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Multiconfigurational ab initio methods are used in this study to examine two initial reactions that take place during the OH radical attack of the DNA base guanine: a ring opening reaction and a hydrogen transfer reaction. The same reactions are also studied in the presence of a single water molecule. The ring opening reaction has a moderate barrier height of ∼20-25 kcal/mol that is relatively insensitive to the presence of water. The barrier of the H-transfer reaction, on the other hand, is lowered from ∼50 to ∼22 kcal/mol when one water molecule is added, thus becoming comparable to the barrier height of the ring opening reaction.

This paper represents a summary of results to date of an on-going effort at NASA Ames Research Center to develop a physics-based non-equilibrium model for hypersonic entry into the Martian atmosphere. Our approach is to first compute potential energy surfaces based on accurate solutions of the electronic Schroedinger equation and then use quasiclassical trajectory calculations to obtain reaction cross sections and rate coefficients based on these potentials. We have presented new rate coefficients for N2 dissociation and CO dissociation and exchange reactions. These results illustrate shortcomings with some of the rate coefficients in Parks original T-Tv model for Mars entries and with some of the 30-45 year old shock tube data. We observe that the shock tube experiments of CO + O dissociation did not adequately account for the exchange reaction that leads to formation of C + O2. This reaction is actually the primary channel for CO removal in the shock layer at temperatures below 10,000 K, because the reaction enthalpy for exchange is considerably lower than the comparable value for dissociation.

The hydroxy acid suites extracted from the Murchison (MN), GRA 95229 (GRA) and LAP 02342 (LAP) meteorites have been investigated for their molecular, chiral and isotopic composition. Substantial amounts of the compounds have been detected in all three meteorites, with a total abundance that is lower than that of the amino acids in the same stones. Overall, their molecular distributions mirror closely that of the corresponding amino acids and most evidently so for the LAP meteorite. A surprising l -lactic acid enantiomeric excess was found present in all three stones, which cannot be easily accounted by terrestrial contamination; all other compounds of the three hydroxy acid suites were found racemic. The branched-chain five carbon and the diastereomer six-carbon hydroxy acids were also studied vis-a-vis the corresponding amino acids and calculated ab initio thermodynamic data, with the comparison allowing the suggestion that meteoritic hydroxyacid at these chain lengths formed under thermodynamic control and, possibly, at a later stage than the corresponding amino acids. 13C and D isotopic enrichments were detected for many of the meteoritic hydroxy acids and found to vary between molecular species with trends that also appear to correlate to those of amino acids; the highest δD value (+3450‰) was displayed by GRA 2-OH-2-methylbutyric acid. The data suggest that, while the amino- and hydroxy acids likely relate to common presolar precursor, their final distribution in meteorites was determined to large extent by the overall composition of the environments that saw their formation, with ammonia being the determining factor in their final abundance ratios.

– To better explain the unusual distribution and relative abundances of several 6- and 7-carbon amino acids found in meteorites, their thermodynamic properties were studied using accurate ab initio techniques. In addition to optimized structures and relative energies, vibrational frequency and thermochemical analysis of different diastereomers were performed at temperatures relevant to conditions of synthesis of these amino acids in meteorites. The results of calculations were compared with the measured content of the amino acids in the Murchison meteorite. The distribution of several longer chain amino acids in meteorites seems to point to at least some thermodynamic control in their formation. For diastereomeric compounds, on the other hand, the comparison suggests that their synthetic conditions, or those of their precursors, were far from thermodynamic equilibrium.

The results of anharmonic frequency calculations on neutral imidazole (C3N2H4, Im), protonated imidazole (ImH+), and its complexes with water (ImH+)(H2O)n, are presented and compared to gas phase infrared photodissociation spectroscopy (IRPD) data. Anharmonic frequencies are obtained via ab initio vibrational self-consistent field (VSCF) calculations taking into account pairwise interactions between the normal modes. The key results are: (1) Prediction of anharmonic vibrational frequencies on an MP2 ab initio potential energy surface show excellent agreement with experiment and outstanding improvement over the harmonic frequencies. For example, the ab initio calculated anharmonic frequency for (ImH+)(H2O)N2 exhibits an overall average percentage error of 0.6% from experiment. (2) Anharmonic vibrational frequencies calculated on a semiempirical potential energy surface fitted to ab initio harmonic data represents spectroscopy well, particularly for water complexes. As an example, anharmonic frequencies for (ImH+)H2O and (ImH+)(H2O)2 show an overall average deviation of 1.02% and 1.05% from experiment, respectively. This agreement between theory and experiment also supports the validity and use of the pairwise approximation used in the calculations. (3) Anharmonic coupling due to hydration effects is found to significantly reduce the vibrational frequencies for the NH stretch modes. The frequency of the NH stretch is observed to increase with the removal of a water molecule or replacement of water with N2. This result also indicates the ability of the VSCF method to predict accurate frequencies in a matrix environment. The calculation provides insights into the nature of anharmonic effects in the potential surface. Analysis of percentage anharmoncity in neutral Im and ImH+ shows a higher percentage anharmonicity in the NH and CH stretch modes of neutral Im. Also, we observe that anharmonicity in the NH stretch modes of ImH+ have some contribution from coupling effects, while that of neutral Im has no contribution whatsoever from mode-mode coupling. It is concluded that the incorporation of anharmonic effects in the calculation brings theory and experiment into much closer agreement for these systems.

Density functional theory (DFT) technique is the most commonly used approach when it comes to computation of vibrational spectra of molecular species. In this study, we compare anharmonic spectra of several organic molecules such as allene, propyne, glycine, and imidazole, computed from ab initio MP2 potentials and DFT potentials based on commonly used BLYP and B3LYP functionals. Anharmonic spectra are obtained using the direct vibrational self-consistent field (VSCF) method and its correlation-corrected extension (CC-VSCF). The results of computations are compared with available experimental data. It is shown that the most accurate vibrational frequencies are obtained with the MP2 method, followed by the DFT/B3LYP method, while DFT/BLYP results are often unsatisfactory.

An absorption band at ∼ 4.26 μm wavelength attributed to the asymmetric stretching mode of C O in CO2 has been found on two satellites of Jupiter and several satellites of Saturn. The wavelength of pure CO2 ice determined in the laboratory is 4.2675 μm, indicating that the CO2 on the satellites occurs either trapped in a host material, or in a chemical or physical complex with other materials, resulting in a blue shift of the wavelength of the band. In frequency units, the shifts in the satellite spectra range from 3.7 to 11.3 cm−1. We have performed ab initio quantum chemical calculations of CO2 molecules chemically complexed with one, two, and more H2O molecules and molecules of CH3OH to explore the possibility that the blue shift of the band is caused by chemical complexing of CO2 with other volatile materials. Our computations of the harmonic and anharmonic vibrational frequencies using high levels of theory show a frequency shift to the blue by 5 cm−1 from pure CO2 to CO–H2O, and an additional 5 cm−1 from CO2–H2O to CO2–2H2O. Complexing with more than two H2O molecules does not increase the blue shift. Complexes of CO2 with one molecule of CH3OH and with one CH3OH plus one H2O molecule produce smaller shifts than the CO2–2H2O complex. Laboratory studies of CO2:H2O in a solid N2 matrix also show a blue shift of the asymmetric stretching mode.

Vibrational frequencies for fundamental, overtone, and combination excitations of sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and of sulfuric acid monohydrate cluster (H2SO4 x H2O) are computed directly from ab initio MP2/TZP potential surface points using the correlation-corrected vibrational self-consistent field (CC-VSCF) method, which includes anharmonic effects. The results are compared with experiment. The computed transitions show in nearly all cases good agreement with experimental data and consistent improvement over the harmonic approximation. The CC-VSCF improvements over the harmonic approximation are largest for the overtone and combination excitations and for the OH stretching fundamental. The agreement between the calculations and experiment also supports the validity of the MP2/TZP potential surfaces. Anharmonic coupling between different vibrational modes is found to significantly affect the vibrational frequencies. Analysis of the mean magnitude of the anharmonic coupling interactions between different pairs of normal modes is carried out. The results suggest possible mechanisms for the internal flow of vibrational energy in H2SO4 and H2SO4 x H2O.

Vibrational frequencies are computed for the fundamental, OH stretching overtone and combination transitions of HNO3, HNO4 and the HNO3–H2O complex. The frequencies are computed directly from ab initio MP2 potential surface points, using the correlation corrected vibrational self-consistent field (CC-VSCF) method, which includes anharmonic effects. The results are compared with experimental data. The computed fundamental transitions are in accord with experiment. The main improvement over the harmonic approximation is for the OH stretching frequencies. The OH overtone excitations (up to the 3rd overtone) of HNO3, HNO4 are also in good accord with experiment. For overtone levels near the dissociation threshold, the deviations from experiment are larger, as the VSCF method is unsatisfactory for the extremely large anharmonicities in these cases. Finally, very satisfactory results are obtained for the combination mode transitions. The main conclusions are (1) CC-VSCF seems to work well also for low overtone excitations and for combination transitions. (2) The MP2/TZP potential surfaces, used in the CC-VSCF calculations, are by the test of spectroscopy adequate for these species. The results are encouraging for VSCF calculations of larger, related systems such as HNO3–(H2O)n, n > 1.

Stability, structural and vibrational properties of compounds where an Rg atom (Xe, Kr, or Ar) is inserted into different bonds of glycine molecule are investigated using accurate ab initio methods. The most stable configuration is found to correspond to insertion of Rg atoms into the O H bond of glycine. These NH 2 CH 2 COORgH compounds are metastable, but separated from the Rg + glycine dissociation products by significant potential barriers. Preliminary calculations show that NH 2 CH 2 COOXeH compound may be energetically stable with respect to the three-body dissociation (H + Rg + NH 2 CH 2 CO 2 ), while the corresponding Ar compound is energetically unstable in this respect. The compound with the inserted Kr is a borderline case, with the three-body dissociation products close in energy to the NH 2 CH 2 COOKrH minimum.

Single photon ionization dynamics of glycine is studied by classical trajectory simulations using the semiempirical PM3 potential surface in “on the fly” calculations. The glycine conformer is assu...

To provide further insight into the issue of stability of HKrOH, reaction paths for decomposition processes HKrOH ! Kr + H2O and HKrOH ! H + Kr + OH are studied using ab initio electronic structure methods. The results show that HKrOH molecule is energetically unstable with respect to the Kr + H2O and H + Kr + OH dissociation products. However, it is separated by a significant energy barrier from Kr + H2 O( � 35 kcal/mol) and by a much lower barrier from H + Kr + OH (� 3 kcal/mol). Thus, theoretical studies show that HKrOH is kinetically stable with respect to the HKrOH ! Kr + H2O channel of decomposition, but its stability with respect to H + Kr + OH is marginal. The low barrier for the HKrOH ! H + Kr + OH process (which leads to a high probability of HKrOH dissociation to H + Kr + OH) and the relatively high barrier (� 25 kcal/mol) for the reverse reaction (H + Kr + OH ! HKrOH) seem to be responsible for the fact that HKrOH (unlike HKrF) has not been observed experimentally. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Three nitrile molecules, cyanamide (H 2 N-C≡N), acetonitrile (CH 3 -C≡N), and aminoacetonitrile (H 2 N-CH 2 -C≡N), and their complexes with one water molecule are studied at the ab initio level of theory (second-order Moller-Plesset perturbation theory with triple-ζ basis sets). Anharmonic vibrational spectra are estimated with the Correlation Corrected Vibrational Self-Consistent Field (CC-VSCF) method that accounts for anharmonicities and couplings between different vibrational normal modes. Effects of complexation with water on geometries and vibrational spectra of nitriles are investigated. The effects are very different from those found earlier for acids (in particular, the amino acid glycine). While the intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions lead to significant red shifts of carboxyl group (O-H and C=O) vibrational stretching frequencies of acids, C≡N stretches of nitriles shift to a much lesser extent and in the opposite direction (to the blue) upon complexation with water.

We report anharmonic vibrational spectra (fundamentals, first overtones) for the F-(H(sub 2)O) and F-(H(sub 2)O)2 clusters computed at the MP2 and CCSD(T) levels of theory with basis sets of triple zeta quality. Anharmonic corrections were estimated via the correlation-corrected vibrational self-consistent field (CC-VSCF) method. The CC-VSCF anharmonic spectra obtained on the potential energy surfaces evaluated at the CCSD(T) level of theory are the first ones reported at a correlated level beyond MP2. We have found that the average basis set effect (TZP vs. aug-cc-pVTZ) is on the order of 30-40 cm(exp -1), whereas the effects of different levels of electron correlation [MP2 vs. CCSD(T)] are smaller, 20-30 cm(exp -1). However, the basis set effect is much larger in the case of the H-bonded O-H stretch of the F-(H(sub 2)O) cluster amounting to 100 cm(exp -1) for the fundamentals and 200 cm (exp -1) for the first overtones. Our calculations are in agreement with the limited available set of experimental data for the F-(H(sub 2)O) and F-(H(sub 2)O)2 systems and provide additional information that can guide further experimental studies.

The role of vibrational spectroscopy in the testing of force fields of biological molecules and in the determination of improved force fields is discussed. Analysis shows that quantitative testing of potential energy surfaces by comparison with spectroscopic data generally requires calculations that include anharmonic couplings between different vibrational modes. Applications of the vibrational self-consistent field (VSCF) method to calculations of spectroscopy of biological molecules are presented, and comparison with experiment is used to determine the merits and flaws of various types of force fields. The main conclusions include the following: (1) Potential surfaces from ab initio methods at the level of MP2 yield very satisfactory agreement with spectroscopic experimental data. (2) By the test of spectroscopy, ab initio force fields are considerably superior to the standard versions of force fields such as AMBER or OPLS. (3) Much of the spectroscopic weakness of AMBER and OPLS is due to incorrect description of anharmonic coupling between different vibrational modes. (4) Potential surfaces of the QM/MM (Quantum Mechanics/Molecular Mechanics) type, and potentials based on improved versions of semi-empirical electronic structure theory, which are feasible for large biological molecules, yield encouraging results by the test of vibrational spectroscopy. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers: 370–382, 2003

To provide theoretical insights into the stability and dynamics of the new rare gas compounds HArF and HKrF, reaction paths for decomposition processes HRgF to Rg + HF and HRgF to H + Rg + F (Rg = Ar, Kr) are calculated using ab initio electronic structure methods. The bending channels, HRgF to Rg + HF, are described by single-configurational MP2 and CCSD(T) electronic structure methods, while the linear decomposition paths, HRgF to H + Rg + F, require the use of multi-configurational wave functions that include dynamic correlation and are size extensive. HArF and HKrF molecules are found to be energetically stable with respect to atomic dissociation products (H + Rg + F) and separated by substantial energy barriers from Rg + HF products, which ensure their kinetic stability. The results are compatible with experimental data on these systems.

A new algorithm for computing anharmonic vibrational states for polyatomic molecules is proposed. The algorithm starts with the vibrational self-consistent field (VSCF) method and uses degenerate perturbation theory to correct for effects of correlation between different vibrational modes. The algorithm is developed in a version that computes the anharmonic vibrational spectroscopy directly from potential energy surface points calculated by using ab initio codes. The method is applied to several molecules where near degeneracies occur for excited vibrational states, including HOOH, HSSH, and HOOOH. The method yields results in very good accordance with experiments and generally provides improvements over nondegenerate perturbation corrections for VSCF.

The second-order Moller-Plesset ab initio electronic structure method is used to compute points for the anharmonic mode-coupled potential energy surface of N-methylacetamide (NMA) in the trans(sub ct) configuration, including all degrees of freedom. The vibrational states and the spectroscopy are directly computed from this potential surface using the Correlation Corrected Vibrational Self-Consistent Field (CC-VSCF) method. The results are compared with CC-VSCF calculations using both the standard and improved empirical Amber-like force fields and available low temperature experimental matrix data. Analysis of our calculated spectroscopic results show that: (1) The excellent agreement between the ab initio CC-VSCF calculated frequencies and the experimental data suggest that the computed anharmonic potentials for N-methylacetamide are of a very high quality; (2) For most transitions, the vibrational frequencies obtained from the ab initio CC-VSCF method are superior to those obtained using the empirical CC-VSCF methods, when compared with experimental data. However, the improved empirical force field yields better agreement with the experimental frequencies as compared with a standard AMBER-type force field; (3) The empirical force field in particular overestimates anharmonic couplings for the amide-2 mode, the methyl asymmetric bending modes, the out-of-plane methyl bending modes, and the methyl distortions; (4) Disagreement between the ab initio and empirical anharmonic couplings is greater than the disagreement between the frequencies, and thus the anharmonic part of the empirical potential seems to be less accurate than the harmonic contribution;and (5) Both the empirical and ab initio CC-VSCF calculations predict a negligible anharmonic coupling between the amide-1 and other internal modes. The implication of this is that the intramolecular energy flow between the amide-1 and the other internal modes may be smaller than anticipated. These results may have important implications for the anharmonic force fields of peptides, for which N-methylacetamide is a model.

Geometrical structures and energetic properties for different tautomers of adenine are calculated in this study, using multi-configurational wave functions. Both the ground and the lowest singlet excited state potential energy surfaces are studied. Four tautomeric forms are considered, and their energetic order is found to be different on the ground and the excited state potential energy surfaces. Minimum energy reaction paths are obtained for hydrogen atom transfer (tautomerization) reactions in the ground and the lowest excited electronic states. It is found that the barrier heights and the shapes of the reaction paths are different for the ground and the excited electronic states, suggesting that the probability of such tautomerization reaction is higher on the excited state potential energy surface. This tautomerization process should become possible in the presence of water or other polar solvent molecules and should play an important role in the photochemistry of adenine.

Effects of intermolecular hydrogen bonding between glycine and one water molecule on the vibrational spectrum are investigated, using ab initio (at the level of second order Moller–Plesset perturbation theory), empirical (OPLS-AA), and mixed ab initio/empirical quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) potentials. Vibrational spectroscopy is calculated using the correlation corrected vibrational self-consistent field method that accounts for anharmonicities and couplings between different vibrational normal modes. The intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions are found to be very strong and to affect vibrational frequencies and infrared intensities of both the glycine and the water molecule to a very large extent. The predicted ab initio anharmonic spectra can be used to identify amino acids in complexes with water in experimental studies. The OPLS-AA potential is found to describe hydrogen bonding between glycine and water incorrectly, and to predict erroneous vibrational spectra. Hybrid (QM/MM) t...

MP2 and CCSD(T) calculations are used to analyse the structures and vibrational spectra of HRgF molecules, where the rare gas atom is He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe or Rn. We extend the analysis of the vibrational spectra of these molecules to include anharmonic corrections for the most likely candidates for experimental detection, i.e., HArF, HKrF, HXeF, and their deuterated isotopomers. The anharmonic correlation-corrected vibrational self-consistent-field (CC-VSCF) calculations are used for this, and fundamental, overtone and combination frequencies and their absorption intensities are computed.

The second-order Moller−Plesset ab initio electronic structure method is used to compute points on the potential energy surface of glycine. Some 50 000 points are computed, covering the spectroscop...

A first-principles calculation of vibrational spectroscopy of HXeH, HXeCl, HXeBr, and HXeOH molecules is performed by combining ab initio codes with the vibrational self-consistent field (VSCF) method, and with its extension by perturbation theory (CC-VSCF). The MP2/CC-VSCF method is anharmonic, and it is able to reproduce the experimentally observed spectral features of HXeH, HXeCl, HXeBr, and HXeOH. The most intense bands of the HXeY molecules, the Xe−H stretching modes, are found to be highly anharmonic. In general, the other fundamental modes presented anharmonic effects to a lesser extent. New predictions of overtone and combination vibrations are made to help experimental investigations of these molecules. It is shown that vibrational spectroscopy calculations are reliable and useful for analyzing the spectral features of rare-gas-containing molecules. While the results of the MP2/CC-VSCF calculations are in much better agreement with experiments than the corresponding harmonic frequencies, substant...

Anharmonic correlation-corrected vibrational self-consistent-field (CC–VSCF) calculations are reported for the neutral HXeI molecule. Fundamental, overtone and combination frequencies and their absorption intensities are computed, and compared with previous and new experimental data from FTIR matrix isolation measurements. Agreement between experiment and calculations extend the identification of the HXeI molecule, and the calculations prove useful in aiding assignment of new observed transitions. The results show that especially the Xe–H bond of HXeI is highly anharmonic. While the agreement between theory and experiment is useful for assignment, quantitative discrepancies still remain due to the deficiency of MP2 theory to describe the highly anharmonic surface.

An algorithm for first-principles calculation of vibrational spectroscopy of polyatomic molecules is proposed, which combines electronic ab initio codes with the vibrational self-consistent field (VSCF) method, and with a perturbation-theoretic extension of VSCF. The integrated method directly uses points on the potential energy surface, computed from the electronic ab initio code, in the VSCF part. No fitting of an analytic potential function is involved. A key element in the approach is the approximation that only interactions between pairs of normal modes are important, while interactions of triples or more can be neglected. This assumption was found to hold well in applications. The new algorithm was applied to the fundamental vibrational excitations of H2O, Cl−(H2O), and (H2O)2, using the Moller–Plesset method for the electronic structure. The vibrational frequencies found are in very good accord with experiments. Estimates suggest that this electronic ab initio/VSCF approach should be feasible, with...

Multireference wave functions, augmented by second-order perturbation theory, are used to examine the hydrogen transfer process in the ground and first excited states of 7-azaindole and in the 1:1 7-azaindole:water complex. The presence of one water molecule dramatically reduces the barrier to proton transfer in both electronic states. In the excited state the order of the two tautomers is reversed, and the barrier for the hydrogen transfer from the (now higher energy) normal structure to the tautomer in the presence of one water is estimated to be ≤6 kcal/mol.

Fragments of the C 2v , C ∞v , and C s AlH 2 potential energy surfaces have been studied. The kinetic stability of the most stable ( 2 B 2 ) van der Waals complex has been considered with respect to its rearrangement to the lower lying AlH 2 2 A 1 hydride. The Al H 2 ( 2 B 2 ) complex is found to be kinetically stable. The lowest energy crossing between these states is estimated to occur at about 30 kcal/mol above the Al + H 2 dissociation limit. The C s 2 A′ potential energy surfaces exhibit very little change in electronic configurations compared with their parent C 2v 2 B 2 and 2 A 1 states. This, combined with the high energy of the crossing point, suggests that the probability for the adiabatic reaction Al H 2 ( 2 B 2 ) →AlH 2 ( 2 A 1 ) through an avoided crossing is very low.

The energies and derivative couplings are computed in the vicinity of the 12A‘−22A‘ seam of conical intersections for AlH2. It is shown that the reaction path for the decomposition of excited vibrational levels of AlH2(X2A1) to Al + H2 passes quite close to the minimum energy crossing point (MECP), the minimum energy point on the seam of conical intersections. Near the MECP the seam of conical intersections exhibits an unusual trifurcation with a C2v portion dividing into a branch that preserves C2v symmetry and two symmetry equivalent branches that have only Cs symmetry.

The kinetic stability with respect to dissociation to two NO molecules was studied for several high-energy isomers of N2O2 using multiconfigurational wave functions. All of these isomers are 50−80 kcal/mol higher in energy than 2NO. Three N2O2 isomers (a four-membered D2h isomer, a planar C2v isomer, and a bicyclic C2v isomer) are found to be kinetically stable: the estimated barriers to dissociation are about 40 kcal/mol for the D2h isomer and about 20 kcal/mol for each of the other two isomers. Reaction paths for their dissociation were determined using the intrinsic reaction coordinate method and multiconfigurational wave functions.

This paper illustrates the utility of combining high-quality electronic structure calculations, methods for determining reaction paths, and direct dynamics methods for studying ab initio trajectories on the fly to develop an understanding of complex chemical reactions. The combined methods are applied to the pseudorotation in SiH5-, competing dissociation paths for N2O2, the dissociation of FN3 into NF + N2, and the potential energy surfaces for AlH2. These DRP results may be thought of as samples of what dynamical processes can be encountered on each potential energy surface.

The potential stability of van der Waals complexes M−H2 (M = Li, Be, B, C, Na, Mg, Al, Si) is assessed using quadratic configuration interaction and large basis sets. It is found that the alkali metals and alkaline earths form very weak complexes in their ground states, but much stronger complexes in their (p) excited states. The elements B, Al, C, and Si form both linear (C∞v) and perpendicular (C2v) complexes, with greater thermodynamic stability in the latter arrangements. The complexes formed by C are likely to be kinetically unstable, and the same may be the case for Si. On the other hand, the complexes formed by B and Al are predicted to be quite stable.

The potential energy surfaces for the N3F molecule have been studied using multiconfigurational wave functions. Two new isomers were found, one on the singlet (1A′) and one on the triplet (3A″) surface. Both isomers have a three‐membered cyclic structure and Cs symmetry. The singlet cyclic isomer is endoergic relative to the open fluorine azide by 15–17 kcal/mol. Its kinetic stability is close to the stability of the open isomer: the barrier separating the cyclic isomer from the dissociation products N2(X 1Σ+g)+NF(a 1Δ) is about 13–17 kcal/mol and is lower than the barrier to isomerization. The triplet cyclic isomer is much higher in energy (about 70 kcal/mol), with a barrier to dissociation to N2(X 1Σ+g)+NF(X 3Σ−) on the order of 15 kcal/mol. Crossings of the 1A′ and the 3A″ surfaces may allow the cyclic singlet isomer to predissociate to the ground state products, N2(X 1Σ+g)+NF(X 3Σ−). It is shown, however, that the singlet–triplet surface of intersection lies ‘behind’ the barrier to singlet decompositi...

C3 is an important boundary layer constituent formed during the return to Earth of a spacecraft with a carbonaceous ablating heat shield. It has two prominent spectral features in absorption, in the UV and VUV wavelength ranges, that could absorb shock-layer radiation impinging on the bow heat shield of the spacecraft. The ground and relevant excited electronic state potential energy surfaces have been determined from accurate quantum mechanical calculations. Using the results of these calculations, the wavelengths and intensities of the C3 absorption bands in the wavelength range 160-4500 nm can be determined for temperatures of 3000-5000 K. This paper contains a description of these potential energy surfaces.

Dissociation and vibrational-rotational energy transfer rate coefficients are computed for high-temperature N2 under conditions expected for re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere at 10-12 km/s. The calculations utilize classical mechanics to simulate individual collisions between two N2 molecules and an accurate quantum chemical potential energy surface to describe the interatomic forces between the four nitrogen atoms. (v,J)-specific cross sections are computed and combined into internal energy bins using a coarse-grain lumping model to generate rate coefficients for translational temperatures between 1000 K and 50,000 K. Thermal equilibrium rate coefficients are compared with available experimental data.

We have calculated frequencies and intensities of fundamental and overtone vibrational transitions in water and water dimer with use of different vibrational methods. We have compared results obtained with correlation-corrected vibrational self-consistent-field theory and vibrational second-order perturbation theory both using normal modes and finally with a harmonically coupled anharmonic oscillator local mode model including OH-stretching and HOH-bending local modes. The coupled cluster with singles, doubles, and perturbative triples ab initio method with augmented correlation-consistent triple-zeta Dunning and atomic natural orbital basis sets has been used to obtain the necessary potential energy and dipole moment surfaces. We identify the strengths and weaknesses of these different vibrational approaches and compare our results to the available experimental results.

Although heterogeneous chemistry on surfaces in the troposphere is known to be important, there are currently only a few techniques available for studying the nature of surface-adsorbed species as well as their chemistry and photochemistry under atmospheric conditions of 1 atm pressure and in the presence of water vapor. We report here a new laboratory approach using a combination of long path Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and attenuated total reflectance (ATR) FTIR that allows the simultaneous observation and measurement of gases and surface species. Theory is used to identify the surface-adsorbed intermediates and products, and to estimate their relative concentrations. At intermediate relative humidities typical of the tropospheric boundary layer, the nitric acid formed during NO2 heterogeneous hydrolysis is shown to exist both as nitrate ions from the dissociation of nitric acid formed on the surface and as molecular nitric acid. In both cases, the ions and HNO3 are complexed to water molecules. Upon pumping, water is selectively removed, shifting the NO(3-)-HNO3(H2O)y equilibria toward more dehydrated forms of HNO3 and ultimately to nitric acid dimers. Irradiation of the nitric acid-water film using 300-400 nm radiation generates gaseous NO, while irradiation at 254 nm generates both NO and HONO, resulting in conversion of surface-adsorbed nitrogen oxides into photochemically active NO(x). These studies suggest that the assumption that deposition or formation of nitric acid provides a permanent removal mechanism from the atmosphere may not be correct. Furthermore, a potential role of surface-adsorbed nitric acid and other species formed during the heterogeneous hydrolysis of NO2 in the oxidation of organics on surfaces, and in the generation of gas-phase HONO on local to global scales, should be considered.

Photochemical processes in HNO3, HNO3-H2O, and cis- and trans-HONO following overtone excitation of the OH stretching mode are studied by classical trajectory simulations. Initial conditions for the trajectories are sampled according to the initially prepared vibrational wave function. Semiempirical potential energy surfaces are used in "on-the-fly" simulations. Several tests indicate at least semiquantitative validity of the potential surfaces employed. A number of interesting new processes and intermediate species are found. The main results include the following: (1) In excitation of HNO3 to the fifth and sixth OH-stretch overtone, hopping of the H atom between the oxygen atoms is found to take place in nearly all trajectories, and can persist for many picoseconds. H-atom hopping events have a higher yield and a faster time scale than the photodissociation of HNO3 into OH and NO2. (2) A fraction of the trajectories for HNO3 show isomerization into HOONO, which in a few cases dissociates into HOO and NO. (3) For high overtone excitation of HONO, isomerization into the weakly bound species HOON is seen in all trajectories, in part of the events as an intermediate step on the way to dissociation into OH + NO. This process has not been reported previously. Well-established processes for HONO, including cis-trans isomerization and H hopping are also observed. (4) Only low overtone levels of HNO3-H2O have sufficiently long liftimes to be spectrocopically relevant. Excitation of these OH stretching overtones is found to result in the dissociation of the cluster H hopping, or dissociation of HNO3 does not take place. The results demonstrate the richness of processes induced by overtone excitation of HNO(x) species, with evidence for new phenomena. Possible relevance of the results to atmospheric processes is discussed.

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the methods for computing directly the anharmonic vibrational spectra of polyatomic molecules from potential surface points obtained from electronic structure theory. The focus is laid on the state of the art of the methodology, on the approximations and the algorithms involved and their limitations, and on the scaling of the computational effort with the number of vibrational modes. The performance of different electronic structure methods in obtaining accurate vibrational spectra is assessed by comparing the theoretical predictions with experiment for various test cases. Vibrational spectroscopy is a tool of great importance for identifying molecular species, exploring their properties, and learning about their potential energy surfaces. A variety of methods for performing anharmonic vibrational spectroscopy computations were developed to address these and related systems. At the early stages, essentially all the methods were developed for potential surfaces available as explicit analytic functions of the coordinates. Some of the many open problems and challenges in this field have also been discussed in the chapter.

Anharmonic vibrational frequencies and intensities are computed for hydrogen fluoride clusters (HF)n, with n = 3, 4 and mixed clusters of hydrogen fluoride with water (HF)n(H2O)n where n = 1, 2. For the (HF)4(H2O)4 complex, the vibrational spectra are calculated at the harmonic level, and anharmonic effects are estimated. Potential energy surfaces for these systems are obtained at the MP2/TZP level of electronic structure theory. Vibrational states are calculated from the potential surface points using the correlation-corrected vibrational self-consistent field method. The method accounts for the anharmonicities and couplings between all vibrational modes and provides fairly accurate anharmonic vibrational spectra that can be directly compared with experimental results without a need for empirical scaling. For (HF)n, good agreement is found with experimental data. This agreement shows that the Moller-Plesset (MP2) potential surfaces for these systems are reasonably reliable. The accuracy is best for the stiff intramolecular modes, which indicates the validity of MP2 in describing coupling between intramolecular and intermolecular degrees of freedom. For (HF)n(H2O)n experimental results are unavailable. The computed intramolecular frequencies show a strong dependence on cluster size. Intensity features are predicted for future experiments.

HHeF, a first predicted chemically-bound helium compound, is a metastable species that disintegrates by tunneling through energy barriers into He+HF and H+He+F. The reaction paths for these decomposition processes are calculated with single-configurational Moller-Plesset (MP2) and multiconfigurational quasidegenerate MCQDPT2/MCSCF(10,6) electronic structure methods. The lifetime of HHeF, estimated using a one-dimensional model along the minimum energy path and the semiclassical WKB approximation, is more than 120 ps, that of DHeF is 14 ns. The relatively long lifetimes are encouraging for the preparation prospects of this helium compound.

In order to study the effects of hydrogen bonding on the spectroscopic properties of (NH3)(HF) and (NH3)(DF) complexes, vibrational spectra (including fundamental, overtone and combination transitions) were calculated using the vibrational self consistent field (VSCF) method. This ab initio VSCF method accounts for both one-dimensional anharmonicity and pair-wise mode-mode couplings for all vibrational modes of the molecule, using points on the potential energy surface (at the MP2/TZP level of theory in this study). An analysis of the coupling strength shows surprisingly important coupling effects from pair-wise interactions not expected to be major. This indicates the benefits of including all pair-wise mode-mode couplings for weakly bound systems. Hydrogen bonding induces approximately 20% red shifts for the HF and DF stretch frequencies. The corrections due to anharmonicity for these modes are -6% and -5%, respectively. The anharmonic corrections for the intermolecular stretch of (NH3)(HF) and (NH3)(DF) are each about -5%. The NH3 umbrella motion has virtually no anharmonic correction in the complex, whereas free ammonia experiences a -15% correction. Also, the closing motion as well as the opening motion is restricted. The 1 + 1 combination transition of the proton stretching and intermolecular stretching modes has remarkably large intensity, larger even than the intensities for the first overtone of the proton stretching modes. The anharmonic frequency for the fundamental HF stretch, 3268 cm(-1), is in good agreement with the experimental gas phase result, 3215 cm(-1). A comparison to solid rare-gas matrix data shows that the VSCF frequencies are a consistent improvement over the harmonic approximation. The experimental data also support the use of the MP2 level of theory for the associated electronic structure calculations.

A modification of the semi-empirical PM3 electronic structure method is proposed. It employs a coordinate scaling procedure, such that the harmonic frequencies from the modified PM3 potentials for lower-energy conformers of glycine (conformer I), alanine (conformers I and II) and proline (conformer II), fit more closely with ab initio (MP2/DZP) harmonic frequencies. The anharmonic frequencies are then calculated using the modified PM3 surfaces with the Vibrational Self-Consistent Field (VSCF) and Correlation-Corrected VSCF (CC-VSCF) methods. The computed anharmonic frequencies are in very good accord with spectroscopic experiments for the three amino acids. The results are much superior to those obtained from standard (unscaled) PM3 potentials, indicating that the modified PM3 potentials may be used as high quality potentials for biological molecules, at least in the configuration ranges pertinent to vibrational spectroscopy. The scaling parameters computed for the lowest energy conformers listed above were tested for transferability: they were used in computing the anharmonic spectra of two other conformers (glycine II and proline I). The good agreement of the resulting frequencies with observed frequencies, indicates the transferability of the scaling parameters. It is concluded from this study that the improved PM3 potentials offer accurate and computationally efficient force fields for vibrational spectroscopy calculations of biological molecules. Possible additional applications of the new potentials are discussed.