π-π stacking tackled with density functional theory

Through comparison with ab initio reference data, we have evaluated the performance of various density functionals for describing π-π interactions as a function of the geometry between two stacked benzenes or benzene analogs, between two stacked DNA bases, and between two stacked Watson–Crick pairs. Our main purpose is to find a robust and computationally efficient density functional to be used specifically and only for describing π-π stacking interactions in DNA and other biological molecules in the framework of our recently developed QM/QM approach "QUILD". In line with previous studies, most standard density functionals recover, at best, only part of the favorable stacking interactions. An exception is the new KT1 functional, which correctly yields bound π-stacked structures. Surprisingly, a similarly good performance is achieved with the computationally very robust and efficient local density approximation (LDA). Furthermore, we show that classical electrostatic interactions determine the shape and depth of the π-π stacking potential energy surface

Highly Stable CO2/N-2 and CO2/CH4 Selectivity in Hyper-Cross-Linked Heterocyclic Porous Polymers

The largest obstacles for landfill/flue gas separation using microporous materials are small adsorption values and low selectivity ratios. This study demonstrates that these adsorption and selectivity challenges can be overcome by utilizing a series of hyper-cross-linked heterocyclic polymer networks. These microporous organic polymers (MOPs) were synthesized in a single step by inexpensive Friedel-Crafts-catalyzed reactions using dimethoxymethane as an external linker. The amorphous networks show moderate Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface areas up to 1022 m2 g-1, a narrow pore size distribution in the range from 6 to 8 Å, and high physicochemical stability. Owing to the presence of the heteroatomic pore surfaces in the networks, they exhibit maximum storage capacities for CO2 of 11.4 wt % at 273 K and 1 atm. Additionally, remarkable selectivity ratios for CO 2 adsorption over N2 (100) and CH4 (15) at 273 K were obtained. More importantly, as compared with any other porous materials, much higher selectivity for CO2/N2 (80) and CO 2/CH4 (15) was observed at 298 K, showing that these selectivity ratios remain high at elevated temperature. The very high CO 2/N2 selectivity values are ascribed to the binding affinity of abundantly available electron-rich basic heteroatoms, high CO 2 isoteric heats of adsorption (49-38 kJ mol-1), and the predominantly microporous nature of the MOPs. Binding energies calculated using the high level of ab initio theory showed that the selectivity is indeed attributed to the heteroatom-CO2 interactions. By employing an easy and economical synthesis procedure these MOPs with high thermochemical stability are believed to be a promising candidate for selective CO2 capture.close4

Separate Electronic Attenuation Allowing a Spin-Component-Scaled Second-Order Møller–Plesset Theory to Be Effective for Both Thermochemistry and Noncovalent Interactions

Spin-component-scaled (SCS) second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) improves the treatment of thermochemistry and noncovalent interactions relative to MP2, although the optimal scaling coefficients are quite different for thermochemistry versus noncovalent interactions. This work reconciles these two different scaling regimes for SCS-MP2 by using two different length scales for electronic attenuation of the two spin components. The attenuation parameters and scaling coefficients are optimized in the aug-cc-pVTZ (aTZ) basis using the S66 database of intermolecular interactions and the W4-11 database of thermochemistry. Transferability tests are performed for atomization energies and barrier heights, as well as on further test sets for inter- and intramolecular interactions. SCS dual-attenuated MP2 in the aTZ basis, SCS-MP2(2terfc, aTZ), performs similarly to SCS-MP2/aTZ for thermochemistry while frequently outperforming MP2 at the complete basis set limit (CBS) for nonbonded interactions