Molecular analysis of water clusters: Calculation of the cluster structures and vibrational spectrum using density functional theory

Hydration Shell Model for Expeditious and Reliable Individual Hydrogen Bond Energies in Large Water Clusters

Recently, we have developed and tested a method, based on the molecular tailoring approach (MTA-based) to directly estimate the individual hydrogen bond (HB) energies in molecular clusters. Application of this...

Molecular polarizability investigation of polar solvents: water, ethanol, and acetone at terahertz frequencies using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy

In this paper, we present the application of transmissive terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy for determining molecular polarizability for three widely applied solvents: water, ethanol, and acetone. Molecular polarizabilities of those solvents are obtained from the refractive index by using the Lorentz-Lorenz equation. The measured THz molecular polarizabilities are comparable with theoretical values estimated with both the first principle calculation and the atomic polarizability additive model. The THz spectra are presented over frequencies ranging from 0.3 to 1.2 THz (10-40cm^-1). The molecular polarizability at 1.0 THz is determined as 3.81±0.03, 7.04±0.07, and 7.9±0.2ų for water, ethanol, and acetone, respectively.

Density function theory (DFT) calculated infrared absorption spectra for nitrosamines

Absorption spectra within the infrared (IR) range of frequencies for nitrosamines in water are calculated using density function theory (DFT). Calculated in this study, are the IR spectra of C₂H₆N₂O, C₄H₁₀N₂O, C₆H₁₄N₂O, C₄H₈N₂O, C₃H₈N₂O, and C₈H₁₈N₂O. DFT calculated absorption spectra corresponding to vibration excited states of these molecules in continuous water background can be correlated with additional information obtained from laboratory measurements. The DFT software Gaussian was used for the calculations of excited states presented here. This case study provides proof of concept, viz., that such DFT calculated spectra can be used for their practical detection in environmental samples. Thus, DFT calculated spectra may be used to construct templates, for spectral-feature comparison, and thus detection of spectral-signature features associated with target materials.

Different Ways of Hydrogen Bonding in Water - Why Does Warm Water Freeze Faster than Cold Water?

The properties of liquid water are intimately related to the H-bond network among the individual water molecules. Utilizing vibrational spectroscopy and modeling water with DFT-optimized water clusters (6-mers and 50-mers), 16 out of a possible 36 different types of H-bonds are identified and ordered according to their intrinsic strength. The strongest H-bonds are obtained as a result of a concerted push-pull effect of four peripheral water molecules, which polarize the electron density in a way that supports charge transfer and partial covalent character of the targeted H-bond. For water molecules with tetra- and pentacoordinated O atoms, H-bonding is often associated with a geometrically unfavorable positioning of the acceptor lone pair and donor σ^*(OH) orbitals so that electrostatic rather than covalent interactions increasingly dominate H-bonding. There is a striking linear dependence between the intrinsic strength of H-bonding as measured by the local H-bond stretching force constant and the delocalization energy associated with charge transfer. Molecular dynamics simulations for 1000-mers reveal that with increasing temperature weak, preferentially electrostatic H-bonds are broken, whereas the number of strong H-bonds increases. An explanation for the question why warm water freezes faster than cold water is given on a molecular basis.