Rotational relaxation of polar molecules

The method of obtaining rotational energy relaxation times from experimental thermal conductivities using the Wang Chang-Uhlenbeck theory of transport coefficient for polyatomic gases is considered. For polar gases the method turns out to be useful only if serious calculations of the inelastic collisions involved are performed. Using a semiclassical, partly statistical collision treatment the results for the rotational energy relaxation numbers for halogen hydrides taking dipole-dipole, dipole-quadrupole and quadrupole-quadrupole interactions into account are presented. It is characteristic for the results that hardly any temperature dependence or isotope effects are observed, a behaviour different from earlier investigations.     

Variation of interatomic distances in oxides

The average interatomic distances D in oxygen polyhedra MO _n of isostructural oxides were proposed to be estimated using the equation D = Kɛ(R _M + R _O) or D = Ax ² + Bx + C, where x = ɛ(R _M + R _O), ɛ is the ionicity of the M-O bond, R _M is the ionic radius of the cation M with account for the coordination in the polyhedron, and R _O is the ionic radius of oxygen. Calculations were made for MO oxides having the rock-salt structure; Ln₂O₃ oxides, where Ln = Ce-Yb; and the MO₂ oxides having the rutile and fluorite structures.     

Transient bonds and chemical reactivity of molecules

Electron delocalization between the reagent and reactant molecules is the principal driving force of chemical reactions. It brings about the formation of new bonds and the cleavage of old bonds. By taking the aromatic substitution reaction as an example, we have shown the orbitals participating in electron delocalization. The interacting orbitals obtained are localized around the reaction sites, showing the chemical bonds that should be generated and broken transiently along the reaction path. By projecting a reference orbital function that has been chosen to specify the bond being formed on to the MOs of the reactant molecules, the reactive orbitals that are very similar to the interacting orbital have been obtained. The local potential of the reaction site for electron donation estimated for substituted benzene molecules by using these projected orbitals shows a fair correlation with the experimental scale of the electron-donating and -withdrawing strength of substituent groups. The reactivity is shown to be governed by local electronegativity and local chemical hardness and also by the localizability of interaction on the reaction site. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Atoms and bonds in molecules and chemical explanations

The concepts of atoms and bonds in molecules which appeared in chemistry during the nineteenth century are unavoidable to explain the structure and the reactivity of the matter at a chemical level of understanding. Although they can be criticized from a strict reductionist point of view, because neither atoms nor bonds are observable in the sense of quantum mechanics, the topological and statistical interpretative approaches of quantum chemistry (quantum theory of atoms in molecules, electron localization function and maximum probability domain) provide consistent definitions which accommodate chemistry and quantum mechanics.     

Topological/chemical distances and graph centers in molecular graphs with multiple bonds

A set of priority rules is defined for obtaining the graph center in multigraphs, i.e. in molecular graphs with multiple bonds. In order to obtain closer agreement between experimental bond distances in molecules and the relative magnitudes of entries in the distance matrix, a new type of distance is defined, called the “chemical distance”: CD = b^t-14, where b is the conventional bond multiplicity.     

Bond relaxation and non-bonded distances in gem-dihalides and related molecules

Experimental structure determinations for gem-disubstituted difluorides and dichlorides, both acyclic and alicyclic, show that the non-bonded distances d(Y ? Y) (Y = F, Cl) are essentially constant. It is proposed that d(Y ? Y) represents the limiting non-bonded contact distance and determines the bonded C-Y distance, for a given angle ∠YCY: as the skeletal angle ∠CCC increases, the angle ∠YCY decreases, and the constant Y?Y distance causes d(CY) to increase; and conversely. This hypothesis is supported by both MINDO/3 and Molecular Mechanics calculations.     

Distribution of interatomic distances in large metallic clusters

Spherically averaged pseudopotential (SAPS) calculations have been done for Mg _n clusters, withn up to 250 within the framework of density functional theory. The electronic structure is computed resorting to the Thomas-Fermi-Dirac-Weizsäcker (TFDW) approximation for the kinetic energy. The equilibrium geometries have been obtained by minimizing the total cluster energy with respect to the atomic positions using the steepest-descent method. The ground state geometries obtained in this way are formed by spherical atomic shells, the number of them increasing with cluster size, up to a number of four for the biggest sizes considered here. An analysis of the distribution of the interatomic distances shows that the more internal is the shell, the more contracted are the interatomic distances. This effect diminishes progressively with increasing cluster size. For the purpose of comparison, similar calculations have been done with Cs _n clusters in the same size range, allowing us to reproduce previous results obtained using a more elaborated density functional technique (Kohn-Sham method). The inhomogeneous contraction of interatomic distances then appears as a general fact for simple metallic clusters and not only for alkaline ones.     

Dielectric relaxation of some rigid polar molecules in a polystyrene matrix

Dielectric absorption studies have been carried out on solutions of twelve polar solutes dispersed in an atactic polystyrene matrix over a range of temperatures in the frequency region 50 to 10⁵Hz and in one case also in the range of 10⁴ to 10⁷Hz. Rigid molecules of varying size and molecular dipole moments halobenzenes, p-halotoluenes, p-halobiphenyls, p-nitrobiphenyl and p-bromoethylbenzene - have been examined. All these solute molecules have in common the fact that the molecular dipole moment lies along the main principal axis. The relaxation times and energy barrier parameters for molecular dipole relaxations are determined. The Eyring enthalpy of activation, ΔH_E, is found to range from 9 for fluorobenzene to 102 kJ mol⁻¹ for p-iodobiphenyl. Relaxation data of these molecules indicate a linear correlation between enthalpy and entropy of activation, and the former is found to depend upon the volume needed for the reorientation of molecules. Present results for halobenzenes and p-halotoluenes reveal a linear dependence of log (relaxation time) on the mean moment of inertia. The enthalpy data for these rigid molecules are useful in the study of flexible molecules when a decision has to be made as to whether the absorption is to be ascribed to molecular or intramolecular or overlap of the two relaxation processes.     

Photophysical processes and the photodissociation of chemical bonds in polyatomic molecules

The main concepts of the nature of electronically excited states in polyatomic molecules and the intramolecular and intermolecular processes of their evolution are reported. The dependence of the probabilities of these processes on the electronic structure of the molecule is considered. Possible mechanisms of the dissociation of electronically excited molecules with bond cleavage are discussed, and the theoretical results of this consideration are given. The experimental data obtained by the authors are interpreted. In this case, attention is focused on C-H-bond photodissociation processes in a condensed phase, which are the best studied processes. The dissociation of other bonds is briefly discussed.     

Equalization of interatomic distances in polymorphous transformations under pressure

High Dynamic Pressures Center, Mendeleevo. Translated fromZhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 35, No. 3, pp. 133–136, May–June, 1994.     

Polar effect and geometry of the transition state in the reactions of ozone with C-H bonds of polar molecules

A large body of experimental data on the reactions of ozone with C-H bonds of polar molecules in the liquid and gas phases is analyzed in the framework of the intersecting parabolas model. The reactions are considered as the abstraction reaction O₃ + RH → HOOO^. + R^.. The contribution from the polar effect to the activation energy of such reactions is calculated. This contribution is ?6.8 kJ/mol for the reactions of ozone with aliphatic alcohols, and is ?8.1, ?11.7, ?6.8, and ?2.2 kJ/mol for the reactions of ozone with ketones, ethers, 1,3-dioxolanes, and 1,3-dioxanes, respectively. The contribution is insignificant in the reactions of ozone with aldehydes. The interatomic distances in the transition state of these reactions r ^#(C…H) and r ^#(O…H) and the angle between the C…H and O…H bonds are calculated. For the reactions in polar solvents, the contribution from solvation to the activation energy is calculated. In most of the systems considered, this contribution is insignificant (from ?1 to ?3 kJ/mol). The reactions involving ozone are compared to the reactions of peroxy radicals with the same classes of compounds.     

烷基锂分子中化学键的 ab initio 研究

本文用6-13G基函对3-12G基优化构型进行单点ab initio (从头计算法) 计算, 并根据轨道的组合系数、电荷密度图和键强参数等详尽地分析了烷基锂分子的成键情况。烷基锂的易挥发、易聚合、聚合物易溶于烃类溶剂中等物理、化学性质主要是其C－Li键具有显著的共价性缘故。由于烷基锂的C-Li键比C－H和C－C键的强度要小,故C-Li键易于断裂,使烷基锂表现有高的化学反应活性。     

Calculations of the orbital diamagnetic contribution to nuclear spin-spin coupling constants for molecules with multiple bonds

Ab initio SCF and Cl calculations of the orbital diamagnetic contribution to nuclear spin-spin coupon constants have been performed for a series of molecules containing multiple bonds. A striking feature of the results is the prediction of consistently large contributions to vicinal (trans) and geminal proton-proton couplings which oppose and dominate the corresponding orbital paramagnetic contributions.     

Charge fluctuations and correlation strength in chemical bonds: First-row homonuclear diatomic molecules

We investigate, by means of ab initio calculations, the strength of electron correlations within covalent bonds: the first-row homonuclear diatomics serve as test cases. As an appropriate measure of the correlation strength, we introduce the reduction of the mean-square deviations of the electronic charges in localized orbitals forming a bond. A recently developed population analysis in terms of local operators derived from localized molecular orbitals is thereby used. The correlation-strength parameter depends only weakly on dynamical correlations as test calculations demonstrate. Therefore, the full-valence complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) approximation is applied in order to study the changes in the correlation strength with changing bond length for different types of bonds. A number of simple rules emerge from this discussion. In addition, we show that charge fluctuations are not only a reliable measure of intrabond correlation effects, but also can be used to monitor intraatomic quasi-degeneracy effects as well as the interdependence within multiple bonds. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 67: 157–173, 1998     

Vibrational relaxation of OH and CH fundamentals of polar and nonpolar molecules in the condensed phase

Studies of vibrational energy flow in various polar and nonpolar molecules that follows the ultrafast excitation of the CH and OH stretch fundamentals, modeled using semiclassical methods, are reviewed. Relaxation rates are calculated using Landau-Teller theory and a time-dependent method, both of which consider a quantum mechanical solute molecule coupled to a classical bath of solvent molecules. A wide range of decay rates are observed, ranging from 1 ps for neat methanol to 50 ps for neat bromoform. In order to understand the flow rates, it is argued that an understanding of the subtle mixing between the solute eigenstates is needed and that solute anharmonicities are critical to facilitating condensed phase vibrational relaxation. The solvent-assisted shifts of the solute vibrational energy levels are seen to play a critical role of enhancing or decreasing lifetimes.