The N2–N2 system: An experimental potential energy surface and calculated rotovibrational levels of the molecular nitrogen dimer

Exhaustive State-to-State Cross Sections and Rate Coefficients for Inelastic N2-N2 Collisions using QCT Combined with Neural Network Models

Using the quasi-classical trajectory method, we systematically studied the state-to-state vibrational relaxation process of N2(v1) + N2(v2) collisions over a wide temperature range (5000-30,000 K). Different temperature dependencies of the single- and multiquantum VV and VT events in various (v1,v2) collisions are captured, with the dominant channel being related to the initial vibrational energy levels (vmax = 50). At a specified relative translational energy, there is a monotonic relationship of the VT cross sections with the vibrational energy level, particularly in high-energy collisions. Additionally, we constructed well-trained neural network models (R-values reaching 0.99) using limited quasi-classical trajectory (QCT) data sets, which can be used to predict the state-to-state cross sections and rate coefficients of the VV processes N2(v1) + N2(v2) → N2(v1 - Δv) + N2(v2 + Δv) and VT processes N2(v1) + N2(v2) → N2(v1 - Δv) + N2(v2) (Δv = ±1, ±2, ±3) for collisions with arbitrary initial vibrational states. This work not only significantly reduces computational resources but also serves as a reference for the study of the state-to-state dynamics of all four-atom collision systems in hypersonic flows.

Thermodynamics of the van der Waals Dimers of O2, N2 and the Heterodimer (N2)(O2) and Their Presence in Earth's Atmosphere

The dimerization thermodynamics of N2 and O2, the principal components of Earth's atmosphere, have been determined from the respective second virial coefficients of the bound and metastable dimers calculated using the method of Stogryn and Hirschfelder that utilizes the Lennard-Jones (LJ) potential to account for intermolecular interactions. In addition, the thermodynamic properties of the heterodimer (N2)(O2) have been obtained using the same approach, employing combining rules to construct the LJ potential. Thus, Keq, ΔH, and ΔS for the three dimers are reported between 80-120 K. Over this temperature range, the ranking of Keq is (N2)(O2) > (O2)(O2) > (N2)(N2). The same trend is found for the exoethalpicity of dimer formation. For example, at 100 K, the Keq values are, respectively, 0.0406(14), 0.0215(5), and 0.0181(10), and the corresponding ΔH values are -2401(5), -2344(7), and -2279(1) J/mol. The mole fraction composition of the dimers in the atmosphere was calculated for altitudes up to 20 km. These calculations show that in the troposphere and the lower stratosphere (up to 20 km), the three dimers rank fifth to seventh in abundance, between CO2 and Ne. In this region, the average mole fractions of (N2)(N2), (O2)(O2), and (N2)(O2) are calculated to be 3.4(2) × 10-4, 2.80(9) × 10-5, and 1.95(7) × 10-4, respectively.

Inelastic rate coefficients based on an improved potential energy surface for N2 + N2 collisions in a wide temperature range

Vibration-to-translation and vibration-to-vibration rate coefficients for N₂–N₂ inelastic scattering are calculated on an improved potential including high temperature regimes.

A theoretical study of energy transfer in Ar(1S) + SO2( X ̃ 1 A ') collisions: Cross sections and rate coefficients for vibrational transitions

Vibrational transitions, induced by collisions between rare-gas atoms and molecules, play a key role in many problems of interest in physics and chemistry. A theoretical investigation of the translation-to-vibration (T-V) energy transfer process in argon atom and sulfur dioxide molecule collisions is presented here. For such a purpose, the framework of the quasi-classical trajectory (QCT) methodology was followed over the range of translational energies 2 ≤ E_tr/kcal mol^-1 ≤ 100. A new realistic potential energy surface (PES) for the ArSO₂ system was developed using pairwise addition for the four-body energy term within the double many-body expansion. The topological features of the obtained function are compared with a previous one reported by Hippler et al. [J. Phys. Chem. 90, 6158 (1986)]. To test the accuracy of the PES, additional coupled cluster singles and doubles method with a perturbative contribution of connected triples calculations were carried out for the global minimum configuration. From dynamical calculations, the cross sections for the T-V excitation process indicate a barrier-type mechanism due to strong repulsive interactions between SO₂ molecules and the Ar atom. Corrections to zero-point energy leakage in QCT were carried out using vibrational energy quantum mechanical threshold of the complex and variations. Rate coefficients and cross sections are calculated for some vibrational transitions using pseudo-quantization approaches of the vibrational energy of products. Main attributes of the title molecular collision are discussed and compared with available information in the literature.

Intermolecular configurations dominated by quadrupole-quadrupole electrostatic interactions: explicit correlation treatment of the five-dimensional potential energy surface and infrared spectra for the CO-N2 complex

A thorough understanding of the intermolecular configurations of van der Waals complexes is a great challenge due to their weak interactions, floppiness and anharmonic nature. Although high-resolution microwave or infrared spectroscopy provides one of the most direct and precise pieces of experimental evidence, the origin and key role in determining such intermolecular configurations of a van der Waals system strongly depend on its highly accurate potential energy surface (PES) and a detailed analysis of its ro-vibrational wavefunctions. Here, a new five-dimensional potential energy surface for the van der Waals complex of CO-N₂ which explicitly incorporates the dependence on the stretch coordinate of the CO monomer is generated using the explicitly correlated couple cluster (CCSD(T)-F12) method in conjunction with a large basis set. Analytic four-dimensional PESs are obtained by the least-squares fitting of vibrationally averaged interaction energies for v = 0 and v = 1 to the Morse/Long-Range potential mode (V_MLR). These fits to 7966 points have root-mean-square deviations (RMSD) of 0.131 cm^-1 and 0.129 cm^-1 for v = 0 and v = 1, respectively, with only 315 parameters. Energy decomposition analysis is carried out, and it reveals that the dominant factor in controlling intermolecular configurations is quadrupole-quadrupole electrostatic interactions. Moreover, the rovibrational levels and wave functions are obtained for the first time. The predicted infrared transitions and intensities for the ortho-N₂-CO complex as well as the calculated energy levels for para-N₂-CO are in good agreement with the available experimental data with RMSD discrepancies smaller than 0.068 cm^-1. The calculated infrared band origin shift associated with the fundamental band frequency of CO is -0.721 cm^-1 for ortho-N₂-CO which is in excellent agreement with the experimental value of -0.739 cm^-1. The agreement with experimental values validates the high quality of the PESs and enhances our confidence to explain the observed mystery lines around 2163 cm^-1.

Theoretical Study of Binding Site Preference in [2]Rotaxanes

Rotaxanes that can be switched between co-conformations by some external stimulus are of interest because the switching mechanism might be used to create molecular devices capable of producing useful work. Probably the most common approach to create a switchable rotaxane is to start with a rotaxane where the ring interacts more strongly with one of two possible binding sites along the shaft and then apply an external stimulus that weakens the binding interaction between the ring and the shaft at this site, thereby changing the binding site preference. We have investigated binding site preference in two rotaxanes and two pseudorotaxanes with electronic structure calculations at several levels of theory. To gain insight into the origins of the intercomponent binding, empirical approximations were applied to estimate the electrostatic and dispersion contributions. Dispersion has been thought to make an important contribution to the intercomponent interaction in the presence of π-π stacking interactions between the components, but the role of dispersion interaction has been a controversial issue because many computational methods neglect this interaction. For example, AM1 semiempirical calculations neglect dispersion but often predict correct co-conformational preferences. This suggests that inclusion of the dispersion interaction is required for correct quantitative, but not qualitative, description of the intercomponent binding, a result that is supported by the analytic partitioning of the binding interactions. The origins of this result are investigated.

Resonant Auger decay driving intermolecular Coulombic decay in molecular dimers

In 1997, it was predicted that an electronically excited atom or molecule placed in a loosely bound chemical system (such as a hydrogen-bonded or van-der-Waals-bonded cluster) could efficiently decay by transferring its excess energy to a neighbouring species that would then emit a low-energy electron. This intermolecular Coulombic decay (ICD) process has since been shown to be a common phenomenon, raising questions about its role in DNA damage induced by ionizing radiation, in which low-energy electrons are known to play an important part. It was recently suggested that ICD can be triggered efficiently and site-selectively by resonantly core-exciting a target atom, which then transforms through Auger decay into an ionic species with sufficiently high excitation energy to permit ICD to occur. Here we show experimentally that resonant Auger decay can indeed trigger ICD in dimers of both molecular nitrogen and carbon monoxide. By using ion and electron momentum spectroscopy to measure simultaneously the charged species created in the resonant-Auger-driven ICD cascade, we find that ICD occurs in less time than the 20 femtoseconds it would take for individual molecules to undergo dissociation. Our experimental confirmation of this process and its efficiency may trigger renewed efforts to develop resonant X-ray excitation schemes for more localized and targeted cancer radiation therapy.

Coping with the anisotropy in the analytical representation of an ab initio potential energy surface for the Cl2 dimer

The intermolecular potential energy surface (PES) of the Cl2 dimer is calculated at the MP2/aTZ + b level of ab initio theory. A quantitative measure is proposed for comparison of the anisotropy of PESs of different systems at different intermolecular distances. A high degree of anisotropy at short and intermediate distances results in the failure of fitting strategies that are based on the angular expansion of the potential energy. To tackle this problem, a step-by-step fitting strategy is designed for analytical representation of the PES. The global minimum energy configuration of the dimer is found to be a distorted L-shape structure with a well depth of around 615 cm(-1). The PES is finally scaled to minimize deviations between calculated and experimental second virial coefficients.

Van der Waals interactions in DFT made easy by Wannier functions

Ubiquitous van der Waals interactions between atoms and molecules are important for many molecular and solid structures. These systems are often studied from first principles using the density functional theory (DFT). However, the commonly used DFT functionals fail to capture the essence of van der Waals effects. Most attempts to correct for this problem have a basic semiempirical character, although computationally more expensive first principles schemes have been recently developed. We here describe a novel approach, based on the use of the maximally localized Wannier functions, that appears to be promising, being simple, efficient, accurate, and transferable (charge polarization effects are naturally included). The results of test applications to small molecules and bulk graphite are presented.

IR Spectroscopy of Nb+(N2)n Complexes: Coordination, Structures, and Spin States

Infrared photodissociation spectroscopy in the N-N stretching region is reported for gas-phase Nb+(N2)n complexes (n=3-16). The coordination of nitrogen to the metal cation causes the IR-forbidden N-N stretch of N2 to become active in these complexes. Fragmentation occurs by the loss of intact N2 molecules, and the yield as a function of laser wavelength produces an IR excitation spectrum. The dissociation patterns indicate that Nb+ has a coordination of six ligands. The infrared spectra for all complexes contain bands red-shifted from the N-N stretch in free nitrogen, consistent with ligand-metal charge-transfer interactions such as those familiar for metal carbonyl complexes. Using density functional theory, we investigated the structures and ground electronic states for each of the small cluster sizes. Theory indicates that binding to the low-spin triplet excited state of the metal ion becomes progressively more favorable than binding to its high-spin quintet ground state as additional ligands are added to the cluster. Although the quintet state is the ground state for the n=1-4 complexes, IR spectroscopy confirms that the low-spin triplet electronic state becomes the ground state for the n=5 and 6 complexes. The n=4 complex has a square-planar structure, familiar for high-spin d4 complexes in the condensed phase. The n=5 complex has a geometry that is nearly a square pyramid, while the n=6 complex has a structure close to octahedral.

The World of Non-Covalent Interactions: 2006

The review focusses on the fundamental importance of non-covalent interactions in nature by illustrating specific examples from chemistry, physics and the biosciences. Laser spectroscopic methods and both ab initio and molecular modelling procedures used for the study of non-covalent interactions in molecular clusters are briefly outlined. The role of structure and geometry, stabilization energy, potential and free energy surfaces for molecular clusters is extensively discussed in the light of the most advanced ab initio computational results for the CCSD(T) method, extrapolated to the CBS limit. The most important types of non-covalent complexes are classified and several small and medium size non-covalent systems, including H-bonded and improper H-bonded complexes, nucleic acid base pairs, and peptides and proteins are discussed with some detail. Finally, we evaluate the interpretation of experimental results in comparison with state of the art theoretical models: this is illustrated for phenol...Ar, the benzene dimer and nucleic acid base pairs. A review with 270 references.

Interaction of Ionic Biomolecular Building Blocks with Nonpolar Solvents: Acidity of the Imidazole Cation (Im+) Probed by IR Spectra of Im+−Ln Complexes (L = Ar, N2; n ≤ 3)

The intermolecular interaction between the imidazole cation (Im+ = C3N2H4+) and nonpolar ligands is characterized in the ground electronic state by infrared photodissociation (IRPD) spectroscopy of size-selected Im+-Ln complexes (L = Ar, N2) and quantum chemical calculations performed at the UMP2/6-311G(2df,2pd) and UB3LYP/6-311G(2df,2pd) levels of theory. The complexes are created in an electron impact cluster ion source, which predominantly produces the most stable isomers of a given cluster ion. The analysis of the size-dependent frequency shifts of both the N-H and the C-H stretch vibrations and the photofragmentation branching ratios provides valuable information about the stepwise microsolvation of Im+ in a nonpolar hydrophobic environment, including the formation of structural isomers, the competition between various intermolecular binding motifs (H-bonding and pi-bonding) and their interaction energies, and the acidity of both the CH and NH protons. In line with the calculations, the IRPD spectra show that the most stable Im+-L dimers feature planar H-bound equilibrium structures with nearly linear H-bonds of L to the acidic NH group of Im+. Further solvation occurs at the aromatic ring of Im+ via the formation of intermolecular pi-bonds. Comparison with neutral Im-Ar demonstrates the drastic effect of ionization on the topology of the intermolecular potential, in particular in the preferred aromatic substrate-nonpolar recognition motif, which changes from pi-bonding to H-bonding. .

IR Spectroscopy and Density Functional Theory of Small V+(N2)n Complexes

V+(N2)n clusters are generated in a pulsed nozzle laser vaporization source. Clusters in the size range of n = 3-7 are mass selected and investigated via infrared photodissociation spectroscopy in the N-N stretch region. The IR forbidden N-N stretch of free nitrogen becomes strongly IR active when the molecule is bound to the metal ion. Photodissociation proceeds through the elimination of intact N2 molecules for all cluster sizes, and the fragmentation patterns reveal the coordination number of V+ to be six. The dissociation process is enhanced on vibrational resonances and the IR spectrum is obtained by monitoring the fragmentation yield as a function of wavelength. Vibrational bands are red-shifted with respect to the free nitrogen N-N stretch, in the same way seen for the C-O stretch in transition metal carbonyls. Comparisons between the measured IR spectra and the predictions of density functional theory provide new insight into the structure and bonding of these metal ion complexes.

Confirmation of the “long-lived” tetra-nitrogen (N4) molecule using neutralization-reionization mass spectrometry and ab initio calculations

Tetra-nitrogen (N(4)), which has been the subject of recent controversy [Cacace, d. Petris, and Troiani, Science 295, 480 (2002); Cacace, Chem. Eur. J. 8, 3839 (2002); Nguyen et al., J. Phys. Chem. A 107, 5452 (2003); Nguyen, Coord. Chem. Rev. 244, 93 (2003)] as well as of great theoretical interest, has been prepared from the N(4) (+) cation and then detected as a reionized gaseous metastable molecule with a lifetime exceeding 0.8 micros in experiments based on neutralization-reionization mass spectrometry. Moreover, we have used the nature of the charge-transfer reaction which occurs between a beam of fast N(4) (+) ions (8 keV translational energy) and various stationary gas targets to identify the vertical neutralization energy of the N(4) (+) ion. The measured value, 10.3+/-0.5, most closely matches that of the lowest energy azidonitrene (4)N(4) (+)C(s)((4)A(')) ion, resulting in the formation of the neutral bound azidonitrene (3)N(4)C(s)((3)A(")). Neutralization of the global minimum (2)N(4) (+)D( infinity h)((2)Sigma(u) (+)) ion leads to a structure 166 kJ mol(-1) above the dissociation products [N(2)((1)Sigma(g) (+))+N(2)((1)Sigma(g) (+))]; moreover, it was not possible to find a minimum on the (1)N(4) neutral potential energy surface for a covalently bonded structure. Ab initio calculations at the G3, QCISD/6-31G(d), and MP2/AUG-cc-pVTZ levels of theory have been used to determine geometries and both vertical neutralization energies of ions (doublet and quartet) and ionization energies of neutrals (singlet and triplet). In addition, we have also described in detail the EI ion source for the Ottawa VG ZAB mass spectrometer [Holmes and Mayer, J. Phys. Chem. A 99, 1366 (1995)] which was modified for high-pressure use, i.e., for the production of dimer and higher number cluster ions.

Semiclassical calculations of collision line broadening in Raman spectra of N2 and CO mixtures

We present a detailed theoretical study of pressure-broadened Raman line shapes in binary mixtures of nitrogen and carbon monoxide. The semiclassical Robert-Bonamy theory was used to calculate self-broadened Q-branch linewidths of N(2) and CO, and Lennard-Jones (LJ) potential energy surface parameters were fixed by comparing our results with extensive experimental linewidth data. For the case of N(2), the ab initio PES8 potential energy surface was investigated, however, the anisotropic repulsive part had to be reduced to ensure a good agreement with experimental linewidths. The agreement between calculations and experiments was remarkably good, both for self-broadened N(2) and CO Q-branch linewidths. Yet, our calculations were not able to predict the experimentally observed difference between Q- and S-branch linewidths of self-broadened N(2). The central results of this work are the Q-branch linewidths of N(2)-CO and CO-N(2), which have been calculated through an extrapolation of the parameters of the potential energy surfaces used for self-broadened linewidths by common combination rules.

The role of symmetry and optical selection rules in revealing the molecular structure of the lowest Rydberg and ionic states of the 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane-Arn (n = 1,2,3) van der Waals complexes

The 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane-Arn (n = 1,2,3) van der Waals complexes (DABCO-Arn) have been investigated using a combination of (1 + 1') resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) and zero electron kinetic energy (ZEKE) spectroscopy. The additivity of the spectral shifts observed in both REMPI and ZEKE spectra, taken together with analysis of vibrational structure, suggest that in both DABCO-Ar and DABCO-Ar2 the argon atoms bind in equivalent equatorial (face) locations between two adjacent (CH2)2 bridges. However, the cumulative evidence from both REMPI and ZEKE spectra, together with ab initio results, suggests that the DABCO-Ar3 complex does not revert to D3h symmetry, but rather adopts a C2v structure in which all three argon atoms bind to one side of the DABCO framework. The exceptionally low wave-number vibrational structure observed in the REMPI spectra suggest that the van der Waals interaction in the excited state is extremely weak. However, ionization necessarily increases the strength of the interaction by virtue of the introduction of charge-induced dipole forces, as revealed by a consistent increase in vibrational wave numbers of the modes observed in the resultant ZEKE spectra.