CNDO calculations of diamagnetic shielding in molecules

An approximate procedure for the calculation of diamagnetic shielding in molecules is presented. The method proposed is based on the ‘complete neglect of differential overlap’ (CNDO) molecular wave functions and is formulated according to the zero differential overlap (ZDO) approximation. The results obtained with several CNDO-type wave functions for diatomic and polyatomic molecules are in very good agreement with non-empirical SCF calculations. The ¹⁴N diamagnetic shielding constants in several molecules were computed and some approximations usually adopted in the interpretation of ¹⁴N chemical shifts are critically discussed. It was shown that in some cases the observed ¹⁴N chemical shifts cannot be interpreted solely in terms of the paramagnetic contribution to the shielding constant.     

Is fullerene C60 large enough to host an aromatic molecule?

The endohedral complex of fullerene with benzene was studied with computational chemistry methods. The changes of structural parameters, such as bond lengths of host and guest and volume increments accompanying complex formation, were investigated, as well as the transfer of electron density between host and guest. The results obtained with three DFT functionals, which were recently designed for weak interactions, were compared. A three‐centered hydrogen bond between H atom of benzene and two atoms of fullerene was found. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011     

Importance of electron correlation effects and basis set superposition error in calculations of interaction energies and interaction-induced electric properties in hydrogen-bonded complexes: a model study

A detailed study of the interaction energies and interaction-induced electric dipole properties in model linear hydrogen cyanide complexes (HCN) _m (m?=?2?C4) is carried out within the finite field HF SCF, MP2, CCSD and CCSD(T) approximations using the recently developed LPol-n (n?=?ds, fs, dl, fl) basis sets. The importance of high-order correlation effects and the basis set superposition error is evaluated. To correct for the latter is crucial for obtaining accurate interaction energy values, but the error can safely be neglected in the estimation of induced electric properties when the LPol-n (n?=?ds, fs, dl, fl) basis sets are used. Correlation effects are important in the evaluation of both the interaction energies and the induced electric properties of the systems.     

Theoretical predictions of the spectroscopic parameters in noble-gas molecules: HXeOH and its complex with water

We employ state-of-the-art methods and basis sets to study the effect of inserting the Xe atom into the water molecule and the water dimer on their NMR parameters. Our aim is to obtain predictions for the future experimental investigation of novel xenon complexes by NMR spectroscopy. Properties such as molecular structure and energetics have been studied by supermolecular approaches using HF, MP2, CCSD, CCSD(T) and MP4 methods. The bonding in HXeOH···H(2)O complexes has been analyzed by Symmetry-Adapted Perturbation Theory to provide the intricate insight into the nature of the interaction. We focus on vibrational spectra, NMR shielding and spin-spin coupling constants-experimental signals that reflect the electronic structures of the compounds. The parameters have been calculated at electron-correlated and Dirac-Hartree-Fock relativistic levels. This study has elucidated that the insertion of the Xe atom greatly modifies the NMR properties, including both the electron correlation and relativistic effects, the (129)Xe shielding constants decrease in HXeOH and HXeOH···H(2)O in comparison to Xe atom; the (17)O, as a neighbour of Xe, is deshielded too. The HXeOH···H(2)O complex in its most stable form is stabilized mainly by induction and dispersion energies.     

Dynamics of fibers in a wide microchannel

Dynamics of single flexible non-Brownian fibers, tumbling in a Poiseuille flow between two parallel solid plane walls, is studied with the use of the HYDROMULTIPOLE numerical code, based on the multipole expansion of the Stokes equations, corrected for lubrication. Fibers, which are closer to a wall, more flexible (less stiff) or longer, deform more significantly and, for a wide range of the system parameters, they faster migrate towards the middle plane of the channel. For the considered systems, fiber velocity along the flow is only slightly smaller than (and can be well approximated by) the Poseuille flow velocity at the same position. In this way, the history of a fiber migration across the channel is sufficient to determine with a high accuracy its displacement along the flow.     

Approximate variation-perturbation calculations of second-order molecular properties

The variation-perturbation method is applied to the calculation of the magnetic susceptibility of diatomic molecules within the basis of the CNDO/2 SCF wave functions. All the many-centre integrals which appear in the treatment were simplified according to the ZDO approximation.

The calculated diamagnetic contribution is in good agreement with non-empirical results. It agrees also with available experimental data. Although the paramagnetic part of the susceptibility tensor was calculated with a simple two-term form of the variational correction, the results are comparable to those obtained in more advanced ab initio treatments. Also the computed total magnetic susceptibility of various diatomic molecules is in substantial agreement with non-empirical results. A comparison is made with the results of other semi-empirical calculations based on the CNDO/2 SCF wave functions. It follows that the results of the present method are remarkably better.     

Ammonia dimer, linear or cyclic?

Ab initio calculations have been carried out for ammonia dimers with 4-31G and 6-31G* basis sets. The results are corrected for basis-set superposition error. For the ammonia dimer, the stability of the linear form is comparable to that of the cyclic form. The localized orbitals for both dimers are discussed.     

Thermodynamics and kinetics of intramolecular proton transfer in Guanine. Post Hartree-Fock study

The most stable tautomers and rotamers of guanine are characterized by post Hartree-Fock ab initio calculations at the MP2 and CCSD(T) levels employing extended basis sets. Four of the lowest-energy structures (7H-oxo-amino- < 9H-oxo-amino- < 9H-syn-hydroxo-amino- < 9H-anti-hydroxo-amino-guanine) are found to lie within ca. 1 kcal/mol. The next form of guanine is established to lie more than 3 kcal/mol higher than the global minimum tautomer. The transition states of the following reversible reactions: 9H-oxo-amino-guanine right harpoon over left harpoon 9H-syn-hydroxo-amino-guanine right harpoon over left harpoon 9H-anti-hydroxo-amino-guanine have been studied. The calculated energy data were used to obtain thermodynamic parameters and to estimate the composition of the equilibrium mixture of conformers at 0 K and room temperature. The rate constants for the tautomerization of 9H-oxo-amino-guanine were determined by using the instanton approach. Their predicted values characterize an extremely slow chemical process, which is expected to reach the equilibrium in ca. 2500 h. Despite being so slow, we have shown that such a rate of the tautomerization describes a process that is much faster than the one characterized by the observed frequency of spontaneous point mutations. Therefore, additional stabilization factors, e.g., hydrations and interactions with enzymes are necessary to secure the known fidelity of DNA synthesis.