The hyperfine structure of the lowest doublet states of the LiO2 isomers: a density-functional-theory assessment

Abstract

Density-functional-theory (DFT) calculations of the hyperfine coupling constants (HFCCs) are systematically reported for the lithium superoxide (LiO2) structural isomers in the doublet ground states, 2A2 and 2Π. Also, structure, harmonic frequencies, rotational constants and dipole moments have been computed at different levels of theory. Our results calculated for the 2A2 state are compared with the available data of matrix-isolated LiO2. Geometric parameters and vibrational modes compare well with available experimental data. However, the present density-functional results show a strong dependence of the isotropic HFCCs on the level of approximation as well as the molecular geometry. Our results confirm that the anisotropic contributions are less sensitive to the exchange-correlation potentials and basis sets. We have obtained the best estimate of the isotropic HFCC (in comparison with the experimental trends) by using the hybrid scheme that combines the Perdew-Wang's 1991 correlation functional with the adiabatic connection. This study allows us to gauge DFT methods for future applications in the alkali superoxide series, as well as open-shell metal centres interacting with dioxygen in biological systems.