The vinyloxonium cation (CH2CHOH2+)

Ab initio Molecular orbital calculations with large basis sets and incorporating correlation are used to examine the structures and relative energies of the vinyloxonium (CH₂CHOH₂⁺) and 1-hydroxyethyl (CH₃CHOH⁺) cations. The best structure of the vinyloxonium ion has the OH₂ plane perpendicular to the CCO plane. The energy difference between the vinyloxonium and 1-hydroxyethyl cations is predicted to be 92 kJ mol^?1, substantially greater than a recent experimental estimate of 41 ± 12 kJ mol^?1     

Blends of starch with ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymers: effect of water,glycerol, and amino acids as plasticizers

Blends of thermoplastic starch with poly(ethylene‐co‐vinyl alcohol) copolymer (EVOH) were melt extruded with water/glycerol as plasticizer and a series of amino acid additives. The biggest factor in end‐use mechanical properties proved to be the relative humidity (RH) during storage. Plasticized starch‐EVOH blends stored at 0 and 50% RH changed significantly over time, with, for example, the tensile strength (TS) of the glycerol‐plasticized blend increasing from 4.7 to 26.3 MPa over 8 weeks when maintained at 0% RH. In contrast, the TS of this same sample stored at 75% RH remained unchanged for 8 weeks. Amino acids provided relatively minor, but significant changes in mechanical properties with time. Based on TS, elongation‐to‐break, and modulus, it may be concluded that β‐alanine, sarcosine, and L ‐proline were more effective than glycerol at maintaining strong flexible blends. Increases in crystallinity and changes in morphology with time, as described by modulated DSC were correlated to these changes in mechanical properties. Published in 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Charmed-meson decay constants in three-flavor lattice QCD

We present the first lattice QCD calculation with realistic sea quark content of the D+-meson decay constant f(D+). We use the MILC Collaboration's publicly available ensembles of lattice gauge fields, which have a quark sea with two flavors (up and down) much lighter than a third (strange). We obtain f(D+)=201+/-3+/-17 MeV, where the errors are statistical and a combination of systematic errors. We also obtain f(Ds)=249+/-3+/-16 MeV for the Ds meson.     

The effect of chamber length and Reynolds number on jet precession

The jet axial velocity field exiting from a nozzle/chamber configuration with an expansion ratio of 5 is investigated using Stereo-PIV for a range of chamber lengths and Reynolds (Re) numbers. The jet can exit the chamber in axial jet (AJ) mode with the maximum velocity near the chamber axis or precessing jet (PJ) mode with the maximum velocity near the chamber wall and rotating or precessing about the chamber axis. Algorithms were developed to determine the jet mode from exit conditions and allow conditional averaging of the velocity field in PJ mode. The probability of the jet in PJ mode was found to be a strong function of chamber length, L/D and only a mild function of Re for Re > 10,000. High precession probability was found for chambers of length in the range 2 < L/D < 2.75 for all cases for Re > 10,000. An abrupt reduction in precession probability occurred for chamber lengths L/D~3. For increasing chamber lengths, an increase in precession probability was observed. The ratio of entrainment-into-the-chamber of surrounding fluid to jet exit fluid was found not to be a function of Re or jet mode (AJ or PJ) but only a function of L/D. A maximum ratio entrainment-into-the-chamber was observed to occur in the range 2 < L/D < 2.5. Conditionally averaged velocity profiles also showed the exiting jet to be a strong function of L/D and with only a mild effect of Re for all cases of Re > 10,000.     

The additivity of polarization function and electron correlation effects in ab initio molecular-orbital calculations

Several examples are preseted to show that estimated third-order Møller-Plesset (MP3) relative energies obtained from schemes which assume additivity of correlation and polarization function effects are likely to provide the most reliable energy comparisons in cases where full MP3 calculations with polarization basis sets are not feasible.     

The 6-31G++ basis set: An economical basis set for correlated wavefunctions

The 6-31G ⁺⁺ basis set is described. This basis set is very similar to the existing 6-31G ^** set but is somewhat smaller through the use of five (rather than six) second-order Gaussians (d functions) and has polarization function exponents optimized for correlated rather than Hartree–Fock wavefunctions. The performance of 6-31G ⁺⁺ is compared with that of the 6-31G ^** and 6-31G ^** basis sets through calculation of the geometries and atomization energies for the set of molecules LiH, FH, H₂O, NH₃, CH₄, N₂, CO, HCN, and HCCH.     

The evaluation of molecular electron affinities

The performance of a variety of levels of theory in evaluating molecular electron affinities (EAs) has been systematically examined. Calculations have been carried out for six different basis sets and for nine theoretical procedures including unrestricted (UHF) and restricted (RHF) Hartree-Fock theory, Møler-Plesset perturbation theory (UMP2, UMP3, UMP4), configuration interaction (UCISD, RCISD, RCISD(Q)) and equations-of-motion (EOM) approaches. Electron affinities were evaluated for CH₃, NH₂, OH, F, C₂H, CN, BO, N₃, OCN, and NO₂. Very poor results are generally obtained unless diffuse functions are included in the basis set and electron correlation is incorporated. Even with the largest basis set used in the present study (6-311 + + G(2d, 2p)), there are still residual errors greater than 0.2 eV (UMP4) or 0.6 eV (CISD) in the absolute EAs. However, better results are obtained under certain circumstances for relative EAs. The results appear to be significantly affected by spin contamination in the UHF wave-functions. For those systems for which spin contamination is small, best absolute values of the EAs generally come from the EOM and UMP2 calculations, whereas the most constant errors (thereby allowing systematic correction) are found at the UMP4, CISD, and RCISD(Q) levels. For the systems for which spin contamination is larger, best results are obtained with the CI-based procedures (CISD and RCISD(Q)). The errors in calculated EAs for the molecules with differing electronic characteristics can vary quite widely. Caution must therefore be exercised before applying schemes which rely on a constancy of errors to estimate electron affinities. The UMP procedures appear particularly suspect in this regard if spin contamination is significant. The RCISD(Q) approach is recommended under such circumstances.