Houcine Ghalla

Explaining the structure of the OH stretching band in the IR spectra of strongly hydrogen-bonded dimers of phosphinic acid and their deuterated analogs in the gas phase: a computational study.

We present a simulation of the OH stretching band in the gas-phase IR spectra of strongly hydrogen-bonded dimers of phosphinic acid and their deuterated analogs [(R(2)POOH(D), with R = CH(2)Cl, CH(3)], which is based on a model for a centrosymmetric hydrogen-bonded dimer that treats the high-frequency OH stretches harmonically and the low-frequency intermonomer (i.e., O···O) stretches anharmonically. This model takes into account the following effects: anharmonic coupling between the OH and O···O stretching modes; Davydov coupling between the two hydrogen bonds in the dimer; promotion of symmetry-forbidden OH stretching transitions; Fermi resonances between the fundamental of the OH stretches and the overtones of the in- and out-of-plane bending modes involving the OH groups; direct relaxation of the OH stretches; and indirect relaxation of the OH stretches via the O···O stretches. Using a set of physically sound parameters as input into this model, we have captured the main features in the experimental OH(D) bands of these dimers. The effects of key parameters on the spectra are also elucidated. By increasing the number and strength of the Fermi resonances and by promoting symmetry-forbidden OH stretching transitions in our simulations, we directly see the emergence of the ABC structure, which is a characteristic feature in the spectra of very strongly hydrogen-bonded dimers. However, in the case of the deuterated dimers, which do not exhibit the ABC structure, the Fermi resonances are found to be much weaker. The results of this model therefore shed light on the origin of the ABC structure in the IR spectra of strongly hydrogen-bonded dimers, which has been a subject of debate for decades.

Adiabatic ab initio study of the BaH(+) ion including high energy excited states.

An adiabatic study of 1-34 (1,3)Σ(+) electronic states of barium hydride ion (BaH(+)) is presented for all states dissociating below the ionic limit Ba(2+)H(-). The 1-20 (1,3)Π and 1-12 (1,3)Δ states have been also investigated. In our approach, the valence electrons of the Ba(2+) ion described by an effective core potential (ECP) and core polarization potential (CPP) with l-dependent cutoff functions have been used. The ionic molecule BaH(+) has been treated as a two-electron system, and the full valence configuration interaction (CI) is easily achieved. The spectroscopic constants Re, De, Te, ωe, ωexe, and Be are derived. In addition, vibrational level spacing and permanent and transition dipole moments are determined and analyzed. Unusual potential shapes are found and also accidental quasidegeneracy in the vibrational spacing progression for various excited states. The (1)Σ(+) states exhibit ionic charge transfer avoided crossings series which could lead to neutralization or even H(-) formation in collisions of H(+) with Ba.

Theoretical investigation of the relative stability of Na+Hen (n = 2–24) clusters: Many-body versus delocalization effects

The solvation of the Na(+) ion in helium clusters has been studied theoretically using optimization methods. A many-body empirical potential was developed to account for Na(+)-He and polarization interactions, and the most stable structures of Na(+)He(n) clusters were determined using the basin-hopping method. Vibrational delocalization was accounted for using zero-point energy corrections at the harmonic or anharmonic levels, the latter being evaluated from quantum Monte Carlo simulations for spinless particles. From the static perspective, many-body effects are found to play a minor role, and the structures obtained reflect homogeneous covering up to n = 10, followed by polyicosahedral packing above this size, the cluster obtained at n = 12 appearing particularly stable. The cationic impurity binds the closest helium atoms sufficiently to negate vibrational delocalization at small sizes. However, this snowball effect is obliterated earlier than shell completion, the nuclear wavefunctions of (4)He(n)Na(+) with n = 5-7, and n > 10 already exhibiting multiple inherent structures. The decrease in the snowball size due to many-body effects is consistent with recent mass spectrometry measurements.

Ab initio investigation of the electronic and vibrational properties for the (CaLi)+ ionic molecule

ABSTRACT A wide adiabatic study has been performed for numerous electronic states of CaLi+ molecular ion. The adiabatic potential energy curves and their spectroscopic constants (Re, De, ωe and Te) have been calculated using an ab initio approach including a nonempirical pseudo-potential for the Ca and Li cores with the core polarisation potentials operator through full configuration interaction (FCI). Thereafter, the energies of vibrational levels and their spacing for all these states have been reported. In addition, the electric dipole moment curves have been investigated for the (1-19) Σ, (1-12) Π and (1-8) Δ electric states. Moreover it lets us check the extreme transition dipole moments (TDM). These behaviours of TDM are more accustomed to estimate the radiative lifetimes for all vibrational levels in 21Σ+ and 31Σ+ states. Also, the bound-bound and the bound-free contribution have been calculated precisely and by employing a Franck–Condon (FC) approximation.

Molecular structure, vibrational spectra, AIM, HOMO–LUMO, NBO, UV, first order hyperpolarizability, analysis of 3-thiophenecarboxylic acid monomer and dimer by Hartree–Fock and density functional theory

In this work, the molecular structure, harmonic vibrational frequencies, UV, NBO and AIM of 3-thiophenecarboxilic acid (abbreviated as 3-TCA) monomer and dimer has been investigated. The FT-IR and FT-Raman spectra were recorded. The ground-state molecular geometry and vibrational frequencies have been calculated by using the Hartree-Fock (HF) and density functional theory (DFT)/B3LYP methods and 6-311++G(d,p) as a basis set. The fundamental vibrations were assigned on the basis of the total energy distribution (TED) of the vibrational modes, calculated with VEDA program. Comparison of the observed fundamental vibrational frequencies of 3-TCA with calculated results by HF and DFT methods indicates that B3LYP is better to HF method for molecular vibrational problems. The difference between the observed and scaled wavenumber values is very small. The theoretically predicted FT-IR and FT-Raman spectra of the title compound have been constructed. A study on the Mulliken atomic charges, the electronic properties were performed by time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) approach, frontier molecular orbitals (HOMO-LUMO), molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) and thermodynamic properties have been performed. The electric dipole moment (μ) and the first hyperpolarizability (β) values of the investigated molecule have been also computed.

Ab initio study of Ba+Arn (n = 1–4) clusters: spectroscopic constants and vibrational energy levels

ABSTRACT This study is interested in the illustration of ab initio potential energy curves for Ba+Arn (n = 1–4) clusters. The electronic structures of these molecules are calculated using [Ba2+] and [Ar] non-empirical core pseudo-potentials complemented by the core polarisation operators for both atoms, which allow the consideration of core valence correlation effects. The structure and stabilities of Ba+Arn (n = 1–4) clusters are investigated. These molecules are treated as one-electron active system. Spectroscopic constants and vibrational energy levels have been derived from their potentials. The analysis of the geometric forms, basing on the potential energy curves and the spectroscopic constants, clearly shows the importance of rare gas induced dipole. We also show that the dipolar interactions can influence the coupling between atoms.

Molecular structure and vibrational spectroscopic studies on 2-furanacetic acid monomer and dimer.

In this work, molecular geometries and fundamental vibrational frequencies of 2-furanacetic acid (2FAA) and its hydrogen bonded dimer were investigated using DFT/B3LYP method with 6-311++G(d,p) as basis set. The FT-infrared and FT-Raman spectra of the 2FAA compound were recorded in the region 4000-400 cm(-1). The theoretical wavenumbers were scaled and compared with experimental FT-IR and FT-Raman spectra. Complete vibrational assignments and analysis of the fundamental modes of monomer and dimer structures were performed on the basis of the potential energy distribution (PED) calculations. A study on the electronic properties, such as excitation energies, oscillator strength, wavelengths, HOMO and LUMO energies, are performed by time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) approach. Molecular stability arising from hyperconjugative interactions and charge delocalization has been analyzed using Natural Bond Orbital (NBO) analysis. Topological parameters such an electron density and its Laplacian at bond critical points (BCP) of O-H and O⋯H contact bonds were analyzed in details with the help of the atoms in molecules (AIM) approach in order to study the intermolecular hydrogen bonding. The nonlinear optical properties of the title molecule have been investigated. Moreover, molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) surface was plotted for predicting sites and relative reactivities towards electrophilic and nucleophilic attack. The nonlinear optical properties were reported and compared with that of the urea. The thermodynamic properties like heat capacity, entropy, and enthalpy have been calculated for the molecule at different temperatures.

Many-body effects on the structures and stability of Ba2+Xen (n = 1–39, 54) clusters

The structures and relative stabilities of mixed Ba(2+)Xe(n) (n = 1-39, 54) clusters have been theoretically studied using basin-hopping global optimization. Analytical potential energy surfaces were constructed from ab initio or experimental data, assuming either purely additive interactions or including many-body polarization effects and the mutual contribution of self-consistent induced dipoles. For both models the stable structures are characterized by the barium cation being coated by a shell of xenon atoms, as expected from simple energetic arguments. Icosahedral packing is dominantly found, the exceptional stability of the icosahedral motif at n = 12 being further manifested at the size n = 32 where the basic icosahedron is surrounded by a dodecahedral cage, and at n = 54 where the transition to multilayer Mackay icosahedra has occurred. Interactions between induced dipoles generally tend to decrease the Xe-Xe binding, leading to different solvation patterns at small sizes but also favoring polyicosahedral growth. Besides attenuating relative energetic stability, many-body effects affect the structures by expanding the clusters by a few percents and allowing them to deform more.

Intermolecular associations in an equimolar formamide-water solution based on neutron scattering and DFT calculations

In the present work, we have investigated the intermolecular associations of formamide with water in an equimolar formamide-water solution (FA-Water) by means of neutron scattering in combination with density functional theory calculations. The neutron scattering data were analyzed to deduce the structure factor SM(q) and the intermolecular pair correlation function gL(r). By considering different hydrogen bonded FA-Water associations, it has been shown that some of them describe well the local order in the solution. Natural bond orbital and atoms in molecules analyses have been performed to give more insight into the properties of hydrogen bonds involved in the more probable models.

Structural and spectroscopic investigation of the N-methylformamide–water (NMF···3H2O) complex

In this work, theoretical studies on the structure, molecular properties, hydrogen bonding, and vibrational spectra of the N-methylformamide–water (NMF···3H2O) complex will be presented. The molecular geometry was optimised by using Hartree–Fock (HF), second Møller–Plesset (MP2), and density functional theory methods with different basis sets. The harmonic vibrational frequencies are computed by using the B3LYP method with 6-311++G(d,p) as a basis set and then scaled with a suitable scale factor to yield good coherence with the observed values. The temperature dependence of various thermodynamic functions (heat capacity, entropy, and enthalpy changes) was also studied. A detailed analysis of the nature of the hydrogen bonding, using natural bond orbital (NBO) and topological atoms in molecules theory, has been reported.