Theoretical study of aromaticity in small hydrogen and metal cation clusters X (X=H,Li, Na,K, and Cu)

Five cation clusters X (X=H, Li, Na, K, and Cu) with two possible isomers, i.e., regular trigonal structure (D_3h) and linear structure (D_∞h), have been investigated using four methods: B3LYP, B3PW91, MP2, CCSD(T) and basis set 6‐311+G(3df). The calculations show that only the regular trigonal structure (D_3h) is stable. The related neutral clusters X₃Cl (X=H, Li, Na, K, and Cu) are also investigated using two methods: B3LYP, MP2, and basis set 6‐311+G(3df). For H₃Cl species, there is no a stable structure to be found. For other four X₃Cl (X=Li, Na, K, and Cu) species, there are two stable isomers, for which the bidentate structures (C_2v‐1) [see Fig. 1 (d)] are global minima. According to the general criteria for aromaticity including resonance energy (RE) and nucleus‐independent chemical shift (NICS), the five trigonal isomers exhibit a higher degree of aromaticity. Molecular orbital analysis reveals that the five trigonal X(X=H, Li, Na, K, and Cu) isomers possess only σ‐aromaticity originating from s orbitals. For the Cu ring the d orbitals do not play a significant role in the electron delocalization effects. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2007