Unrestricted absolutely localized molecular orbitals for energy decomposition analysis: theory and applications to intermolecular interactions involving radicals.

Radical-closed shell and radical-radical intermolecular interactions are less well-understood than those between closed shell species. With the objective of gaining additional insight, this work reports a generalization of the absolutely localized molecular orbital (ALMO) energy decomposition analysis (EDA) to open shell fragments, described by self-consistent field methods, such as standard density functional theory. The ALMO-EDA variationally partitions an intermolecular interaction energy into three separate contributions; frozen orbital interactions, polarization, and charge transfer. The first examples involve comparison of the interactions of alkanes and alkyl radicals (methyl radical, methane, tertiary butyl radical, and isobutane) with sodium, potassium, hydronium, and ammonium cations. A second series of examples involve benzene cation interacting with a series of nucleophiles in both on-top and side-on geometries. The ALMO-EDA yields a variety of interesting insights into the relative roles of its component contributions as the interacting partners and their geometries are changed.