Quantum chemical studies of the solvation of the hydroxide ion

Abstract

To understand and model the solvation of the hydroxide ion, OH(H₂O)^? _n clusters, n = 1?5, are studied using ab initio quantum chemical techniques, largely at the MP2 level of theory using a double zeta plus polarization functions basis extended by diffuse functions. Energies and vibrational frequencies, together with thermodynamic quantities such as enthalpies, entropies and Gibbs free energies, are computed. This permits comparison with experimental estimates of the successive thermodynamic changes associated with the reaction OH(H₂O)^? _n + H₂O → OH(H₂O)^? _n+1. The theoretical values are in good agreement with experiment. The free energy of hydration of OH^? is modelled by a composite discrete-continuum method where the effects of the first hydration shell (n = 3) are obtained from the gas phase cluster calculation, while the long-range effects are modelled using self consistent reaction field theory, namely by calculating the solvation energy of OH(H₂O)^? _n in a dielectric continuum. The best estimate of the solvation (free) energy at 298 K is ?84·5 kcal mol^?1, compared to the experimental value of ?102·8 kcal mol^?1.