The dipole moment of carbon monoxide

Toward Reliable Dipole Moments without Single Excitations: The Role of Orbital Rotations and Dynamical Correlation

The dipole moment is a crucial molecular property linked to a molecular system's bond polarity and overall electronic structure. To that end, the electronic dipole moment, which results from the electron density of a system, is often used to assess the accuracy and reliability of new electronic structure methods. This work analyses electronic dipole moments computed with the pair coupled cluster doubles (pCCD) ansätze and its linearized coupled cluster (pCCD-LCC) corrections using the canonical Hartree-Fock and pCCD-optimized (localized) orbital bases. The accuracy of pCCD-based dipole moments is assessed against experimental and CCSD(T) reference values using relaxed and unrelaxed density matrices and different basis set sizes. Our test set comprises molecules of various bonding patterns and electronic structures, exposing pCCD-based methods to a wide range of electron correlation effects. Additionally, we investigate the performance of pCCD-in-DFT dipole moments of some model complexes. Finally, our work indicates the importance of orbital relaxation in the pCCD model and shows the limitations of the linearized couple cluster corrections in predicting electronic dipole moments of multiple-bonded systems. Most importantly, pCCD with a linearized CCD correction can reproduce the dipole moment surfaces in singly bonded molecules, which are comparable to the multireference ones.

Potential of nanostructured carbon materials for iodine detection in realistic environments revealed by first-principles calculations

In the context of effective detection of iodine species (I2, CH3I) formed in nuclear power plants and nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities, we perform a comparative study of the potential sensing performance of four expectedly promising 2D materials (8-Pmmn borophene, BC3, C3N, and BC6N) towards the iodine-containing gases and, with the view of checking selectivity, towards common inhibiting gases in the containment atmosphere (H2O and CO), applying methods of dispersion-corrected density functional theory with periodic boundary conditions. A covalent bond is formed between the CO molecule and boron in BC3 or in 8-Pmmn borophene, compromising the anticipated applicability of these materials for iodine detection. The presence of nitrogen atoms in BC6N-2 prevents the formation of a covalent bond with CO; however, the closeness of adsorption energies for all the four gases studied does not distinguish this material as specifically sensitive to iodine species. Finally, the energies of adsorption on C3N yield a significant and promising discrimination between the adsorption energies of (I2, CH3I) vs. (CO, H2O), revealing possibilities for this material's use as an iodine sensor. The conclusions are supported by simulations at finite temperature; underlying electronic structures are also discussed.

Theoretical Investigation of the X-ray Stark Effect in Small Molecules

We have studied the Stark effect in the soft x-ray region for various small molecules by calculating the field-dependent x-ray absorption spectra. This effect is explained in terms of the response of molecular orbitals (core and valence), the molecular dipole moment, and the molecular geometry to the applied electric field. A number of consistent trends are observed linking the computed shifts in absorption energies and intensities with specific features of the molecular electronic structure. We find that both the virtual molecular orbitals (valence and/or Rydberg) as well as the core orbitals contribute to observed trends in a complementary fashion. This initial study highlights the potential impact of x-ray Stark spectroscopy as a tool to study electronic structure and environmental perturbations at a submolecular scale.

Cavity-induced non-adiabatic dynamics and spectroscopy of molecular rovibrational polaritons studied by multi-mode quantum models

We study theoretically the quantum dynamics and spectroscopy of rovibrational polaritons formed in a model system composed of a single rovibrating diatomic molecule, which interacts with two degenerate, orthogonally polarized modes of an optical Fabry–Pérot cavity. We employ an effective rovibrational Pauli–Fierz Hamiltonian in length gauge representation and identify three-state vibro-polaritonic conical intersections (VPCIs) between singly excited vibro-polaritonic states in a two-dimensional angular coordinate branching space. The lower and upper vibrational polaritons are of mixed light–matter hybrid character, whereas the intermediate state is purely photonic in nature. The VPCIs provide effective population transfer channels between singly excited vibrational polaritons, which manifest in rich interference patterns in rotational densities. Spectroscopically, three bright singly excited states are identified when an external infrared laser field couples to both a molecular and a cavity mode. The non-trivial VPCI topology manifests as pronounced multi-peak progression in the spectral region of the upper vibrational polariton, which is traced back to the emergence of rovibro-polaritonic light–matter hybrid states. Experimentally, ubiquitous spontaneous emission from cavity modes induces a dissipative reduction of intensity and peak broadening, which mainly influences the purely photonic intermediate state peak as well as the rovibro-polaritonic progression.

Organic Chemistry and Synthesis Rely More and More upon Catalysts

A few months before the COVID-19 pandemic, Pierre Vogel and Kendall N. Houk published with a new textbook Wiley-VCH, “Organic Chemistry: Theory, Reactivity, and Mechanisms in Modern Synthesis”, with a foreword from the late Roberts H. Grubbs. The book demonstrates how catalytic processes dominate all fields of modern organic chemistry and synthesis, and how invention combines thermodynamics, kinetics, spectroscopy, quantum mechanics, and thermochemical data libraries. Here, the authors present a few case studies that should be of interest to teachers, practitioners of organic and organometallic chemistry, and the engineers of molecules. The Vogel–Houk book is both textbook and reference manual; it provides a modern way to think about chemical reactivity and a powerful toolbox to inventors of new reactions and new procedures.

Regularized Second-Order Møller-Plesset Theory: A More Accurate Alternative to Conventional MP2 for Noncovalent Interactions and Transition Metal Thermochemistry for the Same Computational Cost

Second-order Møller-Plesset theory (MP2) notoriously breaks down for π-driven dispersion interactions and dative bonds in transition metal complexes. Herein, we investigate three physically justified forms of single-parameter, energy-gap dependent regularization which can yield high and transferable accuracy for a variety of noncovalent interactions (including S22, S66, and L7 test sets) and (mostly closed shell) transition metal thermochemistry. Regularization serves to damp overestimated pairwise additive contributions, renormalizing first-order amplitudes such that the effects of higher-order correlations are incorporated. The optimal parameter values for the noncovalent and transition metal sets are 1.1, 0.7, and 0.4 for κ, σ, and σ² regularizers, respectively. However, such regularization slightly degrades the accuracy of conventional MP2 for some small-molecule test sets, most of which have relatively large average frontier energy gaps. Our results suggest that appropriately regularized MP2 models may improve double hybrid density functionals, at no additional cost over conventional MP2.

Introductory lecture: when the density of the noninteracting reference system is not the density of the physical system in density functional theory

A major challenge in density functional theory (DFT) is the development of density functional approximations (DFAs) to overcome errors in existing DFAs, leading to more complex functionals. For such functionals, we consider roles of the noninteracting reference systems. The electron density of the Kohn-Sham (KS) reference with a local potential has been traditionally defined as being equal to the electron density of the physical system. This key idea has been applied in two ways: the inverse calculation of such a local KS potential for the reference from a given density and the direct calculation of density and energy based on given DFAs. By construction, the inverse calculation can yield a KS reference with the density equal to the input density of the physical system. In application of DFT, however, it is the direct calculation of density and energy from a DFA that plays a central role. For direct calculations, we find that the self-consistent density of the KS reference defined by the optimized effective potential (OEP), is not the density of the physical system, when the DFA is dependent on the external potential. This inequality holds also for the density of generalized KS (GKS) or generalized OEP reference, which allows a nonlocal potential, when the DFA is dependent on the external potential. Instead, the density of the physical system, consistent with a given DFA, is given by the linear response of the total energy with respect to the variation of the external potential. This is a paradigm shift in DFT on the use of noninteracting references: the noninteracting KS or GKS references represent the explicit computational variables for energy minimization, but not the density of the physical system for external potential-dependent DFAs. We develop the expressions for the electron density so defined through the linear response for general DFAs, demonstrate the results for orbital functionals and for many-body perturbation theory within the second-order and the random-phase approximation, and explore the connections to developments in DFT.

Carbon Monoxide Activation on Small Iron Magnetic Cluster Surfaces, FenCO, n = 1-20. A Theoretical Approach

The chemical activation of the carbon monoxide (CO) molecule on the surface of iron clusters Fe_n (n = 1-20) is studied in this work. By means of density functional theory (DFT) all-electron calculations, we have found that the adsorption of CO over the bare magnetic Fe_n (n = 1-20) clusters is thermochemically favorable. The Fe_n-CO interaction increases the C-O bond length, from 1.128 ± 0.014 Å, for isolated CO, up to 1.251 Å, for Fe₉CO. Also, the calculated wavenumbers associated with the stretching modes ν_CO are decreased, or red-shifted, as another indicator of the CO bond weakening, passing from 2099 ± 4 to 1438 cm^-1. Markedly, wavenumbers of vibrational modes ν_CO agree admirably well in comparison with experimental results reported for Fe_nCO (n = 1, 18-20), getting small errors below 2.6%. The C-O bond is enlarged on the Fe_nCO (n = 1-20) composed systems, as the CO molecule increases its bonding, charge transference, and coordination with the iron cluster. Therefore, small bare iron particles Fe_n (n = 1-20) can be proposed to promote the CO dissociation, especially Fe₉CO, which has been proven to obtain the most prominent activation of the strong C-O bond by means of the charge transference from the metal core.

A new paradigm for gaseous ligand selectivity of hemoproteins highlighted by soluble guanylate cyclase

Nitric oxide (NO), carbon monoxide (CO), and oxygen (O₂) are important physiological messengers whose concentrations vary in a remarkable range, [NO] typically from nM to several μM while [O₂] reaching to hundreds of μM. One of the machineries evolved in living organisms for gas sensing is sensor hemoproteins whose conformational change upon gas binding triggers downstream response cascades. The recently proposed "sliding scale rule" hypothesis provides a general interpretation for gaseous ligand selectivity of hemoproteins, identifying five factors that govern gaseous ligand selectivity. Hemoproteins have intrinsic selectivity for the three gases due to a neutral proximal histidine ligand while proximal strain of heme and distal steric hindrance indiscriminately adjust the affinity of these three gases for heme. On the other hand, multiple-step NO binding and distal hydrogen bond donor(s) specifically enhance affinity for NO and O₂, respectively. The "sliding scale rule" hypothesis provides clear interpretation for dramatic selectivity for NO over O₂ in soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) which is an important example of sensor hemoproteins and plays vital roles in a wide range of physiological functions. The "sliding scale rule" hypothesis has so far been validated by all experimental data and it may guide future designs for heme-based gas sensors.

Investigation of the low-energy stereodynamics in the Ne(3P2) + N2, CO reactions

We report on an experimental investigation of the low-energy stereodynamics of the energy transfer reactions Ne(³P₂) + X, producing Ne(¹S) + X⁺ and [Ne-X]⁺ (X = N₂ or CO). Collision energies in the range 0.2 K-700 K are obtained by using the merged beam technique. Two kinds of product ions are generated by Penning and associative ionization, respectively. The intermediate product [Ne-X]⁺ in vibrationally excited states can predissociate into bare ions (X⁺). The experimental ratio of the NeX⁺ and X⁺ product ion yields is similar for both molecules at high collision energies but diverge at collision energies below 100 K. This difference is explained by the first excited electronic state of the product ions, which is accessible in the case of CO but lies too high in energy in the case of N₂.

Electronic structure calculations permit identification of the driving forces behind frequency shifts in transition metal monocarbonyls

Our direct DFT decomposition of CO frequency shifts updates the paradigm for metal carbonyl binding.

Impacts of air conditioning on air quality in tiny homes in Hong Kong

The risk of developing sick building syndrome is known to be higher in air-conditioned than naturally ventilated spaces. In Hong Kong, air conditioning (AC) is commonly used in homes to relieve summer heat stress. This study aims to assess the air quality impacts of AC in tiny homes called SDUs (sub-divided units). Poor ventilation and stronger heat stress in such informal housing could necessitate the use of AC. Predicted mean vote (PMV), CO, CO₂, PM10, PM2.5 and VOCs were continuously monitored for 72 h in eight SDUs. PMV was ≥2 ('warm') in 75% of the SDUs at sleeping time (after 22:00), implying an 80% dissatisfaction among the occupants. During AC use, the mean concentrations of CO and CO₂ increased from 220 to 905 μg/m³ (+312%) and from 920 to 1711 mg/m³ (+86%) respectively. The highest CO₂ level (3758 mg/m³) was observed in a 3-person household (one more than other SDUs). The overall impacts on PM10 (+4%) and PM2.5 (+19%) were relatively insignificant. Reduced ventilation in air-conditioned homes facilitated the accumulation of VOCs (mean change: +22%). The findings could inform building design and modify AC usage practice to improve the indoor environment.

Electrostatic Transparent Air Filter Membranes Composed of Metallized Microfibers for Particulate Removal

Particulate matter (PM) from ever-increasing industrialization poses a great public health risk. Although fiber-based filters are used effectively to block PM, filters with high packing densities suffer from excessive pressure drops. Electret filters bypass intermediate- or large-sized particles and thus capture only small particles, the motion of which can be influenced by weak electrostatic fields. In this study, we demonstrate the fabrication of metallized fibers that produce intense electric fields, thereby enabling capture of PMs of a variety of sizes produced by burning incense. The filter consisting of these metallized fibers effectively removes moving particles from air. An electricity-driven filter is relatively thin and has a low packing density, making it light, portable, transparent, and inexpensive. The sizes of the pores between the metallized fibers are readily controlled by manipulating the electrospinning and electroplating times. Sufficiently large pores permit efficient airflow and thus increase permeability without risking an excessive pressure drop. The metallized fiber filter is washable and thus reusable. In this study, a PM removal rate of >97% was recorded using a filter designed under optimal conditions.

Dynamics of linear molecules in water: Translation-rotation coupling in jump motion driven diffusion

We study by computer simulations, and by theory, the coupled rotational and translational dynamics of three important linear diatomic molecules, namely, carbon monoxide (CO), nitric oxide (NO), and cyanide ion (CN^-) in water. Translational diffusion of these molecules is found to be strongly coupled to their own rotational dynamics which, in turn, are coupled to similar motions of the surrounding water. In particular, we find that coupled orientational jump motions play an important role in all three cases. While CO and NO show similar features, CN^- exhibits certain differences. Our results agree well with the known experimental values of the diffusion coefficient. We examined the validity of hydrodynamic predictions and found them to be inadequate, particularly for rotational diffusion. A mode coupling theory approach is developed and applied to understand the complexity of translation-rotation coupling.

Carbon monoxide adsorption at forsterite surfaces as models of interstellar dust grains: An unexpected bathochromic (red) shift of the CO stretching frequency

Carbon monoxide (CO) is one of the most abundant species in the interstellar medium (ISM). In the colder regions of the ISM, it can directly adsorb onto exposed Mg cations of forsterite (Fo, Mg₂SiO₄), one of the main constituents of the dust grains. Its energetic of adsorption can strongly influence the chemico-physical evolution of cold interstellar clouds; thus, a detailed description of this process is desirable. We recently simulated the CO adsorption on crystalline Fo surfaces by computer ab initio methods and, surprisingly, reported cases where the CO stretching frequency underwent a bathochromic (red) shift (i.e., it is lowered with respect to the CO gas phase frequency), usually not experimentally observed for CO adsorbed onto oxides with non-d cations, like the present case. Here, we elucidate in deep when and under which conditions this case may happen and concluded that this red shift may be related to peculiar surface sites occurring at the morphologically complex Fo surfaces. The reasons for the red shift are linked to both the quadrupolar nature of the CO molecule and the role of dispersion interactions with surfaces of complex morphology. The present work, albeit speculative, suggests that, at variance with CO adsorption on simple oxides like MgO, the CO spectrum may exhibit features at lower frequencies than the reference gas frequency when CO is adsorbed on complex oxides, even in the absence of transition metal ions.

First-principles descriptors of CO chemisorption on Ni and Cu surfaces

A comprehensive analysis of low coverage CO adsorption on Ni and Cu low-index miller surfaces – (100), (110), and (111) – over all the possible adsorption sites is presented.

Accurate High-Pressure Measurements of Carbon Monoxide's Electrical Properties

Accurate measurements of carbon monoxide's electrical properties were carried out at high pressure for the first time enabling stringent comparisons with theoretical values calculated ab initio. Dielectric permittivity measurements were conducted utilising a microwave re-entrant cavity resonator over the temperature range from (255 to 313) K and at pressures up to 8 MPa with a relative combined expanded uncertainty (k=2) less than or equal to 52 ppm. The new data enable carbon monoxide's molar polarizability to be correlated within 0.5 %, significantly improving upon existing literature data, which have a relative scatter of about 10 %. The measured molecular polarizability and electric dipole moment of carbon monoxide were determined to be 2.176×10^-40  C²  m²  J^-1 and 0.107 D. Literature values from ab initio calculations for these properties are within 0.28 % and 3.9 %, respectively, of the measured quantities. Moreover, our measurement of the electric dipole moment at finite temperature agrees within 2.2 % with the value derived from accurate spectroscopic measurements for the ground rovibrational state. The second dielectric virial coefficient of carbon monoxide was determined experimentally for the first time to be b_ϵ =(1.015±0.044) cm³  mol^-1 , which compares reasonably with ab initio estimates.

Quantum Interference Contribution to the Dipole Moment of Diatomic Molecules

The interference energy partitioning analysis method developed by our group and used to study the nature of the chemical bond was extended to partition the electric dipole moment in quasi-classical and interference contributions. Our results show that interference participates in charge displacement in polar molecules, providing, directly or indirectly, a relevant contribution for the total dipole moment. A linear correlation was found between the interference contribution of the dipole moment from the bond electron group, μ_INT(bond), and the difference of electronegativity of the atoms which form the bond, ΔX_AB. This interesting result reinforces the fact that electronegativity is not a property of an atom alone, but rather a property of the atom in the molecule and that ΔX_AB can only be associated with that part of the total charge displacement resulting from the formation of the chemical bond. The partitioning of the total dipole moment into quasi-classical and interference contributions provides new insights about the reasons for the failure of the ΔX_AB criterion in predicting the correct orientation of the dipole moment in several molecules. The results of the present work also bring additional evidence for the previously proposed mechanism of formation of polar bonds.

Unveiling CO adsorption on Cu surfaces: new insights from molecular orbital principles

A holistic analysis of adsorption energies, charge transfer, and structural changes has been employed to highlight the variations in adsorption mechanisms upon changing the surface type and the adsorption site.

Computational screening of functional groups for capture of toxic industrial chemicals in porous materials

Functional groups are screened computationally to understand how they bind and capture toxic industrial chemicals.

Experimental and theoretical investigations of the gas adsorption sites in rht-metal–organic frameworks

This highlight article reviews the experimental and theoretical studies that have been implemented to investigate the sorption sites for gases in rht-metal–organic frameworks.

Description of Polar Chemical Bonds from the Quantum Mechanical Interference Perspective

The Generalized Product Function Energy Partitioning (GPF-EP) method has been applied to a set of molecules, AH (A = Li, Be, B, C, N, O, F), CO and LiF with quite different dipole moments, in order to investigate the role played by the quantum interference effect in the formation of polar chemical bonds. The calculations were carried out with GPF wave functions treating all the core electrons as a single Hartree-Fock group and the bonding electrons at the Generalized Valence Bond Perfect-Pairing (GVB-PP) level, with the cc-pVTZ basis set. The results of the energy partitioning into interference and quasi-classical contributions along the respective Potential Energy Surfaces (PES) show that the main contribution to the depth of the potential wells comes from the interference term, which is an indication that all the molecules mentioned above form typical covalent bonds. In all cases, the stabilization promoted by the interference term comes from the kinetic contribution, in agreement with previous results. The analysis of the effect of quantum interference on the electron density reveals that while polarization effects (quasi-classical) tend to displace electronic density from the most polarizable atom toward the less polarizable one, interference (quantum effects) counteracts by displacing electronic density to the bond region, giving rise to the right electronic density and dipole moment.

Intriguing Electrostatic Potential of CO: Negative Bond-ends and Positive Bond-cylindrical-surface

The strong electronegativity of O dictates that the ground state of singlet CO has positively charged C and negatively charged O, in agreement with ab initio charge analysis, but in disagreement with the dipole direction. Though this unusual phenomenon has been fairly studied, the study of electrostatic potential (EP) for noncovalent interactions of CO is essential for better understanding. Here we illustrate that both C and O atom-ends show negative EP (where the C end gives more negative EP), favoring positively charged species, whereas the cylindrical surface of the CO bond shows positive EP, favoring negatively charged ones. This is demonstrated from the interactions of CO with Na⁺, Cl^–, H₂O, CO and benzene. It can be explained by the quadrupole driven electrostatic nature of CO (like N₂) with very weak dipole moment. The EP is properly described by the tripole model taking into account the electrostatic multipole moments, which has a large negative charge at a certain distance protruded from C, a large positive charge on C, and a small negative charge on O. We also discuss the EP of the first excited triplet CO.

Tuning the Ground State Symmetry of Acetylenyl Radicals

The lowest excited state of the acetylenyl radical, HCC, is a (2)Π state, only 0.46 eV above the ground state, (2)Σ(+). The promotion of an electron from a π bond pair to a singly occupied σ hybrid orbital is all that is involved, and so we set out to tune those orbital energies, and with them the relative energetics of (2)Π and (2)Σ(+) states. A strategy of varying ligand electronegativity, employed in a previous study on substituted carbynes, RC, was useful, but proved more difficult to apply for substituted acetylenyl radicals, RCC. However, π-donor/acceptor substitution is effective in modifying the state energies. We are able to design molecules with (2)Π ground states (NaOCC, H2NCC ((2)A″), HCSi, FCSi, etc.) and vary the (2)Σ(+)-(2)Π energy gap over a 4 eV range. We find an inconsistency between bond order and bond dissociation energy measures of the bond strength in the Si-containing molecules; we provide an explanation through an analysis of the relevant potential energy curves.

Nature of the chemical bond and origin of the inverted dipole moment in boron fluoride: a generalized valence bond approach

The generalized product function energy partitioning (GPF-EP) method has been applied to investigate the nature of the chemical bond and the origin of the inverted dipole moment of the BF molecule. The calculations were carried out with GPF wave functions treating all of the core electrons as a single Hartree-Fock group and the valence electrons at the generalized valence bond perfect-pairing (GVB-PP) or full GVB levels, with the cc-pVTZ basis set. The results show that the chemical structure of both X (1)Σ(+) and a (3)Π states is composed of a single bond. The lower dissociation energy of the excited state is attributed to a stabilizing intraatomic singlet coupling involving the B 2sp-like lobe orbitals after bond dissociation. An increase of electron density on the B atom caused by the reorientation of the boron 2sp-like lobe orbitals is identified as the main responsible effect for the electric dipole inversion in the ground state of BF. Finally, it is shown that π back-bonding from fluorine to boron plays a minor role in the electron density displacement to the bonding region in both states. Moreover, this effect is associated with changes in the quasi-classical component of the electron density only and does not contribute to covalency in either of the states. Therefore, at least for the case of the BF molecule, the term back-bonding is misleading, since it does not contribute to the bond formation.

Exploring the electronic states of iodocarbyne: a theoretical contribution

By contrasting for the first time the non-relativistic and relativistic characterization of the electronic states of iodocarbyne, we provide a very reliable description of this species that we expect can motivate and guide the spectroscopist in its experimental investigation.

Potential energy and dipole moment surfaces of HCO- for the search of H- in the interstellar medium

Potential energy and permanent dipole moment surfaces of the electronic ground state of formyl negative ion HCO(-) are determined for a large number of geometries using the coupled-cluster theory with single and double and perturbative treatment of triple excitations ab initio method with a large basis set. The obtained data are used to construct interpolated surfaces, which are extended analytically to the region of large separations between CO and H(-) with the multipole expansion approach. We have calculated the energy of the lowest rovibrational levels of HCO(-) that should guide the spectroscopic characterization of HCO(-) in laboratory experiments. The study can also help to detect HCO(-) in the cold and dense regions of the interstellar medium where the anion could be formed through the association of abundant CO with still unobserved H(-).