A high level computational study of the CH4/CF4 dimer: how does it compare with the CH4/CH4 and CF4/CF4 dimers?

The interaction within the methane–methane (CH₄/CH₄), perfluoromethane–perfluoromethane (CF₄/CF₄) methane–perfluoromethane dimers (CH₄/CF₄) was calculated using the Hartree–Fock (HF) method, multiple orders of Møller–Plesset perturbation theory [MP2, MP3, MP4(DQ), MP4(SDQ), MP4(SDTQ)], and coupled cluster theory [CCSD, CCSD(T)], as well as the PW91, B97D, and M06-2X density functional theory (DFT) functionals. The basis sets of Dunning and coworkers (aug-cc-pVxZ, x?=?D, T, Q), Krishnan and coworkers [6-311++G(d,p), 6-311++G(2d,2p)], and Tsuzuki and coworkers [aug(df, pd)-6-311G(d,p)] were used. Basis set superposition error (BSSE) was corrected via the counterpoise method in all cases. Interaction energies obtained with the MP2 method do not fit with the experimental finding that the methane–perfluoromethane system phase separates at 94.5?K. It was not until the CCSD(T) method was considered that the interaction energy of the methane–perfluoromethane dimer (?0.69?kcal?mol^?1) was found to be intermediate between the methane (?0.51?kcal?mol^?1) and perfluoromethane (?0.78?kcal?mol^?1) dimers. This suggests that a perfluoromethane molecule interacts preferentially with another perfluoromethane (by about 0.09?kcal?mol^?1) than with a methane molecule. At temperatures much lower than the CH₄/CF₄ critical solution temperature of 94.5?K, this energy difference becomes significant and leads perfluoromethane molecules to associate with themselves, forming a phase separation. The DFT functionals yielded erratic results for the three dimers. Further development of DFT is needed in order to model dispersion interactions in hydrocarbon/perfluorocarbon systems.     

Ab initio molecular dynamics study of aqueous formaldehyde and methanediol

The solvation shell of aqueous formaldehyde has been studied by ab initio molecular dynamics. Two different DFT approaches using BLYP and PBE functionals were explored. The results show only a slightly different mobility in the solvation shells and allow characterization of the hydrogen bonded structure with a H₂C?=?O··HOH hydrogen bond lifetime of ca. 3 ps. Formaldehyde hydrolysis was studied by following the reverse process, methanediol decomposition, by Blue Moon constrained MD showing that four water molecules are directly involved in the reaction and assisted by the whole hydration shell. The total energy of the aqueous methanediol to formaldehyde inter-conversion process is calculated with a barrier height of ca. 95?kJ?mol^?1 while the corresponding free energy barrier is only ΔG^??=?46?kJ?mol^?1 at 300?K.     

Theoretical studies on the structural and spectra properties of two C74 fullerenes and the chlorinated species C74Cl10

The geometrical/electronic structures, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy of two especially C₇₄ fullerenes (D_3h–C₇₄ and C₁–C₇₄) and the chlorinated species C₁–C₇₄Cl₁₀, which are newly isolated in the experiment, have been calculated by means of the density functional theory (DFT) method. Effective changes in the electronic structure and simulated X-ray spectra have been observed after chlorination. Strong isomer dependence has been found in both spectra, thus the ‘fingerprints’ in the spectra can be employed as a tool to identify the isomers. The ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) absorption spectrum of C₁–C₇₄Cl₁₀ has been performed by using the time-dependent DFT method. The generated UV-vis spectrum coincides with the previous experimental counterpart. The results of this work can provide useful information especially for isomer identification and further study on fullerenes by means of the aforementioned spectroscopy techniques.     

Theoretical investigations of spectroscopic parameters and molecular constants for electronic ground state of Cl2 and its isotopes

The potential energy curve of the Cl 2(X1Σg+) is investigated by the highly accurate valence internally contracted multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) approach in combination with the largest correlation-consistent basis set, aug-cc-pV6Z, in the valence range. The theoretical spectroscopic parameters and the molecular constants of three isotopes, 35Cl2, 35Cl37Cl and 37Cl2, are studied. For the 35Cl2 (X1Σg+), the values of D0 , De , Re , ωe , ωeχe , αe and Be are obtained to be 2.3921 eV, 2.4264 eV, 0.19939 nm, 555.13 cm-1 , 2.6772 cm-1 , 0.001481 cm-1 and 0.24225 cm-1 , respectively. For the 35Cl37Cl(X1Σg+), the values of D0 , De , Re , ωe , ωeχe , αe and Be are calculated to be 2.3918 eV, 2.4257 eV, 0.19939 nm, 547.68 cm-1 , 2.6234 cm-1 , 0.00140 cm-1 and 0.23572 cm-1 , respectively. And for the 37C2 (X1Σg+), the values of D0 , De , Re , ωe , ωeχe , αe and Be are obtained to be 2.3923 eV, 2.4257 eV, 0.19939 nm, 540.06 cm-1 , 2.5556 cm-1 , 0.00139 cm-1 and 0.22919 cm-1 , respectively. These spectroscopic results are in good agreement with the available experimental data. With the potential of Cl2 molecule determined at the MRCI/aug-cc-pV6Z level of theory, the total of 59 vibrational states is predicted for each isotope when the rotational quantum number J equals zero (J = 0). The theoretical vibrational levels, classical turning points, inertial rotation and centrifugal distortion constants are determined when J = 0, which are in excellent accordance with the available experimental findings.     

Explicitly correlated benchmark calculations on C8H8 isomer energy separations: how accurate are DFT,double-hybrid,and composite ab initio procedures?

Accurate isomerization energies are obtained for a set of 45 C₈H₈ isomers by means of the high-level, ab initio W1-F12 thermochemical protocol. The 45 isomers involve a range of hydrocarbon functional groups, including (linear and cyclic) polyacetylene, polyyne, and cumulene moieties, as well as aromatic, anti-aromatic, and highly-strained rings. Performance of a variety of DFT functionals for the isomerization energies is evaluated. This proves to be a challenging test: only six of the 56 tested functionals attain root mean square deviations (RMSDs) below 3?kcal?mol^?1 (the performance of MP2), namely: 2.9 (B972-D), 2.8 (PW6B95), 2.7 (B3PW91-D), 2.2 (PWPB95-D3), 2.1 (ωB97X-D), and 1.2 (DSD-PBEP86) kcal?mol^?1. Isomers involving highly-strained fused rings or long cumulenic chains provide a ‘torture test’ for most functionals. Finally, we evaluate the performance of composite procedures (e.g. G4, G4(MP2), CBS-QB3, and CBS-APNO), as well as that of standard ab initio procedures (e.g. MP2, SCS-MP2, MP4, CCSD, and SCS-CCSD). Both connected triples and post-MP4 singles and doubles are important for accurate results. SCS-MP2 actually outperforms MP4(SDQ) for this problem, while SCS-MP3 yields similar performance as CCSD and slightly bests MP4. All the tested empirical composite procedures show excellent performance with RMSDs below 1?kcal?mol^?1.     

Hartree-Fock and density functional theory studies on ionization and fragmentation of halomethane molecules by positron impact

The fragmentation patterns of halomethane molecules CF₄, CCl₂F₂, CClF₃ and CHF₃ due to positron impact have been studied by using ab initio and density functional theory (DFT) methods. The geometries of parent molecules and fragments are optimized at HF, MP2 and B3LYP levels of theory using the 6–31+G(d, p) basis set. The calculated reaction energies agree with the experimental values. The condensed Fukui functions have been calculated using the atomic charges of the Mulliken population analysis (MPA) scheme for the halomethane molecules. The calculated condensed Fukui functions successfully predict the reactive site of the halomethane molecules for the positron, electron and radical attacks. The chemical hardness and chemical potential for the above molecules and its fragments are calculated.     

A theoretical study on the kinetics of multichannel Multiwell reaction of H2S(1A1) with HO2(2A′′)

The mechanism and kinetics of the reaction of hydrogen sulphide (H₂S(¹A₁)) with hydroperoxyl radical (HO₂(²A″)) on the lowest doublet potential energy surface have been theoretically studied. The potential energy surface for possible pathways has been investigated by employing Complete Basis Set (CBS), DFT, and CCSD(T) methods. Three possible pathways are suggested for the title reaction. The most probable entrance channel consists of formation of a hydrogen-bonded pre-reaction complex (vdw1) and two energised intermediates. Multichannel RRKM-Steady State Approximation and CVT calculations have been carried out to compute the rate constants over a broad range of temperature from 200?K to 3000?K to cover the atmospheric and combustion conditions and pressure from 0.1 to 2000?Torr. No sign of pressure dependence was observed for the title reaction over the stated range of pressure. We have shown that the major products of the title reaction are H₂O₂ and SH while at higher temperatures, formation of the other products such as H₂O, HOS, HSOH and OH are feasible, too. Our calculated overall rate constant is in agreement with the reported experimental data in the literature.     

Theoretical study of the photoelectron spectrum of ethyl formate: Ab initio and density functional theory investigation

The first ionization energy and associated photoelectron spectrum of ethyl formate are investigated with quantum chemistry calculations. The geometries, harmonic vibrational frequencies and first ionization energy are computed at the Hartree-Fock (HF) and at the second order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2). Moreover, accurate ionization energies are obtained with the Coupled-Cluster theory including singles and doubles excitations (CCSD) as well as singles, doubles and perturbative triples excitations (CCSD(T)). Then, these ab initio results are assessed with respect to experimental values. Additionally, the ionization energies are also calculated with the computationally attractive density functional theory (DFT). In this case the accuracy of several exchange-correlation functionals is evaluated by comparison with the ab initio and experimental results. In a next step, the vibrational structure of the photoelectron spectrum is simulated at the HF, MP2 and DFT levels via the calculation of the Franck-Condon factors. These simulations are compared to the experimental photoelectron spectrum and allow an accurate reproduction of the vibrational progression.     

The keto-enol equilibrium in substituted acetaldehydes: focal-point analysis and ab initio limit

High-level ab initio electronic structure calculations up to the CCSD(T) theory level, including extrapolations to the complete basis set (CBS) limit, resulted in high precision energetics of the tautomeric equilibrium in 2-substituted acetaldehydes (XH₂C-CHO). The CCSD(T)/CBS relative energies of the tautomers were estimated using CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ, MP3/aug-cc-pVQZ, and MP2/aug-cc-pV5Z calculations with MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ geometries. The relative enol (XHC?=?CHOH) stabilities (ΔE _{e,CCSD(T)/CBS}) were found to be 5.98?±?0.17, ?1.67?±?0.82, 7.64?±?0.21, 8.39?±?0.31, 2.82?±?0.52, 10.27?±?0.39, 9.12?±?0.18, 5.47?±?0.53, 7.50?±?0.43, 10.12?±?0.51, 8.49?±?0.33, and 6.19?±?0.18?kcal?mol^?1 for X?=?BeH, BH₂, CH₃, Cl, CN, F, H, NC, NH₂, OCH₃, OH, and SH, respectively. Inconsistencies between the results of complex/composite energy computations methods Gn/CBS (G2, G3, CBS-4M, and CBS-QB3) and high-level ab initio methods (CCSD(T)/CBS and MP2/CBS) were found. DFT/aug-cc-pVTZ results with B3LYP, PBE0 (PBE1PBE), TPSS, and BMK density functionals were close to the CCSD(T)/CBS levels (MAD?=?1.04?kcal?mol^?1).     

Quantum Monte Carlo assessment of density functionals for π-electron molecules: ethylene and bifuran

ABSTRACT

We perform all-electron, pure-sampling quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) calculations on ethylene and bifuran molecules. The orbitals used for importance sampling with a single Slater determinant are generated from Hartree-Fock and density functional theory (DFT). Their fixed-node energy provides an upper bound to the exact energy. The best performing density functionals for ethylene are BP86 and M06, which account for 99% of the electron correlation energy. Sampling from the π-electron distribution with these orbitals yields a quadrupole moment comparable to coupled cluster CCSD(T) calculations. However, these, and all other density functionals, fail to agree with CCSD(T) while sampling from electron density in the plane of the molecule. For bifuran, as well as ethylene, a correlation is seen between the fixed-node energy and deviance of the QMC quadrupole moment estimates from those calculated by DFT. This suggests that proximity of DFT and QMC densities correlates with the quality of the exchange nodes of the DFT wave function for both systems.     

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Quantum effects on translation and rotation of molecular chlorine in solid para-hydrogen

Structure and quantum effects of a Cl₂ molecule embedded in fcc and hcp para-hydrogen (pH₂) crystals are investigated in the zero-temperature limit. The interaction is modelled in terms of Cl₂–pH₂ and pH₂–pH₂ pair potentials from ab initio CCSD(T) and MP2 calculations. Translational and rotational motions of the molecules are described within three-dimensional anharmonic Einstein and Devonshire models, respectively, where the crystals are either treated as rigid or allowed to relax. The pH₂ molecules, as well as the heavier Cl₂ molecule, show large translational zero-point energies (ZPEs) and undergo large-amplitude translational motions. This gives rise to substantial reductions in the cohesive energies and expansions of the lattices, in agreement with experimental results for pure hydrogen crystals. The rotational dynamics of the Cl₂ impurity is restricted to small-amplitude librations, again with high librational ZPEs, which are described in terms of two-dimensional non-degenerate anharmonic oscillators. The lattice relaxation causes qualitative changes of the rotational energy surfaces, which finally favour librations around the crystallographic directions pointing towards the nearest neighbours, both for fcc and hcp lattices. Implications on the reactant orientation in the experimentally observed laser-induced chemical reaction, Cl + H₂ → HCl + H, are discussed.     

Computational studies of the halooxyhalocarbenes XOCX (X = F,Cl)

Ab initio calculations at the B3LYP, MP2, MP4 and CCSD(T) levels of theory were performed to predict the stability of the halooxyhalocarbenes, XOCX (X = F, Cl). The calculations indicate that the nonlinear FOCF molecule is stable with an energy 16 kJ mol^?1 below the energy of possible reacting fragments F₂ and CO. However, a nonlinear equilibrium structure for ClOCCl was located, but it was found to be about 192 kJ mol^?1 higher in energy than the energy of Cl₂ and CO. The charge distribution in these molecules was analysed using the atoms in molecules (AIM) method.     

Structural,energetic and magnetic properties of small Ti<Subscript>n</Subscript> (n = 2–13) clusters: a density functional study

The structural, energetic, and magnetic properties of Ti _n clusters (n = 2 to 13 atoms) have been studied using Density Functional Theory (DFT), applying the pseudopotential LCAO method and the generalized gradient approximation for the exchange-correlation functional. The binding energy and the dissociation energy were calculated using the PBE and BLYP approximations for the exchange-correlation potential, in order to evaluate the performance of this functionals in predicting the energetic properties of small Ti clusters. The experimentally observed trend in the dissociation energy of Ti _n as a function of the cluster size is reproduced by both PBE and BLYP calculations. The effects of structural distortion on the magnetism of clusters were studied comparing the ground state structure against non-distorted clusters. It was found that the structural distortion has no effect on the total magnetic moment. For all studied clusters using the BLYP functional, with exception of Ti₆ and Ti₇, magnetism is predicted.     

The 1,2-hydrogen shift reaction for monohalogenophosphanes PH2X and HPX (X = F,Cl)

The aim of the present study was to perform a quantum chemical investigation in the 1,2-hydrogen shift reaction for the PH₂X and HPX molecules (X = F,Cl). Several phosphorus–halogen-bearing molecules were studied, including PH₂F, PH₂Cl, HPF, HPCl, HPFH, HPClH, PFH and PClH. The energies of stationary and saddle points on the ground electronic potential energy surface were investigated with post-Hartree–Fock methods [CCSD(T), MP2, QCISD] and different DFT functionals. The PH₂F 1,2-hydrogen shift energy barrier was 75 kcal mol^?1 at the CCSD(T) level and only a small increase in this value was observed for the HPF isomerisation. In contrast, the HPCl 1,2-hydrogen shift barrier is higher than the PH₂Cl one, which presented a barrier height of 69 kcal mol^?1 among CCSD(T) and composite methods. The rate constants of these unimolecular rearrangements varied from 10^?44 to 10^?38 s^?1, and these isomerisation channels exhibited large half-lives. In addition, the heat of formation of each monohalogenophosphane was also calculated. The Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules (QTAIM) and Natural Bond Orbital (NBO) analysis were also employed to characterise the differences between the phosphorous–halogen bonds.     

Ab initio investigation of the gas phase reaction SO2 + H2O → SO2OH radical

High level ab initio calculations have been performed to investigate the reaction of the OH radical with SO₂. This reaction has been suggested as a possible first step in the atmospheric oxidation of SO₂. Results from both density functional theory (DFT) and second-order M?ller-Plesset calculations are reported. A small barrier has been located in the reaction channel and the structure of the corresponding transition state characterized. On the potential energy surface, the product, HOSO₂, occupies a double well potential that corresponds to a pair of equal energy rotamers separated by a barrier of ～12 kJ mol^?1 corresponding to a symmetric transition state.     

SiO2分子的基态(X1A1)结构与分析势能函数

应用群论及原子分子反应静力学方法推导了SiO₂分子的电子态及其离解极限，采用B3P86方法，在6-311G^**水平上,优化出SiO₂基态分子稳定构型为单重态的C_2V构型，其平衡核间距R_e=R_Si—O=0.1587 nm,∠OSiO＝111.2°,能量为-440.4392 a.u..同时计算出基态的简正振动频率:对称伸缩振动频率ν(B₂)=945.4cm^-1，弯曲振动频率ν(A₁)=273.5 cm^-1和反对称伸缩振动频率ν(A₁)=1362.9cm^-1.在此基础上，使用多体项展式理论方法，导出了基态SiO₂分子的全空间解析势能函数，该势能函数准确再现了SiO₂(C_2V)平衡结构.     

Molecular engineering of the electronic,structural, and electrochemical properties of nanostructured 1-methyl-4-phenyl 1,2,4 triazolium-based [PhMTZ][X<Subscript>1–10</Subscript>] ionic liquids through anionic changing

In the present work, molecular engineering of the physicochemical characteristics of ion pairing in 1-methyl-4-phenyl 1,2,4 triazolium-based ionic liquids [PhMTZ][X] (X_1–10 = CH₃CO₂ ^?, Cl^?, NO₃ ^?, CF₃CO₂ ^?, BF₄ ^?, ClO₄ ^?, N(CN)₂ ^?, PF₆ ^?, NTf₂ ^?, and C(CN)₃ ^?) are explored using at M06-2X/6–311++G(d,p) level. The binding Gibbs free energy of ion pairs are reevaluated using ab initio MP2 method and dispersion corrected M06-2X-D3, B2PLYP, B2PLYP-D, and mPW2PLYP-D functionals. Comparison of Gibbs free bottom electrodes (BEs) calculated by B2PLYP and B2PLYP-D functionals reveals that the contribution of dispersion energy to the total BEs vary from 9% for X1 to 17% for X = 10. Besides, the range of the dispersion contribution estimated by M06-2X-D3 functional is found to be 0.6% for X₂ to 5% for X₃. The Gibbs free BEs in solvent media, Gibbs free energy and enthalpy of formation, electrochemical windows, anodic and cathodic stability, volumetric and electron density properties, charge transfer values, and electrostatic maps are evaluated.