Jakub Wojciech Kaminski

LiSc(BH4)4: A Novel Salt of Li + and Discrete Sc(BH4)4 - Complex Anions

LiSc(BH4)4 has been prepared by ball milling of LiBH4 and ScCl3. Vibrational spectroscopy indicates the presence of discrete Sc(BH4)4(-) ions. DFT calculations of this isolated complex ion confirm that it is a stable complex, and the calculated vibrational spectra agree well with the experimental ones. The four BH4(-) groups are oriented with a tilted plane of three hydrogen atoms directed to the central Sc ion, resulting in a global 8 + 4 coordination. The crystal structure obtained by high-resolution synchrotron powder diffraction reveals a tetragonal unit cell with a = 6.076 A and c = 12.034 A (space group P-42c). The local structure of the Sc(BH4)4(-) complex is refined as a distorted form of the theoretical structure. The Li ions are found to be disordered along the z axis.

Equilibrium Geometries of Noncovalently Bound Intermolecular Complexes Derived from Subsystem Formulation of Density Functional Theory

The subsystem formulation of density functional theory is used to obtain equilibrium geometries and interaction energies for a representative set of noncovalently bound intermolecular complexes. The results are compared with literature benchmark data. The range of applicability of two considered approximations to the exchange-correlation- and nonadditive kinetic energy components of the total energy is determined. Local density approximation, which does not involve any empirical parameters, leads to excellent intermolecular equilibrium distances for hydrogen-bonded complexes (maximal error 0.13 Å for NH3-NH3). It is a method of choice for a wide class of weak intermolecular complexes including also dipole-bound and the ones formed by rare gas atoms or saturated hydrocarbons. The range of applicability of the chosen generalized gradient approximation, which was shown in our previous works to lead to good interaction energies in such complexes, where π-electrons are involved in the interaction, remains limited to this group because it improves neither binding energies nor equilibrium geometries in the wide class of complexes for which local density approximation is adequate. An efficient energy minimization procedure, in which optimization of the geometry and the electron density of each subsystem is made simultaneously, is proposed and tested.

Orbital-free effective embedding potential at nuclear cusps

A strategy to construct approximants to the kinetic-energy-functional dependent component (v(t)[rho(A),rho(B)](r)) of the effective potential in one-electron equations for orbitals embedded in a frozen-density environment [Eqs. (20) and (21) in Wesolowski and Warshel, J. Phys. Chem. 97, (1993) 8050] is proposed. In order to improve the local behavior of the orbital-free effective embedding potential near nuclei in the environment, the exact behavior of v(t)[rho(A),rho(B)](r) at rho(A)-->0 and integralrho(B)dr=2 is taken into account. As a result, the properties depending on the quality of this potential are invariably improved compared to the ones obtained using conventional approximants which violated the considered exact condition. The approximants obtained following the proposed strategy and especially the simplest one constructed in this work are nondecomposable, i.e., cannot be used to obtain the analytic expression for the functional of the total kinetic energy.

The energy-differences based exact criterion for testing approximations to the functional for the kinetic energy of non-interacting electrons

Gradient-dependent approximations to the functional of the kinetic energy of non-interacting electrons (Ts[ρ]), which reflect various properties of the exact functional, are considered. For specially constructed pairs of electron densities, for which the analytic expression for the differences of Ts[ρ] is known, it is shown that the accuracy of the quantities derivable from a given approximation to Ts[ρ]: energy differences and their functional derivatives, does not reflect that of Ts[ρ] itself. The comparisons between the exact values of the kinetic energy in such cases are proposed as an independent condition/criterion for appraisal of approximations to Ts[ρ].

Multi-scale modelling of solvatochromic shifts from frozen-density embedding theory with non-uniform continuum model of the solvent: the coumarin 153 case

For nine solvents of various polarity (from cyclohexane to water), the solvatochromic shifts of the lowest absorption band of coumarin 153 are evaluated using a computational method based on frozen-density embedding theory [Wesolowski and Warshel, J. Chem Phys., 1993, 97, 9050, and subsequent articles]. In the calculations, the average electron density of the solvent [linear span]ρ(B)(r[combining right harpoon above])[linear span] is used as the frozen density. [linear span]ρ(B)(r[combining right harpoon above])[linear span] is evaluated using the statistical-mechanical approach introduced in Kaminski et al., J. Phys. Chem. A, 2010, 114, 6082. The small deviations between experimental and calculated solvatochromic shifts (the average deviation equals to about 0.02 eV), confirm the adequacy of the key approximations applied: (a) in the evaluation of the average effect of the solvent on the excitation energy, using the average density of the solvent instead of averaging the shifts over statistical ensemble and (b) using the approximant for the bi-functional of the non-electrostatic component of the orbital-free embedding potential, are adequate for chromophores which interact with the environment by non-covalent bonds. The qualitative analyses of the origin of the solvatochromic shifts are made using the graphical representation of the orbital-free embedding potential.

Cooperative effect of hydrogen-bonded chains in the environment of a π → π* chromophore

Laser resonant two-photon ionization UV spectra provide clear evidence that the effect of increasing the length of the hydrogen-bonded chain consisting of molecules such as NH(3), H(2)O, or CH(3)OH on the pi --> pi* excitations of cis-7-hydroxyquinoline (cis-7HQ) is strongly cooperative [ Thut ; et al. J. Phys. Chem. A 2008 , 112 , 5566. ] A theoretical analysis of the experimental data is provided to identify the origin of this cooperativity for four chains. The computational method to determine the changes of the electronic structure of a molecule due to interactions with its environment uses the nonempirical expression for the embedding potential [ Wesolowski ; Warshel J. Phys. Chem. 1993 , 97 , 8050. ] It is concluded that the electronic coupling between the molecules at the ends of the chain, which are hydrogen-bonded to cis-7HQ, plays a crucial role in this cooperativity.