An ab initio study of ascorbic acid

The conformations of ascorbic acid and its singly ionized analog are found to agree with the X-ray structures. The calculations are discussed in terms of the known chemistry of ascorbic acid and its metabolites.     

An ab initio study of pyruvic acid

The geometries and vibrational frequencies of two conformers of pyruvic acid have been obtained at the ab initio second order Möller-Plesset level of theory using the 6-311++G^** basis set. While the calculated geometries have been compared to the experimental microwave data, the vibrational frequencies have been assigned, using the experimental gas phase IR spectra of 13 isotopes of pyruvic acid by a recently developed scaling procedure (IRPROG). An attempt has been made to explain the stability of the eclipsed conformation over the staggered conformation of pyruvic acid by taking account of the molecular orbitals.     

An efficient ab initio gradient program

An ab initio Hartree-Fock gradient program is described. It is characterized by (1) efficiency of the gradient evaluation, and (2) capability of handling higher angular momentum (d andf) basis functions. The latter are constructed from shifted Cartesian Gaussian p-type primitives. A satisfactory solution is presented for the problems connected with the neglect of small integrals in a gradient program. Methods for increasing the efficiency of the SCF procedure are discussed.     

An ab initio comparative structural study of alkenylphosphonic acid derivatives

A comparative study of the electronic structure and conformational properties of alkenylphosphonic acid derivatives with different substituents has been carried out by means of ab initio quantum mechanical methods. The ab initio calculations have been performed using different basis sets. A strongly polarized partial triple bond for the phosphoryl group has been found. A very weak π conjugation has been detected in the C=C/P=O system. Intramolecular hydrogen bonds have been found in 2-cis-carboxyvinylphosphonic acid.     

An ab initio study of formamide

Calculated energy and molecular properties of the ground and low-energy excited states of formamide are presented at the ground state geometry. Satisfactory results are obtained except for the ¹* energy which remains too high by 1 eV (which is nevertheless a large improvement over previous calculations). The predicted triplet energies lie at 5.4 eV (³ n*) and 5.8 eV (³*).     

An ab initio study of the unimolecular decomposition mechanism of formamidine. 4-31G Characterization of potential energy hypersurface

Ab initio MO calculations have been carried out for the unimolecular decomposition of formamidine. The Hartree–Fock method in LCAO approximation with the 4-31G basis set was used. The 4-31G potential hypersurface has been further studied. The stationary points (R, TS, and P) were localized. A reaction analysis by correlation of bond-order indices and localized molecular orbitals demonstrated that the decomposition is an asynchronous process. The TS can be described as four-membered ring.     

方酸构象和振动光谱的从头算研究

在6-31G^*^*水平上对方酸(3, 4-二羟基-3-环丁烯-1, 2-二酮)三种构象异构体进行了SCF计算。结果表明ZZ型异构体最稳定, ZE型次之。用等键反应能量分析方酸的稳定性, 并与苯作比较, 讨论方酸的芳香性。在6-31G水平上计算了方酸三种构象的振动频率。     

An ab initio study of the hydrated positron

Ab initio calculations are presented for the hydration energy of the positron. Tetrahedral molecular-dipole-oriented clusters e⁺(H₂O)₄ are considered. In performing these calculations, the Hartree—Fock MO LCAO SCF approximation with the 4-31G split-valence basis set is used. The method was modified to treat the positron problem. It is shown that e⁺ in liquid water, like an electron, can be strongly solvated, with the hydration energy 0.2–0.3 eV greater than that of e⁺.     

An ab initio study of electrophilic aromatic substitution

Proton affinities are calculated at all reactive positions for the normal benzenoid hydrocarbons, benzene, naphthalene, phenanthrene and anthracene, a strained benzenoid hydrocarbon, biphenylene, and a nonalternant hydrocarbon, fluoranthene, and the results are compared to experimental protodetritiation rates. Methods used include PM3 and Hartree-Fock calculations at the STO-3G, 3-21G*, 6-31G* and MP2//6-31G* levels. Generally good agreement is found between theory and experiment with 6-31G* giving the best correlations. Received: 11 June 1998 / Accepted: 3 September 1998 / Published online: 23 February 1999     

An ab initio study of the keto-enol tautomerism

The keto-enol tautomerism is studied using an approximative HF method outlined in the appendix. The following results are obtained: (1) The experimentally observed alternance of G in acyclic monoketones could not be reproduced. (2) The stabilization of C=C double bonds, especially of conjugated double bonds, by CH₃- or -CH₂- groups is responsible for the observed difference between acyclic and cyclic 1.2-diketones, e.g. for the different enol content of diacetyl and cyclopentane-1.2-dione. (3) The enols of 1.2-diketones contain a hydrogen bond which differs from the hydrogen bond in enols of 1.3-diketones. (4) A system of two conjugated C=O double bonds is not favoured compared to a system of two C=O bonds which are separated by one (or more) -CH₂- group. (5) 5-ring enols with a C=C double bond in the ring are more stable than one would expect by an energy estimation from acyclic compounds.     

An ab initio study of the geometry and rotational barrier of 4-phenylimidazole

The molecular design of several synthetic artificial enzymes, which mimic the action of the serine protease-chymotrypsin, incorporates the phenylimidazole molecular fragment to play the role of the His-57 residue in the native enzyme active site. Study of these artificial enzymes by molecular modeling techniques requires accurate torsional force field parameters for the phenylimidazole interring bond. This, in turn, requires accurate characterization of the barrier to rotation around this bond. Previous semiempirical calculations of this rotational barrier have neglected geometry optimization of the molecule at the points along the rotational pathway. The 4-phenylimidazole rotational barrier (5.6 kcal mol^–1] presented here was obtained by full ab initio geometry optimization at the 3–21G level at each of the points along the rotational pathway.     

Photoenolisation. X.. An ab initio SCF-CI study

The processes involved in photoenolisations are theoretically simulated by an ab initio SCF-CI method, using cis-2-butenal as a prototype structure. The prominent role of the hydroxyl group conformation in the resulting transient ( 2a ) is emphasized; its rotation ‘out of the reaction site’ allows the next reaction paths to proceed exothermally. The equilibration of the different types of twisted biradicals in the triplet manifold, which only involves a low energy barrier, is thus possible, populating in quite equal weights the precursors of both E- and Z-dienols. In the singlet state, the formation of the Z-isomer is expected to be kinetically dominant. An examination of the role of the substituents suggests that, in related systems, the steric crowding induces important structural relaxation of the dienol geometries.     

The 3-21G(N*) basis set: An economical polarized basis set for ab initio studies on nitrogen-containing molecules

The 3-21G basis set shares with its older cousin, the 4-31G basis set, a tendency to overestimate valence angles at nitrogen atoms and to underestimate seriously barriers to inversion at such atoms. The 6-31G* basis set generally yields greatly improved results in these respects. It is here shown that, for a variety of molecules, supplementation of the 3-21G basis set at three- or two-coordinate nitrogen atoms with a set of six d-functions having exponent 1.0 leads to optimized geometries and inversion barriers at such nitrogen centers in good agreement with results obtained with the 6-31G* basis set. This supplemented basis set, designated as 3-21G(N*), also leads to calculated vibrational frequencies in good agreement with those calculated with the 6-31G* basis set. The 3-21G(N*) basis set offers an economical alternative to the 6-31G* basis set, particularly for molecules containing several first-row atoms other than nitrogen.     

Uracil and the tautomer 4-hydroxyuracil: An ab initio study with geometry optimization

Ab initio STO -3G geometries and relative energies for uracil (U) and the tautomer 4-hydroxyuracil (U*) were obtained with the HONDO program utilizing the rapidly convergent method of Murtaugh and Sargent for geometry optimization. ΔE for U?U* is 6.61 kcal/mole. The reaction field continuum model for solvent effect indicates a preferential stabilization of U* by 1.0 kcal/mole. The calculated gas phase K_t and solution K_t for U?U* are 1.44×10^?5 and 1.3×10^?4, respectively.     

An ab initio study of the hydration of alkylammonium groups

Ab initio STO 3G calculations of the electronic structure and interaction energies with water of methyl and ethylammonium ions are reported. It is shown that the calculations predict a preferential attack at the -group (relative to the nitrogen), in agreement with experimental facts, and that successive ethylation reduces the favorable energy of hydration.Further calculations show that due to the large positive charges on the hydrogens, direct C–H... O hydrogen bond formation is possible. Thus a water molecule forms such a hydrogen bond of - 10kcal/mole in NMe ₄ ⁺ ; of –9kcal/mole at an position in the ethylated ions and of –6 kcal/mole at a position. The a preference noted above is thus preserved. It seems unlikely that such interactions significantly change the overall hydration described above. Although twelve sites for H-bonding exist in NMe ₄ ⁺ , they approach each other rather closely and after addition of four water molecules further water molecules introduce such intermolecular repulsions as to reduce rather than increase the total hydration energy which remains always slightly lower than that obtained with water in the axial type of site described above [14].     

An ab initio theoretical study of the stereoisomers of tetrahydrocannabinols

An extensive theoretical study of the stereoisomers of tetrahydrocannabinols has been performed at the ab initio HF/6-31G^* and B3LYP/6-31G^* levels. Effects of solvation were calculated with the Onsager model (with full geometry optimization), SCRF with Tomasi's PCM, and isodensity polarization continuum models. Single-point MP2//HF/6-31G^* calculations were carried out. Frequency calculations for all the isomers at the HF/6-31G^* level and for two natural isomers ¹-THC-RR and ⁶-THC-RR at the B3LYP/6-31G^* level were performed. Our results support the findings of the previous AM1 studies that the orientation of the carbocyclic ring and its C1 substituent with respect to the phenyl group hydroxyl oxygen play the major role in the activity. The calculated values of the LUMO energy (lowest unoccupied molecular orbital) and the hardness of the stereoisomers show that for the trans isomers it is easier to remove one electron from its HOMO (highest occupied molecular orbital) to the LUMO and easier to accept an electron from the receptor binding site than for the cis isomers. Combining geometric features (the orientation of the carbocyclic ring and its C1 substituent with respect to the phenyl group hydroxyl oxygen) with electronic features (LUMO and hardness), we explain the activity differences among the stereoisomers.     

An ab initio study of the electronic structure of diimide

Ab initio calculations on the structure and geometry of the three isomers of N₂H₂ (trans-diimide, cis-diimide, and 1,1-dihydrodiazine) were performed both on HF and CI level using gaussian basis sets with polarization functions. The trans and cis isomers have singlet ground states; the trans isomer is found to be lower in energy than the cis isomer by 6.9 kcal/mol (HF) and 5.8 kcal/mol (CI), respectively. The barrier for the trans-cis isomerization is predicted to be 56 (HF) and 55 (CI) kcal/mol. H₂ N=N has a triplet ground state with a non-planar equilibrium geometry and a rather long NN bond of 1.34 Å. Its lowest singlet state, however, is planar with an NN double bond of 1.22 Å; it is found to lie about 3 kcal/mol above the triplet and 26 kcal/mol above the singlet ground state of trans-diimide.     

Electronic structure of NH+: An ab initio study

We report ab initio self‐consistent field MRSD‐CI electronic structure calculations of the NH⁺ cation. A basis set of DZ + POL quality augmented with Rydberg and bond functions was employed together with an extensive treatment of electron correlation. More than 50 electronic states of NH⁺ are reported, including doublets, quartets, and sextets. Leading configurations, vertical ionization energies of NH, vertical excitation energies of NH⁺, and potential energy curves are reported. Spectroscopic properties calculated for the known bound electronic states of NH⁺ are found in good agreement with experiment. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2005