Ab initio potential energy surface and microwave spectra for the H2-HCCCN complex

A new six-dimensional ab initio potential energy surface and rovibrational spectra for the N2-CO2 complex

New six-dimensional ab initio potential energy surfaces (PESs) for the N2-CO2 complex, which involve the stretching vibration of N2 and the Q3 normal mode for the ν3 asymmetric stretching vibration of CO2, were constructed using the CCSD(T)-F12/AVTZ method with midpoint bond functions. Two vibrational averaged 4D interaction potentials were obtained by integrating over the two intramolecular coordinates. It was found that both PESs possess two equivalent T-shaped global minima as well as two in-plane and one out-of-plane saddle points. Based on these PESs, rovibrational bound states and energy levels were calculated applying the radial discrete variable representation/angular finite basis representation method and the Lanczos algorithm. The splitting of the energy levels between oN2-CO2 and pN2-CO2 for the intermolecular vibrational ground state is determined to be only 0.000 09 cm-1 due to the higher barriers. The obtained band origin shift is about +0.471 74 cm-1 in the N2-CO2 infrared spectra with CO2 at the ν3 zone, which coincides with the experimental data of +0.483 74 cm-1. The frequencies of the in-plane geared-bending for N2-CO2 at the ν3 = 0 and 1 states of CO2 turn out to be 21.6152 and 21.4522 cm-1, the latter reproduces the available experimental 21.3793 cm-1 value with CO2 at the ν3 zone. The spectral parameters fitted from the rovibrational energy levels show that this dimer is a near prolate asymmetric rotor. The computed microwave transitions as well as the infrared fundamental and combination bands for the complex agree well with the observed data.

Towards the generation of potential energy surfaces of weakly bound medium-sized molecular systems: the case of benzonitrile-He complex

Currently, the explicitly correlated coupled cluster method is used routinely to generate the multi-dimensional potential energy surfaces (mD-PESs) of van der Waals complexes of small molecular systems relevant for atmospheric, astrophysical and industrial applications. Although very accurate, this method is computationally prohibitive for medium and large molecules containing clusters. For instance, the recent detections of complex organic molecules (COMs) in the interstellar medium, such as benzonitrile, revealed the need to establish an accurate enough electronic structure approach to map the mD-PESs of these species interacting with the surrounding gases. As a benchmark, we have treated the case of the polar molecule benzonitrile interacting with helium, where we use post-Hartree-Fock and symmetry-adapted perturbation theory (SAPT) techniques. Accordingly, we show that MP2 and distinguishable-cluster approximation (DCSD) cannot be used for this purpose, whereas accurate enough PESs may be obtained using the corresponding explicitly correlated versions (MP2-F12 or DCSD-F12) with a reduction in computational costs. Alternatively, computations revealed that SAPT(DFT) is as performant as CCSD(T)-F12/aug-cc-pVTZ, making it the method of choice for mapping the mD-PESs of COMs containing clusters. Therefore, we have used this approach to generate the 3D-PES of the benzonitrile-He complex along the intermonomer Jacobi coordinates. As an application, we have incorporated the analytic form of this PES into quantum dynamical computations to determine the cross sections of the rotational (de-)excitation of benzonitrile colliding with helium at a collision energy of 10 cm-1.

Full quantum calculation of the rovibrational states and intensities for a symmetric top-linear molecule dimer: Hamiltonian, basis set, and matrix elements

The rovibrational energy levels and intensities of the CH₃F-H₂ dimer have been obtained using our recent global intermolecular potential energy surface [X.-L. Zhang et al., J. Chem. Phys. 148, 124302 (2018)]. The Hamiltonian, basis set, and matrix elements are derived and given for a symmetric top-linear molecule complex. This approach to the generation of energy levels and wavefunctions can readily be utilized for studying the rovibrational spectra of other van der Waals complexes composed of a symmetric top molecule and a linear molecule, and may readily be extended to other complexes of nonlinear molecules and linear molecules. To confirm our method, the rovibrational levels of the H₂O-H₂ dimer have been computed and shown to be in good agreement with experiment and with previous theoretical results. The rovibrational Schrödinger equation has been solved using a Lanczos algorithm together with an uncoupled product basis set. As expected, dimers containing ortho-H₂ are more strongly bound than dimers containing para-H₂. Energies and wavefunctions of the discrete rovibrational levels of CH₃F-paraH₂ complexes obtained from the direct vibrationally averaged 5-dimensional potentials are in good agreement with the results of the reduced 3-dimensional adiabatic-hindered-rotor (AHR) approximation. Accurate calculations of the transition line strengths for the orthoCH₃F-paraH₂ complex are also carried out, and are consistent with results obtained using the AHR approximation. The microwave spectrum associated with the orthoCH₃F-orthoH₂ dimer has been predicted for the first time.

Predicted infrared spectra in the HF stretching band of the H2-HF complex

The infrared spectra with hydrogen fluoride (HF) and deuterium fluoride (DF) (v₂ = 1 ← 0) for eight isotropic species of H₂-HF complex are predicted, based on our newly constructed high-accuracy ab initio potential energy surface [D. Yang et al., J. Chem. Phys. 148, 184301 (2018)]. The radial discrete variable representation/angular finite basis representation method and Lanczos algorithm were used to determine the ro-vibrational energy levels and wave functions for eight species of H₂-HF complex (para-H₂-HF, ortho-H₂-HF, para-D₂-HF, ortho-D₂-HF, para-H₂-DF, ortho-H₂-DF, para-D₂-DF, and ortho-D₂-DF) with separating the inter- and intra-molecular vibrations. Bound states properties including their dissociation energies and rotational constants were presented. The calculated band origins are all red shifted to the isolated HF molecule and in good agreement with available experimental values. The frequencies and line intensities of ro-vibrational transitions in the HF stretching band were further calculated, and the predicted infrared spectra are consistent with available observed spectra. Among them, the spectra for three isotopic species of H₂-HF (para-H₂-DF, para-D₂-DF, and ortho-D₂-DF) were predicted for the first time.