Accuracy and limitations of second-order many-body perturbation theory for predicting vertical detachment energies of solvated-electron clusters

Vertical electron detachment energies (VDEs) are calculated for a variety of (H(2)O)(n)(-) and (HF)(n)(-) isomers, using different electronic structure methodologies but focusing in particular on a comparison between second-order M?ller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) and coupled-cluster theory with noniterative triples, CCSD(T). For the surface-bound electrons that characterize small (H(2)O)(n)(-) clusters (n< or = 7), the correlation energy associated with the unpaired electron grows linearly as a function of the VDE but is unrelated to the number of monomers, n. In every example considered here, including strongly-bound "cavity" isomers of (H(2)O)(24)(-), the correlation energy associated with the unpaired electron is significantly smaller than that associated with typical valence electrons. As a result, the error in the MP2 detachment energy, as a fraction of the CCSD(T) value, approaches a limit of about -7% for (H(2)O)(n)(-) clusters with VDEs larger than about 0.4 eV. CCSD(T) detachment energies are bounded from below by MP2 values and from above by VDEs calculated using second-order many-body perturbation theory with molecular orbitals obtained from density functional theory. For a variety of both strongly- and weakly-bound isomers of (H(2)O)(20)(-) and (H(2)O)(24)(-), including both surface states and cavity states, these bounds afford typical error bars of +/-0.1 eV. We have found only one case where the Hartree-Fock and density functional orbitals differ qualitatively; in this case the aforementioned bounds lie 0.4 eV apart, and second-order perturbation theory may not be reliable.     

Photoelectron spectroscopy of cluster anions of naphthalene and related aromatic hydrocarbons

The electronic structures and structural morphologies of naphthalene cluster anions, (naphthalene)(n)(-) (n=3-150), and its related aromatic cluster anions, (acenaphthene)(n)(-) (n=4-100) and (azulene)(n)(-) (n=1-100), are studied using anion photoelectron spectroscopy. For (naphthalene)(n) (-) clusters, two isomers coexist over a wide size range: isomers I and II-1 (28 < or = n < or =60) or isomers I and II-2 (n > or = ~60). Their contributions to the photoelectron spectra can be separated using an anion beam hole-burning technique. In contrast, such an isomer coexistence is not observed for (acenaphthene)(n) (-) and (azulene)(n) (-) clusters, where isomer I is exclusively formed throughout the whole size range. The vertical detachment energies (VDEs) of isomer I (7 < or = n < or = 100) in all the anionic clusters depend linearly on n(-13) and their size-dependent energetics are quite similar to one another. On the other hand, the VDEs of isomers II-1 and II-2 produced in (naphthalene)(n)(-) clusters with n > or = approximately 30 remain constant at 0.84 and 0.99 eV, respectively, 0.4-0.6 eV lower than those of isomer I. Based upon the ion source condition dependence and the hole-burning photoelectron spectra experiments for each isomer, the energetics and characteristics of isomers I, II-1, and II-2 are discussed: isomer I is an internalized anion state accompanied by a large change in its cluster geometry after electron attachment, while isomers II-1 and II-2 are crystal-like states with little structural relaxation. The nonappearance of isomers II-1 and II-2 for (acenaphthene)(n)(-) and (azulene)(n)(-) and a comparison with other aromatic cluster anions indicate that a highly anisotropic and symmetric pi-conjugated molecular framework, such as found in the linear oligoacenes, is an essential factor for the formation of the crystal-like ordered forms (isomers II-1 and II-2). On the other hand, lowering the molecular symmetry makes their production unfavorable.     

Exploring the rich energy landscape of sulfate-water clusters SO4(2-) (H2O)(n=3-7): an electronic structure approach

We present a reinvestigation of sulfate-water clusters SO4(2-) (H2O)(n=3-7), which involves several new aspects. Using a joint molecular mechanics/first principles approach, we perform exhaustive searches for stable cluster geometries, showing that the sulfate-water landscape is much richer than anticipated previously. We check the compatibility of the new structures with experiment by comparing vertical detachment energies (VDEs) calculated at the B3LYP/6-311++G** level of theory and determine the energetic ordering of the isomers at the RI-MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ level. Our results are bench-marked carefully against reference energies of estimated CCSD(T)/aug-cc-VTZ quality and VDEs of CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVDZ quality. Furthermore, we calculate anharmonic vibrational corrections for up to the n = 6 clusters, which are shown to be significant for isomer energy ordering. We use energy decomposition analysis (EDA) based on the absolutely localized fragment (ALMO) expansion to gain chemical insight into the binding motifs.     

Ab initio studies on (H2O)14 - clusters: existence of surface and interior-bound extra electrons

A recent paper by Turi et al. [Science 309, 914 (2005)] suggests that the anionic water clusters smaller than (H2O)(45) (-) (at a low temperature) will only have surface-bound extra electrons and no internally bound electrons. Accordingly, (H2O)(14) (-) cluster isomers should only have surface-bound extra electrons. The ab initio results presented here, however, suggest that the (H2O)(14) (-) cluster isomers can have two distinct types of isomers with almost the same energy. The one type of isomer (type 1) has all the non-H-bonding H atoms (NHB H) directed outward and surface-bound extra electron while the other type (type 2) has a number of NHB H atoms directed toward cavity and has an interior-bound electron, and thus, contradicts the earlier quantum simulation results of Turi et al.     

Electronic relaxation dynamics of water cluster anions

The electronic relaxation dynamics of water cluster anions, (H(2)O)(n)(-), have been studied with time-resolved photoelectron imaging. In this investigation, the excess electron was excited through the p<--s transition with an ultrafast laser pulse, with subsequent electronic evolution monitored by photodetachment. All excited-state lifetimes exhibit a significant isotope effect (tau(D)2(O)/tau(H)2(O) approximately 2). Additionally, marked dynamical differences are found for two classes of water cluster anions, isomers I and II, previously assigned as clusters with internally solvated and surface-bound electrons, respectively. Isomer I clusters with n > or = 25 decay exclusively by internal conversion, with relaxation times that extrapolate linearly with 1/n toward an internal conversion lifetime of 50 fs in bulk water. Smaller isomer I clusters (13 < or = n < or = 25) decay through a combination of excited-state autodetachment and internal conversion. The relaxation of isomer II clusters shows no significant size dependence over the range of n = 60-100, with autodetachment an important decay channel following excitation of these clusters. Photoelectron angular distributions (PADs) were measured for isomer I and isomer II clusters. The large differences in dynamical trends, relaxation mechanisms, and PADs between large isomer I and isomer II clusters are consistent with their assignment to very different electron binding motifs.     

Comprehensive photoelectron spectroscopic study of anionic clusters of anthracene and its alkyl derivatives: electronic structures bridging molecules to bulk

The evolution of the electronic structure of molecular aggregates is investigated using anion photoelectron (PE) spectroscopy for anionic clusters of anthracene (Ac) and its alkyl derivatives: 1-methylanthracene (1MA), 2-methylanthracene (2MA), 9-methylanthracene (9MA), 9,10-dimethylanthracene (DMA), and 2-tert-butylanthracene (2TBA). For their monomer anions (n=1), electron affinities are confined to the range from 0.47 to 0.59 eV and are well reproduced by density functional theory calculations, showing the isoelectronic character of these molecules. For cluster anions (n=2-100) of Ac and 2MA, two types of isomers I and II coexist over a wide size range: isomers I and II-1 (4< or =n<30) or isomers I and II-2 (n> or = approximately 40 for Ac and n> or = approximately 55 for 2MA). However, for the other alkyl-substituted Ac cluster anions (i.e., 1MA, 9MA, DMA, and 2TBA), only isomer I is exclusively formed, and neither isomer II-1 nor II-2 is observed. The vertical detachment energies (VDEs) of isomer I in all the anionic clusters depend almost linearly on n(-1/3). In contrast, the VDEs of isomers II-1 (n> or =14) and II-2 (n=40-100), appeared only in Ac and 2MA cluster anions, remain constant with n and are approximately 0.5 eV lower than those of isomer I. The PE spectra revealed the characteristics of each isomer: isomer I possesses a monomeric anion core that is gradually embedded into the interior of the cluster with increasing n. On the other hand, isomers II-1 and II-2 possess a multimeric (perhaps tetrameric) anion core, but they differ in the number of layers from which they are made up; monolayer (isomer II-1) and multilayers (isomer II-2) of a two-dimensionally ordered, finite herringbone-type structure, in which electron attachment produces only little geometrical rearrangement. Moreover, the agreement of the constant VDEs of isomer II-2 with the bulk data demonstrates the largely localized nature of the electronic polarization around the excess charge in a crystal-like environment, where about 50 molecules provide a charge stabilization energy comparable to the bulk.     

Low-lying isomers and finite temperature behavior of (H2O)6 -

(H2O)(6) (-) appears as a "magic" number water cluster in (H2O)(n) (-) mass spectra. The structure of the (H2O)(6) (-) isomer dominating the experimental population has been established only recently [N. I. Hammer et al., J. Phys. Chem. A 109, 7896 (2005)], and the most noteworthy characteristic of this isomer is the localization of the excess electron in the vicinity of a double-acceptor monomer. In the present work, we use a quantum Drude model to characterize the low-energy isomers and the finite temperature properties of (H2O)(6) (-). Comparison with ab initio calculations shows that the use of a water model employing distributed polarizabilities and distributed repulsive sites is necessary to correctly reproduce the energy ordering of the low-lying isomers. Both the simulations and the ab initio calculations predict that there are several isomers of (H2O)(6) (-) significantly lower in energy than the experimentally observed species, suggesting that the experimental distribution is far from equilibrium.     

Infrared spectroscopy of water cluster anions, (H2O)n=3-24-)in the HOH bending region: persistence of the double H-bond acceptor (AA) water molecule in the excess electron binding site of the class I isomers

We report vibrational predissociation spectra of water cluster anions, (H(2)O)(n=)()(3)(-)(24)(-) in the HOH bending region to explore whether the characteristic red-shifted feature associated with electron binding onto a double H-bond acceptor (AA) water molecule survives into the intermediate cluster size regime. The spectra of the "tagged" (H(2)O)(n)()(-).Ar clusters indeed exhibit the signature AA band, but assignment of this motif to a particular isomer is complicated by the fact that argon attachment produces significant population of three isomeric forms (as evidenced by their photoelectron spectra). We therefore also investigated the bare clusters since they can be prepared exclusively in the high binding (isomer class I) form. Because the energy required to dissociate a water molecule from the bare complexes is much larger than the transition energies in the bending region, the resulting (linear) action spectroscopy selectively explores the properties of clusters with most internal energy content. The (H(2)O)(15)(-) predissociation spectrum obtained under these conditions displays a more intense AA feature than was found in the spectra of the Ar tagged species. This observation implies that not only is the AA motif present in the class I isomer, but also that it persists when the clusters contain considerable internal energy.     

Site-specific addition of D(2)O to the (H(2)O)(6)(-) "hydrated electron" cluster: isomer interconversion and substitution at the double H-bond acceptor (AA) electron-binding site

We report the results of an experimental study designed to establish whether, once formed, one of the isomer classes of the hydrated electron clusters, (H(2)O)(n)(-), can interconvert with others when a water molecule is added by condensation. This is accomplished in an Ar-cluster mediated approach where a single intact D(2)O molecule is collisionally incorporated into argon-solvated water hexamer anions, creating the isotopically labeled D(2)O.(H(2)O)(6)(-).Ar(n) heptamer anion. Photoelectron and infrared predissociation spectroscopies are employed both to characterize the isomers generated in the condensation event and to track the position that the D(2)O label adopts within these isomeric structures. Despite the fact that the water hexamer anion precursor clusters initially exist in the isomer I form, incorporation of D(2)O produces mostly isomers I' and II in the labeled heptamer, which bind the electron more (I') or less (II) strongly than does the isomer I class. Isomers I and I' are known to feature electron binding primarily onto a single water molecule that resides in an AA (A = H-bond acceptor) site in the network. Surprisingly, the D(2)O molecule can displace this special electron-binding H(2)O molecule such that the anionic cluster retains the high binding arrangement. In the more weakly binding isomer II clusters, the D(2)O molecule fractionates preferentially to sites that give rise to the vibrational signature of isomer II.     

Photoelectron spectroscopy of the [glycine x (H2O)(1,2)]- clusters: sequential hydration shifts and observation of isomers

The electron binding energies of the small hydrated amino acid anions, [glycine x (H2O)(1,2)]-, are determined using photoelectron spectroscopy. The vertical electron detachment energies (VDEs) are found to increase by approximately 0.12 eV with each additional water molecule such that the higher electron binding isomer of the dihydrate is rather robust, with a VDE value of 0.33 eV. A weak binding isomer of the dihydrate is also recovered, however, with a VDE value (0.14 eV) lower than that of the monohydrate. Unlike the situation in the smaller (n < or = 13) water cluster anions, the [Gly x (H2O)(n > or = 6)]- clusters are observed to photodissociate via water monomer evaporation upon photoexcitation in the O-H stretching region. We discuss this observation in the context of the mechanism responsible for the previously observed [S. Xu, M. Nilles, and K. H. Bowen, Jr., J. Chem. Phys. 119, 10696 (2003)] sudden onset in the cluster formation at [Gly x (H2O)5]-.     

Nonstandard cages in the formation process of methane clathrate: stability, structure, and spectroscopic implications from first-principles

Endohedral CH(4)@(H(2)O)(n) (n = 16, 18, 20, 22, 24) clusters with standard and nonstandard cage configurations containing four-, five-, six-, seven-membered rings were generated by spiral algorithm and were systematically explored using DFT-D methods. The geometries of all isomers were optimized in vacuum and aqueous solution. In vacuum, encapsulation of methane molecules can stabilize the hollow (H(2)O)(n) cage by 2.31~5.44 kcal/mol; but the endohedral CH(4)@(H(2)O)(n) cages are still less stable than the pure (H(2)O)(n) clusters. Aqueous environment could promote the stabilities of the hollow (H(2)O)(n) cages as well as the CH(4)@(H(2)O)(n) clusters, and the CH(4)@(H(2)O)(n) clusters possess larger stabilization energies with regard to the pure (H(2)O)(n) clusters except for n = 24. The lowest energy structures of the CH(4)@(H(2)O)(20) and CH(4)@(H(2)O)(24) cages are identical to the building units in the crystalline sI clathrate hydrate. All of the low-energy cages (including both regular and irregular ones) have large structural similarity and can be connected by "dimer-insertion" operation and Stone-Wales transformation. Our calculation also showed that in the range of cluster size n = 16-24, the relative energies of cage isomers tend to decrease with increasing number of the adjacent pentagons in the oxygen skeleton structures. In addition to the regular endohedral CH(4)@(H(2)O)(20) and CH(4)@(H(2)O)(24) cage structures, some nonstandard CH(4)@(H(2)O)(n) (n = 18, 20, 22, 24) cages have lower energies and might appear during nucleation process of methane hydrate. For the methane molecules in these low-energy cage isomers, we found that the C-H symmetric stretching frequencies show a red-shift trend and the (13)C NMR chemical shifts generally move toward negative values as the cavity size increases. These theoretical results are comparable to the available experimental data and might help experimental identification of the endohedral water cages during nucleation.     

Calculation of electron detachment energies for water cluster anions: an appraisal of electronic structure methods, with application to (H2O)20- AND (H2O)24-

We present benchmark calculations of vertical electron detachment energies (VDEs) for various conformers of (H2O)n-, using both wave function and density functional methods, in sequences of increasingly diffuse Gaussian basis sets. For small clusters (n < or = 6), a systematic examination of VDE convergence reveals that it is possible to converge this quantity to within approximately 0.01 eV of the complete-basis limit, using a highly diffuse but otherwise economical Pople-style basis set of double-zeta quality, with 28 atom-centered basis functions per water molecule. Floating-center basis functions can be useful but are not required to obtain accurate VDEs. Second-order M?ller-Plesset perturbation (MP2) theory suffices to obtain VDEs that are within 0.05 eV of the results from both experiment and coupled-cluster theory, and which always err toward underbinding the extra electron. In contrast to these consistent predictions, VDEs calculated using density functional theory (DFT) vary widely, according to the fraction of Hartree-Fock exchange in a given functional. Common functionals such as BLYP and B3LYP overestimate the VDE by 0.2-0.5 eV, whereas a variant of Becke's "half and half" functional is much closer to coupled-cluster predictions. Exploratory calculations for (H2O)20- and (H2O)24- cast considerable doubt on earlier calculations that were used to assign the photoelectron spectra of these species to particular cluster isomers.     

Electronic and infrared spectroscopy of [benzene-(methanol)(n)](+) (n = 1-6)

The microsolvation structure of the [benzene-(methanol)(n)](+) (n = 1-6) clusters was analyzed by electronic and infrared spectroscopy. For the n = 1 and 2 clusters, further spectroscopic investigation was carried out by Ar atom attachment, which has been know as a useful technique for discriminating isomers of the clusters. The coexistence of multiple isomers was confirmed for the n = 1 and 2 clusters, and remarkably, preferential production of the specific isomers occurred in the Ar attachment. The most stable isomer of the n = 1 cluster was suggested to be of the "on-ring" structure where the nonbonding electrons of the methanol moiety directly interact with the pi orbital of the benzene cation moiety. This is a sharp contrast to [benzene-(H(2)O)(1)](+), exhibiting the "side" structure, where the water moiety is bound to the C-H sites of the benzene cation moiety. The structure of the n = 2 cluster was discussed with the help of density functional theory calculations. Spectral signatures of the intracluster proton-transfer reaction were found for n > or = 5. The intracluster electron-transfer reaction leading to the (methanol)(m)()(+) fragment was also seen upon vibrational and electronic excitation of n > or = 4.     

Tuning of the internal energy and isomer distribution in small protonated water clusters H(+)(H2O)(4-8): an application of the inert gas messenger technique

Infrared spectroscopy of gas-phase hydrated clusters provides us much information on structures and dynamics of water networks. However, interpretation of spectra is often difficult because of high internal energy (vibrational temperature) of clusters and coexistence of many isomers. Here we report an approach to vary these factors by using the inert gas (so-called "messenger")-mediated cooling technique. Protonated water clusters with a messenger (M), H(+)(H(2)O)(4-8)·M (M = Ne, Ar, (H(2))(2)), are formed in a molecular beam and probed with infrared photodissociation spectroscopy in the OH stretch region. Observed spectra are compared with each other and with bare H(+)(H(2)O)(n). They show clear messenger dependence in their bandwidths and relative band intensities, reflecting different internal energy and isomer distribution, respectively. It is shown that the internal energy follows the order H(+)(H(2)O)(n) > H(+)(H(2)O)(n)·(H(2))(2) > H(+)(H(2)O)(n)·Ar > H(+)(H(2)O)(n)·Ne, while the isomer-selectivity, which changes the isomer distribution in the bare system, follows the order H(+)(H(2)O)(n)·Ar > H(+)(H(2)O)(n)·(H(2))(2) > H(+)(H(2)O)(n)·Ne ~ (H(+)(H(2)O)(n)). Although the origin of the isomer-selectivity is unclear, comparison among spectra measured with different messengers is very powerful in spectral analyses and makes it possible to easily assign spectral features of each isomer.     

Extra electron in (H2O)24- cluster isomers: a theoretical study

The isomers of (H(2)O)(24) (-) tetrakaidecahedral cluster are studied by applying the Becke-3-parameter density functional theory and Lee-Yang-Parr correlation functional (B3LYP) and 6-311++G** basis set. Three isomers are selected on the basis of stabilization energy values. The vertical electron dissociation energies (VDE) of these isomers are 1.353, 0.404, and 0.258 eV, respectively. The experimental VDE value of 1.31 eV [J. Chem. Phys. 92, 3980 (1990)] for this cluster size is in excellent agreement with that calculated for isomer 1, suggesting the dominance of this isomer in the experiment. Four water molecules in this isomer share most of the -1 charge. These four water molecules have non-H-bonding H (NHB H) atoms turned toward the cavity, and the inward turned H atoms exhibit a significant lowering of O-H stretch frequency compared to that of a monomer. Isomers 2 and 3 have all 12 NHB H atoms projected outward and have the -1 charge distributed among 7-8 water molecules on the cluster surface.     

Unraveling the mechanisms of O2 activation by size-selected gold clusters: transition from superoxo to peroxo chemisorption

The activation of dioxygen is a key step in CO oxidation catalyzed by gold nanoparticles. It is known that small gold cluster anions with even-numbered atoms can molecularly chemisorb O(2) via one-electron transfer from Au(n)(-) to O(2), whereas clusters with odd-numbered atoms are inert toward O(2). Here we report spectroscopic evidence of two modes of O(2) activation by the small even-sized Au(n)(-) clusters: superoxo and peroxo chemisorption. Photoelectron spectroscopy of O(2)Au(8)(-) revealed two distinct isomers, which can be converted from one to the other depending on the reaction time. Ab initio calculations show that there are two close-lying molecular O(2)-chemisorbed isomers for O(2)Au(8)(-): the lower energy isomer involves a peroxo-type binding of O(2) onto Au(8)(-), while the superoxo chemisorption is a slightly higher energy isomer. The computed detachment transitions of the superoxo and peroxo species are in good agreement with the experimental observation. The current work shows that there is a superoxo to peroxo chemisorption transition of O(2) on gold clusters at Au(8)(-): O(2)Au(n)(-) (n = 2, 4, 6) involves superoxo binding and n = 10, 12, 14, 18 involves peroxo binding, whereas the superoxo binding re-emerges at n = 20 due to the high symmetry tetrahedral structure of Au(20), which has a very low electron affinity. Hence, the two-dimensional (2D) Au(8)(-) is the smallest anionic gold nanoparticle that prefers peroxo binding with O(2). At Au(12)(-), although both 2D and 3D isomers coexist in the cluster beam, the 3D isomer prefers the peroxo binding with O(2).     

Exploring the correlation between network structure and electron binding energy in the (H(2)O)(7)(-) cluster through isomer-photoselected vibrational predissociation spectroscopy and ab initio calculations: addressing complexity beyond types I-III

We report a combined photoelectron and vibrational spectroscopy study of the (H(2)O)(7)(-) cluster anions in order to correlate structural changes with the observed differences in electron binding energies of the various isomers. Photoelectron spectra of the (H(2)O)(7)(-) . Ar(m) clusters are obtained over the range of m=0-10. These spectra reveal the formation of a new isomer (I') for m>5, the electron binding energy of which is about 0.15 eV higher than that of the type I form previously reported to be the highest binding energy species [Coe et al., J. Chem. Phys. 92, 3980 (1990)]. Isomer-selective vibrational predissociation spectra are obtained using both the Ar dependence of the isomer distribution and photochemical depopulation of the more weakly (electron) binding isomers. The likely structures of the isomers at play are identified with the aid of electronic structure calculations, and the electron binding energies, as well as harmonic vibrational spectra, are calculated for 28 low-lying forms for comparison with the experimental results. The HOH bending spectrum of the low binding type II form is dominated by a band that is moderately redshifted relative to the bending origin of the bare water molecule. Calculations trace this feature primarily to the bending vibration localized on a water molecule in which a dangling H atom points toward the electron cloud. Both higher binding forms (I and I') display the characteristic patterns in the bending and OH stretching regions signaling electron attachment primarily to a water molecule in an AA binding site, a persistent motif found in non-isomer-selective spectra of the clusters up to (H(2)O)(50)(-).     

Isomer- and species-selective infrared spectroscopy of jet-cooled 7H- and 9H-2-aminopurine and 2-aminopurine·H2O clusters

The infrared (IR) spectra of the supersonic-jet cooled 9H- and 7H-tautomers of 2-aminopurine (2AP) and of the 9H-2-aminopurine·H(2)O monohydrate clusters have been measured by mass- and species-selective IR-UV double resonance spectroscopy in the 3200-3900 cm(-1) region, covering the N-H and O-H stretching vibrations. The spectra are complemented by density functional (B3LYP and PW91) and by second-order M?ller-Plesset (MP2) calculations of the electronic energies and vibrational frequenciesof the respective 2AP tautomers and clusters. The 9H- and 7H-2-aminopurine tautomers were definitively identified by the shifts of their NH and NH(2) symmetric and asymmetric stretching frequencies and by comparison to the B3LYP/TZVP calculated IR spectra. The H-bond topologies of the two previously observed 9H-2-aminopurine·H(2)O isomers (Sinha. R. K.; et al. J. Phys. Chem. A2011, 115, 6208) are definitively identified as the "sugar-edge" isomer A and the "trans-amino-bound" isomer B by comparing their IR spectra to the calculated frequencies and IR intensities of the cluster isomers A, B, C, and D, as well as to the IR spectrum of 9H-2AP. The sugar-edge isomer A involves N9-H···OH(2) and HOH···N3 hydrogen bonds and is predicted to be the most stable form. The amino-bound isomer B involves NH(2)···OH(2) and HOH···N1 hydrogen bonds and is calculated to lie 2.5 kJ/mol above isomer A. The H-bond topology of the "cis-amino-bound" isomer C is symmetrically related to isomer B, with a hydrogen bond to the N3 of the pyrimidine group. However, it is calculated to lie 7 kJ/mol above isomer A and indeed is not observed in the supersonic jet. Isomer D involves a single H-bond to the N7 position, is predicted to be 14 kJ/mol above A and is therefore not observed.     

Experimental and theoretical investigations of the sulfite-based polyoxometalate cluster redox series: alpha- and beta-[Mo(18)O(54)(SO(3))(2)](4-/5-/6-)

The synthesis, isolation and structural characterization of the sulfite polyoxomolybdate clusters alpha-(D(3h))(C(20)H(44)N)(4){alpha-[Mo(18)O(54)(SO(3))(2)]}CH(3)CN and beta-(D(3d))(C(20)H(44)N)(4){beta-[Mo(18)O(54)(SO(3))(2)]}CH(3)CN is presented. Voltammetric studies in acetonitrile (0.1 M Hx(4)NClO(4), Hx(4)N=tetra-n-hexylammonium) reveal the presence of an extensive series of six one-electron reduction processes for both isomers. Under conditions of bulk electrolysis, the initial [Mo(18)O(54)(SO(3))(2)](4-/5-) and [Mo(18)O(54)(SO(3))(2)](5-/6-) processes produce stable [Mo(18)O(54)(SO(3))(2)](5-) and [Mo(18)O(54)(SO(3))(2)](6-) species, respectively, and the same reduced species may be produced by photochemical reduction. Spectroelectrochemical data imply that retention of structural form results upon reduction, so that both alpha and beta isomers are available at each of the 4-, 5-, and 6-redox levels. However, the alpha isomer is the thermodynamically favored species in both the one- and two-electron-reduced states, with beta-->alpha isomerization being detected in both cases on long time scales (days). EPR spectra also imply that increasing localization of the unpaired electron occurs over the alpha- and beta-[Mo(18)O(54)(SO(3))(2)](5-) frameworks as the temperature approaches 2 K where the EPR spectra show orthorhombic symmetry with different g and hyperfine values for the alpha and beta isomers. Theoretical studies support the observation that it is easier to reduce the alpha cluster than the beta form and also provide insight into the driving force for beta-->alpha isomerization in the reduced state. Data are compared with that obtained for the well studied alpha-[Mo(18)O(54)(SO(4))(2))](4-) sulfate cluster.