Electronic structure molecules

We have made one rather obvious omission from our descriptions of molecule electronic structure - the structure of transition-metal ions. This is deliberate since, in spite of the well-developed theories of the electronic spectra (U.V., photo-electron) of these compounds, it is still true to say that there is no theory of the bonding in this important class of molecules. The question of the localised or de-localised nature of the electronic structure of the bonds in these systems has not really been solved historically, there has been some skirmishing about the superiority of the MO or VB methods but the nature of the valence in these molecules has received a disproportionately small amount of attention. Thus any attempt to develop a GHO basis for transition-metal compounds is perhaps premature until more experience has been gained with typical element chemistry. 

It is also interesting to note that complexation of the C=S bond with iodine enhances (83RRC875) the barrier for internal rotation in the N-thioacylpiperidine derivative 154a to the value of 83.9 kJ mol", in comparison with 70.8 kJ mol" for the free molecule. Electronic structures like... 

The period under discussion has seen intense interest in the recently discovered i7 -H2 complexes. The relevance of these to some isomerization reactions of square-planar complexes was reported in Volume 5 of this series, and is covered in another recent review. " More of these fluxional ds-dihydridoplatinum compounds have been reported, and the role of 17 -H2 derivatives in oxidative additions to d rhodium(I) and iridium(I) has been discussed. The increasing role of theoretical and bonding studies is reflected in four works relevant to 4-and 5-coordinate molecules. Electronic structure is related to chemical reactivity in the reactions of phosphine bases with d bis(l,l-dithiolato)platinum com-plexes. Huckel calculations on the reactions of bis(nitrogen donor) ligands with 16-electron platinum(II) complexes have been carried out, as has more work on symmetry selection rules for isomerization reactions, which includes pseudorotation of 5-coordinate complexes and square-planar to tetrahedral conversions of 4-coordinate molecules. ... 

Fig. 5. Schematic representation of third harmonic generation process, going through virtual states at 1.907 pm (a) and 1.064 fim (b) with respect to the molecule electronic structure. At 1.0642 fxm a two photon resonance occurs because of matching of virtual state with one photon allowed state.

Field RW. Diatomic Molecule Electronic Structure beyond Simple Molecular Constants. Ber Bunsenges Phys Chem. 1982 86 771. 

R. W. Field, Diatomic molecule electronic structure beyond simple molecular constants, Ber. Bunsenges. Phys. 86, 771-779 (1982). 

The result is that, to a very good approxunation, as treated elsewhere in this Encyclopedia, the nuclei move in a mechanical potential created by the much more rapid motion of the electrons. The electron cloud itself is described by the quantum mechanical theory of electronic structure. Since the electronic and nuclear motion are approximately separable, the electron cloud can be described mathematically by the quantum mechanical theory of electronic structure, in a framework where the nuclei are fixed. The resulting Bom-Oppenlieimer potential energy surface (PES) created by the electrons is the mechanical potential in which the nuclei move. Wlien we speak of the internal motion of molecules, we therefore mean essentially the motion of the nuclei, which contain most of the mass, on the molecular potential energy surface, with the electron cloud rapidly adjusting to the relatively slow nuclear motion. 

Herzberg G 1966 Molecular Spectra and Molecular Structure III Electronic Spectra and Electronic Structure of Polyatomic Molecules (New York Van Nostrand-Reinhold)... 

Adsorbates can physisorb onto a surface into a shallow potential well, typically 0.25 eV or less [25]. In physisorption, or physical adsorption, the electronic structure of the system is barely perturbed by the interaction, and the physisorbed species are held onto a surface by weak van der Waals forces. This attractive force is due to charge fiuctuations in the surface and adsorbed molecules, such as mutually induced dipole moments. Because of the weak nature of this interaction, the equilibrium distance at which physisorbed molecules reside above a surface is relatively large, of the order of 3 A or so. Physisorbed species can be induced to remain adsorbed for a long period of time if the sample temperature is held sufficiently low. Thus, most studies of physisorption are carried out with the sample cooled by liquid nitrogen or helium. 

Venanzi T J 1982 Nuclear magnetic resonance coupling constants and electronic structure in molecules J. Chem. Educ. 59 144-8... 

For bulk structural detemiination (see chapter B 1.9). the main teclmique used has been x-ray diffraction (XRD). Several other teclmiques are also available for more specialized applications, including electron diffraction (ED) for thin film structures and gas-phase molecules neutron diffraction (ND) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) for magnetic studies (see chapter B1.12 and chapter B1.13) x-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) for local structures in small or unstable samples and other spectroscopies to examine local structures in molecules. Electron microscopy also plays an important role, primarily tlirough unaging (see chapter B1.17). 

Electronic structure theory describes the motions of the electrons and produces energy surfaces and wavefiinctions. The shapes and geometries of molecules, their electronic, vibrational and rotational energy levels, as well as the interactions of these states with electromagnetic fields lie within the realm of quantum stnicture theory. 

Also produced in electronic structure sunulations are the electronic waveftmctions and energies F ] of each of the electronic states. The separation m energies can be used to make predictions on the spectroscopy of the system. The waveftmctions can be used to evaluate the properties of the system that depend on the spatial distribution of the electrons. For example, the z component of the dipole moment [10] of a molecule can be computed by integrating... 

To improve upon die mean-field picture of electronic structure, one must move beyond the singleconfiguration approximation. It is essential to do so to achieve higher accuracy, but it is also important to do so to achieve a conceptually correct view of the chemical electronic structure. Although the picture of configurations in which A electrons occupy A spin orbitals may be familiar and usefiil for systematizing the electronic states of atoms and molecules, these constructs are approximations to the true states of the system. They were introduced when the mean-field approximation was made, and neither orbitals nor configurations can be claimed to describe the proper eigenstates T, . It is thus inconsistent to insist that the carbon atom... 

Becke A D 1983 Numerical Hartree-Fock-Slater calculations on diatomic molecules J. Chem. Phys. 76 6037 5 Case D A 1982 Electronic structure calculation using the Xa method Ann. 

Full quantum wavepacket studies on large molecules are impossible. This is not only due to the scaling of the method (exponential with the number of degrees of freedom), but also due to the difficulties of obtaining accurate functions of the coupled PES, which are required as analytic functions. Direct dynamics studies of photochemical systems bypass this latter problem by calculating the PES on-the-fly as it is required, and only where it is required. This is an exciting new field, which requires a synthesis of two existing branches of theoretical chemistry—electronic structure theory (quantum chemistiy) and mixed nuclear dynamics methods (quantum-semiclassical). 

Outline the laboratory preparation of a sample of dinitrogen tetroxide. Describe and explain what happens when it is heated from 290 K to 900 K. Suggest electronic structures for dinitrogen tetroxide and the other nitrogen-containing molecules formed from it on heating to 900 K. Point out any unusual structural features. 

Once the least-squares fits to Slater functions with orbital exponents e = 1.0 are available, fits to Slater function s with oth er orbital expon cn ts can be obtained by siin ply m ii Itiplyin g th e cc s in th e above three equations by It remains to be determined what Slater orbital exponents to use in electronic structure calculation s. The two possibilities may be to use the "best atom" exponents (e = 1. f) for II. for exam pie) or to opiim i/e exponents in each calculation. The "best atom expon en ts m igh t be a rather poor ch oicc for mo lecular en viron men ts, and optirn i/.at ion of non linear exponents is not practical for large molecules, where the dimension of the space to be searched is very large.. 4 com prom isc is to use a set of standard exponents where the average values of expon en ts are optirn i/ed for a set of sin all rn olecules, fh e recom -mended STO-3G exponents are... 

In our hydrogen molecule calculation in Section 2.4.1 the molecular orbitals were provided as input, but in most electronic structure calculations we are usually trying to calculate the molecular orbitals. How do we go about this We must remember that for many-body problems there is no correct solution we therefore require some means to decide whether one proposed wavefunction is better than another. Fortunately, the variation theorem provides us with a mechanism for answering this question. The theorem states that the... 

---