RESUMEN
The drive to develop new organic materials for use in optoelectronic devices has created the need to understand the fundamental role functionalization plays concerning the electronic properties of conjugated molecules. Here density functional theory (DFT) is used to investigate how the HOMO-LUMO gaps of halogenobenzenes are affected as a function of substituent size, position, electronegativity, ionization potential, and polarizability. A detailed molecular orbital analysis is also provided. It is shown that the molecular static polarizability and ionization potential of the bound halogens are the primary physical descriptors governing the HOMO-LUMO gap within halogenobenzenes. Two secondary descriptors controlling the HOMO-LUMO gap in these materials are the aromaticity of the halogen substituted benzene rings (as monitored via the harmonic oscillator method of aromaticity index [HOMA]) and the reduced population of the halogen atomic orbitals in the frontier MOs (%XHOMO or %XLUMO). The molecular polarizability and aromaticity, as well as %XHOMO and %XLUMO, are shown to be a function of halogen electronegativity and size, as well as number and position on the ring. It is ultimately demonstrated that halogenobenzenes which are most polarizable and are either least aromatic and/or exhibit the smallest %XLUMO (or largest %XHOMO) values, have the smallest HOMO-LUMO gaps.
RESUMEN
We assess the quality of fragment-based ab initio isotropic (13)C chemical shift predictions for a collection of 25 molecular crystals with eight different density functionals. We explore the relative performance of cluster, two-body fragment, combined cluster/fragment, and the planewave gauge-including projector augmented wave (GIPAW) models relative to experiment. When electrostatic embedding is employed to capture many-body polarization effects, the simple and computationally inexpensive two-body fragment model predicts both isotropic (13)C chemical shifts and the chemical shielding tensors as well as both cluster models and the GIPAW approach. Unlike the GIPAW approach, hybrid density functionals can be used readily in a fragment model, and all four hybrid functionals tested here (PBE0, B3LYP, B3PW91, and B97-2) predict chemical shifts in noticeably better agreement with experiment than the four generalized gradient approximation (GGA) functionals considered (PBE, OPBE, BLYP, and BP86). A set of recommended linear regression parameters for mapping between calculated chemical shieldings and observed chemical shifts are provided based on these benchmark calculations. Statistical cross-validation procedures are used to demonstrate the robustness of these fits.
RESUMEN
Oligoacenes form a fundamental class of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) which have been extensively explored for use as organic (semi) conductors in the bulk phase and thin films. For this reason it is important to understand their electronic properties in the condensed phase. In this investigation, we use density functional theory with Tkatchenko-Scheffler dispersion correction to explore several crystalline oligoacenes (naphthalene, anthracene, tetracene, and pentacene) under pressures up to 25 GPa in an effort to uncover unique electronic/optical properties. Excellent agreement with experiment is achieved for the pressure dependence of the crystal structure unit cell parameters, densities, and intermolecular close contacts. The pressure dependence of the band gaps is investigated as well as the pressure induced phase transition of tetracene using both generalized gradient approximated and hybrid functionals. It is concluded that none of the oligoacenes investigated become conducting under elevated pressures, assuming that the molecular identity of the system is maintained.