Relativistic Effects in Heavy-Element Chemistry

Implicit solvation in domain based pair natural orbital coupled cluster (DLPNO-CCSD) theory

A nearly linear scaling implementation of coupled-cluster with singles and doubles excitations (CCSD) can be achieved by means of the domain-based local pair natural orbital (DLPNO) method. The combination of DLPNO-CCSD with implicit solvation methods allows the calculation of accurate energies and chemical properties of solvated systems at an affordable computational cost. We have efficiently implemented different schemes within the conductor-like polarizable continuum model (C-PCM) for DLPNO-CCSD in the ORCA quantum chemistry suite. In our implementation, the overhead due to the additional solvent terms amounts to less than 5% of the time the equivalent gas phase job takes. Our results for organic neutrals and open-shell ions in water show that for most systems, adding solvation terms to the coupled-cluster amplitudes equations and to the energy leads to small changes in the total energy compared to only considering solvated orbitals and corrections to the reference energy. However, when the solute contains certain functional groups, such as carbonyl or nitrile groups, the changes in the energy are larger and estimated to be around 0.04 and 0.02 kcal/mol for each carbonyl and nitrile group in the solute, respectively. For solutes containing metals, the use of accurate CC/C-PCM schemes is crucial to account for correlation solvation effects. Simultaneously, we have calculated the electrostatic component of the solvation energy for neutrals and ions in water for the different DLPNO-CCSD/C-PCM schemes. We observe negligible changes in the deviation between DLPNO-CCSD and canonical-CCSD data. Here, DLPNO-CCSD results outperform those for Hartree-Fock and density functional theory calculations.

A Review of Density Functional Models for the Description of Fe(II) Spin-Crossover Complexes

Spin-crossover (SCO) materials have for more than 30 years stood out for their vast application potential in memory, sensing and display devices. To reach magnetic multistability conditions, the high-spin (HS) and low-spin (LS) states have to be carefully balanced by ligand field stabilization and spin-pairing energies. Both effects could be effectively modelled by electronic structure theory, if the description would be accurate enough to describe these concurrent influences to within a few kJ/mol. Such a milestone would allow for the in silico-driven development of SCO complexes. However, so far, the ab initio simulation of such systems has been dominated by general gradient approximation density functional calculations. The latter can only provide the right answer for the wrong reasons, given that the LS states are grossly over-stabilized. In this contribution, we explore different venues for the parameterization of hybrid functionals. A fitting set is provided on the basis of explicitly correlated coupled cluster calculations, with single- and multi-dimensional fitting approaches being tested to selected classes of hybrid functionals (hybrid, range-separated, and local hybrid). Promising agreement to benchmark data is found for a rescaled PBE0 hybrid functional and a local version thereof, with a discussion of different atomic exchange factors.

Detailed Pair Natural Orbital-Based Coupled Cluster Studies of Spin Crossover Energetics

In this work, a detailed study of spin-state splittings in three spin crossover model compounds with DLPNO-CCSD(T) is presented. The performance in comparison to canonical CCSD(T) is assessed in detail. It was found that spin-state splittings with chemical accuracy, compared to the canonical results, are achieved when the full iterative triples (T1) scheme and TightPNO settings are applied and relativistic effects are taken into account. Having established the level of accuracy that can be reached relative to the canonical results, we have undertaken a detailed basis set study in the second part of the study. The slow convergence of the results of correlated calculations with respect to basis set extension is particularly acute for spin-state splittings for reasons discussed in detail in this Article. In fact, for some of the studied systems, 5Z basis sets are necessary in order to come close to the basis set limit that is estimated here by basis set extrapolation. Finally, the results of the present work are compared to available literature. In general, acceptable agreement with previous CCSD(T) results is found, although notable deviations stemming from differences in methodology and basis sets are noted. It is noted that the published CASPT2 numbers are far away from the extrapolated CCSD(T) numbers. In addition, dynamic quantum Monte Carlo results differ by several tens of kcal/mol from the CCSD(T) numbers. A comparison to DFT results produced with a range of popular density functionals shows the expected scattering of results and showcases the difficulty of applying DFT to spin-state energies.

The high covalence of metal-ligand bonds as stability limiting factor: the case of Rh(IX)O4+ and Rh(IX)NO3

Rhodium, a 4d transition metal and a lighter analogue of iridium, is known to exhibit its highest VIth oxidation state in RhF₆ molecule. In this report, the stability and decomposition pathways of two species containing rhodium at a potentially formal +IX oxidation state, [RhO₄]⁺ and RhNO₃, have been investigated theoretically within the framework of the relativistic two-component Hamiltonian calculations. Possible rearrangement into isomers featuring lower formal oxidation numbers has been explored. We found that both species studied are metastable with respect to elimination of O₂ or NO. However, the local minima containing Rh(IX) are protected by sufficient energy barriers on the decomposition pathway, and they could in principle be prepared. The analysis of a broader set of compounds containing group 8 and 9 metals in high formal oxidation states that correspond to the group number showed that, in contrast to a standard trend, the limits of formally attainable oxidation state correlate with high level of covalent bonding character in the complexes studied.

Catalytic activity of a new Ru(ii) complex for the hydrogen transfer reaction of acetophenone and N-benzylideneaniline: synthesis, characterization and relativistic DFT approaches

The synthesis and characterization of a new ruthenium(ii) complex containing a hemilabile P^N-ligand are reported.

A Quasirelativistic Two-component Density Functional and Hartree-Fock Program

This work describes the implementation of an efficient two-component quasirelativistic density functional and Hartree-Fock program. The fact that the basis functions are real can be exploited if a special internal representation of operators and density matrices is used. This also leads to a considerable reduction of the effort in the closed shell case. While in most applications to open shell molecules, the noncollinear approach to define a relativistic spin density is preferable, the collinear approach finds its application in the calculation of magnetic anisotropy energies. Linear algebra steps in the SCF procedure have a higher relative weight compared to the nonrelativistic case, therefore some care was necessary to make them fast when parallelizing the code. The quasirelativistic Hamiltonians that have been implemented are the ´zeroth-order regular approximation´ (ZORA) Hamiltonian, the Douglas-Kroll-Hess Hamiltonian up to the sixth order, together with an accurate approximation to treat the picture change effect of the electron interaction, and effective core potential (ECP) matrix elements. Geometry gradients are available for the ZORA and ECP methods.

On the definition of local spin in relativistic and nonrelativistic quantum chemistry

In this work, a survey is given on the definition of electron spin as a local property in nonrelativistic and relativistic quantum chemistry and in wave-function- and density-based theories. In particular, the transition from four-component theory to the two- and one-component Douglas-Kroll-Hess framework with respect to the electronic density is considered. Local spin is an important concept in chemistry comparable to the partial charge concept. It is often applied in transition metal chemistry and especially needed for the description and understanding of the electronic structure of spin-spin interactions in polynuclear clusters. The relevance of spin contamination and the effect of the approximate nature of contemporary density functionals is discussed in the light of results obtained for dinuclear manganese and rhenium model clusters.

Exact decoupling of the Dirac Hamiltonian. I. General theory

Exact decoupling of positive- and negative-energy states in relativistic quantum chemistry is discussed in the framework of unitary transformation techniques. The obscure situation that each scheme of decoupling transformations relies on different, but very special parametrizations of the employed unitary matrices is critically analyzed. By applying the most general power series ansatz for the parametrization of the unitary matrices it is shown that all transformation protocols for decoupling the Dirac Hamiltonian have necessarily to start with an initial free-particle Foldy-Wouthuysen step. The purely numerical iteration scheme applying X-operator techniques to the Barysz-Sadlej-Snijders (BSS) Hamiltonian is compared to the analytical schemes of the Foldy-Wouthuysen (FW) and Douglas-Kroll-Hess (DKH) approaches. Relying on an illegal 1/c expansion of the Dirac Hamiltonian around the nonrelativistic limit, any higher-order FW transformation is in principle ill defined and doomed to fail, irrespective of the specific features of the external potential. It is shown that the DKH method is the only valid analytic unitary transformation scheme for the Dirac Hamiltonian. Its exact infinite-order version can be realized purely numerically by the BSS scheme, which is only able to yield matrix representations of the decoupled Hamiltonian but no analytic expressions for this operator. It is explained why a straightforward numerical iterative extension of the DKH procedure to arbitrary order employing matrix representations is not feasible within standard one-component electronic structure programs. A more sophisticated ansatz based on a symbolical evaluation of the DKH operators via a suitable parser routine is needed instead and introduced in Part II of this work.

Relativistic small-core energy-consistent pseudopotentials for the alkaline-earth elements from Ca to Ra

Small-core ten-valence electron energy-consistent scalar- and two-component relativistic pseudopotentials for the alkaline-earth elements from Ca to Ra are presented. The accuracy and reliability of these pseudopotentials are discussed in terms of their ability to reproduce all-electron calculated and experimental dipole polarizabilities and ionization potentials.

The quadrupole moment of the 3∕2+ nuclear ground state of Au197 from electric field gradient relativistic coupled cluster and density-functional theory of small molecules and the solid state

An attempt is made to improve the currently accepted muonic value for the 197Au nuclear quadrupole moment [+0.547(16)x10(-28) m2] for the 3/2+ nuclear ground state obtained by Powers et al. [Nucl. Phys. A230, 413 (1974)]. From both measured Mossbauer electric quadrupole splittings and solid-state density-functional calculations for a large number of gold compounds a nuclear quadrupole moment of +0.60x10(-28) m2 is obtained. Recent Fourier transform microwave measurements for gas-phase AuF, AuCl, AuBr, and AuI give accurate bond distances and nuclear quadrupole coupling constants for the 197Au isotope. However, four-component relativistic density-functional calculations for these molecules yield unreliable results for the 197Au nuclear quadrupole moment. Relativistic singles-doubles coupled cluster calculations including perturbative triples [CCSD(T) level of theory] for these diatomic systems are also inaccurate because of large cancellation effects between different field gradient contributions subsequently leading to very small field gradients. Here one needs very large basis sets and has to go beyond the standard CCSD(T) procedure to obtain any reliable field gradients for gold. From recent microwave experiments by Gerry and co-workers [Inorg. Chem. 40, 6123 (2001)] a significantly enhanced (197)Au nuclear quadrupole coupling constant in (CO)AuF compared to free AuF is observed. Here, these cancellation effects are less important, and relativistic CCSD(T) calculations finally give a nuclear quadrupole moment of +0.64x10(-28) m2 for 197Au. It is argued that it is currently very difficult to improve on the already published muonic value for the 197Au nuclear quadrupole moment.

All-electron and relativistic pseudopotential studies for the group 1 element polarizabilities from K to element 119

Two-component and scalar relativistic energy-consistent pseudopotentials for the group 1 elements from K to element 119 are presented using nine electrons for the valence space definition. The accuracy of such an approximation is discussed for dipole polarizabilities and ionization potentials obtained at the coupled-cluster level as compared to experimental and all-electron Douglas-Kroll results.

Analytical energy gradient evaluation in relativistic and nonrelativistic density functional calculations

The expressions of analytical energy gradients in density functional theory and their implementation in programs are reported. The evaluation of analytical energy gradients can be carried out in the fully 4-component relativistic, approximate relativistic, and nonrelativistic density functional calculations under local density approximation or general gradient approximation with or without frozen core approximation using different basis sets in our programs. The translational invariance condition and the fact that the one-center terms do not contribute to the energy gradients are utilized to improve the calculation accuracy and to reduce the computational effort. The calculated results of energy gradients and optimized geometry as well as atomization energies of some molecules by the analytical gradient method are in very good agreement with results obtained by the numerical derivative method.

Mixed uranium chloride fluorides UF6-nCln and methoxyuranium fluorides UF6-n(OCH3)n: a theoretical study of equilibrium geometries, vibrational frequencies, and the role of the f orbitals

The title compounds, the uranium (VI) fluoride chlorides (UF6-nCln, n = 0-6) and methoxyuranium (VI) fluorides [UF6-n(OCH3)n, n = 0-5], have been studied using relativistic density functional theory. Applying the B3LYP hybrid functional and an effective core potential on uranium, equilibrium geometries have been calculated for these molecules. In addition, harmonic vibrational frequencies have been computed for the chloride fluorides. Calculated frequencies have been compared to experiment where possible. All experimentally observed bands have been assigned, based on these calculations. The average deviation between theoretical and experimental frequencies is 15.6 cm-1 for 23 experimental modes. Theory always underestimates the experimental frequencies. This can be explained by the calculated bond lengths that are somewhat too long. The electronic structure of the uranium (VI) chloride fluorides has been investigated using scalar relativistic calculations and the PW91 functional. Periodic trends in the role and bonding contribution of the uranium 5f orbitals are discussed.