Kinetics of Trifluoromethane Clathrate Hydrate Formation from CHF3 Gas and Ice Particles.

We report the formation kinetics of trifluoromethane clathrate hydrate (CH) from less than 75 µm diameter ice particles and CHF3 gas. As previously observed for difluoromethane and propane hydrate formation, the initial stages of the reaction exhibit a strong negative correlation of the reaction rate with temperature, consistent with a negative activation energy of formation. The values obtained for trifluoromethane, ca. -6 kJ/mol (H2O), are similar to those for difluoromethane, even though the two molecules have different intermolecular interactions and sizes. The activation energy is lesser per mole of H2O, but greater per mole of guest molecule, than for propane hydrate, which has a different crystal structure. We propose a possible explanation for the negative activation barrier based on the stabilization of metastable structures at low temperature. A pronounced dependence of the formation kinetics on the gas flow rate into the cell is observed. At 253 K and a flow rate of 15 mmol/h, the stage II enclathration of trifluoromethane proceeds so quickly that the overpressure, the difference between the gas cell pressure and the hydrate vapor pressure, is only 0.06 MPa.

Nature of the valence excited states of bromine in the T and P clathrate cages.

The guest-host intermolecular potentials for the valence excited states of Br2 in the tetrakaidecahedral(T) and pentakaidecahedral(P) clathrate cages have been calculated using ab initio local correlation methods. We find that the excited states are more strongly bound than the corresponding ground states even in the small T cage where bromine has a tight fit. The angular dependence of the interaction energies is quite anisotropic; this reflects in the corresponding electronic shifts where regions of maxima for blue-shifts in the T cage indicate the presence of halogen bonding. We predict a large temperature dependence of the electronic shifts and compare absolute values with recent experimental studies. This stringent test indicates the reliability of local correlation treatments to describe weak intermolecular forces in ground and excited states.

A theoretical simulation of the resonant Raman spectroscopy of the H2O⋯Cl2 and H2O⋯Br2 halogen-bonded complexes.

The resonant Raman spectra of the H2O⋯Cl2 and H2O⋯Br2 halogen-bonded complexes have been studied in the framework of a 2-dimensional model previously used in the simulation of their UV-visible absorption spectra using time-dependent techniques. In addition to the vibrational progression along the dihalogen mode, a progression is observed along the intermolecular mode and its combination with the intramolecular one. The relative intensity of the inter to intramolecular vibrational progressions is about 15% for H2O⋯Cl2 and 33% for H2O⋯Br2. These results make resonant Raman spectra a potential tool for detecting the presence of halogen bonded complexes in condensed phase media such as clathrates and ice.

Motion of Br2 molecules in clathrate cages. A computational study of the dynamic effects on its spectroscopic behavior.

This work looks into the spectroscopic behavior of bromine molecules trapped in clathrate cages combining different methodologies. We developed a semiempirical quantum mechanical model to incorporate through molecular dynamics trajectories, the effect movement of bromine molecules in clathrate cages has on its absorption spectra. A simple electrostatic model simulating the cage environment around bromine predicts a blue shift in the spectra, in good agreement with the experimental evidence.

Prediction of clathrate structure type and guest position by molecular mechanics.

The clathrate hydrates occur in various types in which the number, size, and shape of the various cages differ. Usually the clathrate type of a specific guest is predicted by the size and shape of the molecular guest. We have developed a methodology to determine the clathrate type employing molecular mechanics with the MMFF force field employing a strategy to calculate the energy of formation of the clathrate from the sum of the guest/cage energies. The clathrate type with the most negative (most stable) energy of formation would be the type predicted (we mainly focused on type I, type II, or bromine type). This strategy allows for a calculation to predict the clathrate type for any cage guest in a few minutes on a laptop computer. It proved successful in predicting the clathrate structure for 46 out of 47 guest molecules. The molecular mechanics calculations also provide a prediction of the guest position within the cage and clathrate structure. These predictions are generally consistent with the X-ray and neutron diffraction studies. By supplementing the diffraction study with molecular mechanics, we gain a more detailed insight regarding the details of the structure. We have also compared MM calculations to studies of the multiple occupancy of the cages. Finally, we present a density functional calculation that demonstrates that the inside of the clathrates cages have a relatively uniform and low electrostatic potential in comparison with the outside oxygen and hydrogen atoms. This implies that van der Waals forces will usually be dominant in the guest-cage interactions.

Large shift and small broadening of Br2 valence band upon dimer formation with H2O: an ab initio study.

Valence electronic excitation spectra are calculated for the H(2)O···Br(2) complex using highly correlated ab initio potentials for both the ground and the valence electronic excited states and a 2-D approximation for vibrational motion. Due to the strong interaction between the O-Br and the Br-Br stretching motions, inclusion of these vibrations is the minimum necessary for the spectrum calculation. A basis set calculation is performed to determine the vibrational wave functions for the ground electronic state and a wave packet simulation is conducted for the nuclear dynamics on the excited state surfaces. The effects of both the spin-orbit interaction and temperature on the spectra are explored. The interaction of Br(2) with a single water molecule induces nearly as large a shift in the spectrum as is observed for an aqueous solution. In contrast, complex formation has a remarkably small effect on the T = 0 K width of the valence bands due to the fast dissociation of the dihalogen bond upon excitation. We therefore conclude that the widths of the spectra in aqueous solution are mostly due to inhomogeneous broadening.

NeCl2 and ArCl2: transition from direct vibrational predissociation to intramolecular vibrational relaxation and electronic nonadiabatic effects.

Pump-probe results are reported for NeCl(2) excited to the Cl(2) B state, undergoing vibrational predissociation, and then probed via E <-- B transitions. Intensities, lifetimes and product vibrational branching ratios are reported for 16 < or = v' < or = 19 Cl(2) stretching quanta. The intensity of the signal rapidly decreases above v' = 17. Detailed wave packet calculations of the vibrational predissociation dynamics are performed to determine if the experimental results can be explained by the onset of IVR dynamics. The calculations and the experiment are in close accord for low vibrational levels. For higher levels, some, but not all, of the loss of experimental signal can be attributed to IVR. To test whether electronic relaxation dynamics are important for NeCl(2) and ArCl(2), excited state potential surfaces that incorporate spin orbit coupling effects are calculated. These surfaces are then used in a wave packet calculation that includes both vibrational predissociation and electronic predissociation dynamics. The results show that electronic predissociation is important for ArCl(2) levels above v' = 12. For NeCl(2) the calculation suggests that the onset of electronic predissociation should occur for levels as low as v' = 13 but may not contribute markedly to the observed loss of signal above v' = 17. Suggestions are made for further studies of this puzzling problem.

Competition between electronic and vibrational predissociation dynamics of the HeBr2 and NeBr2 van der Waals molecules.

Direct measurements of the lifetimes of He(79)Br(2) and Ne(79)Br(2) B-state vibrational levels 10 < or = nu' < or = 20 have been performed using time-resolved optical pump-probe spectroscopy. The values do not obey the energy gap law for direct vibrational predissociation. For both molecules, the dissociation rate for nu'=11 is much faster than for nu'=12, and the nu'=13 rate is also faster than is consistent with the energy gap law. We attribute this unexpected behavior to an electronic predissociation channel. Based on Franck-Condon factors between the Br(2) B-state vibrational wave functions and the possible Br-Br product wave functions, we surmise that either the Br(2) (3)Pi(g)(1(g)) or (2(g)) state is responsible for the electronic predissociation. To our knowledge, this is the first time electronic predissociation and direct Deltanu=-1 vibrational predissociation have been observed to be in competition for a wide range of vibrational levels. As such, this problem deserves a detailed theoretical analysis.

Real-time dissociation dynamics of the Ne(2)Br(2) van der Waals complex.

We have characterized the vibrational predissociation (VP) of the Ne(2)Br(2) van der Waals complex using time- and frequency-resolved pump-probe spectroscopy. After exciting Br(2) within the complex to a vibrational level 1619. We also report vibrational product state distributions for direct excitation to NeBr(2) 16

Communications: A model study on the electronic predissociation of the NeBr(2) van der Waals complex.

Recently, the predissociation lifetimes of the NeBr(2)(B) complex for different initial vibrational excitation (10

On the unusual properties of halogen bonds: a detailed ab initio study of X2-(H2O)(1-5) clusters (X = Cl and Br).

Halogen bonds have received a great deal of attention in recent years. Their properties, sometimes paralleled with those of hydrogen bonds, have not yet been fully understood. In this work, we investigate the nature of the intermolecular interactions between Cl(2) and Br(2) with water. Our analysis of several features of MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ-optimized stable clusters with different number and arrangement of water molecules shows that two different kinds of halogen-water coordination patterns are involved in the stability and properties found for these systems: halogen bonds (X-X...O) and halogen-hydrogen interactions, (X-X...H-O-H). Both types of interactions result in a large polarization of the halogen molecule, which leads to important cooperative effects on these structures. Although the general structural aspects of these clusters can be understood in terms of dipole-quadrupole forces at long range, where it is the dominant term, the SAPT analysis shows that factors such as polarization of pi densities and dispersion become increasingly important close to equilibrium. In particular, we show that the halogen-hydrogen interactions are weaker than halogen-oxygen interactions mainly due to the electrostatic and dispersion forces. We also calculate vibrational and electronic shifts that should be helpful for the interpretation of experimental results and for investigating the microsolvation phenomena for halogens in an aqueous environment.

Vibrational bound states of the He2Ne+ cation.

The vibrational bound states of the He(2)Ne(+) complex have been determined using a potential energy surface previously published by Seong et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 2004, 120, 7456]. The calculation was performed by sequential diagonalization-truncation techniques in a discrete variable representation using Radau hyperspherical coordinates. There are 52 bound levels. The ground state has an energy of 605.3 cm(-1) above the absolute minimum and lies about half way to dissociation. The evaporation energy of one He atom is equal to 866.1 cm(-1). Only four levels have energies below the classical energy for dissociation, and all the other 48 states are bound by the zero-point energy of the HeNe(+) fragment. The implications of the properties of the eigenvalue spectrum and of the corresponding wave functions on the vibrational relaxation dynamics and infrared spectra of He(N)Ne(+) clusters is discussed.

An ab initio calculation of the valence excitation spectrum of H2O...Cl2: comparison to condensed phase spectra.

Valence electronic excitation spectra are calculated for the H(2)O...Cl(2) dimer using state-of-the art ab initio potentials for both the ground and the valence excited states, a basis set calculation of the ground state nuclear wave function, and a wave packet analysis to simulate the dynamics on the excited state surface. The peak of the H(2)O...Cl(2) dimer spectrum is blue-shifted by 1250 cm(-1) from that of the free Cl(2) molecule. This is less than the value previously estimated from vertical excitation energies but still significantly more than the blue shift in aqueous solution and clathrate-hydrate solid. Seventy percent of the blue shift is attributed to ground state stabilization, the rest to excited state repulsion. Spin-orbit effects are found to be small for this dimer. Homogeneous broadening is found to be slightly smaller for the dimer than for the free Cl(2). The reflection principle and spectator model approximations were tested and found to be quite satisfactory. This is promising for an eventual simulation of the condensed phase spectra.

Propane Clathrate Hydrate Formation Accelerated by Methanol.

The role of methanol as both an inhibitor and a catalyst for the formation of clathrate hydrates (CHs) has been a topic of intense study. We report a new quantitative study of the kinetics of propane CH formation at 253 K from the reaction of propane gas with <75 µm ice particles that have been doped with varying amounts of methanol. We find that methanol significantly accelerates the formation reaction with quite small doping quantities. Even for only 1 methanol molecule per 10 000 water molecules, the maximum uptake rate of propane into CHs is enhanced and the initiation pressure is reduced. These results enable more efficient production of CHs for gas storage. This remarkable acceleration of the CH formation reaction by small quantities of methanol may place constraints on the mechanism of the inhibition effect observed under other conditions, usually employing much larger quantities of methanol.

Exploring Dynamics and Cage-Guest Interactions in Clathrate Hydrates Using Solid-State NMR.

Interactions between guest molecules and the water cages in clathrates are dominated by isotropic van der Waals forces at low temperatures because the cage structures satisfy the hydrogen bonding propensity of the water. However, above 200 K the water molecules become more labile and may interact strongly with the guests through hydrogen bonding. In this work we compare the dynamics of tetrahydrofuran (THF) and cyclopentane (CP) guests in the hydrate cages above 200 K. Since THF can form hydrogen bonds while CP cannot, the dynamics provide insight into host-guest hydrogen bonding. We use magic angle spinning (MAS) solid-state NMR to measure proton spin-lattice relaxation times (T1) of the guests as a function of temperature and find that the activation barrier to the motion of THF molecules is 4.7 kcal/mol (19.7 kJ/mol) at temperatures above 200 K. This is almost 5 times higher than the barrier at lower temperatures. In contrast, the barrier to guest motion in CP hydrate is found to be about 0.67 kcal/mol (2.8 kJ/mol), which agrees well with data at lower temperatures. These results demonstrate that hydrogen bonding interactions between the THF guest and the clathrate cage are significant above 200 K due to the host lattice mobility.

Theoretical study of the potential energy surfaces of the Van Der Waals H2O-X2+ (X = Cl or Br) complexes.

An ab initio study of the interactions between H2O and Cl2+ and H2O and Br2+ has been performed. We present calculations using both the UMP2 level and the UCCSD(T) level of correlation with the aug-cc-pVTZ basis. The aug-cc-pVQZ basis was tested for selected geometries and was found to yield results similar to the smaller basis. For the H2O-Cl2+ cation, a C2v structure has been identified as the minimum, with De = 6500 cm-1 (78 kJ/mol). A low-lying excited state has De = 6000 cm-1 (72 kJ/mol). The adiabatic and vertical ionization energies of the complex are 10.7 and 11.0 eV, compared to the experimental adiabatic value, 11.5 eV, for free chlorine. For the H2O-Br2+ cation, the calculations are more subtle due to second-order Jahn-Teller effects and result in a Cs structure at the minimum, with De = 6300 cm-1 (75 kJ/mol), yielding an adiabatic ionization energy of 9.9 eV compared to the corresponding experimental value, 10.5 eV, for free bromine. The relatively large binding energies give rise to strong normal mode couplings such that the halogen stretching mode becomes mixed with the water bending and other intermolecular modes, resulting in very large frequency shifts. Vertical ionization energies and ion vibrational frequencies also are reported and used to discuss possible experiments to obtain more precise data for each of the complexes.

Two-dimensional H2O-Cl2 and H2O-Br2 potential surfaces: an ab initio study of ground and valence excited electronic states.

All electron ab initio calculations for the interaction of H2O with Cl2 and Br2 are reported for the ground state and the lowest triplet and singlet Pi excited states as a function of both the X-X and O-X bond lengths (X = Cl or Br). For the ground state and lowest triplet state, the calculations are performed with the coupled cluster singles, doubles, and perturbative triple excitation level of correlation using an augmented triple-zeta basis set. For the 1Pi state the multireference average quadratic coupled cluster technique was employed. For several points on the potential, the calculations were repeated with the augmented quadruple-zeta basis set. The ground-state well depths were found to be 917 and 1,183 cm-1 for Cl2 and Br2, respectively, with the triple-zeta basis set, and they increased to 982 and 1,273 cm-1 for the quadruple-zeta basis set. At the geometry of the ground-state minimum, the lowest energy state corresponding to the unperturbed 1Pi states of the halogens increases in energy by 637 and 733 cm-1, respectively, relative to the ground-state dissociation limit of the H2O-X2 complex. Adding the attractive ground-state interaction energy to that of the repulsive excited state predicts a blue-shift, relative to that of the free halogen molecules, of approximately 1,600 cm-1 for H2O-Cl2 and approximately 2,000 cm-1 for H2O-Br2. These vertical blue-shifts for the dimers are greater than the shift of the band maximum upon solvation of either halogen in liquid water.

Product state resolved excitation spectroscopy of He-, Ne-, and Ar-Br2 linear isomers: experiment and theory.

Valence excitation spectra for the linear isomers of He-, Ne-, and Ar-Br2 are reported and compared to a two-dimensional simulation using the currently available potential energy surfaces. Excitation spectra from the ground electronic state to the region of the inner turning point of the Rg-Br2 (B,nu') stretching coordinate are recorded while probing the asymptotic Br2 (B,nu') state. Each spectrum is a broad continuum extending over hundreds of wavenumbers, becoming broader and more blueshifted as the rare gas atom is changed from He to Ne to Ar. In the case of Ne-Br2, the threshold for producing the asymptotic product state reveals the X-state linear isomer bond energy to be 71+/-3 cm(-1). The qualitative agreement between experiment and theory shows that the spectra can be correctly regarded as revealing the one-atom solvent shifts and also provides new insight into the one-atom cage effect on the halogen vibrational relaxation. The measured spectra provide data to test future ab initio potential energy surfaces in the interaction of rare gas atoms with the halogen valence excited state.

Spectroscopic signatures of halogens in clathrate hydrate cages. 2. Iodine.

UV-vis and Raman spectroscopy were used to study iodine molecules trapped in sII clathrate hydrate structures stabilized by THF, CH(2)Cl(2), or CHCl(3). The spectra show that the environment for iodine inside the water cage is significantly less perturbed than either in aqueous solution or in amorphous water-ice. The resonance Raman progression of I(2) in THF clathrate hydrate can be observed up to v = 6 when excited at 532 nm. The extracted vibrational frequency omega e = 214 +/- 1 cm(-1) is the same as that of the free molecule to within experimental error. At the same time, the UV-vis absorption spectrum of I(2) in the sII hydrate exhibits a relatively large, 1440 cm(-1), blue-shift. This is mainly ascribed to the differential solvation of the I(2) electronic states. We conclude that iodine in sII hydrate resides in a 5(12)6(4) cavity, in which the ground-state I(2) potential is not significantly perturbed by the hydrate lattice. In contrast, in water and in ice, the valence absorption band of I(2) is dramatically broadened and blue-shifted by 3000 cm(-1), and the resonance Raman scattering is effectively quenched. These observations are shown to be consistent with a strong interaction between water molecule and iodine through the lone pair of electrons on water as in the case of bromine in the same media. The results presented here, and the stability of other halogen hydrates, were used to test the predictions of simple models and force-field calculations of the host cage-guest association energy.

Spectroscopic signatures of halogens in clathrate hydrate cages. 1. Bromine.

We report the first UV-vis spectroscopic study of bromine molecules confined in clathrate hydrate cages. Bromine in its natural hydrate occupies 51262 and 51263 lattice cavities. Bromine also can be encapsulated into the larger 51264 cages of a type II hydrate formed mainly from tetrahydrofuran or dichloromethane and water. The visible spectra of the enclathrated halogen molecule retain the spectral envelope of the gas-phase spectra while shifting to the blue. In contrast, spectra of bromine in liquid water or amorphous ice are broadened and significantly more blue-shifted. The absorption bands shift by about 360 cm-1 for bromine in large 51264 cages of type II clathrate, by about 900 cm-1 for bromine in a combination of 51262 and 51263 cages of pure bromine hydrate, and by more than 1700 cm-1 for bromine in liquid water or amorphous ice. The dramatic shift and broadening in water and ice is due to the strong interaction of the water lone-pair orbitals with the halogen sigma* orbital. In the clathrate hydrates, the oxygen lone-pair orbitals are all involved in the hydrogen-bonded water lattice and are thus unavailable to interact with the halogen guest molecule. The blue shifts observed in the clathrate hydrate cages are related to the spatial constraints on the halogen excited states by the cage walls.