The first microsolvation step for furans: New experiments and benchmarking strategies.

The site-specific first microsolvation step of furan and some of its derivatives with methanol is explored to benchmark the ability of quantum-chemical methods to describe the structure, energetics, and vibrational spectrum at low temperature. Infrared and microwave spectra in supersonic jet expansions are used to quantify the docking preference and some relevant quantum states of the model complexes. Microwave spectroscopy strictly rules out in-plane docking of methanol as opposed to the top coordination of the aromatic ring. Contrasting comparison strategies, which emphasize either the experimental or the theoretical input, are explored. Within the harmonic approximation, only a few composite computational approaches are able to achieve a satisfactory performance. Deuteration experiments suggest that the harmonic treatment itself is largely justified for the zero-point energy, likely and by design due to the systematic cancellation of important anharmonic contributions between the docking variants. Therefore, discrepancies between experiment and theory for the isomer abundance are tentatively assigned to electronic structure deficiencies, but uncertainties remain on the nuclear dynamics side. Attempts to include anharmonic contributions indicate that for systems of this size, a uniform treatment of anharmonicity with systematically improved performance is not yet in sight.

ZMP-SAPT: DFT-SAPT using ab initio densities.

Symmetry Adapted Perturbation Theory (SAPT) has become an important tool when predicting and analyzing intermolecular interactions. Unfortunately, Density Functional Theory (DFT)-SAPT, which uses DFT for the underlying monomers, has some arbitrariness concerning the exchange-correlation potential and the exchange-correlation kernel involved. By using ab initio Brueckner Doubles densities and constructing Kohn-Sham orbitals via the Zhao-Morrison-Parr (ZMP) method, we are able to lift the dependence of DFT-SAPT on DFT exchange-correlation potential models in first order. This way, we can compute the monomers at the coupled-cluster level of theory and utilize SAPT for the intermolecular interaction energy. The resulting ZMP-SAPT approach is tested for small dimer systems involving rare gas atoms, cations, and anions and shown to compare well with the Tang-Toennies model and coupled cluster results.

Dispersion interactions between neighboring Bi atoms in (BiH3 )2 and Te(BiR2 )2.

Triggered by the observation of a short Bi⋯Bi distance and a BiTeBi bond angle of only 86.6° in the crystal structure of bis(diethylbismuthanyl)tellurane quantum chemical computations on interactions between neighboring Bi atoms in Te(BiR2 )2 molecules (R = H, Me, Et) and in (BiH3 )2 were undertaken. Bi⋯Bi distances atoms were found to significantly shorten upon inclusion of the d shells of the heavy metal atoms into the electron correlation treatment, and it was confirmed that interaction energies from spin component-scaled second-order Møller-Plesset theory (SCS-MP2) agree well with coupled-cluster singles and doubles theory including perturbative triples (CCSD(T)). Density functional theory-based symmetry-adapted perturbation theory (DFT-SAPT) was used to study the anisotropy of the interplay of dispersion attraction and steric repulsion between the Bi atoms. Finally, geometries and relative stabilities of syn-syn and syn-anti conformers of Te(BiR2 )2 (R = H, Me, Et) and interconversion barriers between them were computed. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Synthesis of Furan-Annelated BINOL Derivatives: Acid-Catalyzed Cyclization Induces Partial Racemization.

In this account, we describe the synthesis of a series of BINOL-based bis- and trisphosphoric acids 11d/e/f, which commonly feature an unusual phosphoric acid monoester motif. This motif is generated by an acid-catalyzed 5- endo- dig cyclization of the 3-alkynyl-substituted BINOL precursors to give the corresponding Furan-annelated derivatives, followed by phosphorylation of the remaining phenolic alcohols. In the cyclization reaction, we observed an unexpected partial racemization in the bis- and tris-BINOL scaffolds, leading to mixtures of diastereomers that were separated and characterized spectroscopically and by X-ray crystal structure analyses. The cyclization and racemization processes were investigated both experimentally and by DFT-calculations, showing that although the cyclization proceeds faster, the barrier for the acid-catalyzed binaphthyl-racemization is only slightly higher.

The furan microsolvation blind challenge for quantum chemical methods: First steps.

Herein we present the results of a blind challenge to quantum chemical methods in the calculation of dimerization preferences in the low temperature gas phase. The target of study was the first step of the microsolvation of furan, 2-methylfuran and 2,5-dimethylfuran with methanol. The dimers were investigated through IR spectroscopy of a supersonic jet expansion. From the measured bands, it was possible to identify a persistent hydrogen bonding OH-O motif in the predominant species. From the presence of another band, which can be attributed to an OH-π interaction, we were able to assert that the energy gap between the two types of dimers should be less than or close to 1 kJ/mol across the series. These values served as a first evaluation ruler for the 12 entries featured in the challenge. A tentative stricter evaluation of the challenge results is also carried out, combining theoretical and experimental results in order to define a smaller error bar. The process was carried out in a double-blind fashion, with both theory and experimental groups unaware of the results on the other side, with the exception of the 2,5-dimethylfuran system which was featured in an earlier publication.

Aromatic Thioethers as Novel Luminophores with Aggregation-Induced Fluorescence and Phosphorescence.

Here we report on a novel system based on aromatic thioethers with unique luminescence properties. Fifteen different compounds were investigated in detail on their luminescence properties using UV/Vis absorption and steady-state and time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy. Excited state lifetimes as well as quantum yields were determined, and the toxicity towards HeLa cells was investigated. Besides X-ray analyses also quantum chemical calculations were performed to gain deeper insights in the unique behavior of this facile system. The studied compounds reveal remarkable fluorescence emission ranging from 437 to 588 nm as well as phosphorescence (up to 5 µs).

Constructing accurate interaction potentials to describe the microsolvation of protonated methane by helium atoms.

Protonated methane, CH5+, is not only subject to quasi-rigid vibrational motion which describes its unprotonated parent, CH4, but is dominated by large-amplitude motion even in its quantum ground state. This fluxional behavior leads to hydrogen scrambling which sensitively depends on the underlying flat potential energy surface. Yet, it is largely unknown how fluxional species, such as CH5+, respond to perturbations arising from microsolvation by weakly interacting species, such as those commonly used as tags in messenger-based vibrational action spectroscopies. Here, we construct an intermolecular interaction potential of extrapolated coupled cluster accuracy in order to investigate the microsolvation shell structure of small CH5+·Hen complexes. Having explicitly demonstrated that three-body contributions are essentially negligible, our analytical CH5+He model potential is kept as simple as possible in order to allow for efficient use in the framework of finite-temperature path integral simulations. It is a strictly pairwise additive site-site potential without explicit angular dependence, but critically involves additional pseudo-sites in addition to the usual atom-based interaction sites. The parameterized potential is shown to accurately describe the microsolvation of all low-lying stationary points on the potential energy surface, namely the e-Cs, s-Cs, C2v, and C4v structures. Based on path integral Monte Carlo simulations at ultralow temperature, about 1 K, we disclose that the many-body helium density in three-dimensional space, and thus the microsolvation pattern, depends sensitively on the combination of the solute structure and the number of attached He atoms.

Multi-spectroscopic and theoretical analyses on the diphenyl ether-tert-butyl alcohol complex in the electronic ground and electronically excited state.

Aromatic ethers such as diphenyl ether (DPE) represent molecules with different docking sites for alcohols leading to competing OH-O and OH-π interactions. In a multi-spectroscopic approach in combination with quantum chemical calculations the complex of DPE with tert-butyl alcohol (t-BuOH) is investigated in the electronic ground state (S0) and the electronically excited state (S1). FTIR, microwave as well as mass- and isomer-selective IR/R2PI spectra are recorded, revealing co-existing OH-O and OH-π isomers in the S0 state. Surprisingly, they are predicted to be of almost equal stability in contrast to the previously investigated DPE-MeOH complex, where the OH-π structure is preferred by both theory and experiment. The tert-butyl group in t-BuOH allows for a simultaneous optimization of hydrogen-bonding and dispersion interactions, which provides a sensitive meeting point between theory and experiment. In the electronically excited state of DPE-t-BuOH, vibrational spectra could be recorded separately for both isomers using UV/IR/UV spectroscopy. In the S1 state the same structural binding motifs are obtained as in the S0 state with the OH-O bond being weakened for the OH-O arrangement and the OH-π interaction being strengthened in the case of the OH-π isomer compared to the S0 state.

Synthesis, Solid-State Structure, and Bonding Analysis of a Homoleptic Beryllium Azide.

[Ph4 P]2 [Be(N3 )4 ] (1) and [PNP]2 [Be(N3 )4 ] (2; PNP=Ph3 PNPPh3 ) were synthesized by reacting Be(N3 )2 with [Ph4 P]N3 and [PNP]N3 . Compound 1 represents the first structurally characterized homoleptic beryllium azide. The electronic structure and bonding situation in the tetraazidoberyllate dianion [Be(N3 )4 ]2- were investigated by quantum-chemical calculations (NPA, ELF, LOL).

Towards a spectroscopic and theoretical identification of the isolated building blocks of the benzene-acetylene cocrystal.

Isomer- and mass-selective UV and IR-UV double resonance spectra of the BA3, B2A, and B2A2 clusters of benzene (B) and acetylene (A) are presented. Cluster structures are assigned by comparison with the UV and IR spectra of benzene, the benzene dimer, as well as the BA, BA2, and B2A clusters. The intermolecular vibrations of BA are identified by dispersed fluorescence spectroscopy. Assignment of the cluster structures is supported by quantum chemical calculations of IR spectra with spin-component scaled second-order Møller-Plesset (SCS-MP2) theory. Initial propositions for various structures of the BA3 and B2A2 aggregates are generated with model potentials based on density functional theory combined with the symmetry-adapted perturbation theory (DFT-SAPT) approach. Shape and relative cluster stabilities are then confirmed with SCS-MP2. T-shaped geometries are the dominant structural motifs. Higher-energy isomers are also observed. The detected cluster structures are correlated with possible cluster formation pathways and their role as crystallization seeds is discussed.

Synthesis and structure of base-stabilized germanium(II) diazide IPrGe(N3)2.

Coordination of a strong σ-base has been shown to be an effective method for the stabilization of low valent main group element complexes. This general method was now used for the synthesis of the divalent germanium diazide. IPrGe(N3)21 represents the first neutral homoleptic germanium diazide that could be structurally characterized.

Intermolecular interactions in weak donor-acceptor complexes from symmetry-adapted perturbation and coupled-cluster theory: tetracyanoethylene-benzene and tetracyanoethylene-p-xylene.

The interactions in the complexes of tetracyanothylene (TCNE) with benzene and p-xylene, often classified as weak electron donor-acceptor (EDA) complexes, are investigated by a range of quantum chemical methods including intermolecular perturbation theory at the DFT-SAPT (symmetry-adapted perturbation theory combined with density functional theory) level and explicitly correlated coupled-cluster theory at the CCSD(T)-F12 level. The DFT-SAPT interaction energies for TCNE-benzene and TCNE-p-xylene are estimated to be -35.7 and -44.9 kJ mol(-1), respectively, at the complete basis set limit. The best estimates for the CCSD(T) interaction energy are -37.5 and -46.0 kJ mol(-1), respectively. It is shown that the second-order dispersion term provides the most important attractive contribution to the interaction energy, followed by the first-order electrostatic term. The sum of second- and higher-order induction and exchange-induction energies is found to provide nearly 40 % of the total interaction energy. After addition of vibrational, rigid-rotor, and translational contributions, the computed internal energy changes on complex formation approach results from gas-phase spectrophotometry at elevated temperatures within experimental uncertainties, while the corresponding entropy changes differ substantially.

First structural characterization of neutral, base-stabilized group 15-pentaazides: single crystal X-ray structures of dmap-As(N3)5 and dmap-Sb(N3)5.

Two neutral group 15-pentaazides dmap-As(N(3))(5) (1) and dmap-Sb(N(3))(5) (2) were synthesized and structurally characterized for the first time (dmap = 4-dimethylaminopyridine). Base-stabilization was confirmed to be very suitable for the kinetic stabilization of highly explosive covalent main group polyazides.

Competition between H···π and H···O interactions in furan heterodimers.

Here the interactions of furan with HZ (Z = CCH, CCF, CN, Cl, and F) are studied using a variety of electron correlation methods (MP2, CCSD(T), DFT-SAPT) and correlation-consistent triple- and quadruple-ζ basis sets including complete basis set (CBS) extrapolation. For Fu-HF all methods agree that a n-type structure with a hydrogen bridge between the oxygen lone-pair of furan and the hydrogen atom of HF is the global minimum structure. It is found to be significantly more stable than a π-type structure where the hydrogen atom of HF points toward the π system of furan. For the other four dimers MP2 and DFT-SAPT predict the π-type structure to be somewhat more stable, while CCSD(T) favors the n-type structure as the global minimum for Fu-HCl and predicts both structures as nearly isoenergetic for Fu-HCCH and Fu-HCCF. From a geometrical point of view, the Fu-HCN dimer structures are more related to those of the Fu-HCl complex than to Fu-HCCH. The different behavior of HCCF and HF upon complexation with furan evidence the effect of the presence of a π system in the aggregation of fluorine derivatives. It is shown that aggregates of furan cannot be understood by means of dipole-dipole and electrostatic analysis only. Yet, through a combined and detailed analysis of DFT-SAPT energy contributions and resonance effects on the molecular charge distributions a consistent explanation of the aggregation of furan with both π electron rich molecules and halogen hydrides is provided.

Quantum continuum mechanics made simple.

In this paper we further explore and develop the quantum continuum mechanics (QCM) of Tao et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 086401 (2009)] with the aim of making it simpler to use in practice. Our simplifications relate to the non-interacting part of the QCM equations, and primarily refer to practical implementations in which the groundstate stress tensor is approximated by its Kohn-Sham (KS) version. We use the simplified approach to directly prove the exactness of QCM for one-electron systems via an orthonormal formulation. This proof sheds light on certain physical considerations contained in the QCM theory and their implication on QCM-based approximations. The one-electron proof then motivates an approximation to the QCM (exact under certain conditions) expanded on the wavefunctions of the KS equations. Particular attention is paid to the relationships between transitions from occupied to unoccupied KS orbitals and their approximations under the QCM. We also demonstrate the simplified QCM semianalytically on an example system.

Effects of Dispersion and Charge-Transfer Interactions on Structures of Heavy Chalcogenide Compounds: A Quantum Chemical Case Study for (Et2 Bi)2 Te.

The reasons for the unusually small Bi-Te-Bi bond angle of 86.6° observed in the crystal strucure of (Et2 Bi)2 Te are investigated by quantum chemical calculations. With the help of coupled cluster theory at the CCSD(T) level it is demonstrated that the structure of an isolated monomer should have a bond angle larger than 90°, despite a Bi-Bi distance in good agreement with the value of 4.09 Šfound in the crystal structure. The discrepancy is resolved by a lengthening of the Bi-Te bond in the crystal, which is shown to be caused by partial electron transfer from neighbouring molecules to the Bi-Te σ* orbital. Through symmetry-adapted perturbation theory at the DFT-SAPT level it is shown that London dispersion interactions are highly important for the packing of molecules in the solid state and, in turn, for the small Bi-Te-Bi bond angle.

Effects of counterpoise correction and basis set extrapolation on the MP2 geometries of hydrogen bonded dimers of ammonia, water, and hydrogen fluoride.

We study the combined effects of counterpoise correction and basis set extrapolation on the second-order Møller-Plesset (MP2) geometries of three hydrogen bonded dimers, namely (NH(3))(2), (H(2)O)(2) and (HF)(2). For (NH(3))(2), we study three characteristic structures on its potential energy surface. In addition, we look at the basis set convergence when diffuse functions on the hydrogen atoms are left out, as well as the errors introduced by including core correlation with valence-only correlation-consistent basis sets. Overall, the counterpoise-corrected and extrapolated geometries appear to be very reliable and are in convincing agreement with the geometries from explicitly correlated MP2-F12 calculations. Obtaining geometries with errors of less than 0.001 Ångstrom and 0.5 degrees compared to the basis set limit is, however, even with these advanced methods a difficult task.

Constructing simple yet accurate potentials for describing the solvation of HCl/water clusters in bulk helium and nanodroplets.

The infrared spectroscopy of molecules, complexes, and molecular aggregates dissolved in superfluid helium clusters, commonly called HElium NanoDroplet Isolation (HENDI) spectroscopy, is an established, powerful experimental technique for extracting high resolution ro-vibrational spectra at ultra-low temperatures. Realistic quantum simulations of such systems, in particular in cases where the solute is undergoing a chemical reaction, require accurate solute-helium potentials which are also simple enough to be efficiently evaluated over the vast number of steps required in typical Monte Carlo or molecular dynamics sampling. This precludes using global potential energy surfaces as often parameterized for small complexes in the realm of high-resolution spectroscopic investigations that, in view of the computational effort imposed, are focused on the intermolecular interaction of rigid molecules with helium. Simple Lennard-Jones-like pair potentials, on the other hand, fall short in providing the required flexibility and accuracy in order to account for chemical reactions of the solute molecule. Here, a general scheme of constructing sufficiently accurate site-site potentials for use in typical quantum simulations is presented. This scheme employs atom-based grids, accounts for local and global minima, and is applied to the special case of a HCl(H(2)O)(4) cluster solvated by helium. As a first step, accurate interaction energies of a helium atom with a set of representative configurations sampled from a trajectory following the dissociation of the HCl(H(2)O)(4) cluster were computed using an efficient combination of density functional theory and symmetry-adapted perturbation theory, i.e. the DFT-SAPT approach. For each of the sampled cluster configurations, a helium atom was placed at several hundred positions distributed in space, leading to an overall number of about 400,000 such quantum chemical calculations. The resulting total interaction energies, decomposed into several energetic contributions, served to fit a site-site potential, where the sites are located at the atomic positions and, additionally, pseudo-sites are distributed along the lines joining pairs of atom sites within the molecular cluster. This approach ensures that this solute-helium potential is able to describe both undissociated molecular and dissociated (zwitter-) ionic configurations, as well as the interconnecting reaction pathway without re-adjusting partial charges or other parameters depending on the particular configuration. Test calculations of the larger HCl(H(2)O)(5) cluster interacting with helium demonstrate the transferability of the derived site-site potential. This specific potential can be readily used in quantum simulations of such HCl/water clusters in bulk helium or helium nanodroplets, whereas the underlying construction procedure can be generalized to other molecular solutes in other atomic solvents such as those encountered in rare gas matrix isolation spectroscopy.

First principles potential for the acetylene dimer and refinement by fitting to experiments.

We report the definition and refinement of a new first principles potential for the acetylene dimer. The ab initio calculations were performed with the DFT-SAPT combination of symmetry-adapted intermolecular perturbation method and density functional theory, and fitted to a model site-site functional form. Comparison of the calculated microwave spectrum with experimental data revealed that the barriers to isomerization were too low. This potential was refined by fitting the model parameters in order to reproduce the observed transitions, an excellent agreement within ~1 MHz being achieved.