The structure and dynamics of crystalline durene by neutron scattering and numerical modelling using density functional methods

An INS study of entrapped organic cations within the micropores of zeolite RTH

INS experiments and DFT calculations allow identifying rotational constraints of organic molecules occluded in zeolite micropores.

X-ray diffraction and inelastic neutron scattering study of 1:1 tetramethylpyrazine chloranilic acid complex: temperature, isotope, and pressure effects

The x-ray diffraction studies of the title complex were carried out at room temperature and 14 K for H/D (in hydrogen bridge) isotopomers. At 82 K a phase transition takes place leading to a doubling of unit cells and alternation of the hydrogen bond lengths linking tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) and chloranilic acid molecules. A marked H/D isotope effect on these lengths was found at room temperature. The elongation is much smaller at 14 K. The infrared isotopic ratio for O-H(D)...N bands equals to 1.33. The four tunnel splittings of methyl librational ground states of the protonated complex required by the structure are determined at a temperature T=4.2 K up to pressures P=4.7 kbars by high resolution neutron spectroscopy. The tunnel mode at 20.6 microeV at ambient pressure shifts smoothly to 12.2 microeV at P=3.4 kbars. This is attributed to an increase of the strength of the rotational potential proportional to r(-5.6). The three other tunnel peaks show no or weak shifts only. The increasing interaction with diminishing intermolecular distances is assumed to be compensated by a charge transfer between the constituents of deltae/e approximately 0.02 kbar(-1). The phase transition observed between 3.4 and 4.7 kbars leads to increased symmetry with only two more intense tunneling bands. In the isotopomer with deuterated hydrogen bonds and P=1 bar all tunnel intensities become equal in consistency with the low temperature crystal structure. The effect of charge transfer is confirmed by a weakening of rotational potentials for those methyl groups whose tunnel splittings were independent of pressure. Density functional theory calculations for the model TMP.(HF)2 complex and fully ionized molecule TMP+ point out that the intramolecular rotational potential of methyl groups is weaker in the charged species. They do not allow for the unequivocal conclusions about the role of the intermolecular charge transfer effect on the torsional frequencies.

Low frequency internal modes of 1,2,4,5-tetramethylbenzene, tetramethylpyrazine and tetramethyl-1,4-benzoquinone INS, Raman, infrared and theoretical DFT studies

The results of inelastic neutron scattering (INS), Raman and infrared (IR) studies on 1,2,4,5-tetramethylbenzene (durene), tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) and tetramethyl-1,4-benzoquinone (TMBQ) in the solid state are reported. The observed frequencies are analyzed on the basis of DFT calculations. The low frequency region, below 400 cm(-1), related to the torsional and bending out-of-plane vibrations of the CH(3) groups, is of particular interest. The detailed analysis is possible due to the simulation of the INS spectra by using the auntie-CLIMAX program. It is shown that the observed low frequency INS bands are dramatically shifted, compared to the calculated ones, towards higher frequencies. Although one cannot exclude deficiencies of theoretical methods as applied to low frequency modes, it seems more probable the interpretation based on an existence of non-conventional CH(...)pi, CH(...)N, CH(...)O hydrogen bonds formed by the methyl groups in crystalline phases.

Electric field-derived point charges to mimic the electrostatics in molecular crystals

Because of the way the electrostatic potential is defined in a crystal, it is not possible to determine potential-derived charges for atoms in a crystal. To overcome this limitation, we present a novel method for determining atomic charges for a molecule in a crystal based on a fit to the electric field at points on a surface around the molecule. Examples of fits to the electric field at points on a Hirshfeld surface, using crystal Hartree-Fock electron densities computed with a DZP basis set are presented for several organic molecular crystals. The field-derived charges for common functional groups are transferable, and reflect chemical functionality as well as the subtle effects of intermolecular interactions. The charges also yield an excellent approximation to the electric field surrounding a molecule in a crystal for use in cluster calculations on molecules in solids.

Rotational tunneling of methyl groups in low temperature phases of mesitylene: potentials and structural implications

Mesitylene can be stabilized at He temperature in three solid phases of so far unknown crystal structures. Rotational tunneling of methyl groups is based on rotational potentials and used to characterize structural aspects. In phase III found after the first fast cooling of the sample three nonequivalent methyl rotors with splittings of 2.7, 4.1 and 16.3 microeV are observed. Three other unresolved bands are identified by their librational modes. In the second phase II the metastability is emphasized by tunneling energies still changing at temperatures T< or = 12 K. Above this temperature tunneling bands at 6.6, 12.5, 15.0 and 18.3 microeV evolve in the manner characteristic of coupling to phonons. In the equilibrium phase I a single tunnel splitting of 10.2 microeV represents all methyl groups. A unit cell containing a single molecule at a site of threefold symmetry explains quantitatively this spectrum. Phases II and III most likely contain two nonequivalent molecules in the unit cell with no local symmetry in phase II and a mirror plane in phase III. The good moderator properties for neutrons are most likely not connected to the low energy tunneling bands but to a dense vibrational phonon density of states.