VB resonance theory in solution. I. Multistate formulation

Abstract

A theory for the description of electronic structure in solution for solution phase chemical reactions is formulated in the framework of a dielectric continuum solvent model which takes solute boundary effects into account. This latter feature represents a generalization of the Kim–Hynes theory, in which the solute boundary was treated in the dielectric image approximation. The electronic structure of the molecular solute, embedded in a cavity of the dielectric, is described by a manifold of orthogonalized diabatic—e.g., valence bond (VB)—states. The polarization of the dielectric solvent is partitioned into an electronic (fast) and an orientational (slow) component. The formulation encompasses both nonequilibrium and equilibrium regimes of the orientational polarization with respect to the solute charge distribution. The analysis is carried out in the general case of quantized solvent electronic polarization, but with reference to two limits in terms of which the general results can be most readily comprehended: with the electronic polarization much slower than the solute electronic motions and equilibrated to a delocalized solute charge distribution—the self-consistent limit; with the electronic polarization fast enough to equilibrate to components of the solute electronic distribution rather than to the average distribution—the Born–Oppenheimer limit. The general results depend on the relative time scales of the resonant interconversion between the VB states and the solvent electronic polarization. With the ansatz that the nonequilibrium orientational polarization is a linear combination of equilibrium terms with nonequilibrium coefficients, the solute–solvent system free energy is obtained together with a nonlinear Schrödinger equation for the solute electronic structure. A procedure is given for the natural definition of the set of solvent coordinates which describe the nonequilibrium regime necessary for the treatment of chemical reactions, and convenient matrix forms for the free energy and the Hamiltonian matrix elements are provided.