The molecular intrinsic characteristic contours (MICCs) of some small organic molecules

Investigation of the distinction between van der Waals interaction and chemical bonding based on the PAEM-MO diagram

In recent years, the basic problem of understanding chemical bonding, nonbonded, and/or van der Waals interactions has been intensively debated in terms of various theoretical methods. We propose and construct the potential acting on one electron in a molecule-molecular orbital (PAEM-MO) diagram, which draws the PAEM inserted the MO energy levels with their major atomic orbital components. PAEM-MO diagram is able to show clear distinction of chemical bonding from nonbonded and/or vdW interactions. The rule for this is as follows. Along the line connecting two atoms in a molecule or a complex, the existence of chemical bonding between these two atoms needs to satisfy two conditions: (a) a critical point of PAEM exists and (b) PAEM barrier between the two atoms is lower in energy than the occupied major valence-shell bonding MO which contains in-phase atomic components (positive overlap) of the two considered atoms. In contrast to the chemical bonding, for a nonbonded interaction or van der Waals interaction between two atoms, both conditions (a) and (b) do not be satisfied at the same time. This is demonstrated and discussed by various typical cases, particularly those related to helium atom and H-H bonding in phenanthrene. There are helium bonds in HHeF and HeBeO molecules, whereas no H-H bonding in phenanthrene. The validity and limitation for this rule is demonstrated through the investigations of the curves of the PAEM barrier top and MO energies versus the internuclear distances for He2 , H2 , and He2 (+) systems.

ANAB INITIOSTUDY OF PROTON-TRANSFER REACTION INBe2+(H2O)nAND THE SPATIAL CHANGING FEATURE IN THE FORMATION PROCESS OF HYDROXIDE

The proton-transfer reaction in Be2+( H2O )nis investigated by an ab initio calculation. With an increasing number of water molecules, there are different formation processes of hydroxide, and the reaction barrier is dependent on the cluster size n. By MELD ab initio program and own-coding programs, we have calculated the potential acting on an electron within a molecule, and have investigated the changing of spatial appearance for the formation process of hydroxide, by the molecular intrinsic characteristic contour defined in terms of the classical turning point of electron movement.

Investigation of the molecular surface area and volume: Defined and calculated by the molecular face theory

Based on the molecular face (MF) theory, the molecular face surface area (MFSA) and molecular face volume (MFV) are defined. For a variety of organic molecules and several inorganic molecules, the MFSA and MFV have been studied and calculated in terms of an algorithm of our own via the Matlab package. The MFV shows a very good linear relationship with the experimentally measured critical molar volume. It is also found that the MFSA and MFV have significant linear correlations with those of the commonly used hard-sphere model and the electron density isosurface.

The relations of bond length and force constant with the potential acting on an electron in a molecule

Within a molecule, the potential acting on an electron (PAEM) is defined as the interaction energy of a local electron with the rest of the particles, i.e., all nuclei and remaining electrons. The formalism of the PAEM is first derived, and the calculated PAEMs are then obtained by using the ab initio program based on the MELD program package for a series of diatomic halides, namely, HX, LiX, NaX, and X(2) molecules (X= F, Cl, Br, and I), as well as H(2)O and NH(3), and some organic molecules. By comparing the 3D topological graphs of the PAEMs, we found that there is a saddle point along every chemical bond axis. Further, the good linear correlations of the force constant and bond length with the PAEMs are explored through a definition of D(pb), which is the absolute value (i.e., the negative) of the PAEM at the saddle point along the chemical bond axis. In addition, the difference between the PAEM and molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) is pointed out by analyzing both their definitions and numerical results.

Computational Study on the Reaction CH2CH2 + F → CH2CHF + H

Previous ab initio studies on reactions involving radical addition to alkenes showed that such reactions are very sensitive to theoretical levels, and thus are difficult to deal with. This motivates us to theoretically reexamine the title reaction thoroughly, which has been studied only at several low levels of theory. In the present work, the geometry optimizations and energy calculations for all species involved in the title reaction were performed at several high levels of theory. The reaction mechanism of the title reaction is discussed at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVDZ//CCSD/6-31G(d,p) theoretical level. According to our study, the fluorine addition to ethylene occurs via the formation of a prereaction complex with C2v symmetry, which is pointed out for the first time. The prereaction complex evolves into a fluoroethyl radical almost without a barrier, with an exothermicity of 41.49 kcal/mol. The fluoroethyl radical can further decompose into a hydrogen atom and fluoroethylene, with an energy release of 10.33 kcal/mol. Besides the direct departure of the hydrogen atom from the fluoroethyl radical, an indirect decomposition pathway may also be open, which has not been reported before. In addition, the formation of a fluoroethyl radical from a separate fluorine atom and ethylene is described pictorially via the molecular intrinsic characteristic contour (MICC) and the electron density mapped on it. Thereby, strong interpolarization and evident electron transfer between the fluorine atom and ethylene are observed as they approach each other. The transition structure for the fluorine addition to ethylene is clearly shown to be reactant-like. This provides new and intuitional insight into the title reaction.

Polarization and bonding of the intrinsic characteristic contours of hydrogen and fluorine atoms of forming a hydrogen fluoride molecule based on anab initiostudy

The spatial changing feature of the shapes and sizes of the system consisted of one hydrogen atom and one fluorine atom of forming a hydrogen fluoride molecule is investigated. We give formalism of the potential acting on an electron in a molecule and derive its concrete expression in Hartree-Fock self-consistent molecular orbital theory including configuration interaction. The program of calculating the potential acting on an electron in a molecule is programmed and compiled in the framework of the MELD program package. We formulate briefly the approach of the molecular intrinsic characteristic contour (MICC) which is defined in terms of the classical turning points of electronic motion. The MICC for a molecular system is intrinsic and can be calculated by means of an ab initio CI method. Then, the polarization and bonding features of the intrinsic characteristic contours of hydrogen and fluorine atoms forming a hydrogen fluoride molecule are presented and discussed from ab initio calculations. Furthermore, electron density distribution as an added dimension has been demonstrated on the changing MICC and thus the vivid polarization and bonding features for a chemical process have been shown. It seems that at the early stage (internuclear distance Ind=5.0-20.0 a.u.) the fluorine atom gives more enthusiastic with the sensitive and expanded polarization to welcome coupling with the hydrogen atom while the latter has little response even "shy" with shrinking a bit its size at the beginning of putting the two atoms into a system and it is only around the critical point, the contact point (Ind=4.73 a.u.), that both of them stretch their hands and arms to meet and then fuse together.

Method and algorithm of obtaining the molecular intrinsic characteristic contours (MICCs) of organic molecules

The molecular intrinsic characteristic contour (MICC) is defined as the set of all the classical turning points of electron movement in a molecule. Studies on the MICCs of some medium organic molecules, such as dimethylether, acetone, and some homologues of alkanes, alkenes, and alkynes, as well as the electron density distributions on the MICCs, are shown for the first time. Results show that the MICC is an intrinsic approach to shape and size of a molecule. Unlike the van der Waals hard-sphere model, the MICC is a smooth contour, and it has a clear physical meaning. Detailed investigations on the cross-sections of MICCs have provided a kind of important information about atomic size changing in the process of forming molecules. Studies on electron density distribution on the MICC not only provide a new insight into molecular shape, but also show that the electron density distribution on the boundary surface relates closely with molecular properties and reactivities. For the homologues of alkanes, Rout(H), Dmin, and Dmax (the minimum and maximum of electron density on the MICC), all have very good linear relationships with minus of the molecular ionization potential. This work may serve as a basis for exploring a new reactivity indicator of chemical reactions and for studying molecular shape properties of large organic and biological molecules.