Bond activation by zeolites

The previous two sections of this review deal with classical simulation methods. A description of the activation of adsorbates by acidic sites, together with any bond breaking or bond formation that may take place, is the realm of quantum mechanical (QM) simulations. These types of calculations are particularly well-suited to zeolite-adsorbate systems when the cluster approximation is used. The active acidic site in the zeolite is modeled by a molecular cluster, formed by cutting out a small portion of 

At the time of their inception, cluster calculations of adsorbate-zeolite systems were largely treated by using a semiempirical method. In the mid- 

Practically all of the calculation studies we discuss here were performed within the HF or DFT formalism, and most employed acid site cluster models that may contain anywhere between one and five Si and A1 atoms. Basis sets used to represent the electrons of the system were usually of double-zeta quality or higher i.e., each filled orbital of an atom has been represented by two separate exponential functions. In addition, extra functions have been added—so-called polarization functions—to represent orbitals that are empty. These allow the orbital more flexibility and result in better theoretical predictions. 

In this review, we focus on cluster models of Br0nsted acid sites, bridging hydroxyl groups that result from the incorporation of trivalent aluminum atoms into the siliceous framework during synthesis. These sites are by no means the only active sites within zeolites, but they are among the best characterized. 

Stable adsorption complexes are characterized by local minima on the potential energy hypersurface. The reaction pathway between two stable minima is determined by computation of a transition state structure, a saddle point on the potential energy hypersurface, characterized by a single imaginary vibrational mode. The Cartesian displacements of atoms that participate in this vibration characterize movements of these atoms along the reaction coordinate between sorption complexes. 

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