Medium-size polarized basis sets for high-level-correlated calculations of molecular electric properties

Summary The first-order polarized basis sets for the use in high-level-correlated investigations of molecular electric properties have been generated for Pb, Bi, Po, and At. The performance of the standard [10.17.14.5/13.11.8.2] and extended [20.17.14.9/13.11.8.4] basis sets has been examined in nonrelativistic and quasirelativistic calculations for atoms and simple closed-shell hydrides. The relativistic contributions to electric dipole properties of those systems have been evaluated by using the recently developed quasirelativistic scheme. The predicted dipole polarizability of At is in good agreement with the results of other relativistic calculations. The calculated quasirelativistic dipole moments of BiH₃ (–0.499 a.u.), PoH₂ (–0.207 a.u.), and AtH (+0.036 a.u.) involve a significant relativistic contribution which amounts to —0.230 a.u., –0.177 a.u., and –0.097 a.u., respectively. The basis set details append this paper. They are also available as a part of the basis set library of the MOLCAS system.     

Transfer of electron density as a result of hydrogen bond formation

It has been found that the amount of charge transfer between donor and acceptor molecules in four sets of hydrogen‐bonded complexes may be adequately described as an exponential function of the equilibrium distance between the hydrogen atom and the nearest atom of the acceptor molecule. The exponential factors of the transfer are of the same order but somewhat larger than the factors found otherwise in the investigations of dynamic electron transfer. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2009     

Model studies of the optical rotation,and theoretical determination of its sign for β‐pinene and trans‐pinane

We have carried out extensive studies on the basis set dependence of the calculated specific optical rotation (OR) in molecules at the level of the time–dependent Hartree–Fock and density functional approximations. To reach the limits of the basis set saturation, we have devised an artificial model, the asymmetrically deformed (chiral) methane (CM) molecule. This small system permits to use basis sets which are prohibitively large for real chiral molecules and yet shows all the important features of the basis set dependence of the OR values. The convergence of the OR has been studied with n‐aug‐cc‐pVXZ basis sets of Dunning up to the 6–ζ. In a parallel series of calculations, we have used the recently developed large polarized (LPolX) basis sets. The relatively small LPolX sets have been shown to be competitive to very large n‐aug‐cc‐pVXZ basis sets. The conclusions reached in calculations of OR in CM concerning the usefulness of LPolX basis sets have been further tested on (S)‐methyloxirane and (S)‐fluoro‐oxirane. The smallest set of the LPolX family (LPol–ds) has been found to yield OR values of similar quality as those obtained with much larger Dunning's aug‐cc‐pVQZ basis set. These results have encouraged us to carry out the OR calculations with LPol–ds basis sets for systems as large as β‐pinene and trans‐pinane. In both cases, our calculations have lead to the correct sign of the OR value in these molecules. This makes the relatively small LPol–ds basis sets likely to be useful in OR calculations for large molecules. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2010     

Symmetry enforced gauge invariance of nuclear magnetic shielding constants

E.S.R. experiments performed at 1·3 K by optical detection are reported for the photo-excited triplet state of palladiumporphin in a single crystal of n-octane, and the observation of a level anticrossing signal is described.

In the crystal the orbital degeneracy of the ³ E _u state of the free molecule is lifted by the crystal field and in n-octane the energy difference between the two orbital components |x> and |y> is found to be 58 ± 2 cm^-1. The spinorbit coupling (SOC) and the orbital Zeeman interaction couple the triplet manifolds of |x> and |y>, and for a proper understanding of the magnetic properties of these states it is necessary to work in the basis of the six spin-orbit functions deriving from the ³ E _u state of the free molecule. It is shown that either of the two triplet states can be described by an effective spin hamiltonian of the common form and expressions for the zero-field parameters D and E and the principal values of the g tensor are given. The experimental values of the parameters in the lowest triplet state are D = -24·38 ± 0·03 GHz, |E| = 320 ± 60 MHz, g _‖ = 1·677 ± 0·001 and g _⊥ = 1·989 ± 0·002. The matrix element of the SOC connecting the |x> and |y> triplet manifolds amounts to qZ = 15 ± 3 cm^-1 and the vibronic orbital angular momentum (in units of ?) in the ³ E _u state of the free molecule to qΛ = 1·5 ± 0·3. A tentative value of 0·63 for the orbital reduction factor q is obtained by comparison with a theoretical estimate of Λ. The value of q is indicative of weak Jahn-Teller coupling.     

Self-consistent perturbation theory

The density matrix form of Hartree-Fock perturbation theory is developed for the case in which the basis functions themselves are perturbation-dependent. Energy expressions are derived, through second order, for both single and double perturbations.

The theory is applied in the calculation of electric dipole polarizabilities and hyperpolarizabilities for atoms (He, Be) and molecules (H₂, LiH), with excellent results. The high computational efficiency of the method is discussed and possibilities of further development are outlined.     

First-order interaction energies and the basis set truncation effects

The basis set superposition error is investigated in terms of the first-order symmetry adapted perturbation theory (SAPT). The analysis of the first-order SAPT contribution to the interaction energy reveals the origin of the basis set truncation effects at both the one-electron and many-electron levels of approximation. This helps to formulate the necessary conditions which ensure that the calculated interaction energy is free of the basis set superposition contributions. At the level of the one-electron approximation used for both the interacting system and its subsystems a part of the basis set truncation errors can be eliminated by using what is called the dimer-centred basis set. In order to remove all contributions which arise from the symmetrization of the product of wave functions of the subsystems one needs to redefine their reference states. This means that for the interacting system represented by a single HF determinant, the subsystems must be considered at the level of full CI in the orbital space spanned by all occupied orbitals used to describe the dimer. Then, the interaction energy becomes completely free of the basis set superposition contributions. These general considerations are exemplified by calculations of the first-order SAPT interaction energy in helium and H₂ dimers at different levels of approximation for monomers. Also the convergence of the calculated energies to the complete basis set limit is investigated.     

Stable photo-sensitive polymer layers for holography

Stable red-sensitive layers consisting of methylene blue, acrylamide, and a reducing agent have been prepared. The reducing agent can be a sodium salt of p-toluene-sulphinic acid or dimedone, dissolved in the polymers gelatin or polyvinyl alcohol. A simple method for characterizing the effect of light at 633 nm on the layers, in terms of refractive index changes and of surface relief formation, is described. The application of the layers in spatial filtering is proposed.     

Variable basis sets in perturbation theory: Numerical finite perturbation versus analytic approach

We consider the problem of determining variational, external-field-dependent corrections to nonoptimal zero-field nonlinear parameters. Both a direct analytic perturbation analysis and finite perturbation methods are described in a general way and in detail for the SCF approximation. The abstract theory is illustrated by reference to the results of several explicit calculations. Also, the sensitivity of the results to the choice of zero-field values is discussed.     

On the improvement of the gauge invariance in finite basis set coupled hartree—fock calculations of molecular magnetic properties

Finite basis set coupled Hartree—Fock calculations of molecular magnetic susceptibilities and nuclear shielding constants show a very large gauge dependence (i.e., a dependence on the origin of the magnetic vector potential). The best agreement with experiment is expected for a gauge origin at the electronic centroid for which choice the so-called paramagnetic cotributions to the above properties are small. However, with a finite basis set agreement with experiment may be fortuitous and some estimate of the contribution of the unknown functions is required.A general scheme is presented for dealing with the above problems. The essence of the method is to apply an average energy approximation to the unknown functions and to determine this energy by enforcing the gauge invariance requirement. Consequently the technique can still be categorised as an ab initio method and a close approach to the Hartree—Fock limit is achieved without the need to employ very large basis sets with extensive optimisation. The method is applied to the hydrogen fluoride molecule which provides numerical justification of the proposed scheme.