Defects Formation and Amorphization of Zn-MOF-74 Crystals by Post-Synthetic Interactions with Bidentate Adsorbates.

The controlled introduction of defects into MOFs is a powerful strategy to induce new physiochemical properties and improve their performance for target applications. Herein, we present a new strategy for defect formation and amorphization of the canonical MOF-74 frameworks based on fine-tuning of adsorbate-framework interactions in the metal congener, hence introducing structural defects. Specifically, we demonstrate that controlled interactions between the MOF and bidentate ligands adsorbed in the pores initiates defect formation and eventual amorphization of the crystal. These structural features unlock properties that are otherwise absent in the ordered framework, such as broad-band fluorescence. The ability to introduce defects by adsorbate-framework interactions, coupled with the inherent tunability and modularity of these structures, provides a new route for the synthesis of diverse heterogeneous and hybrid materials.

From Mechanical Effects to Mechanochemistry: Softening and Depression of the Melting Point of Deformed Plastic Crystals.

The melting of any pure crystalline material at constant pressure is one of its most fundamental properties, and it has been used to identify organic compounds or to verify their chemical or phase purity since the early times of chemistry. Here, we report that a mechanical deformation of plastic organic single crystals such as bending results in a small yet significant decrease in their melting point of about 0.3-0.4 K. The bent section of the crystal was found to be mechanically softer relative to the straight sections, and the softening temperature preceding the melting was also lower on the convex (outer) side of the bent crystal. Melting of the bent crystal starts at the kink and often appears as splitting of the respective endothermic peak in its thermal (DSC) fingerprint, while unilateral compression of the crystal results in multiple peaks. These thermomechanical effects become more pronounced with heavier mechanical damage due to an increased concentration of defects and ultimately result in a large temperature spread of the associated phase change in addition to melting-point depression in deformed or damaged crystals relative to their pristine counterparts. Within a broader context, the results show that mechanical treatment during sample preparation has a profound effect on the melting of a pure substance, and this could be critically important where the exact melting point is used as a means for polymorph identification.

Probing Structural Perturbation in a Bent Molecular Crystal with Synchrotron Infrared Microspectroscopy and Periodic Density Functional Theory Calculations.

The range of unit cell orientations generated at the kink of a bent single crystal poses unsurmountable challenges with diffraction analysis and limits the insight into the molecular-scale mechanism of bending. On a plastically bent crystal of hexachlorobenzene, it is demonstrated here that spatially resolved microfocus infrared spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation can be applied in conjunction with periodic density functional theory calculations to predict spectral changes or to extract information on structural changes that occur as a consequence of bending. The approach reproduces well the observed trends, such as the wall effects, and provides estimations of the vibrational shifts, unit cell deformations, and intramolecular parameters. Generally, expansion of the lattice induces red-shift while compression induces larger blue-shift of the characteristic ν(C-C) and ν(C-Cl) modes. Uniform or non-uniform expansion or contraction of the unit cell of 0.1 Å results in shifts of several cm-1, whereas deformation of the cell of 0.5° at the unique angle causes shifts of <0.5 cm-1. Since this approach does not include parameters related to the actual stimulus by which the deformation has been induced, it can be generalized and applied to other mechanically, photochemically, or thermally bent crystals.

Hybrid MC/QC simulations of water-assisted proton transfer in nucleosides. Guanosine and its analog acyclovir.

To provide an in-depth insight into the molecular basis of spontaneous tautomerism in DNA and RNA base pairs, a hybrid Monte Carlo (MC)-quantum chemical (QC) methodology is implemented to map two-dimensional potential energy surfaces along the reaction coordinates of solvent-assisted proton transfer processes in guanosine and its analog acyclovir in aqueous solution. The solvent effects were simulated by explicit inclusion of water molecules that model the relevant part of the first hydration shell around the solute. The position of these water molecules was estimated by carrying out a classical Metropolis Monte Carlo simulation of dilute water solutions of the guanosine (Gs) and acyclovir (ACV) and subsequently analyzing solute-solvent intermolecular interactions in the statistically-independent MC-generated configurations. The solvent-assisted proton transfer processes were further investigated using two different ab initio MP2 quantum chemical approaches. In the first one, potential energy surfaces of the 'bare' finite solute-solvent clusters containing Gs/ACV and four water molecules (MP2/6-31+G(d,p) level) were explored, while within the second approach, these clusters were embedded in 'bulk' solvent treated as polarizable continuum (C-PCM/MP2/6-31+G(d,p) level of theory). It was found that in the gas phase and in water solution, the most stable tautomer for guanosine and acyclovir is the 1H-2-amino-6-oxo form followed by the 2-amino-6-(sZ)-hydroxy form. The energy barriers of the water-assisted proton transfer reaction in guanosine and in acyclovir are found to be very similar - 11.74 kcal mol-1 for guanosine and 11.16 kcal mol-1 for acyclovir, and the respective rate constants (k = 1.5 × 101 s-1, guanosine and k = 4.09 × 101 s-1, acyclovir), are sufficiently large to generate the 2-amino-6-(sZ)-hydroxy tautomer. The analysis of the reaction profiles in both compounds shows that the proton transfer processes occur through the asynchronous concerted mechanism.

Theoretical and experimental study of the vibrational spectra of (para)symplesite and hörnesite.

Arsenate water-bearing minerals, hörnesite (Alsar, Macedonia) and symplesite (Laubach, Germany), were studied by vibrational (IR and Raman) spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffraction. The observed vibrational spectra in both the high (1100-600 cm(-1)) and low (600-450 cm(-1)) wavenumber regions of AsO4 and H2O vibrations could be used to discriminate the two studied minerals. Spectral differences are especially pronounced in the bending and stretching regions of the H2O vibrations in the IR spectra. The observed bands in IR and Raman spectra were tentatively assigned. To support the assignment, IR spectra were theoretically simulated. These calculations were performed using the crystal structure of parasymplesite (no structural information of symplesite has been published so far) and hörnesite using a 3D periodic plane-wave pseudopotential density functional theory approach applying various combinations of exchange-correlation functionals. In this article, we report on the first experimental study of the vibrational spectra of the very rare symplesite mineral.

Designing field-controllable graphene-dot-graphene single molecule switches: A quantum-theoretical proof-of-concept under realistic operating conditions.

A theoretical proof of the concept that a particularly designed graphene-based moletronics device, constituted by two semi-infinite graphene subunits, acting as source and drain electrodes, and a central benzenoid ring rotator (a "quantum dot"), could act as a field-controllable molecular switch is outlined and analyzed with the density functional theory approach. Besides the ideal (0 K) case, we also consider the operation of such a device under realistic operating (i.e., finite-temperature) conditions. An in-depth insight into the physics behind device controllability by an external field was gained by thorough analyses of the torsional potential of the dot under various conditions (absence or presence of an external gating field with varying strength), computing the torsional correlation time and transition probabilities within the Bloembergen-Purcell-Pound formalism. Both classical and quantum mechanical tunneling contributions to the intramolecular rotation were considered in the model. The main idea that we put forward in the present study is that intramolecular rotors can be controlled by the gating field even in cases when these groups do not possess a permanent dipole moment (as in cases considered previously by us [I. Petreska et al., J. Chem. Phys. 134, 014708-1-014708-12 (2011)] and also by other groups [P. E. Kornilovitch et al., Phys. Rev. B 66, 245413-1-245413-7 (2002)]). Consequently, one can control the molecular switching properties by an external electrostatic field utilizing even nonpolar intramolecular rotors (i.e., in a more general case than those considered so far). Molecular admittance of the currently considered graphene-based molecular switch under various conditions is analyzed employing non-equilibrium Green's function formalism, as well as by analysis of frontier molecular orbitals' behavior.

Vibrational spectra of chemical and isotopic variants of oxyluciferin, the light emitter of firefly bioluminescence.

The chemical complexity of oxyluciferin (OxyLH2), the light-emitting molecule in the bioluminescence of fireflies, originates from the possibility of keto/enol tautomerism and single or double deprotonation. Herein, we present detailed infrared spectroscopic analysis of OxyLH2 and several of its chemical isomers and isotopomers. To facilitate the future characterization of its biogenic forms, we provide accurate assignments of the solid-state and solution FTIR spectra of OxyLH2 based on comparison to six isotopically labeled variants ([2-(13)C]-OxyLH2, [3-(15)N]-OxyLH2, [4-(13)C]-OxyLH2, [5-(13)C]-OxyLH2, [2'-(13)C]-OxyLH2, [3'-(15)N]-OxyLH2), five closely related structural analogues, and theoretically computed spectra. The computed DFT harmonic vibrational force fields (B3LYP and M06 functionals with basis sets of varying flexibility up to 6-311++G**) reproduce well the observed shifts in the IR spectra of both isotopically labeled and structurally related analogues.

Model for photoinduced bending of slender molecular crystals.

The growing realization that photoinduced bending of slender photoreactive single crystals is surprisingly common has inspired researchers to control crystal motility for actuation. However, new mechanically responsive crystals are reported at a greater rate than their quantitative photophysical characterization; a quantitative identification of measurable parameters and molecular-scale factors that determine the mechanical response has yet to be established. Herein, a simple mathematical description of the quasi-static and time-dependent photoinduced bending of macroscopic single crystals is provided. This kinetic model goes beyond the approximate treatment of a bending crystal as a simple composite bilayer. It includes alternative pathways for excited-state decay and provides a more accurate description of the bending by accounting for the spatial gradient in the product/reactant ratio. A new crystal form (space group P21/n) of the photoresponsive azo-dye Disperse Red 1 (DR1) is analyzed within the constraints of the aforementioned model. The crystal bending kinetics depends on intrinsic factors (crystal size) and external factors (excitation time, direction, and intensity).

Solvation of fluoroform and fluoroform-dimethylether dimer in liquid krypton: a theoretical cryospectroscopic study.

A hybrid, sequential statistical physics-quantum mechanical electronic-quantum mechanical nuclei approach has been applied to study the C-H stretching frequencies of bare fluoroform dissolved in liquid krypton under cryogenic conditions (at ~130 K), as well as upon blue shifting hydrogen bonding interactions with dimethylether in the same solvent. The structure of the liquid at 130 K was generated by Monte Carlo simulations of cryogenic Kr solutions containing either fluoroform or fluoroform and dimethylether molecules. Statistically uncorrelated configurations were appropriately chosen from the equilibrated MC runs and supermolecular clusters containing solute and solvent molecules (either standalone or embedded in the "bulk" part of the solvent treated as a polarizable continuum) were subjected to quantum mechanical electronic (QMel) and subsequent quantum mechanical nuclei (QMnuc) calculations. QMel calculations were implemented to generate the in-liquid 1D intramolecular C-H stretching vibrational potential of the fluoroform moiety and subsequently in the QMnuc phase the corresponding anharmonic C-H stretching frequency was computed by diagonalization techniques. Finally, the constructed vibrational density of states histograms were compared to the experimental Raman bands. The calculated anharmonic vibrational frequency shifts of the fluoroform C-H stretching mode upon interaction with dimethylether in liquid Kr are in very good agreement with the experimental data (20.3 at MP2 level vs. 16.6 cm(-1) experimentally). Most of this relatively large frequency blue shift is governed by configurations characterized by a direct C-H···O contact between monomers. The second population detected during MC simulations, characterized by reversed orientation of the monomers, has a minor contribution to the spectral appearance. The experimentally observed trend in the corresponding bandwidths is also correctly reproduced by our theoretical approach. Solvation of the fluoroform monomer, according to experiment, results in small C-H stretching frequency red shift (~-2 cm(-1)), while our approach predicts a blue shift of about 10 cm(-1). By a detailed analysis of the anharmonic C-H stretching frequency dependence on the position of the nearest solvent krypton atom and also by analyzing the vibrational Stark effect induced by the local fluctuating field component parallel to the C-H axis, we have derived several conclusions related to these observations. The frequency vs. C···Kr distance dependence shows appreciable fluctuations and even changes in sign at R values close to the maximum of the C···Kr radial distribution function, so that most of the first-shell Kr atoms are located at positions at which the CH frequency shifts acquire either small negative or small positive values. It so happens, therefore, that even the actual sign of the frequency shift is strongly dependent on the correct description of the first solvation shell around CF3H by the Monte Carlo method, much more than the other in-liquid properties calculated by similar approaches.

Theoretical and experimental study of the vibrational spectra of sarkinite Mn2(AsO4)(OH) and adamite Zn2(AsO4)(OH).

The arsenate hydroxyl-bearing minerals sarkinite and adamite were studied with vibrational spectroscopic (IR and Raman) and quantum theoretical methods. The observed IR bands in the higher (1100-600 cm(-1)) and especially lower (600-450 cm(-1)) frequency region of AsO4 vibrations could clearly discriminate between the studied analogues. The differences between their crystal structures are much pronounced in both IR and Raman OH-stretching regions. Namely, a single strong band is found in the case of orthorhombic adamite compared to four weaker bands observed in corresponding IR and Raman spectral regions of monoclinic sarkinite. Essentially all bands in the experimental spectra, collected at both room and liquid nitrogen temperature, were tentatively assigned. To support the tentative assignment of bands in the vibrational spectra of the mentioned minerals, periodic pseudopotential plane wave density functional theory calculations were carried out. Geometry optimizations of the 3D periodic systems included both optimizations of the atomic positions within the unit cell and of the unit cell itself. In most cases, the assignments were either supported or implied by the obtained theoretical data. It is worth mentioning that this is the first experimental and theoretical study of the vibrational spectra of the very-rare sarkinite mineral.

Different structures give similar vibrational spectra: the case of OH- in aqueous solution.

We have calculated the anharmonic OH(-)(aq) vibrational spectrum in aqueous solution with a "classical Monte Carlo simulation + QM/MM + vibrational" sequential approach. A new interaction model was used in the Monte Carlo simulations: a modified version of the charged-ring hydroxide-water model from the literature. This spectrum is compared with experiment and with a spectrum based on CPMD-generated structures, and the hydration structures and H-bonding for the two models are compared. We find that: (i) the solvent-induced frequency shift as well as the absolute OH(-) frequency are in good agreement with experiment using the two models; (ii) the Raman and IR bands are very similar, in agreement with experiment; (iii) the hydration structure and H-bonding around the ion are very different with the two ion-water interaction models (charged-ring and CPMD); (iv) a cancellation effect between different regions of the hydration shell makes the total spectra similar for the two interaction models, although their hydration structures are different; (v) the net OH(-) frequency shift is a blueshift of about +80 cm(-1) with respect to frequency of the gas-phase ion.

Anharmonic vibrational frequency shifts upon interaction of phenol+ with the open shell ligand O2. The performance of DFT methods versus MP2.

Anharmonic vibrational frequency shifts of the phenol(+) O-H stretching mode upon complex formation with the open-shell ligand O(2) were computed at several DFT and MP2 levels of theory, with various basis sets, up to 6-311++G(2df,2pd). It was found that all DFT levels of theory significantly outperform the MP2 method with this respect. The best agreement with the experimental frequency shift for the hydrogen-bonded minimum on the potential energy surfaces was obtained with the HCTH/407 functional (-93.7 cm(-1) theoretical vs -86 cm(-1) experimental), which is a significant improvement over other, more standard DFT functionals (such as, e.g., B3LYP, PBE1PBE), which predict too large downshifts (-139.9 and -147.7 cm(-1), respectively). Good agreement with the experiment was also obtained with the mPW1B95 functional proposed by Truhlar et al. (-109.2 cm(-1)). We have attributed this trend due to the corrected long-range behavior of the HCTH/407 and mPW1B95 functionals, despite the fact that they have been designed primarily for other purposes. MP2 method, even with the largest basis set used, manages to reproduce only less than 50% of the experimentally detected frequency downshift for the hydrogen-bonded dimer. This was attributed to the much more significant spin contamination of the reference HF wave function (compared to DFT Kohn-Sham wave functions), which was found to be strongly dependent on the O-H stretching vibrational coordinate. All DFT levels of theory outperform MP2 in the case of computed anharmonic OH stretching frequency shifts upon ionization of the neutral phenol molecule as well. Besides the hydrogen-bonded minimum, DFT levels of theory also predict existence of two other minima, corresponding to stacked arrangement of the phenol(+) and O(2) subunits. mPW1B95 and PBE1PBE functionals predict a very slight blue shift of the phenol(+) O-H stretching mode in the case of stacked dimer with the nearly perpendicular orientation of oxygen molecule with respect to the phenolic ring, which is entirely of electrostatic origin, in agreement with the experimental observations of an additional band in the IR photodissociation spectra of phenol(+)-O(2) dimer [Patzer, A.; Knorke, H.; Langer, J.; Dopfer, O. Chem. Phys. Lett. 2008, 457, 298]. The structural features of the minima on the studied PESs were discussed in details as well, on the basis of NBO and AIM analyses.

On the origin of the solid-state thermochromism and thermal fatigue of polycyclic overcrowded enes.

Aimed at unraveling the relative contribution of the folding, twisting and bending in the mechanism of the solid-state thermochromism of overcrowded polycyclic aromatic enes (PAEs), the structures of two typical heteromeric and homomeric representatives, 2-(thioxanthen-9-ylidene)indane-1,3-dione (1) and 9,9'-bi-9(10H)-anthracenylidene-10,10'-dione (bianthrone, 2), were studied by temperature-resolved single crystal X-ray diffraction (120-530 K) and solid-state UV-visible spectroscopy. Aside from negligibly small unfolding of the tricyclic moiety of 1, this first direct diffraction study of the high-temperature structures of solid PAEs did not unravel any significant and detectable changes in the time- and space-averaged intramolecular structures, thus, showing that the PAE-type thermochromism is not due to phase transitions or to major and permanent molecular distortions of a large portion of the material that would be caused by folding, twisting and/or bending. Instead, the experimental observations and theoretical modeling indicated that the color change is probably due to a dynamic process, where the absorption spectrum changes as a result of enhanced thermal oscillations of the two halves of the molecules around the central bridge. In addition to the reversible coloration, we also observed irreversible processes of thermal fatigue that afford stable chemical products that absorb in the visible region. We showed that the stable products are conductive and they act electrocatalytically toward oxidation of several biomarkers.

Structure and dynamics of water dangling OH bonds in hydrophobic hydration shells. Comparison of simulation and experiment.

Molecular dynamics and electric field strength simulations are performed in order to quantify the structural, dynamic, and vibrational properties of non-H-bonded (dangling) OH groups in the hydration shell of neopentane, as well as in bulk water. The results are found to be in good agreement with the experimentally observed high-frequency (∼3660 cm(-1)) OH band arising from the hydration shell of neopentanol dissolved in HOD/D(2)O, obtained by analyzing variable concentration Raman spectra using multivariate curve resolution (Raman-MCR). The simulation results further indicate that hydration shell dangling OH groups preferentially point toward the central carbon atom of neopentane to a degree that increases with the lifetime of the dangling OH.

Quantum chemical study of p-toluenesulfonic acid, p-toluenesulfonate anion and the water-p-toluenesulfonic acid complex. Comparison with experimental spectroscopic data.

The 1:1 p-toluenesulfonic acid-water complex, p-toluenesulfonic acid itself and the p-toluenesulfonate anion were studied at HF and B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) levels of theory. Full geometry optimizations of the aforementioned species reveal non-existence of ionic minima on the explored 1:1 p-toluenesulfonic acid-water complex potential-energy hypersurfaces (PEHSs), implying that two or three p-toluenesulfonate ions (+crystal field) are required to stabilize the ionic H(3)O(+)⋯C(6)H(4)(CH(3))SO(3)(-) species found in the crystal structure of p-toluenesulfonic acid monohydrate (in fact, oxonium p-toluenesulfonate). Harmonic vibrational analyses of the p-toluenesulfonic acid-water complex as well as of the p-toluenesulfonate anion were used to confirm some of our previous reassignments of bands in the vibrational spectra of p-toluenesulfonic acid monohydrate and several metal p-toluenesulfonates. According to the quantum chemical results, the symmetric SO(3) bending mode should appear at higher frequencies than the antisymmetric one. A more consistent interpretation of the region of appearance of the SO(3) stretching modes is proposed which is in excellent agreement with the experimental spectroscopic data. The frequency of the multireference benzenoid ν(14) (B(2u)) mode (the "Kekulé" type vibration) is excellently predicted at the B3LYP level of theory, while the HF methodology performs significantly poorer in this respect. The interaction energies as well as the vibrational frequency shifts of the most relevant modes are also presented for the 1:1 p-toluenesulfonic acid-water complex. The NBO analysis is employed to analyze the charge transfer interaction within the complex.

Exploring the possibilities to control the molecular switching properties and dynamics: A field-switchable rotor-stator molecular system.

A bistable, dipolar stator-rotor molecular system-candidate for molecular electronics is investigated. We demonstrate that it is possible to control the intramolecular torsional states and dynamics in this system by applying an appropriate additional electric field (instead of biasing one), achieving fine tuning and modulation of the relevant properties. The electric field effects on the quantities responsible for torsional dynamics (potential energy surface, potential barrier height, quantum and classical transition probabilities, correlation time, HOMO-LUMO gap) are studied from first principles. Our results indicate that it is possible to artificially stabilize the metastable conformational state of the studied molecule. The importance of this is evident, as the current-voltage characteristics of the metastable state are clearly distinguishable from the current-voltage characteristics of the two stable states. We report for the first time exact calculations related to the possibilities to control the thermally induced stochastic switching, and reduce the noise in a practical application. Thus, we believe that the molecule studied in this paper could operate as a field-switchable molecular device under real conditions.

Al3+, Ca2+, Mg2+, and Li+ in aqueous solution: calculated first-shell anharmonic OH vibrations at 300 K.

The anharmonic OH stretching vibrational frequencies, ν(OH), for the first-shell water molecules around the Li(+), Ca(2+), Mg(2+), and Al(3+) ions in dilute aqueous solutions have been calculated based on classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and quantum-mechanical (QM) calculations. For Li(+)(aq), Ca(2+)(aq), Mg(2+)(aq), and Al(3+)(aq), our calculated IR frequency shifts, Δν(OH), with respect to the gas-phase water frequency, are about -300, -350, -450, and -750 cm(-1), compared to -290, -290, -420, and -830 cm(-1) from experimental infrared (IR) studies. The agreement is thus quite good, except for the order between Li(+) and Ca(2+). Given that the polarizing field from the Ca(2+) ion ought to be larger than that from Li(+)(aq), our calculated result seems reasonable. Also the absolute OH frequencies agree well with experiment. The method we used is a sequential four-step procedure: QM(electronic) to make a force field+MD simulation+QM(electronic) for point-charge-embedded M(n+) (H(2)O)(y) (second shell) (H(2)O)(z) (third shell) clusters+QM(vibrational) to yield the OH spectrum. The many-body Ca(2+)-water force-field presented in this paper is new. IR intensity-weighting of the density-of-states frequency distributions was carried out by means of the squared dipole moment derivatives.

On the assessment of some new meta-hybrid and generalized gradient approximation functionals for calculations of anharmonic vibrational frequency shifts in hydrogen-bonded dimers.

The performance of some recently proposed DFT functionals by Truhlar's group (mPW1B95, mPWLYP1W, PBELYP1W, and PBE1W [Dahlke, E. E.; Truhlar, D. G. J. Phys. Chem. B 2005, 109, 317. Zhao, Y.; Truhlar, D. G. J. Phys. Chem. A 2004, 108, 6908.]) was tested primarily with respect to computation of anharmonic vibrational frequency shifts upon hydrogen bond formation in small molecular/ionic dimers. Five hydrogen-bonded systems with varying hydrogen bond strengths were considered: methanol-fluorobenzene, phenol-carbon monoxide in ground neutral (S(0)) and cationic (D(0)) electronic states, phenol-acetylene, and phenol-benzene(+). Anharmonic OH stretching frequency shifts were calculated from the computed vibrational potentials for free and hydrogen-bonded proton-donor molecules. To test the basis set convergence properties, all calculations were performed with 6-31++G(d,p) and 6-311++G(2df,2pd) basis sets. The mPW1B95 functional was found to perform remarkably better in comparison to more standard functionals (such as B3LYP, mPW1PW91, PBE1PBE) in the case of neutral dimers. In the case of cationic dimers, however, this is not always the case. With respect to prediction of anharmonic OH stretching frequency shifts upon ionization of free phenol, all DFT levels of theory outperform MP2. Some other aspects of the functional performances with respect to computation of interaction and dissociation energies were considered as well.

Anharmonicity of water stretching vibrations in series of isomorphous crystalline hydrates Copper and manganese saccharinates hexahydrates.

On the basis of the experimentally obtained frequencies of isotopically isolated OH and OD species, the anharmonicity constants, as well as the harmonic eigenvalues of the OH and OD stretching vibrations for two members of the isomorphous series of metal(II) saccharinates hexahydrates (those of Mn and Cu) were calculated using several theoretical models [B. Berglund, J. Lindgren, J. Tegenfeldt, J. Mol. Struct. 43 (1978) 169, M.G. Sceats, S.A. Rice, J. Chem. Phys. 71 (1979) 973, H. Engstrom, J.B. Bates, L.A. Boatner, J. Chem. Phys. 73 (1980) 1073]. The anharmonicity constants and the nu(OH)/nu(OD) isotopic ratios correlate well with the stretching frequencies of the isotopically isolated OH and OD oscillators. Both anharmonicity constants and isotopic ratios as criteria for the anharmonicity of the OH (OD) vibrations show that, with a very few exceptions, it increases with the increase in the hydrogen bond strength. The exceptions from the trend are explained in terms of local electrostatic field differences and force constant changes due to the coordination to the metal ion. The obtained regression equations were used to predict the anharmonicity constants of the nu(OD) modes in other members of the series. Within the three-particle model of the hydrogen bonded complex, the parameters characterising the coupling of the nu(OH)/nu(OD)/modes with the low-frequency nu(Ocdots, three dots, centeredO) ones were estimated. The positions of the overtones of OH and OD stretching vibrations in the compounds of copper and manganese were estimated using the calculated anharmonicity parameters. The predicted values for the OD oscillators were compared with the experimentally obtained data. Model calculations of the described type are shown to be valuable in the assignment of the second-order transitions, especially in complex systems.

The perturbation theory model of a spherical oscillator in electric field and the vibrational stark effect in polyatomic molecular species.

The effect of external electrostatic fields on the spherical oscillator energy states was studied using stationary perturbation theory. Besides the spherical oscillator with ideal symmetry, also a variety of the deformed systems were considered in which the deformations may be induced by the external fields, but also by the short-range crystal lattice forces. The perturbation theory analysis was carried out using the field-dependent basis functions. Predicted spectral appearances and band splittings due to the deformations and external field influences were shown to be helpful in interpreting the experimental spectra of molecular oscillator possessing subsets of mutually orthogonal triply degenerate normal modes (such as, e.g. tetrahedral species). To verify the results of the perturbation theory treatments, as well as to provide a further illustration of the usefulness of the employed technique, a numerical HF/aug-cc-pVTZ study of the vibrational states of methane molecule in external electrostatic field was performed.