Intermolecular Potential of the O2−O2 Dimer. An ab Initio Study and Comparison with Experiment

Abstract

Accurate intermolecular potentials for the lowest three multiplet states of O2-O2 dimer have been produced on the basis of ab initio calculations. The quintet potential was taken from previous highly correlated CCSD(T) calculations. In this work, we perform MRCI calculations, with large basis sets including bond functions, of the singlet and triplet states, which are of multireference character. As expected the size inconsistency and lack of higher order excitations limit the accuracy of the MRCI potentials specifically in describing the long range interactions. We show that the Heisenberg Hamiltonian provides an accurate representation of the exchange interactions in this system and this enables us to combine the accurate CCSD(T) potentials with the MRCI spin-exchange parameter to obtain accurate singlet and triplet potentials. The reliability of these potentials is tested by computing integral cross sections and comparing them with the detailed experimental study of the Perugia group, with excellent results. More interestingly, comparison with the experimentally derived potential shows important discrepancies for some angular orientations including that corresponding with the global minima, indicating the need for further work, both theoretical and experimental, to clarify their origin.