Elucidating the role of many-body forces in liquid water. I. Simulations of water clusters on the VRT(ASP-W) potential surfaces

Equilibrium and Dynamical Characteristics of Hydrogen Bond Bifurcations in Water-Water and Water-Ammonia Dimers: A Path Integral Molecular Dynamics Study

We present path integral molecular dynamics results that describe the effects of nuclear quantum fluctuations on equilibrium and dynamical characteristics pertaining to bifurcation pathways in hydrogen bonded dimers combining water and ammonia, at cryogenic temperatures of the order of 20 K. Along these isomerizations, the hydrogen atoms in the molecules acting as hydrogen-bond donors interchange their original dangling/connective characters. Our results reveal that the resulting quantum transition paths comprise three stages: the initial and final ones involve overall rotations during which the two protons retain their classical-like characteristics. Effects from quantum fluctuation are clearly manifested in the changes operated at the intermediate passages over transition states, as the spatial extents of the protons stretch over typical lengths comparable to the distances between connective and dangling basins of attractions. Consequently, the classical over-the-hill path is replaced by a tunneling controlled mechanism which, within the path integral perspective, can be cast in terms of concerted inter-basin migrations of polymer beads from dangling-to-connective and from connective-to-dangling, at practically no energy costs. We also estimated the characteristic timescales describing such interconversions within the approximate ring polymer rate theory. Effects derived from full and partial deuteration are also discussed.

Nuclear quantum effects on the hydrogen bond donor-acceptor exchange in water-water and water-methanol dimers

We present results from path integral molecular dynamics simulations that describe effects from the explicit incorporation of nuclear quantum fluctuations on the topology of the free energy associated with the geared exchange of hydrogen bonds in the water-water dimer. Compared to the classical treatment, our results reveal important reductions in the free energy barriers and changes at a qualitative level in the overall profile. Most notable are those manifested by a plateau behavior, ascribed to nuclear tunneling, which bridges reactant and product states, contrasting with the usual symmetric double-well profile. The characteristics of the proton localizations along the pathway are examined. An imaginary time analysis of the rotational degrees of freedom of the partners in the dimer at the vicinities of transition states shows a clear "anticorrelation" between intermolecular interactions coupling beads localized in connective and dangling basins of attractions. As such, the transfer is operated by gradual concerted inter-basin migrations in opposite directions, at practically no energy costs. Modifications operated by partial deuteration and by the asymmetries in the hydrogen bonding characteristics prevailing in water-methanol heterodimers are also examined.

Nano-/Micro-confined Water in Graphene Hydrogel as Superadsorbents for Water Purification

Confined water has been proven to be of great importance due to its pervasiveness and contribution to life and many fields of scientific research. However, the control and characterization of confined water are a challenge. Herein, a confined space is constructed by flexibly changing the pH of a graphene oxide dispersion under the self-assembly process of a graphene hydrogel (GH), and the confined space is adjusted with variation from 10.04 to 3.52 nm. Confined water content in GH increases when the pore diameter of the confined space decreases; the corresponding adsorption capacity increases from 243.04 to 442.91 mg g^-1. Moreover, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy are utilized to analyze the hydrogen bonding structure qualitatively and quantitatively, and correlation analysis reveals that the improvement in the adsorption capacity is caused by incomplete hydrogen bonding in the confined water. Further, confined water is assembled into four typical porous commercial adsorbents, and a remarkable enhancement of the adsorption capacity is achieved. This research demonstrates the application potential for the extraordinary properties of confined water and has implications for the development of highly effective confined water-modified adsorbents.

Terahertz Spectra of Microsolvated Ions: Do They Reveal Bulk Solvation Properties?

Complementing mid-infrared (mid-IR) spectroscopy mainly in the OH stretching region, liquid-state far-IR spectroscopy is successful in elucidating the properties of aqueous solutions by providing direct access to the hallmark of H-bonding at terahertz (THz) frequencies, namely, the H-bond network peak of water at roughly 200 cm^-1 and its modifications in the hydration shells around solutes. Here, the idea is scrutinized whether ion hydration can be understood by studying the THz regime of "small" ion-water clusters in the gas phase as a function of size with subsequent extrapolation to the bulk limit. Our ab initio simulations of Na⁺(H₂O) _n clusters followed by rigorous decomposition of their THz response demonstrate that the 200 cm^-1 network peak is suppressed even at n = 20 in the gas phase, yet it emerges when transferring ion-water complexes as small as n = 7 out of the liquid into vacuum. The underlying physical reason is not missing electronic polarization or charge-transfer effects in the gas phase, but rather the distinctly different structural dynamics of finite ion-water clusters in the gas phase compared to ion-water complexes of the same size in the liquid phase.

Many-Body Effects Determine the Local Hydration Structure of Cs+ in Solution

A systematic analysis of the hydration structure of Cs⁺ ions in solution is derived from simulations carried out using a series of molecular models built upon a hierarchy of approximate representations of many-body effects in ion-water interactions. It is found that a pairwise-additive model, commonly used in biomolecular simulations, provides poor agreement with experimental X-ray spectra, indicating an incorrect description of the underlying hydration structure. Although the agreement with experiment improves in simulations with a polarizable model, the predicted hydration structure is found to lack the correct sequence of water shells. Progressive inclusion of explicit many-body effects in the representation of Cs⁺-water interactions as well as accounting for nuclear quantum effects is shown to be necessary for quantitatively reproducing the experimental X-ray spectra. Besides emphasizing the importance of many-body effects, these results suggest that molecular models rigorously derived from many-body expansions hold promise for realistic simulations of aqueous solutions.

Solute-Solvent Interactions in Aqueous Solutions of Sulfobutyl Ether-β-cyclodextrin As Probed by UV-Raman and FTIR-ATR Analysis

A vibrational study by means of UV-Raman and FTIR-ATR measurements has been performed on sulfobutyl ether β-cyclodextrin (SBE-β-CD)-water solutions, as a function of concentration and temperature, with the aim to provide a molecular-scale explanation of the enhanced performances as carrier agent exhibited by this modified macrocycle with respect to natural cyclodextrin. The attention has been mainly paid to the modifications induced on the vibrational band assigned to the O-H stretching intramolecular mode, in turn related to the dynamical rearrangement occurring in the hydrogen bonding (HB) network of water molecules. The results of our measurements clearly showed a characteristic "structure-breaker" effect on the tetrahedral HB arrangements induced on water molecules by increasing of both temperature and solute concentration, allowing us to also extract thermodynamic parameters. These results could be a key step for a clearer understanding of the connection between the dynamical properties of hydration water and the complexing ability of this cyclodextrin derivative.

Toward an understanding of the thermosensitive behaviour of pH-responsive hydrogels based on cyclodextrins

The molecular mechanism responsible for the thermosensitive behaviour exhibited by pH-responsive cyclodextrin-based hydrogels is explored here with the twofold aim of clarifying some basic aspects of H-bond interactions in hydrogel phases and contributing to a future engineering of cyclodextrin hydrogels for targeted delivery and release of bioactive agents. The degree of H-bond association of water molecules entrapped in the gel network and the extent of intermolecular interactions involving the hydrophobic/hydrophilic moieties of the polymer matrix are probed by UV Raman and IR experiments, in order to address the question of how these different and complementary aspects combine to determine the pH-dependent thermal activation exhibited by these hydrogels. Complementary vibrational spectroscopies are conveniently employed in this study with the aim of safely disentangling the spectral response arising from the two main components of the hydrogel systems, i.e. the polymer matrix and water solvent. The experimental evidence suggests that the dominant effects in the mechanism of solvation of cyclodextrin-based hydrogels are due to the changes occurring, upon increasing of temperature, in the hydrophobicity character of specific chemical moieties of the polymer, as triggered by pH variations. The achievements of this work corroborate the potentiality of the UV Raman scattering technique, in combination with more conventional IR experiments, to provide a "molecular view" of complex macroscopic phenomena exhibited in hydrogel phases.

Assessing the Performance of the Diffusion Monte Carlo Method As Applied to the Water Monomer, Dimer, and Hexamer

The diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) method is applied to the water monomer, dimer, and hexamer using q-TIP4P/F, one of the most simple empirical water models with flexible monomers. The bias in the time step (Δτ) and population size (Nw) is investigated. For the binding energies, the bias in Δτ cancels nearly completely, whereas a noticeable bias in Nw remains. However, for the isotope shift (e.g, in the dimer binding energies between (H2O)2 and (D2O)2), the systematic errors in Nw do cancel. Consequently, very accurate results for the latter (within ∼0.01 kcal/mol) are obtained with moderate numerical effort (Nw ∼ 10(3)). For the water hexamer and its (D2O)6 isotopomer, the DMC results as a function of Nw are examined for the cage and prism isomers. For a given isomer, the issue of the walker population leaking out of the corresponding basin of attraction is addressed by using appropriate geometric constraints. The population size bias for the hexamer is more severe, and to maintain accuracy similar to that of the dimer, Nw must be increased by ∼2 orders of magnitude. Fortunately, when the energy difference between the cage and prism is taken, the biases cancel, thereby reducing the systematic errors to within ∼0.01 kcal/mol when using a population of Nw = 4.8 × 10(5) walkers. Consequently, a very accurate result for the isotope shift is also obtained. Notably, both the quantum and isotope effects for the prism-cage energy difference are small.

Direct evidence of gel-sol transition in cyclodextrin-based hydrogels as revealed by FTIR-ATR spectroscopy

The phase transition from gel to liquid suspension in cyclodextrin (CD)-based hydrogels is in depth monitored by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in attenuated total reflectance geometry. Cyclodextrin nanosponges (CDNS) synthesized by polymerization of CD with the cross-linking agent ethylenediaminetetraacetic dianhydride at different cross-linking agent/CD molar ratios have been left to evolve from gel phase into liquid suspension upon gradual increase of the hydration level. Measurements of the changes occurring in the vibrational dynamics of the system during this transition provide direct evidence of the gel-sol progress of the CNDS hydrogel, by accounting for the connectivity pattern of water molecules concurring to the gelation process. The experimental results clearly indicate that the increase of the hydration level is accompanied by the corresponding increase of the population of H2O molecules engaged in high-connectivity hydrogen-bond networks. The water tetrahedral arrangement is thus dominant above a characteristic cross-over hydration level, experimentally determined for all the investigated samples. The observation of this characteristic cross-over point for the CDNS hydrogel and its correlation with other parameters of the system (e.g. the absorption ability of CDNS and elasticity of the polymer matrix) is, once again, modulated by the cross-linking agent/CD molar ratio. The latter seems indeed to play a key role in defining the nano- and microscopic properties of nanosponge hydrogels.

Electronically coarse-grained model for water

We introduce an electronically coarse-grained description of water representing all long range, many-body electronic responses via an embedded quantum oscillator. Leading-order response coefficients and gas phase electrostatic moments are exactly reproduced. Molecular dynamics, using electronic path integral sampling, shows that this framework is sufficient for a realistic liquid to emerge naturally with transferability extending further to nonambient state points and to the free water surface. The model allows the strength of many-body dispersion and polarization to be adjusted independently and these are found to have significant effects on the condensed phase.

Communication: determination of the bond dissociation energy (D0) of the water dimer, (H2O)2, by velocity map imaging

The bond dissociation energy (D(0)) of the water dimer is determined by using state-to-state vibrational predissociation measurements following excitation of the bound OH stretch fundamental of the donor unit of the dimer. Velocity map imaging and resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) are used to determine pair-correlated product velocity and translational energy distributions. H(2)O fragments are detected in the ground vibrational (000) and the first excited bending (010) states by 2 + 1 REMPI via the C̃ (1)B(1) (000) ← X̃ (1)A(1) (000 and 010) transitions. The fragments' velocity and center-of-mass translational energy distributions are determined from images of selected rovibrational levels of H(2)O. An accurate value for D(0) is obtained by fitting both the structure in the images and the maximum velocity of the fragments. This value, D(0) = 1105 ± 10 cm(-1) (13.2 ± 0.12 kJ/mol), is in excellent agreement with the recent theoretical value of D(0) = 1103 ± 4 cm(-1) (13.2 ± 0.05 kJ∕mol) suggested as a benchmark by Shank et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 130, 144314 (2009)].

A first principles investigation of water dipole moment in a defective continuous hydrogen bond network

First principles molecular dynamics simulations of an aqueous solution salt system at finite concentration containing both Na(+) and Cl(-) ions show that a change in the distribution of the molecular dipole moment of H(2)O monomers appears when ions are present in solution. Simulations suggest a lowering of the dipole moments of the water molecules in the solvation shells of Na(+) and Cl(-) as compared to the pure water case, while the dipoles of the rest of the molecules are hardly affected. However, finer analysis in terms of the Wannier centers distribution suggests a change in the electronic structure of the water molecules even in the bulk. Also a change of the H-bond network arrangement was found and correlation between dipole and MOH parameter evidences such subtle effects, suggesting a lowering of tetrahedral order in salty solutions. All these changes can be related to observable quantities such as the infrared spectra thus allowing for a rationalization of the experimental outcome on neutral aqueous solutions.

Structural Correlations in Liquid Water: A New Interpretation of IR Spectroscopy

We present a new and alternative interpretation of the structure of the IR vibrational mode (nu(OH) band) of pure water. The re-interpretation is based on the influence of the cooperative hydrogen bonding arising from a network of hydrogen bonds in the liquid. The nu(OH) band has six components that are dominated by differences in their O-H bond lengths but deviate from thermodynamically average values due to interactions with the hydrogen bond network. The physical origin of the structure in the nu(OH) band is directly related to the O-H bond length, and variations in this bond length are caused by the influence of the surrounding hydrogen-bonded network of water molecules.

Assessment of the pairwise additive approximation and evaluation of many-body terms for water clusters

We have tested the ability of four commonly used density functionals (three of which are semilocal and one of which is nonlocal) to outperform accurate pairwise additive approximations in the prediction of binding energies for a series of water clusters ranging in size from dimer to pentamer. Comparison to results obtained with the Weizmann-1 (W1) level of wave function theory shows that while all density functionals are capable of outperforming the accurate pairwise data, the choice of basis set used is crucial to the performance of the method, and if a poor choice of basis set is made the errors obtained with density functional theory (DFT) can be larger than those obtained with the simple pairwise approximation. We have also compared the binding energies and many-body terms determined with DFT to those obtained with W1, and have found that all semilocal functionals have significant errors in the many-body components of the full interactions energy. Despite this limitation, however, we have found that, of the four functionals tested, PBE1W/MG3S is the most accurate for predicting the binding energies of the clusters.

The Effects of Hydrogen-Bonding Environment on the Polarization and Electronic Properties of Water Molecules

Adequate representation of the interactions that take place between water molecules has long been a goal of force field design. A full understanding of how the molecular charge distribution of water is altered by adjacent water molecules and by the hydrogen-bonding environment is a vital step toward achieving this task. For this purpose we generated ab initio electron densities of pure water clusters and hydrated serine and tyrosine. Quantum chemical topology enabled the study of a well-defined water molecule inside these clusters, by means of its volume, energy, and multipole moments. Intra- and intermolecular charge transfer was monitored and related to the polarization of water in hydrogen-bonded networks. Our analysis affords a way to define different types of water molecules in clusters.

Probing chemical dynamics with negative ions

Experiments are reviewed in which key problems in chemical dynamics are probed by experiments based on photodetachment and/or photoexcitation of negative ions. Examples include transition state spectroscopy of biomolecular reactions, spectroscopy of open shell van der Waals complexes, photodissociation of free radicals, and time-resolved dynamics in clusters. The experimental methods used in these investigations are described along with representative systems that have been studied.

Ab Initio Potential Energy and Dipole Moment Surfaces of (H2O)2

A full-dimensional ab initio potential energy surface (PES) and dipole moment surface (DMS) are reported for the water dimer, (H2O)2. The CCSD(T)-PES is a very precise fit to 19,805 ab initio energies obtained with the coupled-cluster (CCSD(T)) method, using an aug-cc-pVTZ basis. The standard counterpoise correction was applied to approximately eliminate basis set superposition errors. The fit is based on an approach that incorporates the permutational symmetry of identical atoms [Huang, X.; Braams, B.; Bowman, J. M. J. Chem.Phys. 2005, 122, 044308]. The DMS is a fit to the dipole moment obtained with Møller-Plesset (MP2) theory, using an aug-cc-pVTZ basis. The PES has an RMS fitting error of 31 cm(-1) for energies below 20,000 cm(-1), relative to the global minimum. This surface can describe various internal floppy motions, including various monomer inversions, and isomerization pathways. Ten characteristic stationary points have been located on the surface, four of which are transition structures and the rest are higher order saddle points. Their geometrical and vibrational properties are presented and compared with available previous theoretical work. The CCSD(T)-PES and MP2-DMS dissociate correctly (and symmetrically) to two H2O monomers, with D(e) = 1665.7 cm(-1) (19.93 kJ/mol). Accurate quantum calculations of the zero-point energy of the dimer (using diffusion Monte Carlo) and the monomers (using a vibrational configuration interaction approach) are reported, and these together with D(e) give a value of D0 of 1042 cm(-1) (12.44 kJ/mol). A best estimated value is 1130 cm(-1) (13.5 kJ/mol).

A 'first principles' potential energy surface for liquid water from VRT spectroscopy of water clusters

We present results of gas phase cluster and liquid water simulations from the recently determined VRT(ASP-W)III water dimer potential energy surface (the third fitting of the Anisotropic Site Potential with Woermer dispersion to vibration-rotation-tunnelling data). VRT(ASP-W)III is shown to not only be a model of high 'spectroscopic' accuracy for the water dimer, but also makes accurate predictions of vibrational ground-state properties for clusters up through the hexamer. Results of ambient liquid water simulations from VRT(ASP-W)III are compared with those from ab initio molecular dynamics, other potentials of 'spectroscopic' accuracy and with experiment. The results herein represent the first time to the authors' knowledge that a 'spectroscopic' potential surface is able to correctly model condensed phase properties of water.

Electrons in Finite-Sized Water Cavities: Hydration Dynamics Observed in Real Time

We directly observed the hydration dynamics of an excess electron in the finite-sized water clusters of (H2O)n- with n = 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35. We initiated the solvent motion by exciting the hydrated electron in the cluster. By resolving the binding energy of the excess electron in real time with femtosecond resolution, we captured the ultrafast dynamics of the electron in the presolvated ("wet") and hydrated states and obtained, as a function of cluster size, the subsequent relaxation times. The solvation time (300 femtoseconds) after the internal conversion [140 femtoseconds for (H2O)35-] was similar to that of bulk water, indicating the dominant role of the local water structure in the dynamics of hydration. In contrast, the relaxation in other nuclear coordinates was on a much longer time scale (2 to 10 picoseconds) and depended critically on cluster size.

Anchoring the potential energy surface of the cyclic water trimer

Six cyclic stationary points on the water trimer potential energy surface have been fully optimized at the MP2 level with the aug-cc-pVQZ basis set. In agreement with previous work, harmonic vibrational frequencies indicate that two structures are minima, three are transition states connecting minima on the surface while the remaining stationary point is a higher-order saddle point. The 1- and n-particle limits of the electronic energies of each of these six structures were estimated by systematically varying both the basis sets and theoretical methods. The former limit was approached with the cc-pVXZ and aug-cc-pVXZ families of basis sets (X=2-7) while MP2, CCSD(T), and BD(TQ) calculations helped examine the latter. Core correlation effects have also been assessed at the MP2 level with the cc-pCVXZ series of basis sets (X=2-5). These data have been combined to provide highly accurate relative energies and dissociation energies for these stationary points.