Potential energy surfaces calibration

Table II summarizes the predictions of a number of semi-empirical FH2 surfaces for the H + FH barrier. The final entry indicates that rather reliable Cl calculations (19), using a better than double zeta plus polarization basis set, predict a barrier of 49 kcal. B6S concluded in their paper (1 ) that the true col linear barrier is no less than 40 kcal. Thus, it is seen that the two "best" semi-empirical F + Ho surfaces, Muckerman V and Polanyi-Schreiber SE-I, fail miserably for the coll inear H + FH channel. This is perhaps the strongest evidence to date for the importance of ab initio information in potential energy surface calibration.

The empirical valence bond (EVB) method of Warshel [19] has features of both the structurally and thermodynamically coupled QM/MM method. In the EVB method the different states of the process studied are described in terms of relevant covalent and ionic resonance structures. The potential energy surface of the QM system is calibrated to reproduce the known experimental... 

The empirical valence bond (EVB) approach introduced by Warshel and co-workers is an effective way to incorporate environmental effects on breaking and making of chemical bonds in solution. It is based on parame-terizations of empirical interactions between reactant states, product states, and, where appropriate, a number of intermediate states. The interaction parameters, corresponding to off-diagonal matrix elements of the classical Hamiltonian, are calibrated by ab initio potential energy surfaces in solu-fion and relevant experimental data. This procedure significantly reduces the computational expenses of molecular level calculations in comparison to direct ab initio calculations. The EVB approach thus provides a powerful avenue for studying chemical reactions and proton transfer events in complex media, with a multitude of applications in catalysis, biochemistry, and PEMs. 

We also performed extensive DFT studies on both the full target system and the model for calibration purposes. For details of one-electron basis sets used please consult Ref. (55). We used the B3LYP functional but found the ground-state potential energy surface to be relatively insensitive to the chosen functional (note though that this does not mean that DFT gives the correct surfaces, as important nondynamical correlation effects are... 

The determination of the microcanonical rate coefficient k E) is the subject of active research. A number of techniques have been proposed, and include RRKM theory (discussed in more detail in Section 2.4.4) and the derivatives of this such as Flexible Transition State theory. Phase Space Theory and the Statistical Adiabatic Channel Model. All of these techniques require a detailed knowledge of the potential energy surface (PES) on which the reaction takes place, which for most reactions is not known. As a consequence much effort has been devoted to more approximate techniques which depend only on specific PES features such as reaction threshold energies. These techniques often have a number of parameters whose values are determined by calibration with experimental data. Thus the analysis of the experimental data then becomes an exercise in the optimization of these parameters so as to reproduce the experimental data as closely as possible. One such technique is based on Inverse Laplace Transforms (ILT). 

Joseph, T.R., Steckler, R. and Truhlar, D.G. (1987) A new potential energy surface for the CH3 + H2 CH + H reaction Calibration and calculation of rate constants and kinetic isotope effects by variational transition state theory and semi-classical tunneling calculations, J. Chem. Phys. 87, 7036-7049. 

G. C. Lynch, R. Steckler, D. W. Schwenke, A. J. C. Varandas, D. G. Truhlar, and B. C. Garrett, Use of scaled external correlation, a double many-body expansion, and variational transition state theory to calibrate a potential energy surface for FH2, J. Chem. Phys. 94 7136 (1991). 

ABSTRACT. Recent advances in electronic structure theory and the availability of high speed vector processors have substantially increased the accuracy of ab initio potential energy surfaces. The recently developed atomic natural orbital approach for basis set contraction has reduced both the basis set incompleteness and superposition errors in molecular calculations. Furthermore, full Cl calculations can often be used to calibrate a CASSCF/MRCI approach that quantitatively accounts for the valence correlation energy. These computational advances also provide a vehicle for systematically improving the calculations and for estimating the residual error in the calculations. Cdculations on selected diatomic and triatomic systems will be used to illustrate the accuracy that currently can be achieved for molecular systems. In particular, the F-I-H2 - HF+H potential energy hypersurface is used to illustrate the impact of these computational advances on the calculation of potential energy surfaces. 

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