The increased frequency of combined El Niño and positive IOD events since 1965s and its impacts on maritime continent hydroclimates.

The Indian and Pacific Oceans surround the Maritime Continent (MC). Major modes of sea surface temperature variability in both oceans, including the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), can strongly affect precipitation on the MC. The prevalence of fires in the MC is closely associated with precipitation amount and terrestrial water storage in September and October. Precipitation and terrestrial water storage, which is a measurement of hydrological drought conditions, are significantly modulated by Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and El Niño events. We utilize long-term datasets to study the combined effects of ENSO and the IOD on MC precipitation during the past 100 years (1900-2019) and find that the reductions in MC precipitation and terrestrial water storage are more pronounced during years when El Niño and a positive phase of the IOD (pIOD) coincided. The combined negative effects are produced mainly through an enhanced reduction of upward motion over the MC. Coincident El Niño-pIOD events have occurred more frequently after 1965. However, climate models do not project a higher occurrence of coincident El Niño-pIOD events in a severely warming condition, implying that not the global warming but the natural variability might be the leading cause of this phenomenon.

Molecular dynamics study on the correlation between structure and sensitivity for defective RDX crystals and their PBXs.

Molecular dynamics simulation was applied to investigate the sensitivities of perfect and defective RDX (cyclotrimethylene trinitramine) crystals, as well as their PBXs (polymer-bonded explosives) with the polymeric binder F(2311), in the NPT (constant number of particles, constant pressure, constant temperature) ensemble using the COMPASS force field. Five kinds of defects-two dislocations, one vacancy, and two types of doping-were considered separately. The bond length distribution and the maximum (L (max)) and average (L (ave)) bond lengths of the N-NO(2) trigger bonds in RDX were obtained and their relationships to the sensitivities of RDX and PBXs are discussed. L (max) was found to be an important structural parameter for judging the relative sensitivity, and defects were observed to have little effect on the sensitivities of PBXs, due to the strong desensitizing effect of the polymer F(2311).

Cyclo-hexa-peptides at the water/cyclohexane interface: a molecular dynamics simulation.

Molecular dynamic (MD) simulations have been performed to study the behaviors of ten kinds of cyclo-hexa-peptides (CHPs) composed of amino acids with the diverse hydrophilic/hydrophobic side chains at the water/cyclohexane interface. All the CHPs take the "horse-saddle" conformations at the interface and the hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity of the side chains influences the backbones' structural deformations. The orientations and distributions of the CHPs at the interface and the differences of interaction energies (ΔΔE) between the CHPs and the two liquid phases have been determined. RDF analysis shows that the H-bonds were formed between the O(C) atoms of the CHPs' backbones and H(w) atoms of water molecules. N atoms of the CHPs' backbones formed the H-bonds or van der Waals interactions with the water solvent. It was found that there is a parallel relationship between ΔΔE and the lateral diffusion coefficients (D ( xy )) of the CHPs at the interface. The movements of water molecules close to the interface are confined to some extent, indicating that the dynamics of the CHPs and interfacial water molecules are strongly coupled.

Theoretical prediction of properties of aliphatic polynitrates.

Aliphatic polynitrates are studied using the density functional theory B3LYP method with basis set 6-31G*. The assigned infrared spectrum is obtained and is used to compute the thermodynamic properties based on the frequencies scaled by 0.96 and the principle of statistic thermodynamics. On comparison of the theoretical densities with the experimental ones, the reliability of this theoretical method is tested. Detonation properties are evaluated using the modified Kamlet-Jacobs equations based on the calculated densities and heats of formation. According to the largest exothermic principle, the relative specific impulse (Is) is investigated by calculating the enthalpy of combustion (ΔH(comb)) and the total heat capacity (C(p,gases)). It is found that the introduction of methylene nitrate group could decrease the specific impulses on whole. Moreover, in combination with the energetic properties, xylitol pentanitrate, mannitol hexanitrate, volemitol heptanitrate, and 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8-octanitrate n-octane are potential candidates for high energy density compounds.

Looking for high energy density compounds applicable for propellant among the derivatives of DPO with -N3, -ONO2, and -NNO2 groups.

The derivatives of DPO (2,5-dipicryl-1,3,4-oxadiazole) are optimized to obtain their molecular geometries and electronic structures at the DFT-B3LYP/6-31G* level. The bond length is focused to primarily predict thermal stability and the pyrolysis mechanism of the title compounds. Detonation properties are evaluated using the modified Kamlet-Jacobs equations based on the calculated densities and heats of formation. It is found that there are good linear relationships between density, detonation velocity, detonation pressure, and the number of azido, nitrate, and nitramine groups. According to the largest exothermic principle, the relative specific impulse is investigated by calculating the enthalpy of combustion (ΔH(comb)) and the total heat capacity (C(p,gases)). It is found that the introduction of -N(3), -ONO(2), and -NNO(2) groups could increase the specific impulses and II-4, II-5, and III-5 are potential candidates for High Energy Density Materials (HEDMs). The effect of the azido, nitrate, and nitramine groups on the structure and the properties is discussed.

A theoretical study on the vibrational spectra and thermodynamic properties for the nitro derivatives of phenols.

The nitro derivatives of phenols are optimized to obtain their molecular geometries and electronic structures at the DFT-B3LYP/6-31 G* level. Their IR spectra are obtained and assigned by vibrational analysis and are reliable compared with the experimental results. Based on the frequencies scaled by 0.96 and the principle of statistic thermodynamics, the thermodynamic properties are evaluated, which are linearly related with the number of nitro and hydroxy groups as well as the temperature, obviously showing good group additivity.

Packing structures and periodic band calculations on DPO (2,5-dipicryl-1,3,4-oxadiazole).

Molecular mechanics (MM) method with Compass and Dreiding force fields is used to predict molecular packing for DPO among the 7 most possible space groups (P2(1)/c, P-1, P2(1)2(1)2(1), P2(1), Pbca, C2/c, and Pna2(1)), respectively. Then, periodic band calculations are performed on the predicted crystals using the DFT-GGA-RPBE method. Obtained density of state (DOS) shows that C-O, CN-O(2) and N-N bonds are possibly the trigger bond during thermolysis. Band gap (DeltaE(g)) equals 1.33 eV, which shows DPO with higher sensitivity. Periodic calculation results are consistent well with that drawn from bond dissociation energy calculations on gas molecule.

Theoretical investigation on structures, densities, detonation properties, and the pyrolysis mechanism of the derivatives of HNS.

The derivatives of 2,2',4,4',6,6'-hexanitrostilbene (HNS) are optimized to obtain their molecular geometries and electronic structures at the DFT-B3LYP/6-31G* level. Detonation properties are evaluated using the modified Kamlet-Jacobs equations based on the calculated densities and heats of formation. It is found that there are good linear relationships between the density, detonation velocity, detonation pressure, and number of nitro, amino, and hydroxy groups. The thermal stability and pyrolysis mechanism of the title compounds are investigated by calculating the bond dissociation energies at the unrestricted B3LYP/6-31G* level. For the nitro and amino derivatives of HNS, the C-NO(2) bond is a trigger bond during the thermolysis initiation process, while for hydroxy derivatives, it is started from the isomerization reaction of the hydrogen transfer in the O-H bond. According to the quantitative standard of energetics and stability, as high-energy density compounds, 2,2',3,3',4,4',5,6,6'-nonanitrostilbene and 2,2',3,3',4,4',5,5',6,6'-decanitrostilbene essentially satisfy this requirement. In addition, we have discussed the effect of the nitro, amino, and hydroxy groups on the structure and properties.

Theoretical studies of solid bicyclo-HMX: effects of hydrostatic pressure and temperature.

On the basis of density functional theory (DFT) and molecular dynamics (MD), the structural, electronic, and mechanical properties of the energetic material bicyclo-HMX have been studied. The crystal structure optimized by the LDA/CA-PZ method compares well with the experimental data. Band structure and density of states calculations indicate that bicyclo-HMX is an insulator with the band gap of ca. 3.4 eV and the N-NO(2) bond is the reaction center. The pressure effect on the bulk structure and properties has been investigated in the range of 0-400 GPa. The crystal structure and electronic character change slightly as the pressure increases from 0 to 10 GPa; when the pressure is over 10 GPa, further increment of the pressure determines significant changes of the structures and large broadening of the electronic bands together with the band gap decreasing sharply. There is a larger compression along the c-axis than along the a- and b-axes. To investigate the influence of temperature on the bulk structure and properties, isothermal-isobaric MD simulations are performed on bicyclo-HMX in the temperature range of 5-400 K. It is found that the increase of temperature does not significantly change the crystal structure. The thermal expansion coefficients calculated for the model indicate anisotropic behavior with slightly larger expansion along the a- and c-axes than along the b-axis.

Density functional theory study of piperidine and diazocine compounds.

Density functional theory calculations at the B3LYP/6-311G** level were performed to predict the heats of formation (HOFs) for three eight-membered ring compounds and four six-membered ring compounds via designed isodesmic reactions. In the isodesmic reactions designed for the computation of HOFs (CH(3)CH(2))(2)NNO(2) and piperidine were chosen as reference compounds. The HOFs for -NO(2) substituted derivations are larger than those of -NF(2) substituent groups. Thermal stability were evaluated via bond dissociation energies (BDE) at the UB3LYP/6-311G** level. As a whole, the homolysis of CNF(2) or CNO(2) bonds is the main step for bond dissociation of the title compounds. Detonation properties of seven title compounds were evaluated by using the Kamlet-Jacobs equation based on the calculated densities and HOFs. It is found that 3,3,7,7-tetrakis(difluoroamino)octahydro-1,5-dinitro-1,5-diazocine (HNFX) and 3,3,5,5-tetrakis (difluoroamino)-1-nitro piperidine (N-nitro TDFAPP), with predicted density of ca. 2.0 g/cm(3), detonation velocity (D) about 9.9 km/s, and detonation pressure (P) of 47GPa that are lager than those of HMX, are expected to be the novel candidates of high energy density materials (HEDMs). The detonation data of 1,3,3,5,7,7-hexanitro-1,5-diazacyclooctane (HNDZ) and TNBDFAPP show that they meet the requirements for HEDMs.

Strain energies of cubane derivatives with different substituent groups.

Homodesmotic reaction and isodesmotic reaction were designed for the computation of strain energies (SE) for a series of cubane derivatives. Total energies of the optimized geometric structures at the DFT-B3LYP/6-31G* level were used to derive the SE. The SE value of cubane is 169.13 kcal/mol for homodesmotic reaction, which is in good agreement with the experimental value. The variation of SE with respect to the number of substituents is similar for the homodesmotic reaction and isodesmotic reaction. The SE values of polynitrocubane and polydifluoroaminocubane increase slightly as up to four substituent groups being added to the cage skeleton. On contrary, the SE dramatically increases when the number of substituent groups m increases from 5 up to 8. For polynitratocubane, the SE decreases slightly at the beginning then increases as the number of group increases. For polyazidocubane, there are very small group effects on the SE. Among four types of substituent groups, the nitro group has greatest effect on the strain energy of caged cubane skeleton. The calculated SE value of octanitrocubane is 257.20 kcal/mol, while that of octaazidocubane is 166.48 kcal/mol via isodesmotic reaction. The azido group releases the strain energy of cubane skeleton when the number of azido groups is less than 7. The interactions among the substituted groups deviated from group additivity. The substituted groups withdraw electrons from the cubane, reducing the repulsion between C-C bonds and resulting the release the strain of the skeleton for isomers with fewer substituents. Group repulsions increase sharply with more and more nitro, nitrato and difluoroamino groups being attached to cubane, resulting large strains of the skeleton. The average negative charges of the substituted groups influence the strain energy of cubane derivatives.

Nonisothermal decomposition kinetics and computational studies on the properties of 2,4,6,8-tetranitro-2,4,6,8-tetraazabicyclo[3,3,1]onan-3,7-dione (TNPDU).

The thermal decomposition and the nonisothermal kinetics of the thermal decomposition reaction of 2,4,6,8-tetranitro-2,4,6,8-tetraazabicyclo[3,3,1]onan-3,7-dione (TNPDU) were studied under the nonisothermal condition by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetry-derivative thermogravimetry (TG-DTG) methods. The kinetic model function in differential form and the value of Ea and A of the decomposition reaction of TNPDU are f(alpha) = 3(1 - alpha)[-ln(1 - alpha)](2/3), 141.72 kJ mol(-1), and 10(11.99) s(-1), respectively. The critical temperature of thermal explosion of the title compound is 232.58 degrees C. The values of DeltaS(++), DeltaH(++), and DeltaG(++) of this reaction are -15.50 J mol(-1) K(-1), 147.65 kJ mol(-1), and 155.26 kJ mol(-1), respectively. The theoretical investigation on the title compound as a structure unit was carried out by the DFT-B3LYP/6-311++G** method. The IR frequencies and NMR chemical shift were performed and compared with the experimental results. The heat of formation (HOF) for TNPDU was evaluated by designing isodesmic reactions. The detonation velocity (D) and detonation pressure (P) were estimated by using the well-known Kamlet-Jacobs equation, based on the theoretical densities and HOF. The calculation on bond dissociation energy suggests that the N-N bond should be the trigger bond during the pyrolysis initiation process.

DFT studies on the four polymorphs of crystalline CL-20 and the influences of hydrostatic pressure on epsilon-CL-20 crystal.

Based on density functional theory (DFT), four different methods with the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) have been employed to investigate the structural and electronic properties of the four polymorphs (alpha.H2O, beta, gamma, and epsilon phases) of CL-20, which is a well-known high energy density compound (HEDC). The relaxed crystal structures compare well with experimental data. According to the constitution of the frontier energy bands and the Mulliken population analyses, the N-NO2 bond is predicted to be the trigger bond during thermolysis. The density of states (DOS) of alpha-CL-20.H2O is somewhat different from those of the other three crystals for its inclusion of H2O molecules that contribute the frontier energy bands. The band gaps obtained from the four different methods are consistent with each other. According to the calculated values of band gaps, the sensitivity of the four polymorphs of CL-20 is predicted as epsilon < beta < gamma < alpha.H2O, which agrees well with the experimental result. The effects of hydrostatic compression on the most stable epsilon-CL-20 have also been investigated using the GGA-PBE method in the pressure range of 0-400 GPa. epsilon-CL-20 has anisotropic compressibility at low or high pressure. The band gap is found to decrease with increasing pressure, showing the corresponding sensitivity increase. Based on the changes of the band gap and DOS with pressure, 400 GPa is considered to be the critical pressure for the insulator-metal phase transition.

Molecular dynamics simulations of trans-1,4,5,8-tetranitro-1,4,5,8-tetraazadecalin-based polymer-bonded explosives.

Molecular dynamics has been applied to investigate the low-sensitivity explosive TNAD (trans-1,4,5,8-tetranitro-1,4,5,8-tetraazadecalin)-based polymer-bonded explosives (PBXs) with four typical fluorine polymers, PVDF (polyvinylidenedifluoride), PCTFE (polychlorotrifluoroethylene), F(2311) (fluorine rubber), and F(2314) (fluorine resin). The elastic constants, mechanical properties (tensile modulus, bulk modulus, shear modulus, and Poission ratio), binding energies, and detonation performances are first reported for the TNAD-based PBXs. The results show that the mechanical properties of TNAD can be effectively improved by the addition of small amounts of fluorine polymers, and the overall effect of fluorine polymers on the mechanical properties of the PBXs along three crystalline surfaces is (001) > (010) > (100). On each crystal surface, improvement in the ductibility made by the fluorine polymers changes approximately in the sequence of PVDF > F(2311) > F(2314) > PCTFE. The binding energies between different TNAD crystalline surfaces and different polymer binders with the same chain segment or mass fraction both decrease in the order of (010) > (100) > (001). The binding properties of the polymers with the same chain segment on each crystal surface of TNAD increase as PVDF < F(2311) < F(2314) < PCTFE, while those of different polymers in the same content decrease in the sequence of PVDF > F(2311) > F(2314) > PCTFE. The detonation performances of the PBXs decrease in comparison with the pure crystal, but they are superior to those of TNT.

Cooperative effects, strengths of hydrogen bonds, and intermolecular interactions in circular cis, trans-cyclotriazane clusters (n = 3-8).

Based on Becke's three parameter functional [J. Chem. Phys. 98, 5648 (1993)] of density functional theory (DFT) with the correlation of Lee-Yang-Parr [Phys. Rev. B 37, 785 (1988)] (DFT/B3LYP), the natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis, the Bader's theory of atoms in molecule (AIM), our calculations indicate that as cluster size (n) increases, the n-dependent cooperative changes in the lengths of the N...H H bonds (HBs) and N-H bonds, the N-H stretching frequencies and intensities, and the n(N)-->sigma*(N-H) charge transfers are observed to be pervasive in the circular cis, trans-cyclotriazane clusters (n = 3-8), which is very different from the linear cis, trans-cyclotriazane clusters reported in previous work. According to the NBO and AIM theories, the cooperativity of the intermolecular n(N)-->sigma*(N-H) interaction leads to the n-dependent N...H contractions. In this way, the stronger N...H bond is formed, as reflected in the increase in their rho(r(cp)) values. This increased electron density is translated into the improved capacity to concentrate electrons at the HB bond critical point (BCP), i.e., a higher potential energy V(r(cp)). On the other hand, stronger repulsion is also activated to counteract the contraction, which is reflected in the increased G(r(cp)) value that gives the tendency of the system to dilute electrons at the HB BCP. In terms of the three-body symmetry-adapted perturbation theory (three-body SAPT), the induction nonadditivity accounts for up to 97% of the nonadditive energy in the circular trimer. It can believed that the marked cooperativity of the n(N)-->sigma*(N-H) interactions is of nonadditive induction in nature. The N...H formation and nature of cooperativity in the circular clusters differ from those in the linear clusters that have been reported previously. According to the SAPT(DFT) method which is a combination of SAPT with the asymptotically corrected DFT, the cis, trans-cyclotriazane systems should contain remarkable dispersion interactions. However, the short-range dispersion cannot be reproduced thoroughly by DFT/B3LYP. A quantum cluster equilibrium model illustrates the neglected dispersion energies and the nonadditive energies can affect markedly the properties of the liquid consisting of the circular clusters.

Ab initio and molecular dynamics studies of crystalline TNAD (trans-1,4,5,8-tetranitro-1,4,5,8-tetraazadecalin).

The structural and electronic properties of the energetic crystal TNAD (trans-1,4,5,8-tetranitro-1,4,5,8- tetraazadecalin) have been studied using plane-wave ab initio calculations based on the density function theory method with the ultrasoft pseudopotentials. It is found that the predicted crystal structure is in good agreement with experimental data and there are strong inter- and intramolecular interactions in bulk TNAD. Band structure calculations indicate that TNAD is an insulator with the band gap of ca. 3.3 eV. The hydrostatic compression effect on TNAD has been studied in the pressure range of 0-600 GPa. The results show that a pressure less than 10 GPa does not significantly change the geometric parameters, charge distributions, and electronic bands. When the pressure is over 10 GPa, increasing the pressure determines significant changes of the geometrical and electronic structures and large broadening of the electronic bands together with a sharp decrease of the band gap. Isothermal-isobaric molecular dynamics simulations at atmospheric pressure were further performed on the TNAD crystal in the temperature range 5-500 K. Average equilibrium lattice parameters and elastic properties as functions of temperature were determined. The thermal expansion coefficients calculated for the crystal indicate anisotropic behavior with the largest expansion along the b axis.

Density functional theory study of the properties of N-H...N, non-cooperativities, and intermolecular interactions in linear trans-diazene clusters up to ten molecules.

We investigate aspects of N-H...N hydrogen bonding in the linear trans-diazene clusters (n=2-10) such as the N...H and N-H lengths, n(N) --> sigma(N-H) interactions, N...H strengths, and frequencies of the N-H stretching vibrations utilizing the DFT/B3LYP theory, the natural bond orbital (NBO) method, and the theory of atoms in molecules (AIM). Our calculations indicate that the structure and energetics are qualitatively different from the conventional H-bonded systems, which usually exhibit distinct cooperative effects, as cluster size increases. First, a shortening rather than lengthening of the N-H bond is found and thus a blue rather than red shift is predicted. Second, for the title clusters, any sizable cooperative changes in the N-H and N...H lengths, n(N) --> sigma(N-H) charge transfers, N...H strengths, and frequencies of the N-H stretching vibrations for the linear H-bonded trans-diazene clusters do not exist. Because the n(N) --> sigma(N-H) interaction hardly exhibits cooperative effects, the capability of the linear trans-diazene cluster to localize electrons at the N...H bond critical point is almost independent of cluster size and thereby leads to the noncooperative changes in the N...H lengths and strengths and the N-H stretching frequencies. Third, the dispersion energy is sizable and important; more than 30% of short-range dispersion energy not being reproduced by the DFT leads to the underestimation of the interaction energies by DFT/B3LYP. The calculated nonadditive interaction energies show that, unlike the conventional H-boned systems, the trans-diazene clusters indeed exhibit very weak nonadditive interactions.

Molecular dynamics simulations for pure epsilon-CL-20 and epsilon-CL-20-based PBXs.

Molecular dynamics has been employed to simulate the well-known high energy density compound epsilon-CL-20 (hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane) crystal and 12 epsilon-CL-20-based PBXs (polymer bonded explosives) with four kinds of typical fluorine polymers, i.e., polyvinylidenedifluoride, polychlorotrifluoroethylene, fluorine rubber (F(2311)), and fluorine resin (F(2314)) individually. The elastic coefficients, isotropic mechanical properties (tensile moduli, bulk moduli, shear moduli, and poission's ratios), and bonding energy are first reported for epsilon-CL-20 crystal and epsilon-CL-20-based polymer bonded explosives (PBXs). The mechanical properties of epsilon-CL-20 can be effectively improved by blending with a small amount of fluorine polymers, and the whole effect of the adding fluorine polymers to improve mechanical properties of PBXs along the three crystalline surfaces of epsilon-CL-20 is found to be (100) approximately (001) > (010). The interaction between each of the crystalline surfaces and each of the fluorine polymers is different, and the ordering of binding energy for the three surfaces is (001) > (100) > (010); F(2314) always has the strongest binding ability with the three different surfaces. F(2314) can best improve the ductibility and tenacity of PBX when it is positioned on epsilon-CL-20 (001) crystal surface. The calculations on detonation performances for pure epsilon-CL-20 crystal and the four epsilon-CL-20-based PBXs show that adding a small amount of fluorine polymer into pure epsilon-CL-20 will lower detonation performance, but each detonation parameter of the obtained PBXs is still excellent.

Computational studies on polynitrohexaazaadmantanes as potential high energy density materials.

Polynitrohexaazaadamantanes (PNHAAs) have been the subject of much recent research because of their potential as high energy density materials (HEDMs). The B3LYP/6-31G method was employed to evaluate the heats of formation (HOFs) for PNHAAs by designing isodesmic reactions. The HOFs are found to be correlative with the number (n) and the space orientations of nitro groups. Detonation velocities (D) and detonation pressures (P) were estimated for PNHAAs by using the well-known Kamlet-Jacobs equations, based on the theoretical densities (rho) and HOFs. It is found that D and P increase as n ranges from 1 to 6, and PNHAAs with 4-6 nitro groups meet the criteria of an HEDM. When n is over 6, rho of PNHAAs slightly increases; however, the chemical energy of detonation (Q) decreases so greatly that both D and P decrease. The calculations on bond dissociation energies suggest that the N-N bond be the trigger bond during the pyrolysis initiation process of each PNHAA, and with increasing n, N-N bond dissociation energy (E(N-N)) decreases on the whole, that is to say, the relative stability of PNHAAs decreases. All E(N-N)(s) of PNHAAs are more than 30 kcal.mol(-1), which further proves that four PNHAAs with 4-6 nitro groups can be used as the candidates of HEDMs. Considering the synthesis difficulty and the performance as an energetic compound, we finally recommended 2,4,6,8,10-pentanitrohexaazaadamantane as the target HEDM for PNHAAs.

Cooperative effects and strengths of hydrogen bonds in open-chain cis-triaziridine clusters (n = 2-8): a DFT investigation.

We employ DFT/B3LYP method to investigate linear open-chain clusters (n = 2-8) of the cis-triaziridine molecule that is a candidate molecule for high energy density materials (HEDM). Our calculations indicate that the pervasive phenomena of cooperative effects are observed in the clusters of n = 3-8, which are reflected in changes in lengths of N...H hydrogen bonds, stretching frequencies, and intensities of N-H bonds, dipole moments, and charge transfers as cluster size increases. The n(N) --> sigma*(N-H) interactions, i.e., the charge transfers from lone pairs (n(N)) of the N atoms into antibonds (sigma*) of the N-H bonds acting as H-donors, can be used to explain the observed cooperative phenomena. The approaches based upon natural bond orbital (NBO) method and theory of atoms in molecule (AIM) to evaluating N...H strengths are found to be equivalent. In the process of N...H bonding, cooperative nature of n(N) --> sigma*(N-H) interactions promotes formation of stronger N...H bonds as reflected in increases in the capacities of cis-triaziridine clusters to concentrate electrons at the bond critical points of N...H bonds. The calculated nonadditive energies also show that the cooperative effects due to n(N) --> sigma*(N-H) interactions indeed provide additional stabilities for the clusters.