Ab initio ground state phenylacetylene–argon intermolecular potential energy surface and rovibrational spectrum

Abstract

We evaluate the phenylacetylene-argon intermolecular potential energy surface by fitting a representative number of ab initio interaction energies to an analytic function. These energies are calculated at a grid of intermolecular geometries, using the CCSD(T) method and the aug-cc-pVDZ basis set extended with a series of 3s3p2d1f1g midbond functions. The potential is characterized by two equivalent global minima where the Ar atom is located above and below the phenylacetylene plane at a distance of 3.5781 Å from the molecular center of mass and at an angle of 9.08° with respect to the axis perpendicular to the phenylacetylene plane and containing the center of mass. The calculated interaction energy is -418.9 cm(-1). To check further the potential, we obtain the rovibrational spectrum of the complex and the results are compared to the available experimental data.