Signatures of large amplitude motion in a weakly bound complex: High‐resolution IR spectroscopy and quantum calculations for HeCO2

Unusual Dynamics and Vibrational Fingerprints of van der Waals Dimers Formed by Linear Molecules and Rare-Gas Atoms

Detailed structural, dynamical, and vibrational analyses have been performed for systems composed of linear triatomic molecules solvated by a single rare-gas atom, He, Ne, or Ar. Among the chromophores of these van der Waals (vdW) dimers, there are four neutral molecules (CO2, CS2, N2O, and OCS) and six molecular cations (HHe2+, HNe2+, HAr2+, HHeNe+, HHeAr+, and HNeAr+), both of apolar and polar nature. Following the exploration of bonding preferences, high-level four-dimensional (4D) potential energy surfaces (PESs) have been developed for 24 vdW dimers, keeping the two intramonomer bond lengths fixed. For these 24 complexes, over 1500 bound vibrational states have been obtained via quasi-variational nuclear-motion computations, employing exact kinetic-energy operators together with the accurate 4D PESs and their 2D/3D cuts. The reduced-dimensional (2D to 4D) dimer models have been compared with full-dimensional (6D) ones in the cases of the neutral CO2·Ar and charged HHe2+·He dimers, corroborating the high accuracy of the 2D to 4D vibrational energies. The reduced-dimensional models suggest that (a) while the equilibrium structures are T-shaped and planar, the effective ground-state structures are nonplanar, (b) certain bound states belong to collinear molecular structures, even when they are not minima, (c) the vdW vibrations are heavily mixed and many states have amplitudes corresponding to both the T-shaped and collinear structures, (d) there are a few dimers, for which even some of the vdW fundamentals lie above the first dissociation limit, and (e) the vdW vibrations are almost fully decoupled from the intramonomer bending motion.

Spectra of CO2-Rg2 and CO2-Rg-He trimers (Rg = Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe): Intermolecular CO2 rock, vibrational shifts and three-body effects

Weakly bound CO2-Rg2 trimers are studied by high-resolution (0.002 cm−1) infrared spectroscopy in the region of the CO2 ν3 fundamental band (≈2350 cm−1), using a tunable optical parametric oscillator to probe a pulsed supersonic slit jet expansion with an effective rotational temperature of about 2 K. CO2–Ar2 spectra have been reported previously, but they are extended here to include Rg = Ne, Kr, and Xe as well as new combination and hot bands. For Kr and Xe, a unified scaled parameter scheme is used to account for the many possible isotopic species. Vibrational shifts of CO2-Rg2 trimers are compared to those of CO2-Rg dimers, and in all cases the trimer shifts are slightly more positive (blue-shifted) than expected on the basis of linear extrapolation from the dimer. Combination bands directly measure an intermolecular vibrational mode (the CO2 rock) and give values of about 32.2, 33.8, and 34.7 cm−1 for CO2–Ar2, –Kr2, and –Xe2. Structural parameters derived for CO2-Rg2 trimers are compared with those of CO2-Rg and Rg2 dimers. Spectra of the mixed trimers CO2-Rg-He are also reported.

Microsolvation of H2O+, H3O+, and CH3OH2+ by He in a cryogenic ion trap: structure of solvation shells

Due to the weak interactions of He atoms with neutral molecules and ions, the preparation of size-selected clusters for the spectroscopic characterization of their structures, energies, and large amplitude motions is a challenging task. Herein, we generate H₂O⁺He_n (n ≤ 9) and H₃O⁺He_n (n ≤ 5) clusters by stepwise addition of He atoms to mass-selected ions stored in a cryogenic 22-pole ion trap held at 5 K. The population of the clusters as a function of n provides insight into the structure of the first He solvation shell around these ions given by the anisotropy of the cation-He interaction potential. To rationalize the observed cluster size distributions, the structural, energetic, and vibrational properties of the clusters are characterized by ab initio calculations up to the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ level. The cluster growth around both the open-shell H₂O⁺ and closed-shell H₃O⁺ ions begins by forming nearly linear and equivalent OH⋯He hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) leading to symmetric structures. The strength of these H-bonds decreases slightly with n due to noncooperative three-body induction forces and is weaker for H₃O⁺ than for H₂O⁺ due to both enhanced charge delocalization and reduced acidity of the OH protons. After filling all available H-bonded sites, addition of further He ligands around H₂O⁺ (n = 3-4) occurs at the electrophilic singly occupied 2p_z orbital of O leading to O⋯He p-bonds stabilized by induction and small charge transfer from H₂O⁺ to He. As this orbital is filled for H₃O⁺, He atoms occupy in the n = 4-6 clusters positions between the H-bonded He atoms, leading to a slightly distorted regular hexagon ring for n = 6. Comparison between H₃O⁺He_n and CH₃OH₂⁺He_n illustrates that CH₃ substitution substantially reduces the acidity of the OH protons, so that only clusters up to n = 2 can be observed. The structure of the solvation sub-shells is visible in both the binding energies and the predicted vibrational OH stretch and bend frequencies.

Rotational excitation of CO2 induced by He: New potential energy surface and scattering calculations

The CO2 molecule is of great interest for astrophysical studies since it can be found in a large variety of astrophysical media where it interacts with the dominant neutral species, such as He, H2, or H2O. The CO2–He collisional system was intensively studied over the last two decades. However, collisional data appear to be very sensitive to the potential energy surface (PES) quality. Thus, we provide, in this study, a new PES of the CO2–He van der Waals complex calculated with the coupled-cluster method and a complete basis set extrapolation in order to provide rotational rate coefficients that are as accurate as possible. The PES accuracy was tested through the calculations of bound state transition frequencies and pressure broadening coefficients that were compared to experimental data. An excellent agreement was globally found. Then, revised collisional data were provided for the 10–300 K temperature range. Rate coefficients were compared to previously computed ones and are found to be up to 50% greater than previously provided ones. These differences can induce non-negligible consequences for the modeling of CO2 abundance in astrophysical media.

Theoretical and experimental studies of the isotope effects for He-CO2 and Ne-CO2 complexes

In this work, we have studied the isotope effects for the He-CO₂ and Ne-CO₂ complexes by means of theoretical calculations and experimental measurements, which were carried out using a distributed quantum cascade laser to probe a pulsed supersonic jet expansion. Firstly, infrared spectra have been recorded for the He/Ne-¹²C¹⁸O₂ complexes. Spectroscopic parameters including band origin ν₀, rotational constants A, B, C, and centrifugal distortion constants Δ_JK were obtained by fitting a Watson A-reduced Hamiltonian with 13 assigned rovibrational transitions for He-¹²C¹⁸O₂. For Ne-¹²C¹⁸O₂, the observed spectrum produces a set of spectroscopic parameters including the band origin, rotational constants and all the quartic centrifugal distortion constants with more than 100 rovibrational transitions (40 new transitions). Secondly, we have calculated the rovibrational energy levels, vibrational shifts, and rotational constants for the He/Ne-CO₂ complexes based on potential energy surfaces (PESs) and bound state calculations for ground and vibrationally excited states. The obtained results show that the spectroscopic characteristics (vibrational shifts and rotational constants) for Ne-CO₂ are analogous to those of Ar-CO₂, while those for He-CO₂ show some differences especially for the rotational constants. Finally, according to the available experimental data and our theoretical calculations, infrared spectra were predicted for six isotopologues with C_2v symmetry of Ne-CO₂ complex.

The Ethylene-Carbon Dioxide Complex and the Double Rotor Model

The infrared spectrum of the weakly bound C₂H₄-CO₂ complex is investigated in the region of the ν₃ fundamental band of CO₂ (≈2350 cm^-1), using a tunable OPO laser source to probe a pulsed supersonic slit jet expansion. The spacing of the various K-subbands in this perpendicular (ΔK = ±1) spectrum is very irregular, and the pattern of irregularity is quite different from that observed previously in another C₂H₄-CO₂ band by Bemish et al. [ J. Chem. Phys. 1995 , 103 , 7788 ]. But by allowing for the different symmetry of the ν₃ (CO₂) upper vibrational state, both results can be strikingly well explained using the "double internal rotor" model as described by Bemish et al.

Theoretical calculation of a full-dimensional ab initio potential energy surface and prediction of infrared spectra for Xe-CS2

An effective four-dimensional (4D) ab initio potential energy surface (PES) for Xe-CS2 which explicitly involves the intramolecular Q 1 symmetric stretching and Q 3 antisymmetric stretching vibrational coordinates of CS2 is constructed. The computations are carried out employing single- and double-excitation coupled-cluster theory with a non-iterative perturbation treatment of triple excitations [CCSD(T)] method with a large basis set. Two vibrationally averaged potentials at the ground and ν 1 + ν 3 (ν 1 = 1, ν 3 = 1) excited states are obtained by integrating the 4D potentials over the Q 1 and Q 3 coordinates. The potentials have a T-shaped global minimum and two equivalent linear local minima. The radial discrete variable representation/angular finite basis representation and the Lanczos algorithm are employed to calculate the rovibrational energy levels for Xe-CS2. The infrared band origin shift associated with the fundamental band of CS2 is predicted, which is red-shifted by -1.996 cm-1 in the ν 1 + ν 3 region. In addition, we further predict the spectroscopic parameters for the ground and the ν 1 + ν 3 excited states of Xe-CS2. Compared with the previous Rg-CS2 (Rg = He, Ne, Ar, Kr) complexes, we found that the complexes of the rare gas atoms with CS2 display obvious regularities.

Formation of coherent rotational wavepackets in small molecule-helium clusters using impulsive alignment

We show that rotational line spectra of molecular clusters with near zero permanent dipole moments can be observed using impulsive alignment. Aligned rotational wavepackets were generated by non-resonant interaction with intense femtosecond laser pump pulses and then probed using Coulomb explosion by a second, time-delayed femtosecond laser pulse. By means of a Fourier transform a rich spectrum of rotational eigenstates was derived. For the smallest cluster, C(2)H(2)-He, we were able to establish essentially all rotational eigenstates up to the dissociation threshold on the basis of theoretical level predictions. The C(2)H(2)-He complex is found to exhibit distinct features of large amplitude motion and very early onset of free internal rotor energy level structure.

A new ab initio potential energy surface and infrared spectra for the Ar-CS₂ complex

We report a new three-dimensional potential energy surface for Ar-CS2 involving the Q3 normal mode for the υ3 antisymmetric stretching vibration of the CS2 molecule. The potential energies were calculated using the supermolecular method at the coupled-cluster singles and doubles level with noniterative inclusion of connected triples, using augmented correlation-consistent quadruple-zeta basis set plus midpoint bond functions. Two vibrationally averaged potentials with CS2 at both the ground (υ = 0) and the first excited (υ = 1)υ3 vibrational states were generated from the integration of the three-dimensional potential over the Q3 coordinate. Each potential was found to have a T-shaped global minimum and two equivalent linear local minima. The radial discrete variable representation /angular finite basis representation method and the Lanczos algorithm were applied to calculate the rovibrational energy levels. The calculated band origin shift of the complex (0.0622 cm(-1)) is very close to the observed one (0.0671 cm(-1)). The predicted infrared spectra and spectroscopic parameters based on the two averaged potentials are in excellent agreement with the available experimental data.

van der Waals radii of noble gases

Consistent van der Waals radii are deduced for Ne-Xe, based on the noble gas···oxygen intermolecular distances found in gas phase structures. The set of radii proposed is shown to provide van der Waals distances for a wide variety of noble gas···element atom pairs that represent properly the distribution of distances both in the gas phase and in the solid state. Moreover, these radii show a smooth periodic trend down the group which is parallel to that shown by the halogens.

Theoretical prediction of the linear isomers for rare gas-carbon disulfide complexes: He-CS₂, Ne-CS₂, and Ar-CS₂

Theoretical studies of the potential energy surfaces (PESs) and bound states are performed for rare gas-carbon disulfide complexes, He-CS2, Ne-CS2, and Ar-CS2. Three two-dimensional intermolecular PESs are constructed from ab initio data points which are calculated at the CCSD(T) level with aug-cc-pVTZ basis set supplemented with bond functions. We find that the three PESs have very similar features and each PES can be characterized by a global T-shaped minimum, two equivalent local linear minima, and the saddle points between them. The T-shaped isomer is energetically more stable than the linear isomer for each complex. The linear isomers, which have not been observed in experiment so far, are predicted from our PESs and further identified by bound state calculations. Moreover, we assign several intermolecular vibrational states for both the T-shaped and linear isomers of the three complexes via the analysis of wavefunctions. The corresponding vibrational frequencies are calculated from the bound state energies for these assigned states. These frequencies could be helpful for further experimental studies, especially for the linear isomers. We also calculate the rovibrational transition frequencies for the three T-shaped isomers and the pure rotational transition frequencies for the linear isomers, respectively. The accuracy of the PESs is validated by the good agreement between theoretical and experimental results for the rovibrational transition frequencies and spectroscopic parameters.

POTENTIAL ENERGY SURFACES AND MICROWAVE SPECTRA FOR 20Ne–13C16O2, 22Ne–12C16O2 and 22Ne–13C16O2 COMPLEXES

We report averaged potential energy surfaces for isotopic Ne–CO2 complexes (20 Ne –13 C 16 O 2, 22 Ne –12 C 16 O 2 and 22 Ne –13 C 16 O 2). According to the latest ab initio potential of 20 Ne –12 C 16 O 2 (Chen R, Jiao EQ, Zhu H, Xie DQ, J Chem Phys133:104302, 2010) including the Q3 normal mode for the υ3 antisymmetric stretching vibration of the CO2 molecule. We obtain the averaged potentials for 20 Ne –13 C 16 O 2, 22 Ne –12 C 16 O 2 and 22 Ne –13 C 16 O 2 by the integration of the three-dimensional potential over the Q3 coordinate. The averaged potential surfaces are found to have a T-shaped global minimum and two equivalent linear local minima. The radial DVR/angular FBR method and the Lanczos algorithm are applied to calculate the rovibrational energy levels. Comparison with the available observed values showed an overall excellent agreement for all spectroscopic parameters and the microwave spectra.

POTENTIAL ENERGY SURFACE, MICROWAVE AND INFRARED SPECTRA OF THE Xe–CO2 COMPLEX FROM AB INITIO CALCULATIONS

We present a new three-dimensional potential energy surface for Xe–CO2 including the Q3 normal mode for the υ3 antisymmetric stretching vibration of the CO2 molecule. Two vibrationally adiabatic potentials with CO2 in both the ground (υ3 = 0) and the first excited (υ3 = 1) states are generated by the integration of this potential over the Q3 coordinate. Each potential is found to have a T-shaped global minimum. The radial DVR/angular FBR method and the Lanczos algorithm are employed to calculate the rovibrational energy levels. The calculated band origin shifts, microwave and infrared spectra based on the two averaged potentials are in good agreement with the available experimental data.

VIBRATIONALLY AVERAGED POTENTIAL ENERGY SURFACES AND PREDICTED INFRARED SPECTRA OF THE He–18O13C18O AND He–16O13C16O COMPLEXES

Vibrationally averaged potential energy surfaces for isotopic He–CO 2 complexes ( He –18 O 13 C 18 O and He –16 O 13 C 16 O ) are presented. Based on the latest ab initio potential of He –16 O 12 C 16 O (Ran H, Xie D, J Chem Phys128:124323, 2008.) including the Q3 normal mode for the v3 antisymmetric stretching vibration of the CO 2 molecule, the averaged potentials for both He –18 O 13 C 18 O and He –16 O 13 C 16 O are obtained by integrating the potential energy surfaces over the Q3 normal mode. The averaged potentials have T-shaped global minima and two equivalent linear local minima. The radial discrete variable representation/angular finite basis representation method and Lanczos algorithm are employed to calculate the related rovibrational energy levels. The calculated band origin shifts of He –18 O 13 C 18 O and He –16 O 13 C 16 O are 0.1066 and 0.0914 cm-1, respectively, which agree very well with the observed values of 0.1123 and 0.0929 cm-1. The calculated rovibrational transitions of He –18 O 13 C 18 O and He –16 O 13 C 16 O are also in very good agreement with the available experimental spectra.

High resolution infrared spectroscopy of carbon dioxide clusters up to (CO2)13

Thirteen specific infrared bands in the 2350 cm(-1) region are assigned to carbon dioxide clusters, (CO(2))(N), with N = 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13. The spectra are observed in direct absorption using a tuneable infrared laser to probe a pulsed supersonic jet expansion of a dilute mixture of CO(2) in He carrier gas. Assignments are aided by cluster structure calculations made using two reliable CO(2) intermolecular potential functions. For (CO(2))(6), two highly symmetric isomers are observed, one with S(6) symmetry (probably the more stable form), and the other with S(4) symmetry. (CO(2))(13) is also symmetric (S(6)), but the remaining clusters are asymmetric tops with no symmetry elements. The observed rotational constants tend to be slightly (≈2%) smaller than those from the predicted structures. The bands have increasing vibrational blueshifts with increasing cluster size, similar to those predicted by the resonant dipole-dipole interaction model but significantly larger in magnitude.

Carbondioxide rare-gas systems: sensitivity of basis sets and double-hybrid density functionals

This study emphasizes on the performance of six newly developed double-hybrid density functionals (DHDF) in explaining the potential energy curves of different carbondioxide rare-gas systems. The basis set sensitivity has also been explored with the use of three basis sets. Our results suggest that for lighter He/Ne-CO(2) complexes, proper choice of DHDF and basis set lead to results those matches exactly with earlier calculations and also with the experiment. On the other hand, for heavier Ar/Kr-CO(2) complexes although the equilibrium separation distance matches exactly with earlier observations, the interaction energy values lie far apart. The overall investigation emphasizes on the fact that one has to tune the methods and basis sets properly to achieve good and satisfactory results.

Rotational quenching of CO2 by collision with He atoms

Quantum mechanical scattering calculations are presented for the rotational relaxation of CO(2) in collisions with He atoms with the close-coupling approach and the coupled-states approximation for collision energies between 10(-6) and 10 000 cm(-1). The He-CO(2) interaction potential of Ran and Xie [J. Chem. Phys. 128, 124323 (2008)] was adopted and used to compute state-to-state cross sections for the quenching of the j=2, 4, 6, and 8 rotational levels of CO(2). Numerous resonances, as a consequence of the van der Waals potential, are observed and the cross sections are found to approach the Wigner limit at low energies. Quenching rate coefficients are obtained for temperatures between 10(-5) and 3000 K and applications to astrophysics and cold collisions are briefly discussed.

Infrared spectra of CO2-doped 4He clusters, 4HeN-CO2, with N=1-60

High resolution spectra of (4)He(N)-CO(2) clusters are studied in the region of the CO(2) nu(3) fundamental band (approximately 2300 cm(-1)). The clusters are produced in a pulsed supersonic jet expansion from a cooled nozzle source and probed by direct absorption using a tunable diode laser operating in a rapid-scan mode. Four carbon dioxide isotopes ((16)O(12)C(16)O, (16)O(13)C(16)O, (18)O(13)C(18)O, and (16)O(13)C(18)O) are used to support the analysis, and because additional rotational transitions are allowed for the asymmetric one ((16)O(13)C(18)O). Resolved R(0) (J=1<--0) rotation-vibration transitions are observed for clusters up to N=60. A detailed rotational analysis is possible up to N approximately 20 and, with some assumptions, to N approximately 37 and beyond. The derived rotational constants (B values) vary smoothly with N and show evidence for broad oscillations similar to those already reported for He(N)-OCS and He(N)-N(2)O. Possible indications of a disruption are observed in the J=2 levels of larger clusters (N>22) which could be caused by interactions with a "dark" helium cluster modes.

Five-dimensional ab initio potential energy surface and predicted infrared spectra of H2–CO2 van der Waals complexes

The authors present a new five-dimensional potential energy surface for H2-CO2 including the Q3 normal mode for the nu3 antisymmetric stretching vibration of the CO2 molecule. The potential energies were calculated using the supermolecular approach with the full counterpoise correction at the CCSD(T) level with an aug-cc-pVTZ basis set supplemented with bond functions. The global minimum is at two equivalent T-shaped coplanar configurations with a well depth of 219.68 cm-1. The rovibrational energy levels for four species of H2-CO2 (paraH2-, orthoH2-, paraD2-, and orthoD2-CO2) were calculated employing the discrete variable representation (DVR) for radial variables and finite basis representation (FBR) for angular variables and the Lanczos algorithm. Our calculations showed that the off-diagonal intra- and intermolecular vibrational coupling could be neglected, and separation of the intramolecular vibration by averaging the total Hamiltonian with the wave function of a specific vibrational state of CO2 should be a good approximation with high accuracy. The calculated band origin shift in the infrared spectra in the nu3 region of CO2 is -0.113 cm-1 for paraH2-CO2 and -0.099 cm-1 for orthoH2-CO2, which agrees well with the observed values of -0.198 and -0.096 cm-1. The calculated rovibrational spectra for H2-CO2 are consistent with the available experimental spectra. For D2-CO2, it is predicted that only a-type transitions occur for paraD2-CO2, while both a-type and b-type transitions are significant for orthoD2-CO2.

Spectroscopy and potential energy surface of the H2–CO2van der Waals complex: experimental and theoretical studies

A 4-D ab initio potential energy surface is calculated for the intermolecular interaction of hydrogen and carbon dioxide, using the CCSD(T) method with a large basis set. The surface has a global minimum with a well depth of 212 cm(-1) and an intermolecular distance of 2.98 A for a planar configuration with both the O-C-O and H-H axes perpendicular to the intermolecular axis. Bound state calculations are performed for the H(2)-CO(2) van der Waals complex with H(2) in both the para and ortho spin states, and the binding energy of paraH(2)-CO(2)(50.4 cm(-1)) is found to be significantly less than that of orthoH(2)-CO(2)(71.7 cm(-1)). The surface supports 7 bound intermolecular vibrational states for paraH(2)-CO(2) and 19 for orthoH(2)-CO(2), and the lower rotational levels with J< or = 4 follow an asymmetric rotor pattern. The calculated infrared spectrum of paraH(2)-CO(2) agrees well with experiment. For orthoH(2)-CO(2), the ground state rotational levels allowed by symmetry are found to have (K(a), K(c))=(even, odd) or (odd, even). This somewhat unexpected fact enables the previously observed experimental spectrum to be assigned for the first time, in good agreement with theory, and indicates that the orientation of hydrogen is perpendicular to the intermolecular axis in the ground state of the orthoH(2)-CO(2) complex.

A five-dimensional potential energy surface and predicted infrared spectra for the N2O-hydrogen complexes

We present a five-dimensional potential energy surface for the N(2)O-hydrogen complex using supermolecular approach with the full counterpoise correction at the coupled-cluster singles and doubles with noniterative inclusion of connected triple level. The normal mode Q(3) for the nu(3) antisymmetric stretching vibration of the N(2)O molecule was included in the calculations of the potential energies. The radial discrete variable representation/angular finite basis representation method and Lanczos algorithm were employed to calculate the rovibrational energy levels for four species of N(2)O-hydrogen complexes (N(2)O-para-H(2), -ortho-H(2), -ortho-D(2), and -para-D(2)) without separating the inter- and intramolecular vibrations. The calculated band origins are all blueshifted relative to the isolated N(2)O molecule and in good agreement with the experimental values. The calculated rotational spectroscopic constants and molecular structures agree well with the available experimental results. The frequencies and line intensities of the rovibrational transitions in the nu(3) region of N(2)O for the van der Waals ground vibrational state were calculated and compared with the observed spectra. The predicted infrared spectra are consistent with the observed spectra and show that the N(2)O-H(2) complexes are mostly a-type transitions while both a-type and b-type transitions are significant for the N(2)O-D(2) complexes.

Infrared spectra of isotopic CO2–He complexes

Infrared spectra of three isotopic forms of the weakly bound CO(2)-He van der Waals complex have been studied in the region of the CO(2) nu(3) fundamental band around 2300 cm(-1), using a tunable diode laser to probe a pulsed supersonic expansion. The complex is a T-shaped near-oblate asymmetric rotor, and it is found that (18)O isotopic substitution is sufficient to interchange the a and b inertial axes. For the symmetric isotopes, such as the normal species and the (16)O(13)C(16)O and (18)O(13)C(18)O forms studied here, half of the normal rotational levels of the complex are missing due to the effects of (16)O (or (18)O) interchange symmetry. However, for asymmetrically substituted ones, such as (16)O(13)C(18)O, all rotational levels are present. Moreover, for the asymmetric isotope, both a- and b-type transitions were observed, so that the spectrum was much richer. The CO(2)-He system is of interest both as a benchmark for intermolecular potential energy surface calculations, and because CO(2) is a valuable probe molecule for helium cluster spectroscopy.

Orbital-free embedding applied to the calculation of induced dipole moments in CO2⋯X (X=He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, Hg) van der Waals complexes

The orbital-free frozen-density embedding scheme within density-functional theory [T. A. Wesolowski and A. Warshel, J. Phys. Chem. 97, 8050 (1993)] is applied to the calculation of induced dipole moments of the van der Waals complexes CO2...X (X = He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, Hg). The accuracy of the embedding scheme is investigated by comparing to the results of supermolecule Kohn-Sham density-functional theory calculations. The influence of the basis set and the consequences of using orbital-dependent approximations to the exchange-correlation potential in embedding calculations are examined. It is found that in supermolecular Kohn-Sham density-functional calculations, different common approximations to the exchange-correlation potential are not able to describe the induced dipole moments correctly and the reasons for this failure are analyzed. It is shown that the orbital-free embedding scheme is a useful tool for applying different approximations to the exchange-correlation potential in different subsystems and that a physically guided choice of approximations for the different subsystems improves the calculated dipole moments significantly.

Infrared spectra of CO2–H2 complexes

Infrared spectra of weakly bound CO(2)-H(2) complexes have been studied in the region of the CO(2) v(3) asymmetric stretch, using a tunable diode laser probe and a pulsed supersonic jet expansion. For CO(2)-paraH(2), results were obtained for three isotopic species, (12)C(16)O(2), (13)C(16)O(2), and (12)C(18)O(2). These spectra were analyzed using an asymmetric rotor Hamiltonian, with results that resembled those obtained previously for OCS- and N(2)O-paraH(2), except that half the rotational levels were missing due to the symmetry of CO(2) and the spin statistics of the (16)O or (18)O nuclei. However, for CO(2)-orthoH(2), more complicated spectra were observed which could not be assigned, in contrast with OCS- and N(2)O-H(2) where the paraH(2) and orthoH(2) spectra were similar, though distinct. The CO(2)-paraH(2) complex has a T-shaped structure with and intermolecular distance of about 3.5 Angstroms, and the CO(2) v(3) vibration exhibits a small redshift (-0.20 cm(-1)) in the complex.

Ab initio intermolecular potential energy surface, bound states, and microwave spectra for the van der Waals complex Ne–HCCCN

We report two ab initio intermolecular potential energy surfaces for Ne-HCCCN using a supermolecular method. The calculations were performed at the fourth-order Møller-Plesset (MP4) and the coupled cluster singles-and-doubles with noniterative inclusion of connected triples [CCSD(T)] levels with the full counterpoise correction for the basis set superposition error and a large basis set including bond functions. The complex was found to have a planar T-shaped structure minimum and a linear minimum with the Ne atom facing the H atom. The two-dimensional discrete variable representation method was employed to calculate the rovibrational bound states. In addition, the microwave spectra including intensities for the ground vibrational state were predicted. The results show that the spectrum is dominated by b-type (DeltaK(a) = +/-1) transitions with very weak a-type (DeltaK(a) = 0) transitions. The calculated results at the CCSD(T) potential are in good agreement with those at MP4 potential.

Intermolecular potential energy surface and rovibrational spectra of the He–N2O complex from ab initio calculations

We report an ab initio intermolecular potential energy surface calculation on the He-N(2)O complex with N(2)O at its ground state using a supermolecular approach. The calculation was performed at the coupled-cluster [CCSD(T)] level, with the full counterpoise correction for the basis set superposition error and a large basis set including midpoint bond functions. The CCSD(T) potential is found to have two minima corresponding to the T-shaped and linear He-ONN structures. The T-shaped minimum is the global minimum. The two-dimensional discrete variable representation method was employed to calculate the rovibrational energy levels for (4)He-N(2)O and (3)He-N(2)O with N(2)O at its ground and nu(3) excited states. The results indicate that the CCSD(T) potential supports five and four vibrational bound states for the (4)He-N(2)O and (3)He-N(2)O, respectively. Moreover, the calculations on the line intensities of the rotational transitions in the nu(3) region of N(2)O for the ground vibrational state shows that the (3)He-N(2)O spectrum is dominated by a-type transitions (DeltaK(a)=0), while the (4)He-N(2)O spectrum is contributed by both the a-type and b-type (DeltaK(a)=+/-1) transitions. The calculated transition frequencies and the intensities are in good agreement with the observed results.

Bridging the gap between small clusters and nanodroplets: spectroscopic study and computer simulation of carbon dioxide solvated with helium atoms

High resolution infrared spectra of He(N)-CO2 clusters with N up to 17 have been studied in the region of the CO2 nu(3) fundamental band. The B rotational constant initially drops as expected for a normal molecule, reaching a minimum for N=5. Its subsequent rise for N=6 to 11 can be interpreted as the transition from a normal (though floppy) molecule to a quantum solvation regime. For N>13, the B value becomes approximately constant with a value about 17% larger than that measured in much larger helium nanodroplets. Quantum Monte Carlo calculations of pure rotational spectra are in excellent agreement with the measured B in this size range and complement the experimental study with detailed structural information. For a larger cluster size (N=30-50) the simulations show a clear sign of convergence towards the nanodroplet B value.

High resolution infrared spectra of a carbon dioxide molecule solvated with helium atoms

Infrared spectra of He(N)-CO(2) clusters with N up to about 20 have been studied in the region of the CO(2) nu(3) fundamental band ( approximately 2350 cm(-1)) using a tunable diode laser spectrometer and pulsed supersonic jet source with cooled (>-150 degrees C) pinhole or slit nozzles and high backing pressures (<40 atm). Compared to previous studies of He(N)-OCS and -N(2)O clusters, the higher symmetry of CO(2) results in simpler spectra but less information content. Discrete rotation-vibration transitions have been assigned for N=3-17, and their analysis yields the variation of the vibrational band origin and B rotational constant over this size range. The band origin variation is similar to He(N)-OCS, with an initial blueshift up to N=5, followed by a monotonic redshift, consistent with a model where the first five He atoms fill a ring around the equator of the molecule, forcing subsequent He atom density to locate closer to the ends. The B value initially drops as expected for a normal molecule, reaching a minimum for N=5. Its subsequent rise for N=6 to 11 can be interpreted as the transition from a normal (though floppy) molecule to a quantum solvation regime, where the CO(2) molecule starts to rotate separately from the He atoms. For N>13, the B value becomes approximately constant with a value about 17% larger than that measured in much larger helium nanodroplets.

Ab initio potential energy surface and rovibrational spectrum of Ar−HCCCN

We report an ab initio intermolecular potential energy surface of the Ar-HCCCN complex using a supermolecular method. The calculations were performed using the fourth-order Møller-Plesset theory with the full counterpoise correction for the basis set superposition error and a large basis set including bond functions. The complex was found to have a planar T-shaped structure minimum and a linear minimum with the Ar atom facing the H atom. The T-shaped minimum is the global minimum with the well depth of 236.81 cm(-1). A potential barrier separating the two minima is located at R=5.57 A and theta=20.39 degrees with the height of 151.59 cm(-1). The two-dimensional discrete variable representation was employed to calculate the rovibrational energy levels for Ar-HCCCN. The rovibrational spectra including intensities for the ground state and the first excited intermolecular vibrational state are also presented. The results show that the spectra are mostly b-type (Delta K(a)=+/-1) transitions with weak a-type (Delta K(a)=0) transitions in structure, which are in good agreement with the recent experimental results [A. Huckauf, W. Jager, P. Botschwina, and R. Oswald, J. Chem. Phys. 119, 7749 (2003)].