Computer simulation of acetonitrile and methanol with ab initio-based pair potentials

Abstract

This study address the adequacy of ab initio pair interaction energy potentials for the prediction of macroscopic properties. Recently, Bukowski et al. [J. Phys. Chem. A 103, 7322 (1999)] performed a comprehensive study of the potential energy surfaces for several pairs of molecules using symmetry-adapted perturbation theory. These ab initio energies were then fit to an appropriate site–site potential form. In an attempt to bridge the gap between ab initio interaction energy information and macroscopic properties prediction, we performed Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo (GEMC) simulations using their developed pair potentials for acetonitrile and methanol. The simulations results show that the phase behavior of acetonitrile is well described by just the pair interaction potential. For methanol, on the other hand, pair interactions are insufficient to properly predict its vapor-liquid phase behavior, and its saturated liquid density. We also explored simplified forms for representing the ab initio interaction energies by refitting a selected range of the data to a site–site Lennard-Jones and to a modified Buckingham (exponential-6) potentials plus Coulombic interactions. These were also used in GEMC simulations in order to evaluate the quality and computational efficiency of these different potential forms. It was found that the phase behavior prediction for acetonitrile and methanol are highly dependent on the details of the interaction potentials developed.