Spin Hamiltonian parameter —molecular structure

A combination of the two techniques was shown to be a useful method for the determination of solution structures of weakly coupled dicopper(II) complexes (Fig. 9.4)[119]. The MM-EPR approach involves a conformational analysis of the dimeric structure, the simulation of the EPR spectrum with the geometric parameters resulting from the calculated structures and spin hamiltonian parameters derived from similar complexes, and the refinement of the structure by successive molecular mechanics calculation and EPR simulation cycles. This method was successfully tested with two dinuclear complexes with known X-ray structures and applied to the determination of a copper(II) dimer with unknown structure (Fig. 9.5 and Table 9.9)[119]. 

A crystal structure has been determined for the Fe(III) (benzohydro-xamate)3 complex by Lindner and Gottlicher (41) and shows the 3-fold propeller coordination of the ferric ion. This may be the case for the solid but one wonders if this coordination persists in solution or frozen solution since the spin Hamiltonian parameters from Mossbauer experiments seem to indicate rhombic symmetry. These parameters are listed in Table 4. If in fact there is a 3-fold symmetry in the molecular arrangement, then one must question the relationship between the symmetry of the spin Hamiltonian and the symmetry of the local crystal or ligand field (52). 

The quantum-mechanical picture of hyperfine structures presented by the spin-spin nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electron-spin resonance (ESR) spectra involves a variety of spin Hamiltonian parameters of molecular origin whose magnitude determines that of the coupling constants. In such an analysis, the most characteristic term arises from the Fermi -or contact -operator ... 

The above experimental developments represent powerful tools for the exploration of molecular structure and dynamics complementary to other techniques. However, as is often the case for spectroscopic techniques, only interactions with effective and reliable computational models allow interpretation in structural and dynamical terms. The tools needed by EPR spectroscopists are from the world of quantum mechanics (QM), as far as the parameters of the spin Hamiltonian are concerned, and from the world of molecular dynamics (MD) and statistical thermodynamics for the simulation of spectral line shapes. The introduction of methods rooted into the Density Functional Theory (DFT) represents a turning point for the calculations of spin-dependent properties [7],... 

Abstract. Investigation of P,T-parity nonconservation (PNC) phenomena is of fundamental importance for physics. Experiments to search for PNC effects have been performed on TIE and YbF molecules and are in progress for PbO and PbF molecules. For interpretation of molecular PNC experiments it is necessary to calculate those needed molecular properties which cannot be measured. In particular, electronic densities in heavy-atom cores are required for interpretation of the measured data in terms of the P,T-odd properties of elementary particles or P,T-odd interactions between them. Reliable calculations of the core properties (PNC effect, hyperfine structure etc., which are described by the operators heavily concentrated in atomic cores or on nuclei) usually require accurate accounting for both relativistic and correlation effects in heavy-atom systems. In this paper, some basic aspects of the experimental search for PNC effects in heavy-atom molecules and the computational methods used in their electronic structure calculations are discussed. The latter include the generalized relativistic effective core potential (GRECP) approach and the methods of nonvariational and variational one-center restoration of correct shapes of four-component spinors in atomic cores after a two-component GRECP calculation of a molecule. Their efficiency is illustrated with calculations of parameters of the effective P,T-odd spin-rotational Hamiltonians in the molecules PbF, HgF, YbF, BaF, TIF, and PbO. 

The application of quantum-mechanical methods to the prediction of electronic structure has yielded much detailed information about atomic and molecular properties.13 Particularly in the past few years, the availability of high-speed computers with large storage capacities has made it possible to examine both atomic and molecular systems using an ab initio variational approach wherein no empirical parameters are employed.14 Variational calculations for molecules employ a Hamiltonian based on the nonrelativistic electrostatic nuclei-electron interaction and a wave function formed by antisymmetrizing a suitable many-electron function of spatial and spin coordinates. For most applications it is also necessary that the wave function represent a particular spin eigenstate and that it have appropriate geometric symmetry. 

The approximation techniques described in the earlier sections apply to any (non-relativistic) quantum system and can be universally used. On the other hand, the specific methods necessary for modeling molecular PES that refer explicitly to electronic wave function (or other possible tools mentioned above adjusted to describe electronic structure) are united under the name of quantum chemistry (QC).15 Quantum chemistry is different from other branches of theoretical physics in that it deals with systems of intermediate numbers of fermions - electrons, which preclude on the one hand the use of the infinite number limit - the number of electrons in a system is a sensitive parameter. This brings one to the position where it is necessary to consider wave functions dependent on spatial r and spin s variables of all N electrons entering the system. In other words, the wave functions sought by either version of the variational method or meant in the frame of either perturbational technique - the eigenfunctions of the electronic Hamiltonian in eq. (1.27) are the functions D(xi,..., xN) where. r, stands for the pair of the spatial radius vector of i-th electron and its spin projection s to a fixed axis. These latter, along with the... 

Some of the terms included in the Breit-Pauli Hamiltonian also describe small interactions that can be probed experimentally by inducing suitable excitations in the electron or nuclear spin space, giving rise to important contributions to observable NMR and ESR parameters. In particular, for molecular properties for which there are interaction mechanisms involving the electron spin, also the spin-orbit interaction (O Eqs. 11.13 and O 11.14) becomes important The Breit-Pauli Hamiltonian in O Eqs. 11.5-11.22, however, only includes molecule-external field interactions through the presence of a scalar electrostatic potential 0 (and the associated electric field F) and the appearance of the magnetic vector potential in the mechanical momentum operator (O Eq. 11.23). In order to extract in more detail the interaction between the electronic structure of a molecule and an external electromagnetic field, we need to consider in more detail the form of the scalar and vector potentials. 

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