A computational study of some electric and magnetic properties of gaseous BF3 and BCl3

Effect of Fluorine Substitution on Magnetizabilities: Insights from Density Functional Theory and Benchmark Coupled-Cluster Calculations

The quantitative calculation of the magnetizability tensor of fluorine-containing molecules has been a longstanding challenge for quantum chemistry. We report a benchmark study on the effect of fluorine substitution on the magnetizability (both isotropic and anisotropic) of 24 small closed-shell molecules using coupled-cluster (CCSD(T)) theory, large basis sets, and London atomic orbitals. By extrapolation to a complete basis set (CBS) result, we establish the CCSD(T)/CBS limit and take the opportunity to assess the performance of various density functional theory approximations. Correcting for zero-point vibration further allows us to directly compare theory with (gas-phase) experimental data. We revisit Flygare's hypothesis on molecular magnetizabilities, which relates the successive replacement of hydrogen by fluorine atoms to changes in the magnetizability anisotropy. Some exceptions to this hypothesis are documented, and we rationalize these observations on the basis of hybridization on carbon.

Combined density functional/polarizable continuum model study of magnetochiral birefringence: Can theory and experiment be brought to agreement?

The magnetic-field-induced axial birefringence (magnetochirality) of five closed-shell chiral molecules (three substituted oxiranes, carvone, and limonene) is studied at the density functional theory level using Becke's 3-parameter Lee-Yang-Parr functional and frequency-dependent quadratic response theory. The influence of the environment and the conformational distribution on the property is also studied. The environment effects are described by the polarizable continuum model in its integral-equation formulation. The effect of the conformational distribution is investigated by performing calculations on several conformers-for carvone and limonene-followed by Boltzmann averaging. The calculated values for the magnetochiral birefringence are compared to previous ab initio results and experimental data where available. The refined model presented here brings the ab initio values closer to experiment. Still, disagreements remain in some cases and it appears difficult to resolve these discrepancies.