Methane molecule confined in the small and large cages of structure I clathrate hydrate: Quantum six-dimensional calculations of the coupled translation-rotation eigenstates

On the size, shape and energetics of the hydration shell around alkanes

A large number of clathrate-like cages have been proposed as the very first hydration shell of alkanes. The cages include canonical structures commonly found in clathrate hydrates and many others, not previously reported, derived from the carbon fullerene cavities. These structures have a rich and variegated form, which can adapt to the shape and conformation of the solute. They avoid "wasting" hydrogen bonds, while minimizing the volume cage and maximizing the solute-solvent van der Waals interactions. DFT/M06-2X and MP2 ab initio calculations give comparable structural and energetic results although the latter predicts slightly larger cages for a given solute. It is shown that the van der Waals interactions are substantial and the large exoenergetic values found for isobutane and cyclopentane provide an explanation for the surprising high melting points of related hydrates at room pressure. The encaging enthalpy for various hydrocarbons is similar to the enthalpy of solution measured at a temperature just above the melting point of aqueous hydrocarbon solutions, thus indicating that water molecules should not deviate too much from the configuration with O-H bonds tangentially oriented with respect to the solute surface. The computed trend differs from the enthalpy of solution measured at room temperature, thus the very first hydration shell departs, up to a certain degree, from the clathrate-like structures.

HD in C₆₀: theoretical prediction of the inelastic neutron scattering spectrum and its temperature dependence

We report rigorous quantum calculations of the inelastic neutron scattering (INS) spectra of HD@C₆₀, over a range of temperatures from 0 to 240 K and for two incident neutron wavelengths used in recent experimental investigations. The computations were performed using our newly developed methodology, which incorporates the coupled five-dimensional translation-rotation (T-R) eigenstates of the guest molecule as the initial and final states of the INS transitions, and yields highly detailed spectra. Depending on the incident neutron wavelength, the number of computed INS transitions varies from almost 500 to over 2000. The low-temperature INS spectra display the fingerprints of the coupling between the translational and rotational motions of the entrapped HD molecule, which is responsible for the characteristic splitting patterns of the T-R energy levels. INS transitions from the ground T-R state of HD to certain sublevels of excited T-R multiplets have zero intensity and are absent from the spectra. This surprising finding is explained by the new INS selection rule introduced here. The calculated spectra exhibit strong temperature dependence. As the temperature increases, numerous new peaks appear, arising from the transitions originating in excited T-R states which become populated. Our calculations show that the higher temperature features typically comprise two or more transitions close in energy and with similar intensities, interspersed with numerous other transitions whose intensities are negligible. This implies that accurately calculated energies and intensities of INS transitions which our methodology provides will be indispensable for reliable interpretation and assignment of the experimental spectra of HD@C₆₀ and related systems at higher temperatures.

Vibrational modes of methane in the structure H clathrate hydrate from ab initio molecular dynamics simulation

Vibrational spectra of guest molecules in clathrate hydrates are frequently measured to determine the characteristic signatures of the molecular environment and dynamical properties of guest-host interactions. Here, we present results of our study on the vibrational frequencies of methane molecules in structure H clathrate hydrates, namely, in the 5(12) and 4(3)5(6)6(3) cages, as the frequencies of stretching vibrational modes in these environments are still unclear. The vibrational spectra of methane molecules in structure H clathrate hydrate were obtained from ab initio molecular dynamics simulation and computed from Fourier transform of autocorrelation functions for each distinct vibrational mode. The calculated symmetric and asymmetric stretching vibrational frequencies of methane molecules were found to be lower in the 4(3)5(6)6(3) cages than in the 5(12) cages (3.8 cm(-1) for symmetric stretching and 6.0 cm(-1) for asymmetric stretching). The C-H bond length and average distance between methane molecules and host-water molecules in 4(3)5(6)6(3) cages were slightly longer than those in the 5(12) cages.

Rotational tunneling in CH4 II: disorder effects

Transitions within the tunneling multiplet of CH(4) in phase II have been measured in an experiment at the backscattering instrument BASIS of the Neutron Source SNS. They all involve transitions from or to T-states. A statistical model is put forward which accounts for local departures from tetrahedral symmetry at the sites of ordered molecules. Different from previous work, in which discrete sets of overlap matrix elements have been studied, now large numbers of elements as well as the ensemble of T-states are considered. The observed neutron spectra can be explained rather well, all based on the pocket state formalism of A. Hüller [Phys. Rev. B 16, 1844 (1977)]. A completely new result is the observation and simulation of transitions between T-states, which give rise to a double peaked feature close to the elastic position and which reflect the disorder in the system. CH(2)D(2) molecules in the CH(4) matrix are largely responsible for the disorder and an interesting topic for their own sake. The simple model presented may lend itself to a broader application.

Theoretical studies of CH4 inside an open-cage fullerene: translation-rotation coupling and thermodynamic effects

Molecules trapped inside fullerenes exhibit interesting quantum behavior, including quantization of their translational degrees of freedom. In this study, a theoretical framework for predicting quantum properties of nonlinear small molecules in nonsymmetric open-cage fullerenes (OCFs) has been described along the lines of similar theories which treat small molecules inside C(60) and clathrate cages. As an example, the coupled translational-rotational energy structure has been calculated for the case of CH(4) inside a known OCF. The calculated energy levels have been used to calculate the equilibrium fraction of incorporated CH(4) as well as the translational heat capacity for the encapsulated molecule. The heat capacity shows an anomalous maximum at 239 K for CH(4) and 215 K for CD(4) which are not present in free methane.