Taming the Electronic Structure of Lead and Eka-lead (Flerovium) by the Relativistic Coupled Cluster Method

Theoretical Search for the Highest Valence States of the Coinage Metals: Roentgenium Heptafluoride May Exist

We present here a relativistic density functional theory investigation of the penta- and heptavalent states of gold and roentgenium, employing the ZORA (zeroth order regular approximation to the Dirac equation) Hamiltonian, including spin-orbit coupling at the two-component level, and large all-electron relativistic Slater-type quadruple-ζ quadruple polarization (ZORA-STO-QZ4P) basis sets. Unsurprisingly, our calculations confirm the stability of the experimentally known complexes AuF₆^- and Au₂F₁₀ with respect to decomposition to trivalent Au products and F₂. The calculations also predict that RgF₆^- and Rg₂F₁₀ should be even more stable with respect to an analogous decomposition pathway. Like an earlier DFT study ( Inorg. Chem. 2007, 46 (13), 5338-5342), our calculations rule out the true heptavalent Au complex AuF₇ as a stable species, preferring instead a C_s AuF₅···F₂ formulation. Remarkably, our calculations confirm a D_{5 h} pentagonal-bipyramidal structure of RgF₇ as the global minimum, at an energy of approximately half an electron volt below the RgF₅···F₂ form.

Reappraisal of nuclear quadrupole moments of atomic halogens via relativistic coupled cluster linear response theory for the ionization process

The coupled cluster based linear response theory (CCLRT) with four-component relativistic spinors is employed to compute the electric field gradients (EFG) of (35)Cl, (79)Br, and (127)I nuclei. The EFGs resulting from these calculations are combined with experimental nuclear quadrupole coupling constants (NQCC) to determine the nuclear quadrupole moments (NQM), Q of the halide nuclei. Our estimated NQMs [(35)Cl = -81.12 mb, (79)Br = 307.98 mb, and (127)I = -688.22 mb] agree well with the new atomic values [(35)Cl = -81.1(1.2), (79)Br = 302(5), and (127)I = -680(10) mb] obtained via Fock space multireference coupled cluster method with the Dirac-Coulomb-Breit Hamiltonian. Although our estimated Q((79)Br) value deviates from the accepted reference value of 313(3) mb, it agrees well with the recently recommended value, Q((79)Br) = 308.7(20) mb. Good agreement with current reference data indicates the accuracy of the proposed value for these halogen nuclei and lends credence to the results obtained via CCLRT approach. The electron affinities yielded by this method with no extra cost are also in good agreement with experimental values, which bolster our belief that the NQMs values for halogen nuclei derived here are reliable.