Energetics and electronic structures of hydrogenated metal clusters

Full-Dimensional Ab Initio Potential Energy Surface and Vibrational Energy Levels of Li2H

We built a full-dimensional analytical potential energy surface of the ground electronic state of Li₂H from ca. 20,000 ab initio multi-reference configuration interaction calculations, including core–valence correlation effects. The surface is flexible enough to accurately describe the three dissociation channels: Li (2s ²S) + LiH (¹Σ⁺), Li₂ (¹Σ_g⁺) + H (1s ²S) and 2Li (2s ²S) + H (1s ²S). Using a local fit of this surface, we calculated pure (J = 0) vibrational states of Li₂H up to the barrier to linearity (ca. 3400 cm⁻¹ above the global minimum) using a vibrational self-consistent field/virtual state configuration interaction method. We found 18 vibrational states below this barrier, with a maximum of 6 quanta in the bending mode, which indicates that Li₂H could be spectroscopically observable. Moreover, we show that some of these vibrational states are highly correlated already ca. 1000 cm⁻¹ below the height of the barrier. We hope these calculations can help the assignment of experimental spectra. In addition, the first low-lying excited states of each B₁, B₂ and A₂ symmetry of Li₂H were characterized.

Infrared Spectra and Theoretical Calculations of Lithium Hydride Clusters in Solid Hydrogen, Neon, and Argon

A matrix isolation IR study of laser-ablated lithium atom reactions with H2 has been performed in solid para-hydrogen, normal hydrogen, neon, and argon. The LiH molecule and (LiH)(2,3,4) clusters were identified by IR spectra with isotopic substitution (HD, D(2), and H(2) + D(2)) and comparison to frequencies calculated by density functional theory and the MP2 method. The LiH diatomic molecule is highly polarized and associates additional H(2) to form primary (H(2))(2)LiH chemical complexes surrounded by a physical cage of solid hydrogen where the ortho and para spin states form three different primary complexes and play a role in the identification of the bis-dihydrogen complex and in characterization of the matrix cage. The highly ionic rhombic (LiH)(2) dimer, which is trapped in solid matrices, is calculated to be 22 kcal/mol more stable than the inverse hydrogen bonded linear LiH-LiH dimer, which is not observed here. The cyclic lithium hydride trimer and tetramer clusters were also observed. Although the spontaneous reaction of 2 Li and H(2) to form (LiH)(2) occurs on annealing in solid H(2), the formation of higher clusters requires visible irradiation. We observed the simplest possible chemical reduction of dihydrogen using two lithium valence electrons to form the rhombic (LiH)(2) dimer.

Highly polar bonds and the meaning of covalency and ionicity--structure and bonding of alkali metal hydride oligomers

The hydrogen-alkali metal bond is simple and archetypal, and thus an ideal model for studying the nature of highly polar element-metal bonds. Thus, we have theoretically explored the alkali metal hydride monomers, HM, and (distorted) cubic tetramers, (HM)4, with M = Li, Na, K, and Rb, using density functional theory (DFT) at the BP86/TZ2P level. Our objective is to determine how the structure and thermochemistry (e.g., H-M bond lengths and strengths, oligomerization energies, etc.) of alkali metal hydrides depend on the metal atom, and to understand the emerging trends in terms of quantitative Kohn-Sham molecular orbital (KS-MO) theory. The H-M bond becomes longer and weaker, both in the monomers and tetramers, if one descends the periodic table from Li to Rb. Quantitative bonding analyses show that this trend is not determined by decreasing electrostatic attraction but, primarily, by the weakening in orbital interactions. The latter become less stabilizing along Li-Rb because the bond overlap between the singly occupied molecular orbitals (SOMOs) of H* and M* radicals decreases as the metal ns atomic orbital (AO) becomes larger and more diffuse. Thus, the H-M bond behaves as a text-book electron-pair bond and, in that respect, it is covalent, despite a high polarity. For the lithium and sodium hydride tetramers, the H4 tetrahedron is larger than and surrounds the M4 cluster (i.e., H-H > M-M). Interestingly, this is no longer the case in the potassium and rubidium hydride tetramers, in which the H4 tetrahedron is smaller than and inside the M4 cluster (i.e., H-H < M-M).

SASS: A symmetry adapted stochastic search algorithm exploiting site symmetry

A simple symmetry adapted search algorithm (SASS) exploiting point group symmetry increases the efficiency of systematic explorations of complex quantum mechanical potential energy surfaces. In contrast to previously described stochastic approaches, which do not employ symmetry, candidate structures are generated within simple point groups, such as C2, Cs, and C2v. This facilitates efficient sampling of the 3N-6 Pople's dimensional configuration space and increases the speed and effectiveness of quantum chemical geometry optimizations. Pople's concept of framework groups [J. Am. Chem. Soc. 102, 4615 (1980)] is used to partition the configuration space into structures spanning all possible distributions of sets of symmetry equivalent atoms. This provides an efficient means of computing all structures of a given symmetry with minimum redundancy. This approach also is advantageous for generating initial structures for global optimizations via genetic algorithm and other stochastic global search techniques. Application of the SASS method is illustrated by locating 14 low-lying stationary points on the cc-pwCVDZ ROCCSD(T) potential energy surface of Li5H2. The global minimum structure is identified, along with many unique, nonintuitive, energetically favorable isomers.

Theoretical Study on the Small Clusters of LiH, NaH, BeH2, and MgH2

High-level ab initio molecular orbital theory is used to calculate the geometries, vibrational frequencies, atomic charges, and binding energies of the small clusters (LiH)(n), (NaH)(n), (BeH(2))(n), and (MgH(2))(n) (n = 1-4). For (LiH)(n) and (NaH)(n), there are planar cyclic structures when n = 2, 3. We have found the cubic structure T(d) in addition to the planar cyclic D(4)(h) when n = 4. The D(4)(h) is less stable than the T(d) geometry. For (BeH(2))(n) and (MgH(2))(n), when n = 3, there are three kinds of structures: chain C(2)(v), planar cyclic D(3)(h), and hat-like C(2)(v). The C(2)(v) geometry is more stable than the others. When n = 4, there are four kinds of structures: chain D(2)(h), cubic T(d), string-like C(2), and cubic transformation C(1). The most stable compounds in the families of (LiH)(n), (NaH)(n), (BeH(2))(n), and (MgH(2))(n) are cubic T(d), cubic T(d), chain D(2)(h), and string-like C(2) geometries, respectively, when n = 4. Calculated binding energies range from -24 to -37 kcal/mol for (LiH)(n) and --19 to -30 kcal/mol for (NaH)(n), (BeH(2))(n), and (MgH(2))(n). The hydrogen atoms in hydride clusters always have negative charges. The atomic charges of planar cyclic structures are weaker than those of cubic structures, and there is a tendency of reducing along with the increase of the cluster size. The vibrational frequencies of planar cyclic structures have consistent tendency, too. It indicates that the bond distance increases with the ionic character of the bond.

Ionization potentials of small lithium clusters (Lin) and hydrogenated lithium clusters (LinH)

We present accurate ionization potentials (IPs) for small lithium clusters and hydrogenated lithium clusters (n=1-4), computed using coupled-cluster singles and doubles theory augmented with a perturbative correction for connected triple excitations [CCSD(T)] with the correlation-consistent weighted core-valence quadruple-zeta basis set (cc-pwCVQZ). In some cases the full CCSDT method has been used. Comparison of computed binding energies with experiment for the pure cationic lithium clusters reveals excellent agreement, demonstrating that previous discrepancies between computed and experimentally derived atomization energies for the corresponding neutral clusters are due to the use of an inaccurate experimental IP for Li(4). The experimental IP for Li(4) falls 0.43 eV below our theoretical adiabatic value of 4.74 eV, which should be a lower bound to the measured IP. Our recommended zero-point corrected adiabatic IPs for Li, Li(2), Li(3), Li(4), LiH, Li(2)H, Li(3)H, and Li(4)H are 5.39, 5.14, 4.11, 4.74, 7.69, 3.98, 4.69, and 4.05 eV, respectively. Zero-point vibrationally corrected CCSD(T) atomization energies per atom for Li(2) (+), Li(3) (+), Li(4) (+), LiH(+), Li(2)H(+), Li(3)H(+), and Li(4)H(+) are 0.64, 0.96, 0.90, 0.056, 1.62, 1.40, and 1.40 eV, respectively.

Stability and structure of LinH molecules (n=3–6): Experimental and density functional study

The molecules Li(3)H and Li(4)H have been identified in mass-spectrometric measurements over solutions of hydrogen in liquid Li, and the gaseous equilibria of the reactions: Li(3)H+Li=Li(2)H+Li(2), Li(3)H+Li(2)=Li(2)H+Li(3), Li(3)H+Li=LiH+Li(3), Li(3)H+LiH=2Li(2)H, and Li(4)H+Li(2)=Li(3)H+Li(3) have been measured. Density functional calculations of Li(n)H molecules (n=3-6) provide structures, vibrational frequencies, ionization energies, and free energy functions of these molecules, and these are used to estimate the enthalpies of these reactions and the atomization energies of Li(3)H (119.4 kcal/mol) and Li(4)H (151.8 kcal/mol).

Binding energies of small lithium clusters (Lin) and hydrogenated lithium clusters (LinH)

Large coupled cluster computations utilizing the Dunning weighted correlation-consistent polarized core-valence (cc-pwCVXZ) hierarchy of basis sets have been conducted, resulting in a panoply of internally consistent geometries and atomization energies for small Li(n) and Li(n)H (n=1-4) clusters. In contrast to previous ab initio results, we predict a monotonic increase in atomization energies per atom with increasing cluster size for lithium clusters, in accordance with the historical Knudsen-effusion measurements of Wu. For hydrogenated lithium clusters, our results support previous theoretical work concerning the relatively low atomization energy per atom for Li(2)H compared to LiH and Li(3)H. The CCSD(T)/cc-pwCVQZ atomization energies for LiH, Li(2)H, Li(3)H, and the most stable isomer of Li(4)H, including zero-point energy corrections, are 55.7, 79.6, 113.0, and 130.6 kcal/mol, respectively. The latter results are not consistent with the most recent experiments of Wu.