Isomerization dynamics and thermodynamics of ionic argon clusters

The S∴π hemibond and its competition with the S∴S hemibond in the simplest model system: infrared spectroscopy of the [benzene-(H2S) n ]+ (n = 1-4) radical cation clusters

The S∴π hemibond (two-center three-electron, 2c-3e, bond) is an attractive interaction between a sulfur atom and π electrons. The S∴π hemibond is of essential importance in understanding chemistry of sulfur radical cations, and its roles in biochemistry have recently attracted much interest. In the present study, we observe the S∴π hemibond in the simplest model system in the gas phase. Infrared spectroscopy is applied to the [benzene-(H2S) n ]+ (n = 1-4) radical cation clusters. In n = 1, the CH stretch and SH stretch bands of the benzene and H2S moieties, respectively, are clearly different from those of the neutral molecules but similar to those of the ionic species. These vibrational features show that the positive charge is delocalized over the cluster due to the S∴π hemibond formation. In n = 2-4, the S∴S hemibond and S-π-S multicenter hemibond (three-center five-electron, 3c-5e, bond) can compete with the S∴π hemibond. The observed vibrational features clearly indicate that the S∴S hemibond formation is superior to the S∴π hemibond and S-π-S multicenter hemibond. Calculations of several dispersion-corrected density functionals are compared with the observations. While all the tested functionals qualitatively catch the feature of the S∴π hemibond, the energy order among the isomers of the different hemibond motifs strongly depends on the functionals. These results demonstrate that the [benzene-(H2S) n ]+ clusters can be a benchmark of density functionals to evaluate the sulfur hemibonds.

Chirality in molecular collision dynamics

Chirality is a phenomenon that permeates the natural world, with implications for atomic and molecular physics, for fundamental forces and for the mechanisms at the origin of the early evolution of life and biomolecular homochirality. The manifestations of chirality in chemistry and biochemistry are numerous, the striking ones being chiral recognition and asymmetric synthesis with important applications in molecular sciences and in industrial and pharmaceutical chemistry. Chiral discrimination phenomena, due to the existence of two enantiomeric forms, very well known in the case of interaction with light, but still nearly disregarded in molecular collision studies. Here we review some ideas and recent advances about the role of chirality in molecular collisions, designing and illustrating molecular beam experiments for the demonstration of chiral effects and suggesting a scenario for a stereo-directional origin of chiral selection.

An extended DFTB-CI model for charge-transfer excited states in cationic molecular clusters: model studies versus ab initio calculations in small PAH clusters

We present an extension of the constrained density functional tight binding scheme combined with configuration interaction (DFTB-CI) to efficiently compute excited states of molecular cluster cations.

Energy transfer upon collision of selectively excited CO2 molecules: State-to-state cross sections and probabilities for modeling of atmospheres and gaseous flows

Carbon dioxide molecules can store and release tens of kcal/mol upon collisions, and such an energy transfer strongly influences the energy disposal and the chemical processes in gases under the extreme conditions typical of plasmas and hypersonic flows. Moreover, the energy transfer involving CO2 characterizes the global dynamics of the Earth-atmosphere system and the energy balance of other planetary atmospheres. Contemporary developments in kinetic modeling of gaseous mixtures are connected to progress in the description of the energy transfer, and, in particular, the attempts to include non-equilibrium effects require to consider state-specific energy exchanges. A systematic study of the state-to-state vibrational energy transfer in CO2 + CO2 collisions is the focus of the present work, aided by a theoretical and computational tool based on quasiclassical trajectory simulations and an accurate full-dimension model of the intermolecular interactions. In this model, the accuracy of the description of the intermolecular forces (that determine the probability of energy transfer in molecular collisions) is enhanced by explicit account of the specific effects of the distortion of the CO2 structure due to vibrations. Results show that these effects are important for the energy transfer probabilities. Moreover, the role of rotational and vibrational degrees of freedom is found to be dominant in the energy exchange, while the average contribution of translations, under the temperature and energy conditions considered, is negligible. Remarkable is the fact that the intramolecular energy transfer only involves stretching and bending, unless one of the colliding molecules has an initial symmetric stretching quantum number greater than a threshold value estimated to be equal to 7.

Interplay between charge and vibrational delocalization in cationic helium clusters

The stable structures and low temperature thermodynamics of cationic helium clusters are investigated theoretically using a diatomics-in-molecules model for the potential energy surfaces and a computational framework in which both electronic and nuclear degrees of freedom are treated on a quantum mechanical footing. While the charge is generally carried by two atoms, vibrational delocalization significantly spreads out the charge over multiple isomers for clusters containing five or more helium atoms. Our calculations indicate that large clusters are essentially fluid with a well-defined solvation shell around the charged core.

Vibrational spectrum of Ar3(+) and relative importance of linear and perpendicular isomers in its photodissociation

The photodissociation dynamics of the argon ionized trimer Ar(3)(+) is revisited in the light of recent experimental results of Lepère et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 134, 194301 (2009)], which show that the fragment with little kinetic energy is always a neutral one, thus the available energy is shared by a neutral and ionic fragments as in Ar(2)(+). We show that these results can be interpreted as the photodissociation of the linear isomer of the system. We perform a 3D quantum computation of the vibrational spectrum of the system and study the relative populations of the linear (trimer-core) and perpendicular (dimer-core) isomers. We then show that the charge initially located on the central atom in the ground electronic state of the linear isomer migrates toward the extreme ones in the photoexcitation process such that photodissociation of the linear isomer produces a neutral central atom at rest in agreement with measured product state distributions.

Phase space theory of evaporation in neon clusters: the role of quantum effects

Unimolecular evaporation of neon clusters containing between 14 and 148 atoms is theoretically investigated in the framework of phase space theory. Quantum effects are incorporated in the vibrational densities of states, which include both zero-point and anharmonic contributions, and in the possible tunneling through the centrifugal barrier. The evaporation rates, kinetic energy released, and product angular momentum are calculated as a function of excess energy or temperature in the parent cluster and compared to the classical results. Quantum fluctuations are found to generally increase both the kinetic energy released and the angular momentum of the product, but the effects on the rate constants depend nontrivially on the excess energy. These results are interpreted as due to the very few vibrational states available in the product cluster when described quantum mechanically. Because delocalization also leads to much narrower thermal energy distributions, the variations of evaporation observables as a function of canonical temperature appear much less marked than in the microcanonical ensemble. While quantum effects tend to smooth the caloric curve in the product cluster, the melting phase change clearly keeps a signature on these observables. The microcanonical temperature extracted from fitting the kinetic energy released distribution using an improved Arrhenius form further suggests a backbending in the quantum Ne(13) cluster that is absent in the classical system. Finally, in contrast to delocalization effects, quantum tunneling through the centrifugal barrier does not play any appreciable role on the evaporation kinetics of these rather heavy clusters.

Energetics and structures of charged helium clusters: comparing stabilities of dimer and trimer cationic cores

We present accurate ab initio calculations of the most stable structures of He(n)(+) clusters in order to determine the more likely ionic core arrangements existing after reaching structural equilibrium of the clusters. Two potential energy surfaces are presented: one for the He(2)(+) and the other with the He(3)(+) linear ion, both interacting with one He atom. The two computed potentials are in turn employed within a classical structure optimization where the overall interaction forces are obtained within the sum-of-potentials approximation described in the main text. Because of the presence of many-body effects within the ionic core, we find that the arrangements with He(3)(+) as a core turn out to be energetically preferred, leading to the formation of He(3)(+)(He)(n-3) stable aggregates. Nanoscopic considerations about the relative stability of clusters with the two different cores are shown to give us new information on the dynamical processes observed in the impact ionization experiments of pure helium clusters and the importance of pre-equilibrium evaporation of the ionic dimers in the ionized clusters.

On the R-dependence of the spin-orbit coupling constant: Potential energy functions of Xe(2) (+) by high-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy and ab initio quantum chemistry

The pulsed-field-ionization zero-kinetic-energy photoelectron spectrum of Xe(2) has been measured between 97 350 and 108 200 cm(-1), following resonant two-photon excitation via selected vibrational levels of the C 0(u) (+) Rydberg state of Xe(2). Transitions to three of the six low-lying electronic states of Xe(2) (+) could be observed. Whereas extensive vibrational progressions were observed for the transitions to the I(32g) and I(32u) states, only the lowest vibrational levels of the II(12u) state could be detected. Assignments of the vibrational quantum numbers were derived from the analysis of the isotopic shifts and from the modeling of the potential energy curves. Adiabatic ionization energies, dissociation energies, and vibrational constants are reported for the I(32g) and the I(32u) states. Multireference configurational interaction and complete active space self-consistent field calculations have been performed to investigate the dependence of the spin-orbit coupling constant on the internuclear distance. The energies of vibrational levels, measured presently and in a previous investigation (Rupper et al., J. Chem. Phys. 121, 8279 (2004)), were used to determine the potential energy functions of the six low-lying electronic states of Xe(2) (+) using a global model that includes the long-range interaction and treats, for the first time, the spin-orbit interaction as dependent on the internuclear separation.

Multiscale dynamics of cluster fragmentation

The fragmentation of rare-gas clusters is theoretically investigated over time scales ranging from ionization and electronic excitation ( approximately fs) up to experimentally relevant times ( approximately ms). For this purpose a combination of methods are used, including nonadiabatic molecular dynamics, classical dynamics on the ground electronic state surface, and a kinetic description for the final evaporative cascade. The present multiscale protocol shows that, although the clusters are strongly out of equilibrium upon excitation, the long-time properties appear as statistical already after 1 ps.

Normal and hyperspherical mode analysis of NO-doped Kr crystals upon Rydberg excitation of the impurity

Molecular dynamics simulations and both normal mode and hyperspherical mode analyses of NO-doped Kr solid are carried out in order to get insights into the structural relaxation of the medium upon electronic excitation of the NO molecule. A combined study is reported on the time evolution of the cage radius and on the density of vibrational states, according to the hyperspherical and normal mode analyses. For the hyperspherical modes, hyper-radial and grand angular contributions are considered. For the normal modes, radial and tangential contributions are examined. Results show that the first shell radius dynamics is driven by modes with frequencies at approximately 47 and approximately 15 cm-1. The first one is related to the ultrafast regime where a large part of the energy is transmitted to the lattice and the second one to relaxation and slow redistribution of the energy. The density of vibrational states gamma(omega) is characterized by a broad distribution of bands peaking around the frequencies of approximately 13, approximately 19, approximately 25, approximately 31, approximately 37, approximately 47, and approximately 103 cm-1 (very small band). The dominant modes in the relaxation process were at 14.89, 23.49, and 53.78 cm-1; they present the largest amplitudes and the greatest energy contributions. The mode at 14.89 cm-1 is present in both the fit of the first shell radius and in the hyper-radial kinetic energy spectrum and resulted the one with the largest amplitude, although could not be revealed by the total kinetic energy power spectrum.