Full-dimensional quantum calculations of the dissociation energy, zero-point, and 10 K properties of H7+/D7+ clusters using an ab initio potential energy surface

Anharmonic quantum nuclear densities from full dimensional vibrational eigenfunctions with application to protonated glycine

The interpretation of molecular vibrational spectroscopic signals in terms of atomic motion is essential to understand molecular mechanisms and for chemical characterization. The signals are usually assigned after harmonic normal mode analysis, even if molecular vibrations are known to be anharmonic. Here we obtain the quantum anharmonic vibrational eigenfunctions of the 11-atom protonated glycine molecule and we calculate the density distribution of its nuclei and its geometry parameters, for both the ground and the O-H stretch excited states, using our semiclassical method based on ab initio molecular dynamics trajectories. Our quantum mechanical results describe a molecule elongated and more flexible with respect to what previously thought. More importantly, our method is able to assign each spectral peak in vibrational spectroscopy by showing quantitatively how normal modes involving different functional groups cooperate to originate that spectroscopic signal. The method will possibly allow for a better rationalization of experimental spectroscopy.

The smallest proton-bound dimer H5+: theoretical progress

The protonated hydrogen dimer, H5+, is the smallest system including proton transfer, and has been of long-standing interest since its first laboratory observation in 1962. H5+ and its isotopologues are the intermediate complexes in deuterium fractionation reactions, and are of central importance in molecular astrophysics. The recently recorded infrared spectra of both H5+ and D5+ reveal a rich vibrational dynamics of the cations, which presents a challenge for standard theoretical approaches. Although H5+ is a four-electron ion, which makes highly accurate electronic structure calculations tractable, the construction of ab initio-based potential energy and dipole moment surfaces has proved a hard task. In the same vein, the difficulties in treating the nuclear motion could also become cumbersome due to their high dimensionality, floppiness and/or symmetry. These systems are prototypical examples for studying large-amplitude motions, as they are highly delocalized, interconverting between equivalent minima through internal rotation and proton transfer motions requiring state-of-the-art treatments. Recent advances in the computational vibrational spectroscopy of the H5+ cation and its isotopologues are reported from full quantum spectral simulations, providing important information in a rigorous manner, and open perspectives for further future investigations. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Advances in hydrogen molecular ions: H3+, H5+ and beyond'.

Communication: Infrared photodissociation spectroscopy of the H6+ cation in the gas phase

The H₆⁺ cation was generated in a pulsed-discharge supersonic expansion of hydrogen and mass-selected in a time-of-flight spectrometer. Its vibrational spectrum was measured in the region of 2050-4550 cm^-1 using infrared photodissociation with a tunable OPO/OPA laser system. The H₆⁺ photodissociates, producing H₅⁺, H₄⁺, and H₃⁺ fragments; each of these fragment channels has a different spectrum. Computational studies identify two low-lying isomers described in previous work, whose energies were evaluated at the CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ//MP2/cc-pVTZ level of theory. A D_2d species having an H₂⁺ cation bridging between two perpendicular H₂ molecules is the global minimum structure. A C_s structure with an H₃⁺ core ion bound to both H₂ and an H atom lies 4.0 kcal mol^-1 higher in energy. Anharmonic vibrational spectra were computed for each of these isomers with second-order vibrational perturbation theory (VPT2) in combination with density functional theory at the B2PLYP/cc-pVTZ level. The comparison between experimental and predicted spectra confirms the presence of both the D_2d and C_s structures and explains the spectra in different fragmentation channels. Although we find reasonable agreement between the experiment and the spectra predicted by VPT2 computations, a more sophisticated computational approach is needed to better understand this complex system.