Intermolecular dynamics of benzene–rare gas complexes as derived from microwave spectra

Ab Initio Potentials for the Ground S0 and the First Electronically Excited Singlet S1 States of Benzene-Helium with Application to Tunneling Intermolecular Vibrational States

We present new ab initio intermolecular potential energy surfaces for the benzene-helium complex in its ground (S0) and first excited (S1) states. The coupled-cluster level of theory with single, double, and perturbative triple excitations, CCSD(T), was used to calculate the ground state potential. The excited state potential was obtained by adding the excitation energies S0 → S1 of the complex, calculated using the equation of motion approach EOM-CCSD, to the ground state potential interaction energies. Analytical potentials are constructed and applied to study the structural and vibrational dynamics of benzene-helium. The binding energies and equilibrium distances of the ground and excited states were found to be 89 cm-1, 3.14 Å and 77 cm-1, 3.20 Å, respectively. The calculated vibrational energy levels exhibit tunneling of He through the benzene plane and are in reasonable agreement with recently reported experimental values for both the ground and excited states [Hayashi, M.; Ohshima, Y. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2020, 11, 9745]. Prospects for the theoretical study of complexes with large aromatic molecules and He are also discussed.

Perfluorination of Aromatic Compounds Reinforce Their van der Waals Interactions with Rare Gases: The Rotational Spectrum of Pentafluoropyridine-Ne

The rotational spectrum of the pentafluoropyridine-Ne complex, generated in a supersonic jet, has been investigated using chirped-pulse microwave Fourier transform spectroscopy in the 2–8 GHz range. The spectra of the ²⁰Ne and ²²Ne species have been observed, and the rotational constants have been used to determine the structure of the complex. This structure, and those of the previously experimentally studied complexes benzene-Ne and pyridine-Ne, are an excellent benchmark for the theoretical calculations on these adducts. These complexes and hexafluorobenzene-Ne have been investigated at the CCSD/6-311++G(2d,p) level. The calculations reproduce the experimental structures well and show how the van der Waals complexes are stronger for the perfluorinated compound.

Rotational Spectrum and Molecular Structures of the Binary Aggregates of 1,1,1,3,3,3-Hexafluoro-2-propanol with Ne and Ar

The structures and binding topologies of two binary van der Waals complexes 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP)···Ne and ···Ar were investigated. The rotational spectra of these two complexes including several isotopic species containing ²⁰Ne, ²²Ne, ⁴⁰Ar, ¹³C, and hydroxyl D were measured using a chirped pulse Fourier transform microwave spectrometer and a cavity-based Fourier transform microwave spectrometer. While HFIP was shown to exist in both the gauche and trans configurations based on previous reports, the rare gas atom is predicted to attach to HFIP in several different binding topologies, leading to a total of nine possible structural isomers for each complex. Only one isomer was detected for each species, and it corresponds to the most stable one predicted, based on the comparison of the experimental rotational constants and electric dipole moment components with the theoretical predictions and on the isotopic data. We applied quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) and electrostatic potential calculations to examine the different rare gas binding sites and to explore the nature of the interactions in these two complexes and several previously reported alcohol···Ar complexes. The effects of fluorination are also discussed by comparison with the binary complexes of isopropanol···Ne and ···Ar.

Unveiling the structural and energetic properties of thiazole-water complex by microwave spectroscopy and theoretical calculations

The structure and non-covalent bonding features of the complex of thiazole and water were studied by using supersonic jet Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy and theoretical calculations. One isomer was observed which corresponds to the global minimum of the complex predicted theoretically. The rotational spectra of 9 additional isotopologues, including 5 mono-substituted heavy atoms of thiazole (³⁴S, ¹³C and ¹⁵N), and 4 water isotopic species (H₂¹⁸O, DOH, HOD and D₂O), were also measured and analyzed. The experimental spectroscopic parameters were used to determine the structural parameters of the observed isomer. Theoretical analyses based on quantum theory of atoms in molecules and natural bond orbital revealed that the two moieties are linked by a N···H-O hydrogen bond. The total interaction energy of the complex is calculated to be -25.1 kJmol^-1 with electrostatics being the major term according to energy decomposition analysis.

Ab initio relativistic potential energy surfaces of benzene-Xe complex with application to intermolecular vibrations

The benzene-Xe (BXe) complex in its electronic ground state is studied using ab initio methods. Since this complex contains the heavy Xe atom, the relativistic effects cannot be neglected. We test two different approaches that describe the scalar relativistic effects in the framework of the coupled-cluster level of theory with single, double, and perturbative triple excitations, used for the interaction energy calculations. The first one is based on the small core pseudopotential (PP), and the second one is based on the explicit treatment of scalar relativistic effects using the Douglas-Kroll-Hess (DKH) Hamiltonian. A few basis sets are tested with the PP and DKH, and for each one, the analytical potential energy surface (PES) is constructed. It is shown that the difference between PESs determined with PP and DKH methods is small, if the orbitals of the 4d subshell in Xe are correlated. We select the most appropriate approach for the calculation of the potential energy surface of BXe, with respect to accuracy and computational cost. The optimal level of theory includes a small Dunning's basis set for the benzene monomer and a larger PP basis set for Xe supplemented by midbond functions. The PES obtained using such an approach provides a reasonable accuracy when compared to the empirical one derived from the microwave spectra of BXe. The empirical and the theoretical values of intermolecular vibrational energies agree within 0.5 cm^-1 up to second overtones. The vibrational energy level pattern of BXe is characterized by a distinct polyad structure.

Rotational spectra of van der Waals complexes: pyrrole-Ne and pyrrole-Ne2

The van der Waals 1 : 1 and 1 : 2 adducts between the aromatic molecule pyrrole (Pyr) and the rare gas atom neon (Ne) have been investigated using a combination of chirped pulse Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy and quantum-chemical calculations. Rotational spectra of two and three isotopologues of Pyr-Ne and Pyr-Ne2, respectively, arising from the combinations of the 20Ne and 22Ne isotopes, were identified and a partial rs structure determined. Unusual spectral intensities have been observed with a significant enrichment of heavier isotopic species in the jet molecular expansion. The observed rotational constants of Pyr-Ne are consistent with a nearly symmetric prolate top with the Ne atom located above the plane of pyrrole. The trimer presents C2v symmetry with the Ne atoms located one on each side of the ring plane. The experimental 14N nuclear quadrupole coupling constants have been determined for all the isotopologues of Pyr-Ne and Pyr-Ne2 complexes. Similar values to those of isolated pyrrole have been found, which suggests that the electrical gradient field of pyrrole does not change much upon complexation. The observed spectroscopic parameters have been compared with those of other aromatic-rare gas complexes.

Rotational spectrum and structure of 2-chlorothiophene and its complex with argon

2-chlorothiophene and its van der Waals complex with argon were studied by supersonic-jet Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. Rotational measurements of parent and the mono-substituted ³⁷Cl, ³⁴S and ¹³C isotopologues of the monomer allowed its precisely structural determination. Rotational spectra of ³⁵Cl and ³⁷Cl isotopologues were observed and assigned for the van der Waals complex of 2-chlorothiophene with Ar. Ab initio calculations carried out at the MP2/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory complement the experimental studies. Spectroscopic and theoretical results support a conformation in which the Ar atom locates above the plane of aromatic ring and toward the substituted carbon atom. The distance between the centers of mass of 2-chlorothiophene and argon is 3.589 Å. The Non-Covalent Interaction analysis and Symmetry-Adapted Perturbation theory were performed to reveal the nature of the non-covalent interaction within the complex.

Interactions of benzene, naphthalene, and azulene with alkali-metal and alkaline-earth-metal atoms for ultracold studies

We consider collisional properties of polyatomic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules immersed into ultracold atomic gases and investigate intermolecular interactions of exemplary benzene, naphthalene, and azulene with alkali-metal (Li, Na, K, Rb, and Cs) and alkaline-earth-metal (Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba) atoms. We apply the state-of-the-art ab initio techniques to compute the potential energy surfaces (PESs). We use the coupled cluster method restricted to single, double, and noniterative triple excitations to reproduce the correlation energy and the small-core energy-consistent pseudopotentials to model the scalar relativistic effects in heavier metal atoms. We also report the leading long-range isotropic and anisotropic dispersion and induction interaction coefficients. The PESs are characterized in detail, and the nature of intermolecular interactions is analyzed and benchmarked using symmetry-adapted perturbation theory. The full three-dimensional PESs are provided for the selected systems within the atom-bond pairwise additive representation and can be employed in scattering calculations. The present study of the electronic structure is the first step toward the evaluation of prospects for sympathetic cooling of polyatomic aromatic molecules with ultracold atoms. We suggest azulene, an isomer of naphthalene which possesses a significant permanent electric dipole moment and optical transitions in the visible range, as a promising candidate for electric field manipulation and buffer-gas or sympathetic cooling.

Rotational study on the van der Waals complex 1-chloro-1,1-difluoroethane-argon

The rotational spectrum of the van der Waals complex formed between 1-chloro-1,1-difluoroethane and argon has been investigated by using a pulsed jet Fourier transform microwave spectrometer. Only one set of rotational transitions belonging to the lowest energy conformer has been observed and assigned, although theoretical calculations suggest six stable conformers that might be observed. The observed conformer, according to the experimental evidence from two isotopologues (³⁵Cl and ³⁷Cl), adopts a configuration in which the argon atom is located, close to the CF₂Cl top, between the CCF and CCCl planes (the dihedral angle ∠ArCCCl is 65.2°). The distance between argon atom and the center of mass of CH₃CF₂Cl is 3.949(2) Å. The dissociation energy, with pseudo diatomic approximation, is evaluated to be 2.4kJmol^-1.

Character of intermolecular interaction in pyridine-argon complex: Ab initio potential energy surface, internal dynamics, and interrelations between SAPT energy components

The pyridine-Ar (PAr) van der Waals (vdW) complex is studied using a high level ab initio method. Its structure, binding energy, and intermolecular vibrational states are determined from the analytical potential energy surface constructed from interaction energy (IE) values computed at the coupled cluster level of theory with single, double, and perturbatively included triple excitations with the augmented correlation consistent polarized valence double-ζ (aug-cc-pVDZ) basis set complemented by midbond functions. The structure of the complex at its global minimum with Ar at a distance of 3.509 Å from the pyridine plane and shifted by 0.218 Å from the center of mass towards nitrogen agrees well with the corresponding equilibrium structure derived previously from the rotational spectrum of PAr. The PAr binding energy De of 392 cm(-1) is close to that of 387 cm(-1) calculated earlier at the same ab initio level for the prototypical benzene-Ar (BAr) complex. However, under an extension of the basis set, De for PAr becomes slightly lower than De for BAr. The ab initio vdW vibrational energy levels allow us to estimate the reliability of the methods for the determination of the vdW fundamentals from the rotational spectra. To disclose the character of the intermolecular interaction in PAr, the symmetry-adapted perturbation theory (SAPT) is employed for the analysis of different physical contributions to IE. It is found that SAPT components of IE can be approximately expressed in the binding region by only two of them: the exchange repulsion and dispersion energy. The total induction effect is negligible. The interrelations between various SAPT components found for PAr are fulfilled for a few other complexes involving aromatic molecules and Ar or Ne, which indicates that they are valid for all rare gas (Rg) atoms and aromatics.

The study of basis sets for the calculation of the structure and dynamics of the benzene-Kr complex

An ab initio intermolecular potential energy surface (PES) has been constructed for the benzene-krypton (BKr) van der Waals (vdW) complex. The interaction energy has been calculated at the coupled cluster level of theory with single, double, and perturbatively included triple excitations using different basis sets. As a result, a few analytical PESs of the complex have been determined. They allowed a prediction of the complex structure and its vibrational vdW states. The vibrational energy level pattern exhibits a distinct polyad structure. Comparison of the equilibrium structure, the dipole moment, and vibrational levels of BKr with their experimental counterparts has allowed us to design an optimal basis set composed of a small Dunning's basis set for the benzene monomer, a larger effective core potential adapted basis set for Kr and additional midbond functions. Such a basis set yields vibrational energy levels that agree very well with the experimental ones as well as with those calculated from the available empirical PES derived from the microwave spectra of the BKr complex. The basis proposed can be applied to larger complexes including Kr because of a reasonable computational cost and accurate results.

Rim-functionalized cryptophane-111 derivatives via heterocapping, and their xenon complexes

Rim-functionalization of cryptophane-111 narrows the achievable conformational range of the cage, resulting in unprecedentedly crowded Xe@cryptophane complexes.

Benzene⋯acetylene: a structural investigation of the prototypical CH⋯π interaction

The benzene⋯acetylene dimer is a symmetric top with μ = 0.438(11) D and H⋯π = 2.4921(1) Å.

Competitive role of CH4-CH4 and CH-π interactions in C6H6-(CH4)n aggregates: the transition from dimer to cluster features

The intermolecular methane-methane and benzene (Bz)-methane interactions formulated in this paper are suitable to investigate systems of increasing complexity. The proposed CH(4)-CH(4) and Bz-CH(4) potential energy functions are indeed applied to study some macroscopic properties of methane and important features of both small Bz-(CH(4))(n) (n > 1-10) clusters and Bz surrounded by several CH(4) molecules. Relevant parameters of the interaction, derived from molecular polarizability components, have been proved to be useful to describe in a consistent way both size repulsion and dispersion attraction forces. The proposed potential model also allows one to isolate the role of the different intermolecular energy contributions. The spatial distribution of the CH(4) molecules in the clusters is investigated by means of molecular dynamics simulations under various conditions, even when methane phase transition from liquid to gas is likely to occur. In addition, several properties, such as radial distribution functions, density values, and mean diffusion coefficients, are analyzed in detail.

Microwave spectrum of [1,1]-pyridine-Ne2

We investigated the rotational spectra of six isotopologues of pyridine--Ne(2), formed by combinations of two isotopes of the nitrogen atom ((14)N and (15)N) in pyridine with two isotopes of the rare gas atoms ((20)Ne and (22)Ne), by using pulsed jet Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. We detected the C(2v) symmetry conformer, denoted as [1,1], where the Ne atoms are located one on each side of the ring plane. The [2,0] species, with the two Ne atoms on the same side of the ring, was not observed. Two structural parameters, R and theta, that localize the rare gas atoms with respect to pyridine have been determined. The (14)N nuclear quadrupole coupling constants have been obtained for the isotopologues containing this nucleus.

Theoretical studies of potential energy surface and rotational spectra of Xe-H(2)O van der Waals complex

In this work we report an ab initio intermolecular potential energy surface and theoretical spectroscopic studies for Xe-H(2)O complex. The ab initio energies are calculated with CCSD(T) method and large basis sets (aug-cc-pVQZ for H and O and aug-cc-pVQZ-PP for Xe) augmented by a {3s3p2d2f1g} set of bond functions. This potential energy surface has a global minimum corresponding to a planar and nearly linear hydrogen bonded configuration with a well depth of 192.5 cm(-1) at intermolecular distance of 4.0 A, which is consistent with the previous determined potential by Wen and Jager [J. Phys. Chem. A 110, 7560 (2006)]. The bound state calculations have been performed for the complex by approximating the water molecule as a rigid rotor. The theoretical rotational transition frequencies, isotopic shifts, nuclear quadrupole coupling constants, and structure parameters are in good agreement with the experimental observed values. The wavefunctions are analyzed to understand the dynamics of the ground and the first excited states.

Determination of the binding energies in aromatic clusters: resonance-enhanced multi- photon ionization and mass analyzed threshold ionization investigation of the dichlorobenzene-argon complexes

Resonance-enhanced multi-photon ionization (REMPI) and mass-analyzed threshold ionization (MATI) spectroscopic investigations were applied to the van der Waals complexes of the three dichlorobenzene isomers with argon. From the REMPI spectra it is concluded that the argon atom is shifted towards the chlorine atoms during excitation for the ortho and the meta isomers while it stays in the middle of the ring for the para isomer. From the MATI spectra it was possible to determine the binding energies in the ion ground state to 617 cm(-1) -/+ 15 cm(-1), 529 cm(-1) -/+ 125 cm(-1) and 581 cm(-1) -/+ 76 cm(-1) for the para, the meta and the ortho isomer, respectively. Together with -theoretical calculations binding energies in the neutral ground state were determined to be 426 cm(-1) -/+ 16 cm(-1) for all the three isomers.

High-resolution microwave spectrum of the weakly bound helium-pyridine complex

High-resolution rotational spectra of the helium-pyridine dimer were obtained using a pulsed molecular beam Fourier transform microwave spectrometer. Thirty-nine R-branch (14)N nuclear quadrupole hyperfine components of a- and c-type dipole transitions were observed and assigned. The following spectroscopic parameters were obtained: rotational constants A=3875.2093(48) MHz, B=3753.2514(45) MHz, and C=2978.4366(81) MHz; quartic centrifugal distortion constants D(J)=0.124 08(55) MHz, D(JK)=0.1200(43) MHz, D(K)=-0.2451(25) MHz, d(1)=0.004 27(27) MHz, and d(2)=0.000 16(10) MHz; sextic centrifugal distortion constants H(J)=0.003 053(35) MHz, H(JK)=-0.006 598(47) MHz, and H(K)=0.004 11(59) MHz; (14)N nuclear quadrupole coupling constants chi(aa)((14)N)=-4.7886(76) MHz, chi(bb)((14)N)=1.4471(76) MHz, and chi(cc)((14)N)=3.3415(43) MHz. Our analyses of the rotational and (14)N quadrupole coupling constants show that the He atom binds perpendicularly to the aromatic plane of C(5)H(5)N with a displacement angle of approximately 7.0 degrees away from the c axis of the pyridine monomer, toward the nitrogen atom. Results from an ab initio structure optimization on the second order Moller-Plesset level are consistent with this geometry and gave an equilibrium well depth of 86.7 cm(-1).

Cold collisions catalyse conformational conversion

We have determined the abundance of two different conformational structures of the mixed benzene dimer (C(6)H(6))(C(6)D(6)) in a molecular beam, with various carrier gases. These two T-shaped conformers have a subtle zero-point energy difference of only a few cm(-1), and a transition state barrier of about 64 cm(-1). Nevertheless, depending on the carrier gas, the lowest energy conformer can exclusively be prepared in the molecular beam. Low-energy two-body collisions of the benzene-dimers with the carrier gas atoms are concluded to be responsible for this.

Solvent configuration-interaction calculations of intermolecular states in molecule-(atom)N clusters: application to Br2-4HeN

We describe variational calculations of J=0 intermolecular states in Br(2)-(4)He(N) clusters. The method employed is analogous to configuration-interaction calculations in electronic-structure work and relies on the ability to express the intermolecular Hamiltonian H(v) as a sum of one- and two-body terms. A basis set is built up from solutions to the Schrödinger equation in which only the one-body terms of H(v) are included. These configurations are products of N=1 eigenstates. The matrix of H(v) in a symmetry-adapted configuration basis is then computed, the two-body terms of H(v) serving to couple different configurations. This computation involves integrals of dimension five or less. Filter diagonalization is then used to obtain energies and eigenfunctions within a selected energy range. Results on clusters having N=2-5 are reported.

Atom−Bond Pairwise Additive Representation for Cation−Benzene Potential Energy Surfaces: An ab Initio Validation Study

The achievement of extensive and meaningful molecular dynamics simulations requires both the detailed knowledge of the basic features of the intermolecular interaction and the representation of the involved potential energy surface in a simple, natural and analytical form. This double request stimulated us to extend to ion-molecule systems a semiempirical method previously introduced for the description of weakly interacting atom-molecule aggregates and formulated in terms of atomic species-molecular bond interaction additivity. The method is here applied to the investigation of the prototypical M(+)-C6H6 systems (M = Li, Na, K, Rb and Cs) and some of its predictions are tested against accurate ab initio calculations. Such calculations have been performed by employing the MP2 method and large basis sets, privileging the description of the metal atoms. The agreement between potential energy scans semiempirically obtained and ab initio results is good for all the investigated geometries, thus showing that the adopted representation is in general able to reproduce all the main features of the potential energy surface for these systems. The role of the various noncovalent interaction components, as a function of the geometry and of the intermolecular distance in the M(+)-C6H6 complexes, is also investigated for a more detailed assessment of the results of the semiempirical method.

Rotational Spectroscopic and ab Initio Studies of the Xe−H2O van der Waals Dimer

An ab initio potential energy surface of the Xe-H(2)O van der Waals dimer was constructed at the coupled cluster level of theory with single, double, and pertubatively included triple excitations. For the Xe atom, the small-core pseudopotential and augmented correlation-consistent polarized valence quadruple-zeta (aug-cc-pVQZ-PP) basis set was used. Dunning's augmented correlation-consistent polarized valence triple-zeta (aug-cc-pVTZ) basis set was chosen for O and H atoms. Midbond functions were used to supplement the atom-centered basis sets. Rotational spectra of the Xe-H(2)O van der Waals dimer were recorded with a pulsed-nozzle Fourier transform microwave spectrometer. Rotational transitions within two internal rotor states, namely, the 0(00) and 1(01) states, were measured and assigned. Nuclear quadrupole hyperfine structures due to the (131)Xe (I = (3)/(2)), D (I = 1) and (17)O (I = (5)/(2)) nuclei were also observed and analyzed. Information about the molecular structure and the H(2)O angular motions was extracted from the spectroscopic results with the assistance of the ab initio potential.

Free-Jet Rotational Spectrum and Tunneling Motion of Difluoromethane···Xenon

The rotational spectra of three isotopologues of difluoromethane...xenon have been investigated by free-jet millimeter-wave absorption spectroscopy. Only mu(c)-type transitions have been observed, all of them evenly split due to the internal motion of Xe relative to the difluoromethane moiety. The vibrational splitting, 39.1(3) MHz, has been used to estimate the tunneling barrier, V(2) = 109 cm(-1). Information on the dissociation energy has been deduced from centrifugal distortion effects (E(B) = 1.8 kJ mol(-1)). The xenon atom lies in the sigma(v) symmetry plane of difluoromethane containing the hydrogen atoms, at an r(0) distance of 3.816 A from its center of mass (cm), and forms a Xe-cm-C r(0) angle of 118 degrees . The observed conformation is in agreement with the minimum found with a distributed polarizability model.