Heron: Visualizing and Controlling Chemical Reaction Explorations and Networks.

Automated and high-throughput quantum chemical investigations into chemical processes have become feasible in great detail and broad scope. This results in an increase in complexity of the tasks and in the amount of generated data. An efficient and intuitive way for an operator to interact with these data and to steer virtual experiments is required. Here, we introduce Heron, a graphical user interface that allows for advanced human-machine interactions with quantum chemical exploration campaigns into molecular structure and reactivity. Heron offers access to interactive and automated explorations of chemical reactions with standard electronic structure modules, haptic force feedback, microkinetic modeling, and refinement of data by automated correlated calculations including black-box complete active space calculations. It is tailored to the exploration and analysis of vast chemical reaction networks. We show how interoperable modules enable advanced workflows and pave the way for routine low-entrance-barrier access to advanced modeling techniques.

Complete Active Space Iterative Coupled Cluster Theory.

In this work, we investigate the possibility of improving multireference-driven coupled cluster (CC) approaches with an algorithm that iteratively combines complete active space (CAS) calculations with tailored CC and externally corrected CC. This is accomplished by establishing a feedback loop between the CC and CAS parts of a calculation through a similarity transformation of the Hamiltonian with those CC amplitudes that are not encompassed by the active space. We denote this approach as the complete active space iterative coupled cluster (CASiCC) ansatz. We investigate its efficiency and accuracy in the singles and doubles approximation by studying the prototypical molecules H4, H8, H2O, and N2. Our results demonstrate that CASiCC systematically improves on the single-reference CCSD and the externally corrected CCSD methods across entire potential energy curves while retaining modest computational costs. However, the tailored coupled cluster method shows superior performance in the strong correlation regime, suggesting that its accuracy is based on error compensation. We find that the iterative versions of externally corrected and tailored coupled cluster methods converge to the same results.

Striking the right balance of encoding electron correlation in the Hamiltonian and the wavefunction ansatz.

Multi-configurational electronic structure theory delivers the most versatile approximations to many-electron wavefunctions, flexible enough to deal with all sorts of transformations, ranging from electronic excitations, to open-shell molecules and chemical reactions. Multi-configurational models are therefore essential to establish universally applicable, predictive ab initio methods for chemistry. Here, we present a discussion of explicit correlation approaches which address the nagging problem of dealing with static and dynamic electron correlation in multi-configurational active-space approaches. We review the latest developments and then point to their key obstacles. Our discussion is supported by new data obtained with tensor network methods. We argue in favor of simple electron-only correlator expressions that may allow one to define transcorrelated models in which the correlator does not bear a dependence on molecular structure.

Renormalized Internally Contracted Multireference Coupled Cluster with Perturbative Triples.

In this work, we combine the many-body formulation of the internally contracted multireference coupled cluster (ic-MRCC) method with Evangelista's multireference formulation of the driven similarity renormalization group (DSRG). The DSRG method can be viewed as a unitary multireference coupled cluster theory, which renormalizes the amplitudes based on a flow equation approach to eliminate numerical instabilities. We extend this approach by demonstrating that the unitary flow equation approach can be adapted for nonunitary transformations, rationalizing the renormalization of ic-MRCC amplitudes. We denote the new approach, the renormalized ic-MRCC (ric-MRCC) method. To achieve high accuracy with a reasonable computational cost, we introduce a new approximation to the Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff expansion. We fully consider the linear commutator while approximating the quadratic commutator, for which we neglect specific contractions involving amplitudes with active indices. Moreover, we introduce approximate perturbative triples to obtain the ric-MRCCSD[T] method. We demonstrate the accuracy of our approaches in comparison to advanced multireference methods for the potential energy curves of H8, F2, H2O, N2, and Cr2. Additionally, we show that ric-MRCCSD and ric-MRCSSD[T] match the accuracy of CCSD(T) for evaluating spectroscopic constants and of full configuration interaction energies for a set of small molecules.

Nanoscale chemical reaction exploration with a quantum magnifying glass.

Nanoscopic systems exhibit diverse molecular substructures by which they facilitate specific functions. Theoretical models of them, which aim at describing, understanding, and predicting these capabilities, are difficult to build. Viable quantum-classical hybrid models come with specific challenges regarding atomistic structure construction and quantum region selection. Moreover, if their dynamics are mapped onto a state-to-state mechanism such as a chemical reaction network, its exhaustive exploration will be impossible due to the combinatorial explosion of the reaction space. Here, we introduce a "quantum magnifying glass" that allows one to interactively manipulate nanoscale structures at the quantum level. The quantum magnifying glass seamlessly combines autonomous model parametrization, ultra-fast quantum mechanical calculations, and automated reaction exploration. It represents an approach to investigate complex reaction sequences in a physically consistent manner with unprecedented effortlessness in real time. We demonstrate these features for reactions in bio-macromolecules and metal-organic frameworks, diverse systems that highlight general applicability.

SCINE-Software for chemical interaction networks.

The software for chemical interaction networks (SCINE) project aims at pushing the frontier of quantum chemical calculations on molecular structures to a new level. While calculations on individual structures as well as on simple relations between them have become routine in chemistry, new developments have pushed the frontier in the field to high-throughput calculations. Chemical relations may be created by a search for specific molecular properties in a molecular design attempt, or they can be defined by a set of elementary reaction steps that form a chemical reaction network. The software modules of SCINE have been designed to facilitate such studies. The features of the modules are (i) general applicability of the applied methodologies ranging from electronic structure (no restriction to specific elements of the periodic table) to microkinetic modeling (with little restrictions on molecularity), full modularity so that SCINE modules can also be applied as stand-alone programs or be exchanged for external software packages that fulfill a similar purpose (to increase options for computational campaigns and to provide alternatives in case of tasks that are hard or impossible to accomplish with certain programs), (ii) high stability and autonomous operations so that control and steering by an operator are as easy as possible, and (iii) easy embedding into complex heterogeneous environments for molecular structures taken individually or in the context of a reaction network. A graphical user interface unites all modules and ensures interoperability. All components of the software have been made available as open source and free of charge.

Vibrational Entanglement through the Lens of Quantum Information Measures.

We introduce a quantum information analysis of vibrational wave functions to understand complex vibrational spectra of molecules with strong anharmonic couplings and vibrational resonances. For this purpose, we define one- and two-modal entropies to guide the identification of strongly coupled vibrational modes and to characterize correlations within modal basis sets. We evaluate these descriptors for multiconfigurational vibrational wave functions which we calculate with the n-mode vibrational density matrix renormalization group algorithm. Based on the quantum information measures, we present a vibrational entanglement analysis of the vibrational ground and excited states of CO2, which display strong anharmonic effects due to the symmetry-induced and accidental (near-) degeneracies. We investigate the entanglement signature of the Fermi resonance and discuss the maximally entangled state arising from the two degenerate bending modes.

A human-machine interface for automatic exploration of chemical reaction networks.

Autonomous reaction network exploration algorithms offer a systematic approach to explore mechanisms of complex chemical processes. However, the resulting reaction networks are so vast that an exploration of all potentially accessible intermediates is computationally too demanding. This renders brute-force explorations unfeasible, while explorations with completely pre-defined intermediates or hard-wired chemical constraints, such as element-specific coordination numbers, are not flexible enough for complex chemical systems. Here, we introduce a STEERING WHEEL to guide an otherwise unbiased automated exploration. The STEERING WHEEL algorithm is intuitive, generally applicable, and enables one to focus on specific regions of an emerging network. It also allows for guiding automated data generation in the context of mechanism exploration, catalyst design, and other chemical optimization challenges. The algorithm is demonstrated for reaction mechanism elucidation of transition metal catalysts. We highlight how to explore catalytic cycles in a systematic and reproducible way. The exploration objectives are fully adjustable, allowing one to harness the STEERING WHEEL for both structure-specific (accurate) calculations as well as for broad high-throughput screening of possible reaction intermediates.

Uncertainty-Aware First-Principles Exploration of Chemical Reaction Networks.

Exploring large chemical reaction networks with automated exploration approaches and accurate quantum chemical methods can require prohibitively large computational resources. Here, we present an automated exploration approach that focuses on the kinetically relevant part of the reaction network by interweaving (i) large-scale exploration of chemical reactions, (ii) identification of kinetically relevant parts of the reaction network through microkinetic modeling, (iii) quantification and propagation of uncertainties, and (iv) reaction network refinement. Such an uncertainty-aware exploration of kinetically relevant parts of a reaction network with automated accuracy improvement has not been demonstrated before in a fully quantum mechanical approach. Uncertainties are identified by local or global sensitivity analysis. The network is refined in a rolling fashion during the exploration. Moreover, the uncertainties are considered during kinetically steering of a rolling reaction network exploration. We demonstrate our approach for Eschenmoser-Claisen rearrangement reactions. The sensitivity analysis identifies that only a small number of reactions and compounds are essential for describing the kinetics reliably, resulting in efficient explorations without sacrificing accuracy and without requiring prior knowledge about the chemistry unfolding.

Solving Intractable Chemical Problems by Tensor Decomposition.

Many complex chemical problems encoded in terms of physics-based models become computationally intractable for traditional numerical approaches due to their unfavorable scaling with increasing molecular size. Tensor decomposition techniques can overcome such challenges by decomposing unattainably large numerical representations of chemical problems into smaller, tractable ones. In the first two decades of this century, algorithms based on such tensor factorizations have become state-of-the-art methods in various branches of computational chemistry, ranging from molecular quantum dynamics to electronic structure theory and machine learning. Here, we consider the role that tensor decomposition schemes have played in expanding the scope of computational chemistry. We relate some of the most prominent methods to their common underlying tensor network formalisms, providing a unified perspective on leading tensor-based approaches in chemistry and materials science.

Myoglobin-Catalyzed Azide Reduction Proceeds via an Anionic Metal Amide Intermediate.

Nitrene transfer reactions catalyzed by heme proteins have broad potential for the stereoselective formation of carbon-nitrogen bonds. However, competition between productive nitrene transfer and the undesirable reduction of nitrene precursors limits the broad implementation of such biocatalytic methods. Here, we investigated the reduction of azides by the model heme protein myoglobin to gain mechanistic insights into the factors that control the fate of key reaction intermediates. In this system, the reaction proceeds via a proposed nitrene intermediate that is rapidly reduced and protonated to give a reactive ferrous amide species, which we characterized by UV/vis and Mössbauer spectroscopies, quantum mechanical calculations, and X-ray crystallography. Rate-limiting protonation of the ferrous amide to produce the corresponding amine is the final step in the catalytic cycle. These findings contribute to our understanding of the heme protein-catalyzed reduction of azides and provide a guide for future enzyme engineering campaigns to create more efficient nitrene transferases. Moreover, harnessing the reduction reaction in a chemoenzymatic cascade provided a potentially practical route to substituted pyrroles.

Automated preparation of nanoscopic structures: Graph-based sequence analysis, mismatch detection, and pH-consistent protonation with uncertainty estimates.

Structure and function in nanoscale atomistic assemblies are tightly coupled, and every atom with its specific position and even every electron will have a decisive effect on the electronic structure, and hence, on the molecular properties. Molecular simulations of nanoscopic atomistic structures therefore require accurately resolved three-dimensional input structures. If extracted from experiment, these structures often suffer from severe uncertainties, of which the lack of information on hydrogen atoms is a prominent example. Hence, experimental structures require careful review and curation, which is a time-consuming and error-prone process. Here, we present a fast and robust protocol for the automated structure analysis and pH-consistent protonation, in short, ASAP. For biomolecules as a target, the ASAP protocol integrates sequence analysis and error assessment of a given input structure. ASAP allows for p K a prediction from reference data through Gaussian process regression including uncertainty estimation and connects to system-focused atomistic modeling described in Brunken and Reiher (J. Chem. Theory Comput. 16, 2020, 1646). Although focused on biomolecules, ASAP can be extended to other nanoscopic objects, because most of its design elements rely on a general graph-based foundation guaranteeing transferability. The modular character of the underlying pipeline supports different degrees of automation, which allows for (i) efficient feedback loops for human-machine interaction with a low entrance barrier and for (ii) integration into autonomous procedures such as automated force field parametrizations. This facilitates fast switching of the pH-state through on-the-fly system-focused reparametrization during a molecular simulation at virtually no extra computational cost.

Toward in silico Catalyst Optimization.

In this minireview, we overview a computational pipeline developed within the framework of NCCR Catalysis that can be used to successfully reproduce the enantiomeric ratios of homogeneous catalytic reactions. At the core of this pipeline is the SCINE Molassembler module, a graph-based software that provides algorithms for molecular construction of all periodic table elements. With this pipeline, we are able to simultaneously functionalizenand generate ensembles of transition state conformers, which permits facile exploration of the influencenof various substituents on the overall enantiomeric ratio. This allows preconceived back-of-the-envelope designnmodels to be tested and subsequently refined by providing quick and reliable access to energetically low-lyingntransition states, which represents a key step in undertaking in silico catalyst optimization.

Flexible DMRG-Based Framework for Anharmonic Vibrational Calculations.

We present a novel formulation of the vibrational density matrix renormalization group (vDMRG) algorithm tailored to strongly anharmonic molecules described by general, high-dimensional model representations of potential energy surfaces. For this purpose, we extend the vDMRG framework to support vibrational Hamiltonians expressed in the so-called n-mode second-quantization formalism. The resulting n-mode vDMRG method offers full flexibility with respect to both the functional form of the PES and the choice of the single-particle basis set. We leverage this framework to apply, for the first time, vDMRG based on an anharmonic modal basis set optimized with the vibrational self-consistent field algorithm on an on-the-fly constructed PES. We also extend the n-mode vDMRG framework to include excited-state-targeting algorithms in order to efficiently calculate anharmonic transition frequencies. We demonstrate the capabilities of our novel n-mode vDMRG framework for methyloxirane, a challenging molecule with 24 coupled vibrational modes.

Symmetry-Projected Nuclear-Electronic Hartree-Fock: Eliminating Rotational Energy Contamination.

We present a symmetry projection technique for enforcing rotational and parity symmetries in nuclear-electronic Hartree-Fock wave functions, which treat electrons and nuclei on equal footing. The molecular Hamiltonian obeys rotational and parity inversion symmetries, which are, however, broken by expanding in Gaussian basis sets that are fixed in space. We generate a trial wave function with the correct symmetry properties by projecting the wave function onto representations of the three-dimensional rotation group, i.e., the special orthogonal group in three dimensions SO(3). As a consequence, the wave function becomes an eigenfunction of the angular momentum operator which (i) eliminates the contamination of the ground-state wave function by highly excited rotational states arising from the broken rotational symmetry and (ii) enables the targeting of specific rotational states of the molecule. We demonstrate the efficiency of the symmetry projection technique by calculating the energies of the low-lying rotational states of the H2 and H3+ molecules.

Multi-Time-Scale Simulation of Complex Reactive Mixtures: How Do Polyoxometalates Form?

Understanding the dynamics of reactive mixtures still challenges both experiments and theory. A relevant example can be found in the chemistry of molecular metal-oxide nanoclusters, also known as polyoxometalates. The high number of species potentially involved, the interconnectivity of the reaction network, and the precise control of the pH and concentrations needed in the synthesis of such species make the theoretical/computational treatment of such processes cumbersome. This work addresses this issue relying on a unique combination of recently developed computational methods that tackle the construction, kinetic simulation, and analysis of complex chemical reaction networks. By using the Bell-Evans-Polanyi approximation for estimating activation energies, and an accurate and robust linear scaling for correcting the computed pKa values, we report herein multi-time-scale kinetic simulations for the self-assembly processes of polyoxotungstates that comprise 22 orders of magnitude, from tens of femtoseconds to months of reaction time. This very large time span was required to reproduce very fast processes such as the acid/base equilibria (at 10-12 s), relatively slow reactions such as the formation of key clusters such as the metatungstate (at 103 s), and the very slow assembly of the decatungstate (at 106 s). Analysis of the kinetic data and of the reaction network topology shed light onto the details of the main reaction mechanisms, which explains the origin of kinetic and thermodynamic control followed by the reaction. Simulations at alkaline pH fully reproduce experimental evidence since clusters do not form under those conditions.

Quantum chemical data generation as fill-in for reliability enhancement of machine-learning reaction and retrosynthesis planning.

Data-driven synthesis planning has seen remarkable successes in recent years by virtue of modern approaches of artificial intelligence that efficiently exploit vast databases with experimental data on chemical reactions. However, this success story is intimately connected to the availability of existing experimental data. It may well occur in retrosynthetic and synthesis design tasks that predictions in individual steps of a reaction cascade are affected by large uncertainties. In such cases, it will, in general, not be easily possible to provide missing data from autonomously conducted experiments on demand. However, first-principles calculations can, in principle, provide missing data to enhance the confidence of an individual prediction or for model retraining. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of such an ansatz and examine resource requirements for conducting autonomous first-principles calculations on demand.