Biomedical subjects

Jürgen Gräfenstein

Publications and source records attributed to Jürgen Gräfenstein.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Elucidation of the electronic structure of molecules with the help of NMR spin-spin coupling constants: the FH molecule.

It is demonstrated how the one-bond NMR spin-spin coupling constant (SSCC) (1)J(FH) can be used as a source of information on the electronic structure of the FH molecule. For this purpose, the best possible agreement between measured and calculated SSCC is achieved by large basis set coupled perturbed density functional theory calculations. Then, the calculated value is dissected into its four Ramsey terms: Fermi contact, the paramagnetic spin-orbit term, the diamagnetic spin-orbit term, and the spin dipole term, which in turn are decomposed into orbital contributions and then described by their spin densities and orbital current densities. In this way, the SSCC gives detailed information about the electronegativity of F, the bond polarity, the bond polarizability, the volume and the polarizability of sigma and pi lone pair orbitals, the s- or p-character of the bond orbital, the nature of the LUMO, and the density distribution around F.

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PubMed2004

One-electron versus electron-electron interaction contributions to the spin-spin coupling mechanism in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy: analysis of basic electronic effects.

For the first time, the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spin-spin coupling mechanism is decomposed into one-electron and electron-electron interaction contributions to demonstrate that spin-information transport between different orbitals is not exclusively an electron-exchange phenomenon. This is done using coupled perturbed density-functional theory in conjunction with the recently developed J-OC-PSP [=J-OC-OC-PSP: Decomposition of J into orbital contributions using orbital currents and partial spin polarization)] method. One-orbital contributions comprise Ramsey response and self-exchange effects and the two-orbital contributions describe first-order delocalization and steric exchange. The two-orbital effects can be characterized as external orbital, echo, and spin transport contributions. A relationship of these electronic effects to zeroth-order orbital theory is demonstrated and their sign and magnitude predicted using simple models and graphical representations of first order orbitals. In the case of methane the two NMR spin-spin coupling constants result from totally different Fermi contact coupling mechanisms. (1)J(C,H) is the result of the Ramsey response and the self-exchange of the bond orbital diminished by external first-order delocalization external one-orbital effects whereas (2)J(H,H) spin-spin coupling is almost exclusively mitigated by a two-orbital steric exchange effect. From this analysis, a series of prediction can be made how geometrical deformations, electron lone pairs, and substituent effects lead to a change in the values of (1)J(C,H) and (2)J(H,H), respectively, for hydrocarbons.

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PubMed2004

Decomposition of nuclear magnetic resonance spin-spin coupling constants into active and passive orbital contributions.

The theory of the J-OC-PSP (decomposition of J into orbital contributions using orbital currents and partial spin polarization) method is derived to distinguish between the role of active, passive, and frozen orbitals on the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spin-spin coupling mechanism. Application of J-OC-PSP to the NMR spin-spin coupling constants of ethylene, which are calculated using coupled perturbed density functional theory in connection with the B3LYP hybrid functional and a [7s,6p,2d/4s,2p] basis set, reveal that the well-known pi mechanism for Fermi contact (FC) spin coupling is based on passive pi orbital contributions. The pi orbitals contribute to the spin polarization of the sigma orbitals at the coupling nuclei by mediating spin information between sigma orbitals (spin-transport mechanism) or by increasing the spin information of a sigma orbital by an echo effect. The calculated FC(pi) value of the SSCC (1)J(CC) of ethylene is 4.5 Hz and by this clearly smaller than previously assumed.

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PubMed2004

The impact of the self-interaction error on the density functional theory description of dissociating radical cations: ionic and covalent dissociation limits.

Self-interaction corrected density functional theory was used to determine the self-interaction error for dissociating one-electron bonds. The self-interaction error of the unpaired electron mimics nondynamic correlation effects that have no physical basis where these effects increase for increasing separation distance. For short distances the magnitude of the self-interaction error takes a minimum and increases then again for decreasing R. The position of the minimum of the magnitude of the self-interaction error influences the equilibrium properties of the one-electron bond in the radical cations H2+ (1), B2H4+ (2), and C2H6+ (3), which differ significantly. These differences are explained by hyperconjugative interactions in 2 and 3 that are directly reflected by the self-interaction error and its orbital contributions. The density functional theory description of the dissociating radical cations suffers not only from the self-interaction error but also from the simplified description of interelectronic exchange. The calculated differences between ionic and covalent dissociation for 1, 2, and 3 provide an excellent criterion for determining the basic failures of density functional theory, self-interaction corrected density functional theory, and other methods. Pure electronic, orbital relaxation, and geometric relaxation contributions to the self-interaction error are discussed. The relevance of these effects for the description of transition states and charge transfer complexes is shown. Suggestions for the construction of new exchange-correlation functionals are given. In this connection, the disadvantages of recently suggested self-interaction error-free density functional theory methods are emphasized.

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PubMed2004

Systematic strategy for decoding the NMR spin-spin coupling mechanism: the J-OC-PSP method.

Criteria for analyzing the NMR spin-spin coupling mechanism were derived. Advantages and disadvantages of parallel- and post-processing analytical methods are discussed. An orbital decomposition into just one-orbital contributions provides less information than a decomposition into one-, two- and m-orbital effects. If just the last orbital in an orbital path leading from the perturbing to the responding nucleus is considered, the physics of the transport of spin information cannot be described. The theory of the J-OC-PSP (decomposition of J into Orbital Contributions using Orbital Currents and Partial Spin Polarization) is described to demonstrate the role of orbital contributions, orbital spin densities and orbital currents for the coupling mechanism. J-OC-PSP1 provides a decomposition into one- and two-orbital contributions with distinct physical reference (Ramsey perturbation of orbitals, steric exchange interactions, etc.) whereas J-OC-PSP2 introduces distinct orbital paths from perturbing to responding nucleus, clarifies the difference between active, passive and frozen orbitals and makes it possible to separate through-space from through-bond spin-spin coupling mechanism. Fermi contact coupling in hydrocarbons over more than two bonds is found to occur preferentially through space by tail interactions of the orbitals, as was anticipated in the early work of Barfield.

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