detailed experimental distributions are less well reproduced by calculations on the ground PES. This may imply the participation via nonadiabatic transitions of the 2¹A′ PES at higher energies while the adiabatic ground singlet PES well describes reactive scattering at low collision energy. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2001     

The Role of the nπ* 1Au State in the Photoabsorption and Relaxation of Pyrazine

The geometric, energetic, and spectroscopic properties of the ground state and the lowest four singlet excited states of pyrazine have been studied by using DFT/TD‐DFT, CASSCF, CASPT2, and related quantum chemical calculations. The second singlet nπ* state, ¹A_u, which is conventionally regarded dark due to the dipole‐forbidden ¹A_u←¹A_g transition, has been investigated in detail. Our new simulation has shown that the state could be visible in the absorption spectrum by intensity borrowing from neighboring nπ* ¹B_3u and ππ* ¹B_2u states through vibronic coupling. The scans on potential‐energy surfaces further indicated that the ¹A_u state intersects with the ¹B_2u states near the equilibrium of the latter, thus implying its participation in the ultrafast relaxation process.     

Direct calculation of coupled diabatic potential-energy surfaces for ammonia and mapping of a four-dimensional conical intersection seam

We used multiconfiguration quasidegenerate perturbation theory and the fourfold-way direct diabatization scheme to calculate ab initio potential-energy surfaces at 3600 nuclear geometries of NH3. The calculations yield the adiabatic and diabatic potential-energy surfaces for the ground and first electronically excited singlet states and also the diabatic coupling surfaces. The diabatic surfaces and coupling were fitted analytically to functional forms to obtain a permutationally invariant 2 x 2 diabatic potential-energy matrix. An analytic representation of the adiabatic potential-energy surfaces is then obtained by diagonalizing the diabatic potential-energy matrix. The analytic representation of the surfaces gives an analytic representation of the four-dimensional conical intersection seam which is discussed in detail.     

Strong vibronic coupling effects in ionization spectra: The “mystery band” of butatriene

A theory of vibronic coupling in molecules is presented and applied to butatriene. The energies and coupling constants which enter the calculation are computed using ab initio Hartree—Fock and many-body methods. The influence of the energy splitting and the coupling constants on the calculated spectrum is discussed. It is definitely shown that the “mystery band” in the photoelectron spectrum of butatriene arises from the vibronic coupling between the electronic states ²B_3g and ²B_3u. To reproduce the experimental observations it is essential to include in the calculation both totally and non-totally symmetric vibrational modes.     

Analysis and predictions of the vibronic spectrum of the ethynyl radical C2H by ab initio methods

A purely ab initio study of the vibronic structure of the C₂H spectrum in the region up to 7000 cm^?1, which is complicated by the coupling of theX ²Σ⁺ andA ² II systems, is presented. The potential surfaces for the three lowest-lying electronic states 1² A′, 2² A′ and 1² A″ correlating withX ²Σ⁺ andA ² II at the linear molecular geometry are calculated for the various geometrical distortions by means of the multireference configuration interaction (MRD-CI) method. These adiabatic surfaces are transformed into suitable diabatic counterparts. An approach is developed for a simultaneous treatment of three electronic states coupled via the bending and C-C stretching vibrations. Spin-orbit splitting of the vibronic levels and the vibronically averaged values for the hyperfine coupling constants are computed. The results obtained in this study enable a reliable explanation of the available experimental findings of the C₂H spectrum and predict a number of features to be verified by future experiments.     

An ab initio SCF and CI study of ketene imine

The electronic structures of the ground and excited states of ketene imine (_H^HCCNH) have been studied by ab initio SCF and CI calculations. The nucleophilic nature of the β carbon with respect to nitrogen has been discussed using calculated electrostatic potentials and by calculated energy differences between the parent and protonated species. The electronically excited ¹A″ and ³A″ states are found to be almost degenerate.     

Theoretical investigation of Wulf and Chappuis bands in the spectrum of ozone

The ground state and some lowest excited states of ozone are calculated by the semiempirical MNDO method using configuration interaction to explain the Wulf absorption band and photodissociation of ozone. The results of calculations show that³A₂(1³A′’) is the lowest excited triplet state of O₃; a transition to this state from the ground X¹ A₁ state is responsible for the weak Wulf absorption. The oscillator strength (f = 3.2·10^-7) and the radiative lifetime of the A₂ state (Τ = 0.01 s) are in agreement with recent ab initio calculations. Translated fromZhumal Struktumoi Khimii, Vol. 38, No. 6, pp. 1067–1073, November–December, 1997.     

Estimation of the contribution of vibronic interaction to the isotope effect on the nuclear magnetic shielding constant of a hydrogen bridge

A nonadiabatic correction to the H/D isotope effect on the constant of electronic magnetic shielding of a nucleus was estimated within the framework of the first-order perturbation theory. The procedure consists in the ab initio calculation of frequencies and relative intensities in the vibronic spectrum for H and D forms of a molecule taking into account only the transitions allowed in the magnetic-dipole approximation. With the elementary assumptions (case of Herzberg vibronic interaction), the semiquantitative estimation of adiabatic (geometrical) and nonadiabatic contributions to the H/D isotope effect on the ¹⁵N shielding constant of a complex with the HF-pyridine hydrogen bond was carried out. These two contributions to the isotope effect are comparable in the order of magnitude, at least for unsaturated molecules with low-lying excited electronic states. A correct solution to the problem requires ab initio calculation that is not based on the Born-Oppenheimer approximation.     

Collision-free lifetimes of selectivity excited levels in the 2B2-2A1 system of NO2

Time-resolved sub-Doppler laser spectroscopy under collision-free conditions in a supersonic NO₂ beam has proved that selectively excited rovibronic levels show only pure exponential decays with lifetimes from 40 to 100 μs depending on the strength of their coupling to non-radiative levels. These measurements support earlier results which can be explained by vibronic and spin-orbit coupling between levels in the ²B₂ and X²A₁ states.     

On the lower excited electronic states of biacetyl

An ab initio SCF and CI study has been carried out for the ground and electronically excited states of biacetyl (CH₃COCOCH₃). The second absorption band in the 4.40 eV region has been assigned to a ¹A_g → ¹B_g nπ^* transition The character of the lower-lying states has been analyzed in terms of the CI wavefunctions.     

Scaling the Coulomb interaction in calculations of electron spectra of transition metal complexes

A simple technique of scaling two-electron integrals in ab initio calculations of the electronically excited states of transition metal complexes is proposed. This technique uses the fact that one-center two-electron integrals depend linearly on the scaling factor when Slater type functions are subjected to scaling transformation. This leads to a linear dependence of the d—d transition energy on the “scale” of Coulomb interaction, which allows one to affect the calculation result by varying the Slater exponential. To test the technique, ab initio configuration interaction and full active space calculations of the low excited states of the CrF ₆ ^3- , MnF ₆ ^2- , and VF ₆ ^3- complexes are performed. For transition elements, a basis of Slater type effective functions chosen from the optical spectra of the atoms and ions of transition elements is used. It is shown that in the STO-6G basis with effective exponentials, experimental transitions are reproduced with an accuracy of about 2000 cm^-1 even with the use of small active space determined by the orbitals localized on the central atom of the complex.     

LCGTO-LSD calculations for CH2

LCGTO-LSD calculations for ground (³B₁) and excited (¹A₁) states of methylene, CH₂, have been performed. Various exchange-correlation potentials and a variety of basis sets (including f functions) have been used. For both states the LSD optimized geometry agrees well with both experimental and the most advanced ab initio results. The correct ground state is found, and the ¹A₁-³B₁ energy separation was found to be ～ 15 kcal/mol, using the “best” local exchange-correlation potential (VWN ), the experimental value being ～ 9 kcal/mol. This result compares favorably with the Hartree-Fock limit separation of 25 kcal/mol. The Kohn-Sham exchange potential leads to a gap of ～26 kcal/mol.     

Theoretical study of excitations in furan: spectra and molecular dynamics

The excitation spectra and molecular dynamics of furan associated with its low-lying excited singlet states 1A2(3s), 1B2(V), 1A1(V'), and 1B1(3p) are investigated using an ab initio quantum-dynamical approach. The ab initio results of our previous work [J. Chem. Phys. 119, 737 (2003)] on the potential energy surfaces (PES) of these states indicate that they are vibronically coupled with each other and subject to conical intersections. This should give rise to complex nonadiabatic nuclear dynamics. In the present work the dynamical problem is treated using adequate vibronic coupling models accounting for up to four coupled PES and thirteen vibrational degrees of freedom. The calculations were performed using the multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree method for wave-packet propagation. It is found that in the low-energy region the nuclear dynamics of furan is governed mainly by vibronic coupling of the 1A2(3s) and 1B2(V) states, involving also the 1A1(V') state. These interactions are responsible for the ultrafast internal conversion from the 1B2(V) state, characterized by a transfer of the electronic population to the 1A2(3s) state on a time scale of approximately 25 fs. The calculated photoabsorption spectrum of furan is in good qualitative agreement with experimental data. Some assignments of the measured spectrum are proposed.     

Visible-laser-induced chemiluminescence of NaHg red excimer bands

Visible argon ion laser lines were used to induce the chemiluminescence of the NaHg excimer. Sodium dimers, excited into theB ¹Π _u state, produced in reactive collision with Hg atoms the NaHg excimers in the first excited electronic states. A qualitative analysis of the origin of the observed spectra, based on ab initio NaHg potential curves calculations, is presented.     

Excited states and photochemistry of saturated molecules. ab initio calculations on methane

STO 4G calculations are carried out on methane in both tetrahedral and Jahn—Teller distorted C_2v and C_3v symmetries. Large increases in CH bond lengths are predicted in all states, and the ^IB₁ state in C_2v symmetry is predicted to dissociate to ^IB₁ methylene and ¹A₁ H₂ width no energy barrier. THe results are compared with earlier INDO calculations, and the latter are found to qualitatively consistent with the ab initio results.     

TiO2基态和激发态的几何结构、激发能和偶极矩

采用二阶微扰理论MP2、密度泛函B3LYP方法和含时密度泛函TD-B3LYP方法分别优化了TiO₂分子的基态¹A₁和六个激发态¹B₂、³B₂、¹B₁、³B₁、¹A₂和³A₂的几何结构. ¹A₁、¹B₂、³B₂、¹B₁和³B₁具有弯曲几何结构, ¹A₂和³A₂具有线性对称结构. 我们发现激发态¹B₂、³B₂、¹B₁和³B₁键偶极矩的数值大小顺序和相应的键角大小顺序完全一致. 另外, 采用完全活化空间自洽场(CASSCF)CASSCF(6,6)、CASSCF(8,8)、多参考组态相互作用(MRCI)和含时密度泛函TD-B3LYP 计算了TiO₂ 分子各激发态的垂直激发能和绝热激发能. 对¹B₂、³B₂和¹B₁三个态, MRCI/CASSCF(6,6) 计算的垂直激发能和绝热激发能与已有的实验值最接近. 对其他三个激发态³B₁、¹A₂和³A₂, 计算的激发能和文献报道的激发能计算值基本一致. 最后, 还计算了TiO₂分子的基态和激发态的偶极矩. 对¹A₁和¹B₂态, 偶极矩的计算值与已有的实验值相吻合. 采用原子偶极矩校正的Hirshfeld 布居方法计算了TiO₂分子在¹A₁、¹B₂、³B₂、¹B₁和³B₁态时各原子的电荷, 发现从基态到激发态偶极矩的变化与电荷从氧原子向钛原子的转移有关. 整个计算中还考察了基函数cc-pVDZ、cc-pVTZ和cc-pVQZ对计算结果的影响.     

Two-photon spectroscopy in the gas phase: 1B2u ← 1Ag transition of p-difluorobenzene

The two-photon excitation spectrum ¹B_2u ← ¹A_g of p-difluorobenzene in the gas phase is presented and analysed. The normal absorption is electric dipole allowed and shows no vibronic coupling, but the two-photon absorption is electric dipole forbidden and displays rich vibronic structure. Eight vibronic origins are assigned to their excited state fundamentals by analysis of the hot bands and by analogy with benzene. The only previously unassigned ground state frequency, an a_u mode, is active in the spectrum and is accordingly assigned. The sequences and the abundant Fermi resonances accompanying absorption are also partially assigned.     

The valence electronic excited states of trans-1,3-butadiene and trans,trans-1,3,5-hexatriene from generalized valence bond and configuration interact

Self-consistent ab initio generalized valence bond (GVB) and configuration interaction (Cl) calculations are presented for the ground and valence electronic excited states of trans-1,3-butadine and all trans-1,3,5-hexatrine. Previous workers have suggested that (all trans) polyenes exhibit a parity-forbidden valence excited state (2¹ A_g at an energy just below that of the first dipole-allowed (1¹ B_u) state. We find such valence excited electronic states for butadiene (ΔE = 7.06 eV) and hexatriene (ΔE = 5.87 eV), but in both cases the excitation energy is considerably higher than the dipole-allowed transitions (zero-zero transitions at 5.95 eV and 4.95 eV, respectively). The lower two triplet states are found at 3.35 eV and 5.08 eV for butadie and at 2.71 eV and 4.32 eV in hexatrine, in good agreement with experimental values (3.2–3.3 eV and 4.92 eV for butadiene and 2.66 eV and 4.1–4.2 eV for hexatrine). Considering the states formed by removing one electron from the π space we found ion states at 8.95 eV and 11.40 eV for butadiene and at 8.33 eV, 10.53 eV, and 11.60 eV for hexatriene, in godo agreement with experimental results (9.0 eV and 11.5 eV for butadiene and 8.45 eV, 10.43 eV and 11.6 eV for hexatriene).