Density-functional tight-binding for phosphine-stabilized nanoscale gold clusters

We report a parameterization of the second-order density-functional tight-binding (DFTB2) method for the quantum chemical simulation of phosphine-ligated nanoscale gold clusters, metalloids, and gold surfaces. Our parameterization extends the previously released DFTB2 “auorg” parameter set by connecting it to the electronic parameter of phosphorus in the “mio” parameter set. Although this connection could technically simply be accomplished by creating only the required additional Au–P repulsive potential, we found that the Au 6p and P 3d virtual atomic orbital energy levels exert a strong influence on the overall performance of the combined parameter set. Our optimized parameters are validated against density functional theory (DFT) geometries, ligand binding and cluster isomerization energies, ligand dissociation potential energy curves, and molecular orbital energies for relevant phosphine-ligated Au_n clusters (n = 2–70), as well as selected experimental X-ray structures from the Cambridge Structural Database. In addition, we validate DFTB simulated far-IR spectra for several phosphine- and thiolate-ligated gold clusters against experimental and DFT spectra. The transferability of the parameter set is evaluated using DFT and DFTB potential energy surfaces resulting from the chemisorption of a PH₃ molecule on the gold (111) surface. To demonstrate the potential of the DFTB method for quantum chemical simulations of metalloid gold clusters that are challenging for traditional DFT calculations, we report the predicted molecular geometry, electronic structure, ligand binding energy, and IR spectrum of Au₁₀₈S₂₄(PPh₃)₁₆.

We report a parameterization of the density-functional tight-binding (DFTB) method for the accurate prediction of molecular, electronic and vibrational structure of phosphine-ligated nanoscale gold clusters, metalloids, and gold surfaces.     

BFW: a density functional for transition metal clusters

Ionization potentials (IPs) or electron affinities (EAs) for transition metal clusters are an important property that can be used to identify and differentiate between clusters. Accurate calculation of these values is therefore vital. Previous attempts using a variety of DFT models have correctly predicted trends, but have relied on the use of scaling factors to compare to experimental IPs. In this paper, we introduce a new density functional (BFW) that is explicitly designed to yield accurate, absolute IPs for transition metal clusters. This paper presents the numerical results for a selection of transition metal clusters and their carbides, nitrides, and oxides for which experimental IPs are known. When tested on transition metal clusters, the BFW functional is found to be significantly more accurate than B3LYP and B3PW91.     

Activation of Water‐Splitting Photocatalysts by Loading with Ultrafine Rh–Cr Mixed‐Oxide Cocatalyst Nanoparticles

The activity of many water‐splitting photocatalysts could be improved by the use of Rh^III–Cr^III mixed oxide (Rh_2?xCr_xO₃) particles as cocatalysts. Although further improvement of water‐splitting activity could be achieved if the size of the Rh_2?xCr_xO₃ particles was decreased further, it is difficult to load ultrafine (<2 nm) Rh_2?xCr_xO₃ particles onto a photocatalyst by using conventional loading methods. In this study, a new loading method was successfully established and was used to load Rh_2?xCr_xO₃ particles with a size of approximately 1.3 nm and a narrow size distribution onto a BaLa₄Ti₄O₁₅ photocatalyst. The obtained photocatalyst exhibited an apparent quantum yield of 16 %, which is the highest achieved for BaLa₄Ti₄O₁₅ to date. Thus, the developed loading technique of Rh_2?xCr_xO₃ particles is extremely effective at improving the activity of the water‐splitting photocatalyst BaLa₄Ti₄O₁₅. This method is expected to be extended to other advanced water‐splitting photocatalysts to achieve higher quantum yields.     

Water dispersible magnetite nanocluster coated with thermo‐responsive thiolactone‐containing copolymer

This work focused on surface modification of magnetite nanoparticle (MNP) with poly(poly(ethylene glycol) monomethyl ether methacylate)‐b‐(poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide)‐st‐poly(thiolactone acrylamide)), PPEGMA‐b‐(PNIPAAm‐st‐PTlaAm), diblock copolymer, synthesized via reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization to obtain the particles having good water dispersible PPEGMA brushes, thermo‐responsive PNIPAAm, and reactive thiolactone groups of PTlaAm. The thiolactone moiety in the copolymer can readily react with amino groups grafted on MNP surface and essentially induced the formation of MNP nanocluster. According to transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the size of the nanocluster ranged between 200 and 500 nm per cluster with 8 to 10 nm in diameter for each particle. Hydrodynamic diameter of the nanocluster significantly decreased as the dispersion temperature increased from 25°C to 45°C due to the shrinkage of thermo‐responsive PNIPAAm when crossing its lower critical solution temperature (LCST). This stable nanocluster might be potentially used as a magnetic carrier for control release of entrapped entities with a thermally triggering mechanism.     

Threshold photoionization and density functional theory studies of the niobium carbide clusters Nb3C(n) (n = 1-4) and Nb4C(n) (n = 1-6)

We have used photoionization efficiency spectroscopy to determine ionization potentials (IP) of the niobium-carbide clusters, Nb3C(n) (n = 1-4) and Nb4C(n) (n = 1-6). The Nb3C2 and Nb4C4 clusters exhibit the lowest IPs for the two series, respectively. For clusters containing up to four carbon atoms, excellent agreement is found with relative IPs calculated using density functional theory. The lowest energy isomers are mostly consistent with the development of a 2 x 2 x 2 face-centered cubic structure of Nb4C4. However, for Nb3C4 a low-lying isomer containing a molecular C2 unit is assigned to the experimental IP rather than the depleted 2 x 2 x 2 nanocrystal isomer. For Nb4C5 and Nb4C6, interpretation is less straightforward, but results indicate isomers containing molecular C2 units are the lowest in energy, suggesting that carbon-carbon bonding is preferred when the number of carbon atoms exceeds the number of metal atoms. A double IP onset is observed for Nb4C3, which is attributed to ionization from the both the lowest energy singlet state and a meta-stable triplet state. This work further supports the notion that IPs can be used as a reliable validation for the geometries of metal-carbide clusters calculated by theory.     

Determination of the molecular structure of diacetylene from high-resolution FTIR spectroscopy

The high-resolution infrared absorption spectra of eight²H or¹³C substituted isotopomers of diacetylene have been recorded, and the bands corresponding to thev ₄ fundamental andv ₆ combination of the major isotopomer have been analyzed using a Loomis-Wood-type program. Effective ground-state rotational constants have been obtained from ground-state combination differences. A number ofr ₀,r _s,r _m , and (r _m )_corr structures have been calculated from the available data and are compared to those obtained by ab initio methods. The (r _m )_corr structure, which is a reliable near-equilibrium structure of diacetylene, isr _C–H=106.131(13) pm;r _C–C=137.081(16) pm;r _C-C=120.964(14). (r _m )_corr structures of the related molecules cyanogen, cyanoacetylene, and cyanodiacetylene have been calculated, and near-equilibrium structures of triacetylene and dicyanoacetylene have been predicted.     

Kick: constraining a stochastic search procedure with molecular fragments

An extension of the Kick program developed by Bera et al. (J Phys Chem A 2006, 110, 4287) is described in which chemically sensible molecular fragments are used in an automated stochastic search algorithm. This results in a vastly reduced region of the potential energy surface which can be explored very quickly. We present use of this modified algorithm to the search for low-lying isomers, and we present candidates for the global energy minimum, for a range of chemical systems. We highlight the usefulness of this procedure for exploring reactions of molecules with transition metal clusters and to the microsolvation of a small dipeptide.