Quantum Monte Carlo Study of π-Bonded Transition Metal Organometallics: Neutral and Cationic Vanadium-Benzene and Cobalt-Benzene Half Sandwiches.

Abstract

We present accurate quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) calculations that enabled us to determine the structure, spin multiplicity, ionization energy, dissociation energy, and spin-dependent electronic gaps of neutral and positively charged vanadium-benzene and cobalt-benzene systems. From total/ionization energy, we deduce a sextet (quintet) state of neutral (cationic) vanadium-benzene systems and quartet (triplet) state of the neutral (cationic) cobalt-benzene systems. Vastly different energy gaps for the two spin channels are predicted for the vanadium-benzene system and broadly similar energy gaps for the cobalt-benzene system. For this purpose, we have used a multistage combination of techniques with consecutive elimination of systematic biases except for the fixed-node approximation in QMC. Our results significantly differ from the established picture based on previous less accurate calculations and point out the importance of high-level many-body methods for predictive calculations of similar transition metal-based organometallic systems.