MCSCF–CI calculations of the ground state potential curves of LiH, Li2, and F2

Electronic structure of Li1,2,3 +,0,- and nature of the bonding in Li2,3 +,0,

The current study of the small lithium molecules Li2 +,0,- and Li3 +,0,- focuses on the nature of the bonding in these molecules as well as their structures and energetics (bond energies, ionization energies, and electron affinities). Valence CASSCF (2s,2p) calculations incorporate nondynamical electron correlation in the calculations, while the corresponding multireference configuration interaction and coupled cluster calculations incorporate dynamical electron correlation. Treatment of nondynamical correlation is critical for properly describing the Li2,3 +,0,- molecules as well as the Li- anion with dynamical correlation, in general, only fine-tuning the predictions. All lithium molecules and ions are bound, with the Li3 + and Li2 + ions being the most strongly bound, followed by Li3 - , Li2 , Li2 - and Li3 . The minimum energy structures of Li3 +,0,- are, respectively, an equilateral triangle, an isosceles triangle, and a linear structure. The results of SCGVB calculations are analyzed to obtain insights into the nature of the bonding in these molecules. An important finding of this work is that interstitial orbitals, a concept first put forward by McAdon and Goddard in 1985, play an essential role in the bonding of all lithium molecules considered here except for Li2 . The interstitial orbitals found in the Li3 +,0 molecules likely give rise to the non-nuclear attractors/maxima observed in these molecules.

Orbital contraction and covalent bonding

According to Ruedenberg's classic treatise on the theory of chemical bonding [K. Ruedenberg, Rev. Mod. Phys. 34, 326-376 (1962)], orbital contraction is an integral consequence of covalent bonding. While the concept is clear, its quantification by quantum chemical calculations is not straightforward, except for the simplest of molecules, such as H₂ ⁺ and H₂. This paper proposes a new, yet simple, approach to the problem, utilizing the modified atomic orbital (MAO) method of Ehrhardt and Ahlrichs [Theor. Chim. Acta 68, 231 (1985)]. Through the use of MAOs, which are an atom-centered minimal basis formed from the molecular and atomic density operators, the wave functions of the species of interest are re-expanded, allowing the computation of the kinetic energy (and any other expectation value) of free and bonded fragments. Thus, it is possible to quantify the intra- and interfragment changes in kinetic energy, i.e., the effects of contraction. Computations are reported for a number of diatomic molecules H₂, Li₂, B₂, C₂, N₂, O₂, F₂, CO, P₂, and Cl₂ and the polyatomics CH₃-CH₃, CH₃-SiH₃, CH₃-OH, and C₂H₅-C₂H₅ (where the single bonds between the heavy atoms are studied) as well as dimers of He, Ne, Ar, and the archetypal ionic molecule NaCl. In all cases, it is found that the formation of a covalent bond is accompanied by an increase in the intra-fragment kinetic energy, an indication of orbital contraction and/or deformation.

Accurate spectroscopic properties by diffusion quantum Monte Carlo calculations

The capability of Diffusion Quantum Monte Carlo (DMC) to produce high quality potential energy curve (PEC) was evaluated. H₂⁺, HeH⁺ and LiH PECs were built by all-electron fixed-node DMC calculations. Trial wave functions were obtained from Hartree-Fock (HF) (H₂⁺), MCSCF and CI (HeH⁺ and LiH) calculations multiplied by Jastrow factor. The quality of these generated PECs was analyzed throughout equilibrium distance, dissociation energy, vibrational energies and rovibrational spectroscopic constants (ω_e, ω_ex_e, ω_ey_e, α_e, γ_e and B_e). The Discrete Variable Representation (DVR) and the Dunham approaches were used to determine the rovibrational spectroscopic constants. The PECs and the aforementioned properties were also obtained by the following methods: MCSCF/aug-cc-pV5Z (LiH), CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pV5Z (HeH⁺ and LiH) and HF (H₂⁺ and HeH⁺) levels. The results of these DMC computations, specially the DMC-DVR procedure, are the most accurate among others DMC calculations available in the literature for these systems. They suggest that DMC can be used to achieve accurate PECs to produce spectroscopic properties with the same level of accuracy of theoretical benchmarks and experimental data of the literature.

A companion perturbation theory for state-specific multireference coupled cluster methods

A partitioning scheme is applied to the state-specific Mukherjee multireference coupled cluster method to derive a companion perturbation theory (Mk-MRPT2). A production-level implementation of Mk-MRPT2 is reported. The effectiveness of the Mk-MRPT2 method is demonstrated by application to the classic F(2) dissociation problem and the lowest-lying electronic states of meta-benzyne, including computations with up to 766 atomic orbitals. We show that Mk-MRPT2 theory is particularly useful in multireference focal point extrapolations to determine ab initio limits.

On the quality of the hardness kernel and the Fukui function to evaluate the global hardness

An approximated hardness kernel, which includes the second derivative with respect to the density of the kinetic energy, the electron-electron coulomb repulsion, and the exchange density functionals, has been tested for the calculation of the global hardness. The results obtained for a series of 40 cations and neutral systems and 16 anions represent in most cases an improvement of the results obtained using the HOMO-LUMO gap approach and indicate the viability of this approach to evaluate global hardness. In addition, the relevance of the Fukui function approximation and the role of the three components of the hardness kernel in the evaluation of the global hardness have been analyzed.

An accurate non-Born–Oppenheimer calculation of the first purely vibrational transition in LiH molecule

In this work we study the ground and the first vibrationally excited states of LiH molecule. We performed an extensive nonrelativistic variational calculations of the two states without using the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. The results are analyzed and compared with the data extracted from recent experiments. The 0<--1 transition energy obtained in the calculations converged to a value which is less than a wave number above the transition energy estimated from the available experimental data concerning the LiH rovibrational transitions. We discuss the remaining discrepancy and the procedure used to determine the "experimental" transition frequencies.

A diradical mechanism for the addition of F2 to ethene: A density functional theory study

The long disputed mechanism for the F(2) addition to ethene is elucidated by density functional theory calculations. With hybrid functionals and a large basis set, DFT provides an excellent description for the dissociation of ground state F(2), and a reasonable account for the F(2)...C(2)H(4) van der Waals complex, which makes it possible for the modeling of reactions between elemental fluorine and organic molecules. The attack of F(2) on ethene first produces a diradical intermediate, which then dissociates into two radicals CH(2)F-CH(2) and F. The first step is exothermic with a low barrier around 1.8 kcal/mol, and the exothermic energy is more than enough to overcome the barrier in the second step for the homolysis of the dangling F-F bond in the diradical, although the presence of solvents and matrices environment could stabilize the diradical. Our calculations provide a coherent framework to understand this reaction not only in the gas and solution phases, but also in the matrices environment where mode-specific enhancement is observed for the addition process induced by infrared radiation.

Far- and Mid-Infrared Emission Spectroscopy of LiH and LiD

High-resolution Fourier transform spectra of LiH and LiD were recorded in the far-infrared region, 100-360 cm-1, and the mid-infrared regions, 800-1200 cm-1 and 2000-3000 cm-1. A total of 261 pure rotational lines and 678 rovibrational lines were measured for the isotopomers 6LiH(D) and 7LiH(D). Molecular constants for the X1Sigma+ ground state in the form of mass-dependent Dunham Yij's and mass-independent Dunham Uij's were determined from a data set of 1476 lines, consisting of our measured line positions and previously reported microwave, millimeter-wave, and infrared lines. An effective internuclear potential for the ground electronic state where the Born-Oppenheimer part is modeled as a parameterized modified-Morse function was also determined from a fit of the data. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.