Global Potential Energy Surface Research Articles

A highly accurate full-dimensional ab initio potential surface for the rearrangement of methylhydroxycarbene (H3C-C-OH).

We report here a full-dimensional machine learning global potential surface (PES) for the rearrangement of methylhydroxycarbene (H3C-C-OH, 1t). The PES is trained with the fundamental invariant neural network (FI-NN) method on 91 564 ab initio energies calculated at the UCCSD(T)-F12a/cc-pVTZ level of theory, covering three possible product channels. FI-NN PES has the correct symmetry properties with respect to permutation of four identical hydrogen atoms and is suitable for dynamics studies of the 1t rearrangement. The averaged root mean square error (RMSE) is 11.4 meV. Six important reaction pathways, as well as the energies and vibrational frequencies at the stationary geometries on these pathways are accurately preproduced by our FI-NN PES. To demonstrate the capacity of the PES, we calculated the rate coefficient of hydrogen migration in -CH3 (path A) and hydrogen migration of -OH (path B) with instanton theory on this PES. Our calculations predicted the half-life of 1t to be 95 min, which is excellent in agreement with experimental observations.

A pragmatic protocol for determining charge transfer states of molecules at metal surfaces by constrained density functional theory.

Electron transfer from a metal surface to a molecule is very important at the gas-surface interface, which can lead to electron-mediated energy transfer during molecular scattering from the surface, as evidenced by numerous state-to-state molecular beam experiments of NO and CO scattering from noble metal surfaces. However, it remains challenging to determine relevant charge-transfer states and their nonadiabatic couplings from first principles in such systems involving a continuum of metallic electronic states. In this work, we propose a pragmatic protocol for this purpose based on the constrained density functional theory (CDFT) approach. In particular, we discuss the influence of the charge partitioning algorithm used in CDFT to define the constraint property in molecule-metal systems. It is found that the widely used Bader charge analysis is adequate to define the physically sound CDFT diabatic states corresponding to a molecule with or without extra electron transferred from the metal. Numerical tests validate that the proposed CDFT scheme properly describes the electron transfer behaviors in several benchmark systems, namely, NO or CO interacting with Au(111) or Ag(111). The effects of the surface work function and the molecular electron affinity on electron transfer are discussed in detail by comparing the CDFT states of the four systems. This pragmatic CDFT protocol lays the foundation for constructing accurate global diabatic potential energy surfaces for these important systems and can be generalized to study other interfacial electron transfer related problems.

An analytic global potential energy surface of the CsH2 system and the dynamic calculations of the H + CsH reaction

ABSTRACT Based on 17,326 ab initio points, a global potential energy surface (PES) of the ground state of the CsH2 system was constructed using the neural network method. In ab initio calculations, the AVQZ basis set was used for the H atom, the def2-QZVP basis set was adopted for the Cs atom, and a multi-reference configuration interaction method was employed. The topographical characteristics of the newly developed PES were discussed in detail and no wells or barriers were detected. In addition, the dynamical calculations of the H + CsH reaction were performed using the time-dependent wave packet method, based on the new PES. Dynamics properties, such as reaction probability, integral cross section and differential cross-section were examined. The differential cross-section results indicated that the forward abstraction mechanism dominated the abstraction channel, and the ‘rebound' reaction mechanism played a primary role in the exchange channel. Highlights Using the PIP-NN method, A global potential energy surface for the ground state of the CsH2 system was built based on 17,326 ab initio points. Dynamic calculations for the abstraction and exchange channels of the H + CsH reaction were performed using the time-dependent wave packet method and the dynamic properties of these two channels were discussed in detail. The direct abstraction mechanism plays a dominant role in the abstraction channel and the ‘rebound' mechanism dominates the exchange channel.

Global Full-Dimensional Potential Energy Surface for the Reaction 23Na87Rb + 23Na87Rb → 23Na2 + 87Rb2 and the Formation Rate and Lifetime of the 23Na287Rb2 Collision Complex.

A full-dimensional global potential energy surface (PES) for the reaction 23Na87Rb + 23Na87Rb → 23Na2 + 87Rb2 was constructed based on high-level ab initio calculations. The short-range part was expressed as a permutation invariant polynomial-neural network (PIP-NN) fit of 22 003 ab initio points calculated using a coupled cluster method with the one-electron basis 5s5p5d2f plus effective core potentials and core polarizability potentials, while the long-range part was represented in an asymptotically correct form based on multipole expansion. The formation rate of the 23Na287Rb2 complex calculated using a quantum statistical method is in good agreement with experiment, while the estimated 19.20 μs lifetime of the complex from Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) theory is significantly shorter than the measured millisecond decay rate, signaling either the inadequacy of RRKM theory or a yet unresolved loss mechanism.

Global Potential Energy Surfaces by Compressed-State Multistate Pair-Density Functional Theory: The Lowest Doublet States Responsible for the N(4Su) + C2(a 3Πu) → CN(X 2Σ+) + C(3Pg) Reaction.

Global potential energy surfaces (PESs) for the 1 2A' and 1 2A″ states of the C2N system responsible for the N(4Su) + C2(a 3Πu) → CN(X 2Σ+) + C(3Pg) reaction are mapped using compressed-state multistate pair-density functional theory (CMS-PDFT), which is a multi-state version of multiconfiguration pair-density functional theory (MC-PDFT). Calculations are also performed at selected geometries by explicitly correlated multireference configuration interaction with quadruple corrections, MRCI-F12+Q, and the comparison of the two sets of calculations shows that CMS-PDFT describes the globally reactive PESs well, including the bond-breaking asymptotes. We conclude that CMS-PDFT is an efficient method for constructing PESs for strongly correlated reactive systems. The PESs for producing CN + C are found to be barrierless and proceed through intermediate complexes. The CMS-PDFT PESs were fitted with a neural network method, and quasiclassical trajectories were computed on the resulting analytic PESs. These trajectories predict that the reaction produces vibrationally excited CN.

Insights into the structural, electronic and spectral properties of gas-phase GaMgn+ (n = 2–12) clusters

A global potential energy surface search of the gas-phase GaMgn+ (n = 2–12) clusters was performed using CALYPSO, and they were comprehensively studied based on DFT. Specifically, the geometric growth of low-lying energy isomers, the relative stability of the ground state isomers, the electronic structure properties and the spectroscopic properties are fully studied. The results show that the structure of GaMgn+ (n = 3–12) clusters is based on tetrahedral and yurt-type patterns of growth. Calculations show that the ground state isomer of GaMg9+ is a relative special cluster due to it being the most locally stable. In addition, charge transfer studies show that all Ga atoms are electron receivers while most Mg atoms play the role of electron donor for GaMgn+ (n = 3–12) clusters. Electron configuration calculations confirm that the orbitals of the Mg and Ga atoms are sp hybridized in all the ground state isomers. Finally, to provide the corresponding data for possible future experimental validation, the present work also presents theoretical calculations of the IR, Raman and UV-Vis spectra of all the ground state isomers.

Inefficient intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution for the H + HO2 reaction and negative internal energy dependence for its rate constant

Quasiclassical trajectories (QCT) and newly constructed global potential energy surfaces are used to compute thermal and nonthermal rate constants for the H + HO2 reaction. The thermal QCTs rate constants are up to 50% smaller than transition state theory (TST) rate constants based on the same level of electronic structure theory. This reduction is demonstrated to result from inefficient intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR) in the transient H2O2 well, with a significant fraction of trajectories that reach the H2O2 well promptly dissociating back to reactants instead of via the heavily statistically favored 2OH channel. The nonstatistical reduction factor, κIVR, that quantifies this effect is shown to increase in importance with temperature, with κIVR = 0.81 at 300 K and 0.47 at 2500 K. Finally, we show that inefficient IVR causes H + HO2 rate constants mediated by H2O2 to depend inversely on the initial vibrational excitation of HO2.

Accurate time-dependent wave packet calculation for the reaction of Al(2P) + H2[formula omitted] on the AlH2(12A′) surface

The time-dependent wave packet calculation of the Al(2P) + H2X1∑g+ → H(2S) + AlHX1∑+(X1Σ+) reaction is studied on the precise global potential energy surface of AlH2(12A′). The collision energy dependence of reaction probabilities under different total angular momentum is discussed detailedly. The emphasis is on the exploration of different dynamical behaviors calculated by Coriolis coupling and centrifugal sudden approximation, which makes integral scattering cross section calculated by Coriolis coupling has a smaller oscillation intensity clearly. Moreover, the reaction is enhanced strongly by vibration excitation of H2 molecule but only weakly by rotation excitation due to the late barrier.

Dynamics of the proton transfer reaction O + H2 +(v = 0, j = 0) → OH+ + H on the ground 12A″ potential energy surface

The dynamics of the exothermic complex-forming reaction O + H2 +(v = 0, j = 0) → OH+ + H has been studied by the quasi-classical trajectory method on a global ab initio potential energy surface for the ground state 12A″ fitted by Miguel Paniagua et al. [Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2014, 16, 23594]. The reaction probabilities and integral cross-section (ICS) were calculated and compared with available theoretical results in the collision energy range of 0–1.0 eV. Differential cross-section (DCS) exhibits forwardbackward symmetry, indicating the domination of indirect mechanism. The complex-forming reaction mechanism is investigated in detail. The results show that the contribution of indirect trajectories to ICS and the lifetime of the intermediate complex are strongly dependent on the collision energy. Another reaction mechanism, i.e. direct reaction, also exists. However, it is suppressed in the whole collision energy range; as a result, its contribution to the reaction is negligible.

Reconciling spectroscopy with dynamics in global potential energy surfaces: The case of the astrophysically relevant SiC2.

SiC2 is a fascinating molecule due to its unusual bonding and astrophysical importance. In this work, we report the first global potential energy surface (PES) for ground-state SiC2 using the combined-hyperbolic-inverse-power-representation method and accurate ab initio energies. The calibration grid data are obtained via a general dual-level protocol developed afresh herein that entails both coupled-cluster and multi-reference configuration interaction energies jointly extrapolated to the complete basis set limit. Such an approach is specially devised to recover much of the spectroscopy from the PES, while still permitting a proper fragmentation of the system to allow for reaction dynamics studies. Besides describing accurately the valence strongly bound region that includes both the cyclic global minimum and isomerization barriers, the final analytic PES form is shown to properly reproduce dissociation energies, diatomic potentials, and long-range interactions at all asymptotic channels, in addition to naturally reflect the correct permutational symmetry of the potential. Bound vibrational state calculations have been carried out, unveiling an excellent match of the available experimental data on c-SiC2(A11). To further exploit the global nature of the PES, exploratory quasi-classical trajectory calculations for the endothermic C2 + Si → SiC + C reaction are also performed, yielding thermalized rate coefficients for temperatures up to 5000K. The results hint for the prominence of this reaction in the innermost layers of the circumstellar envelopes around carbon-rich stars, hence conceivably playing therein a key contribution to the gas-phase formation of SiC, and eventually, solid SiC dust.

Observation of Competitive Nonadiabatic Photodissociation Dynamics of H2S+ Cations.

A comprehensive understanding of dissociation mechanisms is of fundamental importance in the photochemistry of small molecules. Here, we investigated the detailed photodissociation dynamics of H2S+ near 337 nm by using the velocity map ion imaging technique together with the theoretical characterizations by developing global full-dimensional potential energy surfaces (PESs). Rotational state resolved images were acquired for the S+(4S) + H2 product channel. Significant changes in product total kinetic energy release distributions and angular distributions have been observed within a small excitation photon energy range of 5 wavenumbers. Analysis based on the full-dimensional PESs reveals that two nonadiabatic pathways determined by the transition state connecting two minima on the 12A' state are responsible for the dramatic variation of observed product distributions. The current study has directly witnessed the competitive photodissociation mechanisms controlled by a critical energy point on the PES, thereby providing in-depth insight into the nonadiabatic dynamics in photochemistry.

A Theoretical Study of the In Situ Structural Reconstruction of Pdn (n = 6, 19, 44) Clusters for Catalytic Hydrogen Evolution

How in situ structural reconstructions affect the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity of small Pd clusters is a long-standing problem in the field of heterogeneous catalysis. Herein, we reveal the structural evolution of Pdn (n = 6, 19, 44) clusters under the HER environment via stochastic global potential energy surface searching. We theoretically demonstrated that the HER activity of Pdn clusters first increases and then decreases under long-term working conditions. The intrinsic nature of these phenomenons includes interior H formations and structural reconstructions caused by the supersaturated adsorption of H atoms. This proves that carefully adjusting the hydrogenation degree of Pd clusters is a good strategy for improving the HER’s catalytic performance.

Numerical Calculation of Three-Dimensional Ground State Potential Energy Function of Na2F System

We present a new three-dimensional global potential energy surface (PES) for the ground state of Na2F system. A total of about 1460 points were generated for the PES. All of the points have been carried out by using the coupled-cluster single-, double-, and perturbative triple-excitations [CCSD(T)]. Two Jacobi coordinates, R and θ , and the frozen molecular equilibrium geometries were used. We mixed the basis sets of aug-cc-pCVQZ for the sodium atom and the basis sets of aug-cc-pCVDZ for the fluorine atom with an additional (3s3p2d) set of midbond functions; the energies obtained were extrapolated to the complete basis set limit. The whole calculation adopted supramolecular approximation approach. We divided the potential energy surface into three regions, the peak region, the well region, and the long range region, and calculate the single point energy, respectively. Our ab initio calculations will be useful for future studies of the collision-induced absorption for the Na2-F dimer, and it can be used for modeling the dynamical behavior in Na2F system too.

Potential Nonstatistical Effects on the Unimolecular Decomposition of H2O2.

An attempt is made to evaluate the nonstatistical effects in the thermal decomposition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Previous experimental studies on this reaction reported an unusual pressure dependence of the rate constant indicating broader falloff behavior than expected from conventional theory. In this work, the possibility that the rate constant is affected by nonstatistical effects is investigated based on classical trajectory calculations on the global potential energy surfaces of H2O2 and H2O2 + Ar. The emphasis is on the intramolecular energy redistribution from the K-rotor, that is, the external rotor for rotation around the principal axis of least moment of inertia. The calculations for the H2O2 molecules excited above the dissociation threshold suggest that the energy redistribution from the torsion and K-rotor to vibrations can be competitive with dissociation. In particular, the slow redistribution of the energy associated with the K-rotor significantly affects the dissociation rate. The successive trajectory calculations for collisions of H2O2 with Ar show that the energy associated with the K-rotor can be collisionally transferred more efficiently than the vibrational energy. On the basis of these results and several assumptions, a simple model is proposed to account for the nonstatistical effects on the pressure-dependent thermal rate constants. The model predicts significant broadening of the falloff curve of the rate constants but still cannot fully explain the experimental data.

Kinetics study of the OH + SiH4 hydrogen abstraction reaction: A theoretical analysis

AbstractThe temperature dependence of the rate constants and the kinetics isotope effects of the OH + SiH4 hydrogen abstraction reaction were theoretically studied. Three different kinetics approaches were used in this study: variational transition state theory with multidimensional tunneling (VTST/MT) corrections, quasi‐classical trajectory (QCT) calculations, and ring polymer molecular dynamics (RPMD). These studies were performed on a global analytical potential energy surface based on explicitly correlated high level ab initio calculations developed in the present work. While the experimental rate constants are practically independent with temperature, the VTST/MT results show a pronounced dependence, the QCT partially corrects this behavior, and RPMD rates are in better agreement with experiment. In this case, in the experimental common temperature range, 300–600 K, the T‐expression for the RPMD rate constants is: k(T) = 6.40 × 10−13.T0.52exp(−0.10/T). The kinetics isotope effects, H/D, are small in this temperature range, revealing the small importance of tunneling effects in this very exothermic and low barrier reaction. Different factors, such as anharmonicity, the zero‐point violation problem or limitations of the surface, without ruling out experimental uncertainties, were analyzed to explain the discrepancies.

A new global potential energy surface of the ground state of (X2A1) system and dynamics calculations of the Si++ H2 (v 0 = 2, j 0 = 0) → SiH++ H reaction

A global potential energy surface (PES) of the ground state of system is built by using neural network method based on 18223 ab initio points. The topographic properties of PES are presented and compared with previous theoretical and experimental studies. The results indicate that the spectroscopic parameters obtained from the new PES are in good agreement with the experimental data. In order to further verify the validity of the new PES, a test dynamics calculation of the Si+ + H2 (v 0 = 2, j 0 = 0) → H + SiH+ reaction has been carried out by using the time-dependent wave packet method. The integral cross sections and rate constants are computed for the title reaction. The reasonable dynamical behavior indicates that the newly constructed PES is suitable for relevant dynamics investigations.

Rotational excitation of NS+ by H2 revisited: A new global potential energy surface and rate coefficients.

Due to the lack of specific collisional data, the abundance of NS+ in cold dense interstellar clouds was determined using collisional rate coefficients of CS as a substitute. To better understand the chemistry of sulfur in the interstellar medium, further abundance modeling using the actual NS+ collisional rate coefficients is needed. For this purpose, we have computed the first full 4D potential energy surface of the NS+-H2 van der Waals complex using the explicitly correlated coupled cluster approach with single, double, and non-iterative triple excitation in conjunction with the augmented-correlation consistent-polarized valence triple zeta basis set. The potential energy surface exhibits a global minimum of 848.24 cm-1 for a planar configuration of the complex. The long-range interaction energy, described using multipolar moments, is sensitive to the orientation of H2 up to radial distances of ∼50 a0. From this new interaction potential, we derived excitation cross sections, induced by collision with ortho- and para-H2, for the 15 low-lying rotational levels of NS+ using the quantum mechanical close-coupling approach. By thermally averaging these data, we determined downward rate coefficients for temperatures up to 50K. By comparing them with the previous NS+-H2 data, we demonstrated that reduced dimensional approaches are not suited for this system. In addition, we found that the CS collisional data underestimate our results by up to an order of magnitude. The differences clearly indicate that the abundance of NS+, in cold dense clouds retrieved from observational spectra, must be reassessed using these new collisional rate coefficients.

The global potential energy surface of the RbH2 system and dynamics studies of the H + RbH → Rb + H2 reaction

A new global potential energy surface of the ground state of the RbH2system is constructed by using the permutation invariant polynomial neural network method.In the ab initiocalculations, the aug-cc-pVQZ basis set for H, Def2-QZVPP basis set for Rb, and multi-reference configuration interaction method with Davidson correction are used. The topographical features of the new PES are discussed in detail, and no wells and barriers in the minimum energy path are found. Thereafter, specific initial-state dynamics calculations of the H + RbH (v = 0 ∼ 2,j = 0) → Rb + H2reaction are carried out based on the new PES by means of the time-dependent quantum wave packet method with a second-order split operator. The dynamics results indicate that the vibrational excitation of RbH molecules reduces and increases the reaction probability when the collision energy is below 0.4 eV and above 0.4 eV, respectively.

Unconventional SN2 retention pathways induced by complex formation: High-level dynamics investigation of the NH2 - + CH3I polyatomic reaction.

Investigations on the dynamics of chemical reactions have been a hot topic for experimental and theoretical studies over the last few decades. Here, we carry out the first high-level dynamical characterization for the polyatom-polyatom reaction between NH2 - and CH3I. A global analytical potential energy surface is developed to describe the possible pathways with the quasi-classical trajectory method at several collision energies. In addition to SN2 and proton abstraction, a significant iodine abstraction is identified, leading to the CH3 + [NH2⋯I]- products. For SN2, our computations reveal an indirect character as well, promoting the formation of [CH3⋯NH2] complexes. Two novel dominant SN2 retention pathways are uncovered induced by the rotation of the CH3 fragment in these latter [CH3⋯NH2] complexes. Moreover, these uncommon routes turn out to be the most dominant retention paths for the NH2 - + CH3I SN2 reaction.

Quantum Gaussian process model of potential energy surface for a polyatomic molecule.

With gates of a quantum computer designed to encode multi-dimensional vectors, projections of quantum computer states onto specific qubit states can produce kernels of reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces. We show that quantum kernels obtained with a fixed ansatz implementable on current quantum computers can be used for accurate regression models of global potential energy surfaces (PESs) for polyatomic molecules. To obtain accurate regression models, we apply Bayesian optimization to maximize marginal likelihood by varying the parameters of the quantum gates. This yields Gaussian process models with quantum kernels. We illustrate the effect of qubit entanglement in the quantum kernels and explore the generalization performance of quantum Gaussian processes by extrapolating global six-dimensional PESs in the energy domain.