Optimizing the structures of minimum and transition state on the free energy surface.

Presented here is the application of a scheme for optimizing the structures of minima and transition states on the free energy surface (FES) for a path along a fixed reaction coordinate with the aid of ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulation. In the direction of the reaction coordinate, the values corresponding to the stationary points were optimized using the quasi-Newton method, in which the gradient of the free energy along the reaction coordinate was obtained by a constraint AIMD method, and the Bofill Hessian update scheme was used. The equilibrium values for the other directions were taken as the corresponding averages in the dynamic simulation.

Calculation of excitation energies of open-shell molecules with spatially degenerate ground states. II. Transformed reference via intermediate configuration Kohn-Sham time dependent density functional theory oscillator strengths and magnetic circular dichroism C terms.

An extension of the transformed reference via an intermediate configuration Kohn-Sham time dependent density functional theory (TRICKS-TDDFT) method for calculating the transition energies of molecules with spatially degenerate ground states is proposed that enables oscillator strengths to also be evaluated. The oscillator strengths are calculated starting from a description of the degenerate ground state and the excited states of interest in terms of linear combinations of Slater determinants based upon the F-vectors obtained in the TRICKS-TDDFT calculation. This approach for calculating oscillator strengths can also be applied to several other properties that involve excited states.

Theoretical analysis of factors controlling the nonalternating CO/C(2)H(4) copolymerization.

A [P-O]Pd catalyst based on o-alkoxy derivatives of diphenylphosphinobenzene sulfonic acid (I) has recently been shown by Drent et al. to perform nonalternating CO/C(2)H(4) copolymerization with subsequent incorporation of ethylene units into the polyketone chain. The origin of the nonalternation is investigated in a theoretical study of I, where calculated activation barriers and reaction heats of all involved elementary steps are used to generate a complete kinetic model.

Ab initio calculation of the C/D ratio of magnetic circular dichroism.

A procedure for calculating the magnetic circular dichroism C/D ratio from density functional theory calculations is discussed. The method is simplified considerably through the application of group theory and the irreducible-tensor method and only requires integrals of the magnetic dipole moment operator over a few orbitals and published tables of symmetry factors. The implementation of the method is tested through application to several small and medium-sized molecules.

Calculation of the A term of magnetic circular dichroism based on time dependent-density functional theory I. Formulation and implementation.

A procedure for calculating the A term and the A/D ratio of magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) within time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) is described. Utilizing an implementation of the MCD theory within the Amsterdam Density Functional program, the A term contributions to the MCD spectra of MnO(4) (-), CrO(4) (2-), VO(4) (3-), MoO(4) (2-), VO(4) (3-), MoS(4) (2-), Se(4) (2+), Te(4) (2+), Fe(CN)(6) (4-), Ni(CN)(4) (2-), trichlorobenzene, hexachlorobenzene, tribromobenzene, and hexabromobenzene are calculated. For the most part, agreement between theory and experiment for A/D ratios and the relative magnitude of A terms is found to be good, leading to simulated spectra that are similar in appearance to those derived from measurements.

Stochastic simulations of polymer growth and isomerization in the polymerization of propylene catalyzed by Pd-based diimine catalysts.

A model is presented that employs a stochastic approach to the simulation of polyolefin chain growth and isomerization. The model is applied to propylene polymerization catalyzed by Pd-based diimine catalysts. The stochastic approach links the microscopic (quantum chemical) approach with modeling of the macroscopic systems.