Ab initio molecular dynamics study of methanol adsorption on copper clusters

The preferential structures of small copper clusters Cun (n=2-9) and the adsorption of methanol molecules on these clusters are examined with first principles, molecular dynamics simulations. The results show that the copper clusters undergo systematic changes in bond length and bond order associated with altering their preferential structures from one-dimensional structures, to two-dimensional and three-dimensional structures. The results also indicate that low coordination number sites on the copper clusters are both the most favorable for methanol adsorption and have the greatest localization of electronic charge. The simulations predict that charge transfer between the neutral copper clusters and the incident methanol molecules is a key process by which adsorption is stabilized. Importantly, the changes in the dimensionality of the copper clusters do not significantly influence methanol adsorption.     

Ab initio study of K adsorption on a Ag(100) surface

Ab initio Hartree–Fock calculations are reported for the chemisorption of K on Ag using three different types of clusters to model the system. Geometry optimization is done in 4 degrees of freedom. It is found that since there is an absence of complete charge transfer between the adsorbate and substrate, the interaction can be interpreted as being predominately covalent in nature.     

氢原子在金属锂表面台阶附近吸附和表面扩散行为的ab initio研究

取Li7H和Li9H两个原子簇模拟氢原子与含台阶的金属锂表面的相互作用, 以小基组用ab initip方法计算了体系的吸附和表面扩散势能面(或势能曲线)。结果表明: (1)对Li7H体系, 台阶面附近沿垂直边棱方向存在三种不同的桥位吸附位, 最稳定的吸附位在上台面接近台阶边棱处, 台阶面显著地改变了表面扩散活化能, 台阶边棱处有一个较高的势垒。于是, 迁移原子将会在台阶边棱处受到反射, 并可被捕获于台阶面上及其附近。由势能面确定了最低能量表面扩散途径。(2)对Li9H体系, 在Li7H原子簇基础上增加次表面层两个锂原子后, 表面扩散活化能略有减小, 氢原子在上台面的桥位吸附更趋稳定, 各吸附位相对稳定性及势垒内何位置几无改变, 这些结果显示了台阶面对氢原子的化学吸附和表面扩散发生扰动, 台阶边棱对表面扩散起着重要作用。     

Ab initio study of molecular oxygen adsorption on Pu (111) surface

Using the generalized gradient approximation to density functional theory (DFT), molecular and dissociative oxygen adsorptions on a Pu (111) surface has been studied in detail. Dissociative adsorption with a layer‐by‐layer alternate spin arrangement of the plutonium layer is found to be energetically more favorable, and adsorption of oxygen does not change this feature. Hor1 (O₂ is parallel to the surface and lattice vectors) approach on the center2 (center of the unit cell, where there is a Pu atom directly below on the third layer) site, both without and with spin polarization, was found to be the preferred chemisorbed site among all cases studied with chemisorption energies of 8.365 and 7.897 eV, respectively. The second‐highest chemisorption energy occurs at the Ver (O₂ is vertical to the surface) approach of the bridge site with chemisorption energies of 8.294 eV (non‐spin‐polarized) and 7.859 eV (spin‐polarized), respectively. We find that 5f electrons are more localized in the spin‐polarized case than the non‐spin‐polarized counterparts. Localization of the 5f electrons is higher in the oxygen‐adsorbed plutonium layers compared with the bare layers. The ionic part of O? Pu bonding plays a significant role in the chemisorption process, along with Pu 5f? O 2p hybridization. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2005     

Ab initio molecular dynamics study of liquid methanol

We present a density-functional theory based molecular-dynamics study of the structural, dynamical, and electronic properties of liquid methanol under ambient conditions. The calculated radial distribution functions involving the oxygen and hydroxyl hydrogen show a pronounced hydrogen bonding and compare well with recent neutron diffraction data, except for an underestimate of the oxygen–oxygen correlation. We observe that, in line with infrared spectroscopic data, the hydroxyl stretching mode is significantly red-shifted in the liquid. A substantial enhancement of the dipole moment is accompanied by significant fluctuations due to thermal motion. Our results provide valuable data for improvement of empirical potentials.     

Ab initio study on the adsorption of hydrated Na+ and Ag+ cations on a Ag(111) surface

The interactions of Na(+) and Ag(+) cations with an Ag(111) surface in the presence and absence of water molecules were investigated with cluster models and ab initio methods. The Ag surface was described with two-layered Ag(10) and Ag(18) cluster models, and MP2/RECP/6-31+G(d) was used as the computational method. The effect of the basis set superposition error (BSSE) was taken into account with counterpoise (CP) correction. The interactions between Na(+) and Ag(111) surface were found to be primarily electrostatic, and the interaction energies and equilibrium distances at the different adsorption sites were closely similar. The largest CP-corrected MP2 adsorption energy for Na(+) was -190.2 kJ/mol. Owing to the electrostatic nature of the Na(+)-Ag(111) interaction, Na(+) prefers to be completely surrounded by water molecules rather than directly adsorbed to the surface. Ag(+)-Ag(111) interactions were much stronger than Na(+)-Ag(111) interactions because they were dominated by orbital contributions. The largest CP-corrected MP2 adsorption energy for Ag(+) was -358.9 kJ/mol. Ag(+) prefers to adsorb on sites where it can bind to several surface atoms, and in the presence of water molecules, it remains adsorbed to the surface while the water molecules form hydrogen bonds with one another. The CP correction had an effect on the interaction energies but did not change the relative trends.     

Ab initio study on the mechanism of rhodium-complexcatalyzed carbonylation of methanol to acetic acid

The whole catalytic cycle of the carbonylation of methanol to acetic acid catalyzed by Rh complex is theoretically studied. All structural geometries of reactant, intermediates, transition states and product are optimized at HF/LANL2DZ level under the ECP approximation. The potential energy profiles for elementary reactions of carbonylation are calculated respectively. The transition states are further confirmed by having one and only one imaginary vibrational frequency. The results indicate that the activation energy values of CHin₃I oxidative addition, carbonyl insertion and CH₃COI reductive elimination fundamental steps are 216.03, 128.10 and 126.55 kJ/mol, respectively; and that the CH₃I oxidative addition step is predicted to be the rate-determining one.     

Ab initio study on adsorption of hydrated Na+ and Cu+ cations on the Cu(111) surface

The interactions of Na+ and Cu+ cations with a Cu(111) surface in the presence and absence of water molecules were investigated using cluster models and ab initio methods. Adsorption in aqueous solution was modeled with one to five water molecules around the adsorbing cation. The Cu surface was described with Cu10 and Cu18 cluster models and the computational method was MP2/RECP/6-31+G. The effect of the basis set superposition error (BSSE) was taken into account with counterpoise (CP) correction, and the accuracy of HF-level results was examined. The interactions between Na+ and the Cu surface were found to be primarily electrostatic, and the energy differences among the different adsorption sites were small. The largest CP-corrected MP2 adsorption energy for the Cu18 cluster was -188 kJ/mol. When water molecules were added around it, Na+ receded from the Cu surface and finally was surrounded totally by the water molecules. The interactions between Cu+ and the Cu surface were dominated by orbital interactions, and Cu+ preferred to adsorb on sites where it could bind to more than one surface atom. The largest CP-corrected MP2 adsorption energy for the Cu18 cluster was -447 kJ/mol. Adding water molecules around it did not cause Cu+ to draw away from the surface, but instead the water molecules began to form hydrogen bonds with one another. The magnitude of BSSE was substantial in most cases. CP corrections did not, however, have a significant impact on the relative trends among the interaction energies.     

Ab initio study of the adsorption of NO on the Rh6(+) cluster

The process of NO adsorption on the cationic cluster Rh(6)(+) is investigated using the density-functional theory (DFT) with the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) to exchange and correlation. We determine the geometries, electronic structure, and relevant energies for different structural and spin isomers of Rh(6)(0,±), and we study the consecutive adsorption of two NO molecules on the cationic cluster Rh(6)(+). With regard to the first NO molecule, different adsorption energies are found for the ground state octahedral structure of the bare cationic cluster and for the first isomer, which, having a prism-type structure, undergoes a structural transition to an octahedral symmetry upon dissociative adsorption of NO. Several dissociative NO adsorption processes are analyzed in comparison with molecular adsorption of NO to give support to the first step of the reaction inferred from experiments. With regard to the adsorption of a second NO molecule, the intermediate with lowest energy contains a preformed N(2) molecule. The energy of that complex is about 0.7 eV smaller than the sum of the free N(2) energy plus the lowest energy of the Rh(6)(+)-O(2) complex. This complex is composed of two separated O atoms occupying adjacent 2-fold bridging positions of the nearly undistorted Rh(6)(+) octahedral cluster. These findings are in qualitative agreement with experiments.     

A study of surface adsorption on silver powders

DSC and TG-DTA techniques were used to investigate micro-sized silver powder particles and the adsorption of ethyl cellulose on these particles in a solution of ethyl acetate. The apparent specific heat of the silver particles was determined, and the kinetics of temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) of these adsorbed silver particles was investigated. Results show that the apparent specific heat and desorption kinetic parameters obtained by thermal analysis techniques could be used to characterize certain physico-chemical properties of such a particulate system.     

Ab initio study on the mechanism of rhodium-complex- catalyzed carbonylation of methanol to acetic acid

The whole catalytic cycle of the carbonylation of methanol to acetic acid catalyzed by Rh complex is theoretically studied. All structural geometries of reactant, intermediates, transition states and product are optimized at HF/LANL2DZ level under the ECP approximation. The potential energy profiles for elementary reactions of carbonylation are calculated respectively. The transition states are further confirmed by having one and only one imaginary vibrational frequency. The results indicate that the activation energy values of CH3I oxidative addition, carbonyl insertion and CH3COI reductive elimination fundamental steps are 216.03, 128.10 and 126.55 kJ/mol, respectively; and that the CH3I oxidative addition step is predicted to be the rate-determining one.     

Ab initio trajectory surface-hopping study on ultrafast deactivation process of thiophene

The ultrafast S(1)((1)ππ*) → S(0) deactivation process of thiophene in the gas phase has been simulated with the complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) based fewest switch surface hopping method. It was found that most of the calculated trajectories (～80%) decay to the ground state (S(0)) with an averaged time constant of 65 ± 5 fs. This is in good agreement with the experimental value of about 80 fs. Two conical intersections were determined to be responsible for the ultrafast S(1)((1)ππ*) → S(0) internal conversion process. After thiophene is excited to the S(1)((1)ππ*) state in the Franck-Condon region, it quickly relaxes to the minimum of the S(1)((1)ππ*) state, then overcomes a small barrier near the conical intersection (CI((1)ππ*/(1)πσ*)), and eventually arrives at the minimum of one C-S bond fission (S(1)((1)πσ*)). In the vicinity of this minimum, the conical intersection (CI((1)πσ*/S(0))) funnels the electron population to the ground state (S(0)), completing the ultrafast S(1)((1)ππ*) → S(0) internal conversion process. This decay mechanism matches well with previous experimental and theoretical studies.     

Desolvation effects on the dissociation energy of diatomic molecules:Ab initio study of the dissociation of Li-F in polar media

Summary The potential curve of the ground state dissociation of Li-F in water has been studied by a combination of a standardab initio Hartree-Fock procedure and a perturbative reaction field approach. The electrostatic solute-solvent interaction is accounted for by the generalized Born formalism introduced through a perturbation approach. The calculations were carried out at a 6–311+G* basis set level. Diffuse functions ofs symmetry were included to model a desolvation potential. A double well potential curve was obtained for the dissociation of this molecule in the presence of a highly polarizable medium. The first minimum, corresponding to an ion pair, electrostatically bound, is found at aR(Li-F)<6.0 Å distance. As the two ions come together, a desolvation barrier of about 30 kcal/mol is to be overcome before the formation of the neutral Li-F at 1.56 Å. The barrier to ionization towards the ion pair is calculated to be about 14 kcal/mol. The dissociation of the ion pair towards the free ions is discussed in terms of the electrostatic solvation entropy changes.Contribution No 6 from Centro de Mecánica Cuantica Aplicada (CMCA)     

Ab initio studies of methanol, methanethiol and methylamine dimer

Quantum chemical calculations are used to provide structural, vibrational and energetical information on the dimers of the methanol, methylamine and methanethiol systems. These systems were studied employing the DFT(B3LYP) and MP2 methods together with the 6-31+G^** and 6-311+G^** basis sets. We found two distinct potential minima for methylamine (one of them is a transition structure) and methanethiol, and one for the methanol dimer. The properties of these dimers are compared with those of the dimers (H₂O)₂, (NH₃)₂ and (CH₃SH)₂. The interactions in these dimers were analyzed using electron density properties at the bond critical point.     

Ab initio and microcalorimetric investigations of alkene adsorption on phosphotungstic acid

The adsorption of ethene, propene, 1-butene, trans-2-butene, and isobutene on phosphotungstic acid has been characterized by density functional theory (DFT) calculations and microcalorimetric experiments. The DFT-calculated chemisorption energies to form the corresponding alkoxides for ethene, propene, 1-butene, trans-2-butene, and isobutene were -86.8, -90.3, -102.6, -79.9, and -91.4 kJ mol(-1), respectively (for their most-favorable binding modes). The relative chemisorption energies to form the alkoxides are dictated by the strength of interaction of the acidic proton with the carbon atom of the double bond that becomes protonated. The activation barrier for chemisorption was greatest for alkenes with primary (1 degrees) carbenium-like transition states followed by secondary (2 degrees) and tertiary (3 degrees) transition states. The adsorption enthalpy established from microcalorimetric experiments with propene and isobutene was approximately -100 kJ mol(-1), which is close to the DFT-calculated values. Chemisorption of ethene on phosphotungstic acid during microcalorimetric experiments was minimal, presumably because of the large activation barrier associated with a 1 degrees carbenium-like transition state. The results from this study are compared with those in the literature for the adsorption of alkenes on zeolites, which have a similar adsorption mechanism. Our results suggest that alkene adsorption is stronger on phosphotungstic acid than on zeolites, as supported by the more exothermic chemisorption energies. Additionally, activation barriers for alkene adsorption are lower over phosphotungstic acid than over zeolites.     

Ab initio theoretical study of non-covalent adsorption of aromatic molecules on boron nitride nanotubes

We have studied non-covalent functionalization of boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) with benzene molecule and with seven other different heterocyclic aromatic rings (furan, thiophene, pyrrole, pyridine, pyrazine, pyrimidine, and pyridazine, respectively). A hybrid density functional theory (DFT) method with the inclusion of dispersion correction is employed. The structural and electronic properties of the functionalized BNNTs are obtained. The DFT calculation shows that upon adsorption to the BNNT, the center of aromatic rings tend to locate on top of the nitrogen site. The trend of adsorption energy for the aromatic rings on the BNNTs shows marked dependence on different intermolecular interactions, including the dispersion interaction (area of the delocalized π bond), the dipole-dipole interaction (polarization), and the electrostatic repulsion (lone pair electrons). The DFT calculation also shows that non-covalent functionalization of BNNTs with aromatic rings can give rise to new impurity states within the band gap of pristine BNNTs, suggesting possible carrier doping of BNNTs via selective adsorption of aromatic rings.     

Ab initio study on cyanamide and isocyanamide

Spectroscopic parameters, namely force constants and dipole-moment derivatives of cyanamide and isocyanamide at their equilibrium geometry, are studied by the ab initio MO method. The configuration of the former of the two structural isomers has amide character, and the latter amine character. The assignments of skeletal-deformation vibrations are reinvestigated experimentally as well. This study supports Ogilvie's attribution of what he observed to the vibrational spectrum of isocyanamide and explains the anomalous infrared intensity in the spectrum. A special theoretical treatment of amino wagging motion is presented, which includes the inversion effect, and which enables the prediction of the inversion splitting of isocyanamide.