Correlation dreams on a multi-configurational budget

A challenging area of computational chemistry is the treatment of chemical systems that exhibit multi-configurational behavior. This thesis focuses on a multi-configurational self-consistent field treatment of Si(100) surface clusters, the development of a multi-reference second-order perturbation theory involving the Occupation Restricted Active Space wavefunction, and the diffusion of gallium adatom and dimer on the Si(100)-2x1 reconstructed surface. Whether Kohn-Sham orbitals can be used to understand electronic spectra is assessed. The Fragment Molecular Orbital method is also applied to assess its suitability for understanding the electronic structure of mesoporous silica nanoparticles

Quasi-Degenerate Second-Order Perturbation Theory for Occupation Restricted Multiple Active Space Self-Consistent Field Reference Functions

A multi-configuration quasi-degenerate second-order perturbation method based on the occupation restricted multiple active space (ORMAS-PT/ORMAS) reference wavefunction is presented. ORMAS gives one the ability to approximate a complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) wavefunction using only a subset of the configurations from the CASSCF space. The essential idea behind ORMAS-PT is to use the multi-reference Møller-Plesset formalism to correct the ORMAS reference energy. A computational scheme employing direct CI methodology is presented. Several tests are presented to demonstrate the performance of the ORMAS-PT method

Side Reactions of Nitroxide-Mediated Polymerization: N−O versus O−C Cleavage of Alkoxyamines

Free energies for the homolysis of the NO−C and N−OC bonds were compared for a large number of alkoxyamines at 298 and 393 K, both in the gas phase and in toluene solution. On this basis, the scope of the N−OC homolysis side reaction in nitroxide-mediated polymerization was determined. It was found that the free energies of NO−C and N−OC homolysis are not correlated, with NO−C homolysis being more dependent upon the properties of the alkyl fragment and N−OC homolysis being more dependent upon the structure of the aminyl fragment. Acyclic alkoxyamines and those bearing the indoline functionality have lower free energies of N−OC homolysis than other cyclic alkoxyamines, with the five-membered pyrrolidine and isoindoline derivatives showing lower free energies than the six-membered piperidine derivatives. For most nitroxides, N−OC homolysis is normally favored above NO−C homolysis only when a heteroatom that is α to the NOC carbon center stabilizes the NO−C bond and/or the released alkyl radical is not sufficiently stabilized. As part of this work, accurate methods for the calculation of free energies for the homolysis of alkoxyamines were determined. Accurate thermodynamic parameters to within 4.5 kJ mol−1 of experimental values were found using an ONIOM approximation to G3(MP2)-RAD combined with PCM solvation energies at the B3-LYP/6-31G(d) level

Assessment of Perturbative Explicitly Correlated Methods for Prototypes of Multiconfiguration Electronic Structure

The performance of the [2]S and [2]R12 universal perturbative corrections that account for one- and many-body basis set errors of single- and multiconfiguration electronic structure methods is assessed. A new formulation of the [2]R12 methods is used in which only strongly occupied orbitals are correlated, making the approach more amenable for larger computations. Three model problems are considered using the aug-cc-pVXZ (X = D,T,Q) basis sets: the electron affinity of fluorine atom, a conformational analysis of two Si2H4structures, and a description of the potential energy surfaces of the X 1Σg+, a 3Πu, b 3Σg-, and A1Πu states of C2. In general, the [2]R12 and [2]S corrections enhance energy convergence for conventional multireference configuration interaction (MRCI) and multireference perturbation theory (MRMP2) calculations compared to their complete basis set limits. For the electron affinity of the F atom, [2]R12 electron affinities are within 0.001 eV of the experimental value. The [2]R12 conformer relative energy error for Si2H4 is less than 0.1 kcal/mol compared to the complete basis set limit. The C2 potential energy surfaces show nonparallelity errors that are within 0.7 kcal/mol compared to the complete basis set limit. The perturbative nature of the [2]R12 and [2]S methods facilitates the development of a straightforward text-based data exchange standard that connects an electronic structure code that can produce a two-particle density matrix with a code that computes the corrections. This data exchange standard was used to implement the interface between the GAMESS MRCI and MRMP2 codes and the MPQC [2]R12 and [2]S capabilities

Systematic Fragmentation Method and the Effective Fragment Potential: An Efficient Method for Capturing Molecular Energies

The systematic fragmentation method fragments a large molecular system into smaller pieces, in such a way as to greatly reduce the computational cost while retaining nearly the accuracy of the parent ab initio electronic structure method. In order to attain the desired (sub-kcal/mol) accuracy, one must properly account for the nonbonded interactions between the separated fragments. Since, for a large molecular species, there can be a great many fragments and therefore a great many nonbonded interactions, computations of the nonbonded interactions can be very time-consuming. The present work explores the efficacy of employing the effective fragment potential (EFP) method to obtain the nonbonded interactions since the EFP method has been shown previously to capture nonbonded interactions with an accuracy that is often comparable to that of second-order perturbation theory. It is demonstrated that for nonbonded interactions that are not high on the repulsive wall (generally \u3e2.7 Å), the EFP method appears to be a viable approach for evaluating the nonbonded interactions. The efficacy of the EFP method for this purpose is illustrated by comparing the method to ab initio methods for small water clusters, the ZOVGAS molecule, retinal, and the α-helix. Using SFM with EFP for nonbonded interactions yields an error of 0.2 kcal/mol for the retinal cis−trans isomerization and a mean error of 1.0 kcal/mol for the isomerization energies of five small (120−170 atoms) α-helices

A Paradigm for Blue- or Red-Shifted Absorption of Small Molecules Depending on the Site of π-Extension

Benzannulation of aromatic molecules is often used to red-shift absorption and emission bands of organic and inorganic, molecular, and polymeric materials; however, in some cases, either red or blue shifts are observed, depending on the site of benzannulation. A series of five platinum(II) complexes of the form (N∧N∧N)PtCl are reported here that illustrate this phenomenon, where N∧N∧N represents the tridentate monoanionic ligands 2,5-bis(2-pyridylimino)3,4-diethylpyrrolate (1), 1,3-bis(2-pyridylimino)isoindolate (2), 1,3-bis(2-pyridylimino)benz(f)isoindolate (3), 1,3-bis(2-pyridylimino)benz(e)isoindolate (4), and 1,3-bis(1-isoquinolylimino) isoindolate (5). For this series of molecules, either a blue shift (2 and3) or a red shift (4 and 5) in absorption and emission maxima, relative to their respective nonbenzannulated compounds, was observed that depends on the site of benzannulation. Experimental data and first principles calculations suggest that a similar HOMO energy level and a destabilized or stabilized LUMO with benzannulation is responsible for the observed trends. A rationale for LUMO stabilization/destabilization is presented using simple molecular orbital theory. This explanation is expanded to describe other molecules with this unusual behavior

Accurate Methods for Large Molecular Systems

Three exciting new methods that address the accurate prediction of processes and properties of large molecular systems are discussed. The systematic fragmentation method (SFM) and the fragment molecular orbital (FMO) method both decompose a large molecular system (e.g., protein, liquid, zeolite) into small subunits (fragments) in very different ways that are designed to both retain the high accuracy of the chosen quantum mechanical level of theory while greatly reducing the demands on computational time and resources. Each of these methods is inherently scalable and is therefore eminently capable of taking advantage of massively parallel computer hardware while retaining the accuracy of the corresponding electronic structure method from which it is derived. The effective fragment potential (EFP) method is a sophisticated approach for the prediction of nonbonded and intermolecular interactions. Therefore, the EFP method provides a way to further reduce the computational effort while retaining accuracy by treating the far-field interactions in place of the full electronic structure method. The performance of the methods is demonstrated using applications to several systems, including benzene dimer, small organic species, pieces of the α helix, water, and ionic liquids

Recent Developments in the General Atomic and Molecular Electronic Structure System

A discussion of many of the recently implemented features of GAMESS (General Atomic and Molecular Electronic Structure System) and LibCChem (the C++ CPU/GPU library associated with GAMESS) is presented. These features include fragmentation methods such as the fragment molecular orbital, effective fragment potential and effective fragment molecular orbital methods, hybrid MPI/OpenMP approaches to Hartree-Fock, and resolution of the identity second order perturbation theory. Many new coupled cluster theory methods have been implemented in GAMESS, as have multiple levels of density functional/tight binding theory. The role of accelerators, especially graphical processing units, is discussed in the context of the new features of LibCChem, as it is the associated problem of power consumption as the power of computers increases dramatically. The process by which a complex program suite such as GAMESS is maintained and developed is considered. Future developments are briefly summarized