Implementation of a density functional theory-based method for the calculation of the hyperfine A-tensor in periodic systems with the use of numerical and Slater type atomic orbitals: application to paramagnetic defects

The A-tensor parameterizes the "hyperfine" interaction of an "effective" electronic spin with the magnetic field due to the nuclear spin as monitored in an electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) experiment. In this account, we describe an implementation for the calculation of the A-tensor in systems with translational invariance based on the Kohn-Sham form of density functional theory (KS DFT). The method is implemented in the periodic program BAND, where the Bloch states are expanded in the basis of numerical and Slater-type atomic orbitals (NAOs/STOs). This basis is well-suited for the accurate representation of the electron density near the nuclei, a prerequisite for the calculation of highly accurate hyperfine parameters. Our implementation does not rely on the frozen core approximation tacitly assumed in the pseudopotential schemes. The implementation is validated by performing calculations on the A-tensor for small atoms and molecules within the supercell approach as well as for paramagnetic defects in solids. In particular, we consider the A-tensor of "normal" and "anomalous" muonium defects in diamond and of the hydrogen cyanide anion radical HCN(-) in a KCl host crystal lattice.     

Paramagnetic defect centers at the MgO surface. An alternative model to oxygen vacancies

On the basis of embedded cluster calculations, we propose a new model for the structure of paramagnetic color centers at the MgO surface usually denoted as F(S)(H)(+) (an electron trapped near an adsorbed proton). These centers are produced by exposing the surface of polycrystalline MgO to H(2) followed by UV irradiation. We demonstrate that properties of H atom absorbed at surface sites such as step edges (MgO(step)) and reverse corner sites (MgO(RC)), formed at the intersection of two step edges, are compatible with a number of features observed for F(S)(H)(+). Our calculations suggest that (i) H(2) dissociates at the reverse corner site heterolytically and that there is no barrier for this exothermic reaction; (ii) the calculated vibrations of the resulting MgO(RC)(H(+))(H(-)) complex are fully consistent with the measured ones; (iii) desorption of a neutral H atom from the diamagnetic precursor requires UV light and leads to the formation of stable neutral paramagnetic centers at the surface, MgO(step)(H(+))(e(-))(trapped) and MgO(RC)(H(+))(e(-))(trapped). The computed isotropic hyperfine coupling constants and optical transitions of these centers are in broad agreement with the existing experimental data. We argue that these centers, which do not belong to the class of "oxygen vacancies", are two of the many possible forms of the F(S)(H)(+) defect center.     

Analysis of the spin exchange interactions and the ordered magnetic structures of lithium transition metal phosphates LiMPO4 (M = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) with the olivine structure

The olivine-type compounds LiMPO4 (M = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) consist of MO4 layers made up of corner-sharing MO6 octahedra of high-spin M2+ ions. To gain insight into the magnetic properties of these phosphates, their spin exchange interactions were estimated by spin dimer analysis using tight binding calculations and by electronic band structure analysis using first principles density functional theory calculations. Three spin exchange interactions were found to be important for LiMPO4, namely, the intralayer superexchange J1, the intralayer super-superexchange Jb along the b-direction, and the interlayer super-superexchange J2 along the b-direction. The magnetic ground state of LiMPO4 was determined in terms of these spin exchange interactions by calculating the total spin exchange interaction energy under the classical spin approximation. In the spin lattice of LiMPO4, the two-dimensional antiferromagnetic planes defined by the spin exchange J1 are antiferromagnetically coupled by the spin exchange J2, in agreement with available experimental data.     

Chelation of transition metal ions by peptide nanoring

We have computationally studied the energetics and electronic structures of a chelate system where the guest cation is a transition metal (TM) and the host ligand is a peptide nanoring (PNR). The trapping of a TM cation by a cyclic peptide skeleton is primarily caused by the electrostatic interaction. The exchange interaction plays a secondary role in determining the relative stability in accordance with the spin multiplicity. An interesting feature of this chelate system is that a TM cation can also be trapped by the side-chain aromatic groups of the PNR via pi-d hybridization. However, the spin multiplicity of the system changes the trapped form. When the chelate system has spin singlet multiplicity, a Fe(2+) cation, for example, is not trapped by the single-phenyl group but is preferentially sandwiched by the two phenyl groups. In contrast, a Fe(2+) cation can be trapped by single as well as by double-phenyl groups when the chelate system has higher spin multiplicity, such as triplet and quintet. These two different trapping forms are caused by the difference in the number of valence electrons of TM cations. For this chelate system, the newly occupied molecular orbital (MO) has an interbenzene antibonding character. Therefore, an electron occupying this MO state favors the mutual separation of two benzene molecules. Because the electron occupation of this MO varies in accordance with the spin multiplicity, one can predict the preference for the single-phenyl-group trapping process rather than the double-phenyl-group process systematically as well as consistently.     

A route toward the generation of thermally stable Au cluster anions supported on the MgO surface

On the basis of experimental evidence and DFT calculations, we propose a simple yet viable way to stabilize and chemically activate gold nanoclusters on MgO. First the MgO surface is functionalized by creation of trapped electrons, (H (+))(e (-)) centers (exposure to atomic H or to H 2 under UV light, deposition of low amounts of alkali metals on partially hydroxylated surfaces, etc.); the second step consists in the self-aggregation of gold clusters deposited from the gas phase. The calculations show that the (H (+))(e (-)) centers act both as nucleation and activation sites. The process can lead to thermally stable gold cluster anions whose catalytic activity is enhanced by the presence of an excess electron.     

Rational design of covalently bridged [Fe(III)₂M(II)O] clusters

We are reporting the first supramolecular dimeric units of basic carboxylates. The neutral [Fe(III)?M(II)O] motif for different 3d M metals is covalently bound through 2,2'-bipyrimidine. We have structurally characterized the hexanuclear clusters and the related trinuclear building blocks. Their magnetic properties have been fully analyzed and DFT calculations have been performed as a supplementary tool. All results evidence a weak antiferromagnetic interaction through the bpym bridge between isolated spin ground states (in some examples) arising from intra-Fe?MO core exchange couplings.     

The reactions of imidazol-2-ylidenes with the hydrogen atom: a theoretical study and experimental confirmation with muonium

The possible radicals resulting from hydrogen atom addition to the imidazole rings of 1,3-bis(isopropyl)-4,5-dimethylimidazol-2-ylidene (1) and 1,3-bis(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidene (2) have been studied by means of density functional calculations (B3LYP). The calculations included solvent effects estimated via the polarized continuum model (PCM) and an empirical treatment of vibrational averaging of hyperfine constants. Addition of a hydrogen (or muonium) atom to the carbeneic carbon of 1,3-bis(isopropyl)-4,5-dimethylimidazol-2-ylidene was found to give a radical 60.46 kJ mol(-)(1) more stable than the radical resulting from addition to the double bond. Estimation of the activation barriers for reaction at the two sites shows that addition at the carbeneic carbon is favored. The site of addition was confirmed experimentally using muonium (Mu), which can be considered a light isotope of hydrogen. Muon spin rotation and muon level-crossing spectroscopy were used to determine muon, (13)C, and (14)N hyperfine coupling constants (hfc's) for the radical products of addition to the two carbenes. Good agreement between the experimental and calculated hfc's confirms that Mu (and hence H) adds exclusively to the carbeneic carbon. The radicals that are produced have nonplanar radical centers with most of the unpaired electron spin density localized on the alpha-carbon.     

Laser-muon spin spectroscopy in liquids - a technique to study the excited state chemistry of transients

This study introduces laser-muon spin spectroscopy in the liquid phase, which extends muonium chemistry in liquids to the realm of excited states and enables the detection of muoniated molecules by their spin evolution after laser excitation. This leads to new opportunities to study the Kinetic Isotope Effects (KIEs) of muonium/atomic hydrogen reactions and to probe transient chemistry in radiolysis processes involved in muonium formation, as well as muoniated intermediates in excited states.     

Muonium diffusion in ice

Muonium (Mu, μ⁺e⁻) is generally regarded as a light isotope of hydrogen. The procession signals of muonium in single crystals of H₂O and D₂O ice have been studied from 8 to 263 K using the muon spin rotation (μSR) technique. Transverse spin relaxation rates have been extracted and interpreted in terms of modulation of the dipolar interaction between muonium and the protons/deuterons in the lattice by translational diffusion of muonium. In contrast to the situation for H and a previous claim for Mu, muonium is found to be diffusing at temperatures as low as 8 K. An activation energy of 40 meV is obtained by fitting the highest temperature data to an Arrhenius expression. At low temperature muonium is thought to diffuse by quantum tunnelling.     

Electronic structure and chemical bonding in MO(n)- and MO(n) clusters (M = Mo, W; n = 3-5): a photoelectron spectroscopy and ab initio study

Photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) and ab initio calculations are combined to investigate the electronic structure of MO(n)- clusters (M = W, Mo; n = 3-5). Similar PES spectra were observed between the W and Mo species. A large energy gap between the first and second PES bands was observed for MO3- and correlated with a stable closed-shell MO3 neutral cluster. The electron binding energies of MO4- increase significantly relative to those of MO3-, and there is also an abrupt spectral pattern change between MO3- and MO4-. Both MO4- and MO5- give PES features with extremely high electron binding energies (>5.0 eV) due to oxygen-2p-based orbitals. The experimental results are compared with extensive density functional and ab initio [CCSD(T)] calculations, which were performed to elucidate the electronic and structural evolution for the tungsten oxide clusters. WO3 is found to be a closed-shell, nonplanar molecule with C3v symmetry. WO4 is shown to have a triplet ground state (3A2) with D2d symmetry, whereas WO5 is found to be an unusual charge-transfer complex, (O2-)WO3+. WO4 and WO5 are shown to possess W-O* and O2-* radical characters, respectively.     

Spin dimer analysis of the magnetic structures of Ba3Cr2O8, Ba3Mn2O8, Na4FeO4, and Ba2CoO4 with a three-dimensional network of isolated MO4 (M = Cr, Mn, Fe, Co) tetrahedra

The spin exchange interactions of the magnetic oxides Ba3Cr2O8, Ba3Mn2O8, Na4FeO4, and Ba2CoO4 with a three-dimensional network of isolated MO4 (M = Cr, Mn, Fe, Co) tetrahedra were examined by performing spin dimer analysis on the basis of tight-binding electronic structure calculations. Although the shortest O...O distances between adjacent MO4 tetrahedra are longer than the van der Waals distance, our analysis shows that the super-superexchange interactions between adjacent MO4 tetrahedra are substantial and determine the magnetic structures of these oxides. In agreement with experiment, our analysis predicts a weakly interacting isolated AFM dimer model for both Ba3Cr2O8 and Ba3Mn2O8, the (0.0, 0.5, 0.0) magnetic superstructure for Na4FeO4, the (0.5, 0.0, 0.5) magnetic superstructure for Ba2CoO4, and the presence of magnetic frustration in Ba2CoO4. The comparison of the intra- and interdimer spin exchange interactions of Ba3Cr2O8 and Ba3Mn2O8 indicates that orbital ordering should be present in Ba3Cr2O8.     

Photodissociation of yttrium and lanthanum oxide cluster cations

Transition metal oxide cations of the form M n O m (+) (M = Y, La) are produced by laser vaporization in a pulsed nozzle source and detected with time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Cluster oxides for each value of n form only a limited number of stoichiometries; MO(M2O3)x(+) species are particularly intense. Cluster cations are mass selected and photodissociated using the third harmonic (355 nm) of a Nd:YAG laser. Multiphoton excitation is required to dissociate these clusters because of their strong bonding. Yttrium and lanthanum oxides exhibit different dissociation channels, but some common trends can be identified. Larger clusters for both metals undergo fission to make certain stable cation clusters, especially MO(M2O3) x (+) species. Specific cations are identified to be especially stable because of their repeated production in the decomposition of larger clusters. These include M3O4(+), M5O7(+), M7O10(+), and M9O13(+), along with Y6O8(+). Density functional theory calculations were performed to investigate the relative stabilities and structures of these systems.     

Theoretical study of very high spin organic pi-conjugated polyradicals

Different forms of pi-conjugated polyarylmethyl systems, such as diradicals, polyradicals, spin clusters, and polymers, were studied with valence bond (VB) calculations within the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) framework. For these systems, the energy gap between the high-spin ground state and the lowest low-spin excited state (DeltaE(L-H)) was computed and found to correlate well with their stability. On the basis of our analysis, medium-sized polyarylmethyl cycles are suggested to be potential key building blocks of very high spin spin clusters and polymers.     

Spin relaxation of a short-lived radical in zero magnetic field

A short-lived radical containing only one I = 1/2 nucleus, the muoniated 1,2-dicarboxyvinyl radical dianion, was produced in an aqueous solution by the reaction of muonium with the dicarboxyacetylene dianion. The identity of the radical was confirmed by measuring the muon hyperfine coupling constant (hfcc) by transverse field muon spin rotation spectroscopy and comparing this value with the hfcc obtained from DFT calculations. The muon spin relaxation rate of this radical was measured as a function of temperature in zero magnetic field by the zero field muon spin relaxation technique. The results have been interpreted using the theoretical model of Fedin et al. (J. Chem. Phys., 2003, 118, 192). The muon spin polarization decreases exponentially with time after muon implantation and the temperature dependence of the spin relaxation rate indicates that the dominant relaxation mechanism is the modulation of the anisotropic hyperfine interaction due to molecular rotation. The effective radius of the radical in solution was determined to be 1.12 ± 0.04 nm from the dependence of the muon spin relaxation rate on the temperature and viscosity of the solution, and is approximately 3.6 times larger than the value obtained from DFT calculations.     

Positive muons in condensed phase ammonia

The chemical behavior of positive muons in condensed phase ammonia has been investigated in order to elucidate the phase and temperature effects on the chemical and physical behavior of the muon and muonium formation in a simple binary compound. Diamagnetic muon yield (P_D) was constant at 0.67±0.01 in both solid and liquid above 125 K. Muonium formation in solids were observed above 100 K with slow muonium spin relaxation. In liquids, the muonium yield and its spin relaxation rate showed temperature dependence. Addition of metallic sodium increased P_D in liquids.     

Partially hydroxylated polycrystalline ionic oxides: a new route toward electron-rich surfaces

Charge traps at the surface of oxide materials play a fundamental role in various chemical processes, such as the activation of supported metal clusters. In this study, combining electron paramagnetic resonance with cluster model DFT calculations, we show that excess electrons at the surface of MgO, CaO, and SrO polycrystalline materials can be generated by preparing weakly hydroxylated surfaces followed by deposition of small amounts of alkali metals. The residual OH groups present on specific sites of the partially dehydroxylated surface act as stable traps for electrons donated by the alkali metal (Na in this case) which forms a Na+ ion distant from the trapped electron. This process results in the formation of thermally stable (H+)(e-) color centers at the surface of the oxide. The procedure could be of interest for the stabilization and activation of supported metal nanoparticles with potential use in catalysis.     

Tailoring the Exchange Interaction in Covalently Linked Basic Carboxylate Clusters through Bridging Ligand Selection

We are reporting new dimeric units of basic carboxylates bearing the {Fe(III)(2)M(II)O} motif for M = Co and Ni, covalently bound through the tetradentate bridging (LL) 2,2'-azopyiridine (azpy) and 2,3-di(2-pyridyl)quinoxaline ligands (dpq). We structurally characterized the hexanuclear clusters, and their magnetic properties have been fully analyzed. DFT calculations have been performed as a supplementary tool. All results evidence a weak antiferromagnetic interaction through the bridging ligands between isolated spin ground states arising from intra-Fe(2)MO core exchange couplings. Together with the pioneer 2,2'-bipyrimidine bridged systems, the new complexes reported constitute a family of complexes where the exchange interaction can be tuned by the selection of the bridging LL type ligand.     

The polarizability of KCl

We report near-Hartree-Fock limit SCF MO calculations of the variation of the polarizability of KCl with bond distance. The results are compared with those obtained previously for LiCl and Ar₂.     

Thermal FT-IR microspectroscopy for rapid detection of solid-state ion-exchange reaction between metoclopramide HCl monohydrate and potassium bromide

The combination of Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) microspectroscopy with a thermal analyzer was applied to quickly investigate the solid-state ion-exchange reaction of metoclopramide HCl monohydrate (MCP H(2)O) by clipping MCP H(2)O powder between two KBr or KCl pellets. The physical and ground mixtures of MCP H(2)O or 150 °C-preheated MCP powder and KBr or KCl powders with a weight ratio of 1 : 100 were also prepared and determined by FT-IR microspectroscopy. The samples of MCP H(2)O or 150 °C-preheated MCP were identified by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric (TG) analysis. The results of present study indicate that the ion-exchange reaction was easily induced between MCP H(2)O and KBr by grinding and heating processes. The possible mechanism of ion-exchange reaction may take place between the HCl salt of MCP H(2)O and a KBr matrix by grinding or heating to yield a mixture of HCl and HBr salts of the MCP sample in the presence of hydrated water. The crystal hydrate played an important role to improve this ion-exchange reaction between MCP H(2)O and KBr. However, no ion-exchange reaction occurred between MCP H(2)O and KCl or between 150 °C-preheated MCP and KBr. The solid-state ion-exchange reaction was more easily determined by this novel thermal FT-IR microspectroscopy than other conventional methods.