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Johannes Neugebauer

Publications and source records attributed to Johannes Neugebauer.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Exploring the ability of frozen-density embedding to model induced circular dichroism.

In this study, we present calculations of the circular dichroism (CD) spectra of complexes between achiral and chiral molecules. Nonzero rotational strengths for transitions of the nonchiral molecule are induced by interactions between the two molecules, which cause electronic and/or structural perturbations of the achiral molecule. We investigate if the chiral molecule (environment) can be represented only in terms of its frozen electron density, which is used to generate an effective embedding potential. The accuracy of these calculations is assessed in comparison to full supermolecular calculations. We can show that electronic effects arising from specific interactions between the two subsystems can reliably be modeled by the frozen-density representation of the chiral molecule. This is demonstrated for complexes of 2-benzoylbenzoic acid with (-)-(R)-amphetamine and for a nonchiral, artificial amino acid receptor system consisting of ferrocenecarboxylic acid bound to a crown ether, for which a complex with l-leucine is studied. Especially in the latter case, where multiple binding sites and interactions between receptor and target molecule exist, the frozen-density results compare very well with the full supermolecular calculation. We also study systems in which a cyclodextrin cavity serves as a chiral host system for a small, achiral molecule. Problems arise in that case because of the importance of excitonic couplings with excitations in the host system. The frozen-density embedding cannot describe such couplings but can only capture the direct effect of the host electron density on the electronic structure of the guest. If couplings play a role, frozen-density embedding can at best only partially describe the induced circular dichroism. To illustrate this problem, we finally construct a case in which excitonic coupling effects are much stronger than direct interactions of the subsystem densities. The frozen density embedding is then completely unsuitable.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Assessment of a simple correction for the long-range charge-transfer problem in time-dependent density-functional theory.

The failure of the time-dependent density-functional theory to describe long-range charge-transfer (CT) excitations correctly is a serious problem for calculations of electronic transitions in large systems, especially if they are composed of several weakly interacting units. The problem is particularly severe for molecules in solution, either modeled by periodic boundary calculations with large box sizes or by cluster calculations employing extended solvent shells. In the present study we describe the implementation and assessment of a simple physically motivated correction to the exchange-correlation kernel suggested in a previous study [O. Gritsenko and E. J. Baerends J. Chem. Phys. 121, 655 (2004)]. It introduces the required divergence in the kernel when the transition density goes to zero due to a large spatial distance between the "electron" (in the virtual orbital) and the "hole" (in the occupied orbital). A major benefit arises for solvated molecules, for which many CT excitations occur from solvent to solute or vice versa. In these cases, the correction of the exchange-correlation kernel can be used to automatically "clean up" the spectrum and significantly reduce the computational effort to determine low-lying transitions of the solute. This correction uses a phenomenological parameter, which is needed to identify a CT excitation in terms of the orbital density overlap of the occupied and virtual orbitals involved. Another quantity needed in this approach is the magnitude of the correction in the asymptotic limit. Although this can, in principle, be calculated rigorously for a given CT transition, we assess a simple approximation to it that can automatically be applied to a number of low-energy CT excitations without additional computational effort. We show that the method is robust and correctly shifts long-range CT excitations, while other excitations remain unaffected. We discuss problems arising from a strong delocalization of orbitals, which leads to a breakdown of the correction criterion.

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PubMed2006

Comparison of frozen-density embedding and discrete reaction field solvent models for molecular properties.

We investigate the performance of two discrete solvent models in connection with density functional theory (DFT) for the calculation of molecular properties. In our comparison we include the discrete reaction field (DRF) model, a combined quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics (QM/MM) model using a polarizable force field, and the frozen-density embedding (FDE) scheme. We employ these solvent models for ground state properties (dipole and quadrupole moments) and response properties (electronic excitation energies and frequency-dependent polarizabilities) of a water molecule in the liquid phase. It is found that both solvent models agree for ground state properties, while there are significant differences in the description of response properties. The origin of these differences is analyzed in detail and it is found that they are mainly caused by a different description of the ground state molecular orbitals of the solute. In addition, for the calculation of the polarizabilities, the inclusion of the response of the solvent to the polarization of the solute becomes important. This effect is included in the DRF model, but is missing in the FDE scheme. A way of including it in FDE calculations of the polarizabilities using finite field calculations is demonstrated.

Complex Mixtures↗
PubMed2005

Modeling solvent effects on electron-spin-resonance hyperfine couplings by frozen-density embedding.

In this study, we investigate the performance of the frozen-density embedding scheme within density-functional theory [J. Phys. Chem. 97, 8050 (1993)] to model the solvent effects on the electron-spin-resonance hyperfine coupling constants (hfcc's) of the H2NO molecule. The hfcc's for this molecule depend critically on the out-of-plane bending angle of the NO bond from the molecular plane. Therefore, solvent effects can have an influence on both the electronic structure for a given configuration of solute and solvent molecules and on the probability for different solute (plus solvent) structures compared to the gas phase. For an accurate modeling of dynamic effects in solution, we employ the Car-Parrinello molecular-dynamics (CPMD) approach. A first-principles-based Monte Carlo scheme is used for the gas-phase simulation, in order to avoid problems in the thermal equilibration for this small molecule. Calculations of small H2NO-water clusters show that microsolvation effects of water molecules due to hydrogen bonding can be reproduced by frozen-density embedding calculations. Even simple sum-of-molecular-densities approaches for the frozen density lead to good results. This allows us to include also bulk solvent effects by performing frozen-density calculations with many explicit water molecules for snapshots from the CPMD simulation. The electronic effect of the solvent at a given structure is reproduced by the frozen-density embedding. Dynamic structural effects in solution are found to be similar to the gas phase. But the small differences in the average structures still induce significant changes in the computed shifts due to the strong dependence of the hyperfine coupling constants on the out-of-plane bending angle.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Theoretical study on the spin-state energy splittings and local spin in cationic [Re]-Cn-[Re] complexes.

Total spin-state energy splittings are calculated for mono- and dications of the formula {[Re]-Cn-[Re]}z+ where [Re] = eta5-(C5Me5)Re(NO)(PPh3). Cn is an even-numbered carbon chain with n ranging from 4 to 20, and z is 1 or 2. These complexes are experimentally known, and their potential role as molecular electronic devices initiated this work. We have considered the different total spin states monocation/doublet, monocation/quartet, dication/singlet, and dication/triplet. Data obtained for two density functionals BP86 and B3LYP were compared to verify the internal consistency of the results. In both ionization states, the low-spin state is the ground state, but the spin-state splittings decrease as the chain gets longer. For the dications, the splitting reaches a nearly constant value of about 10 kJ/mol with BP86 and about 4 kJ/mol with B3LYP when there are at least 14 carbon atoms in the chain, whereas for the monocations, no constant value appears to be reached asymptotically, not even if 20 carbon atoms are in the chain. For monocations, the splittings range from 138 kJ/mol (n = 4) to 68 kJ/mol (n = 20) with BP86 and from 134 kJ/mol (n = 4) to 73 kJ/mol (n = 20) with B3LYP and are thus considerably higher than those of the dications. The spin-state splittings are qualitatively mirrored by the energy splitting between the highest-occupied molecular orbital with beta spin (HOMObeta) and the lowest-unoccupied molecular orbital with alpha spin (LUMOalpha) as obtained in the low-spin state. Furthermore, the HOMOalpha-LUMOalpha gaps decrease as the carbon chain lengthens. In addition, the local distribution of the ŝz expectation value is analyzed for the monocation/doublet, the monocation/quartet, and the dication/triplet state using a modified Löwdin partitioning scheme. In the monocation/doublet and the dication/triplet state, the electron spin is distributed mainly on the metal centers and slightly delocalized onto the carbon chain. In the monocation/quartet state for chain lengths of more than 8 carbon atoms, the electron spin is mainly localized on selected atoms of the chain and not on the metal centers. In all cases, the spin delocalization onto the chain increases as the chain gets longer.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

An explicit quantum chemical method for modeling large solvation shells applied to aminocoumarin C151.

The absorption spectra of aminocoumarin C151 in water and n-hexane solution are investigated by an explicit quantum chemical solvent model. We improved the efficiency of the frozen-density embedding scheme, as used in a former study on solvatochromism (J. Chem. Phys. 2005, 122, 094115) to describe very large solvent shells. The computer time used in this new implementation scales approximately linearly (with a low prefactor) with the number of solvent molecules. We test the ability of the frozen-density embedding to describe specific solvent effects due to hydrogen bonding for a small example system, as well as the convergence of the excitation energy with the number of solvent molecules considered in the solvation shell. Calculations with up to 500 water molecules (1500 atoms) in the solvent system are carried out. The absorption spectra are studied for C151 in aqueous or n-hexane solution for direct comparison with experimental data. To obtain snapshots of the dye molecule in solution, for which subsequent excitation energies are calculated, we use a classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulation with a force field adapted to first-principles calculations. In the calculation of solvatochromic shifts between solvents of different polarity, the vertical excitation energy obtained at the equilibrium structure of the isolated chromophore is sometimes taken as a guess for the excitation energy in a nonpolar solvent. Our results show that this is, in general, not an appropriate assumption. This is mainly due to the fact that the solute dynamics is neglected. The experimental shift between n-hexane and water as solvents is qualitatively reproduced, even by the simplest embedding approximation, and the results can be improved by a partial polarization of the frozen density. It is shown that the shift is mainly due to the electronic effect of the water molecules, and the structural effects are similar in n-hexane and water. By including water molecules, which might be directly involved in the excitation, in the embedded region, an agreement with experimental values within 0.05 eV is achieved.

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PubMed2005

Importance of vibronic effects on the circular dichroism spectrum of dimethyloxirane.

We present a theoretical study on the vibrational structure of a circular dichroism (CD) spectrum using time-dependent density-functional theory in combination with a Franck-Condon-type approach. This method is applied to analyze the complex CD spectrum of dimethyloxirane, which involves delicate cancellations of positive and negative CD bands. Our approach reveals that these cancellations are strongly affected by the shapes of the CD bands, and that it is vital for an accurate simulation of the spectrum to take the different envelopes of these bands into account. One crucial point in some former theoretical studies on this compound, which were restricted to vertical excitations, was the appearance of a strong negative CD band in the energy range of 7.0-7.5 eV, which is not present in the experimental spectrum. We can explain the disappearance of this 2B band by a strong vibrational progression along normal modes with C-O stretching character, so that the band extends over an energy range of almost 1.1 eV. Thus, it overlaps with many other (mostly positive) CD bands, leading to a cancellation of its intensity. The dominant vibrational features in the experimental spectrum can be assigned to the 1B, 3B, and 5B bands, which show several clear vibrational peaks and a total bandwidth of only 0.3-0.5 eV. In order to obtain close agreement between the simulated and the experimental spectrum we have to apply small shifts to the vertical excitation energies that enter the calculation. These shifts account both for possible errors in the time-dependent density-functional theory calculations and for the neglect of differential zero-point energy between ground and excited states in our gradient-based vertical Franck-Condon approach.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Combined theoretical and experimental deep-UV resonance raman studies of substituted pyrenes.

The results of time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations of resonance Raman intensities are combined with experimental deep-ultraviolet resonance Raman measurements at a single wavelength, i.e., 244 nm, in order to test the possibility to distinguish several very similar compounds. Pyrene and three of its substituted derivatives, in which a single hydrogen atom has been replaced by a halogen atom, are compared. The fixed 244 nm excitation wavelength overlapped with the same electronic transition of the four pyrenes. Ground-state calculations using the BP86 exchange-correlation functional were used to predict the Raman frequencies, whereas excited-state calculations have been carried out employing the "statistical averaging of (model) orbital potentials" (SAOP) potential within a linear-response TDDFT framework in combination with the short-time approximation of resonance Raman intensities. In view of the simplistic theoretical approach, we find a surprisingly good agreement between the simulated and measured resonance Raman spectra of pyrene and its substituted analogues in terms of frequencies and intensities, which shows that the calculations can be used reliably to interpret the experimental spectra. With this combined information, it is possible to find criteria to distinguish the compounds under investigation, although many features of their vibrational spectra are similar.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

The merits of the frozen-density embedding scheme to model solvatochromic shifts.

We investigate the usefulness of a frozen-density embedding scheme within density-functional theory [J. Phys. Chem. 97, 8050 (1993)] for the calculation of solvatochromic shifts. The frozen-density calculations, particularly of excitation energies have two clear advantages over the standard supermolecule calculations: (i) calculations for much larger systems are feasible, since the time-consuming time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) part is carried out in a limited molecular orbital space, while the effect of the surroundings is still included at a quantum mechanical level. This allows a large number of solvent molecules to be included and thus affords both specific and nonspecific solvent effects to be modeled. (ii) Only excitations of the system of interest, i.e., the selected embedded system, are calculated. This allows an easy analysis and interpretation of the results. In TDDFT calculations, it avoids unphysical results introduced by spurious mixings with the artificially too low charge-transfer excitations which are an artifact of the adiabatic local-density approximation or generalized gradient approximation exchange-correlation kernels currently used. The performance of the frozen-density embedding method is tested for the well-studied solvatochromic properties of the n-->pi(*) excitation of acetone. Further enhancement of the efficiency is studied by constructing approximate solvent densities, e.g., from a superposition of densities of individual solvent molecules. This is demonstrated for systems with up to 802 atoms. To obtain a realistic modeling of the absorption spectra of solvated molecules, including the effect of the solvent motions, we combine the embedding scheme with classical molecular dynamics (MD) and Car-Parrinello MD simulations to obtain snapshots of the solute and its solvent environment, for which then excitation energies are calculated. The frozen-density embedding yields estimated solvent shifts in the range of 0.20-0.26 eV, in good agreement with experimental values of between 0.19 and 0.21 eV.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

The "invisible" 13C NMR chemical shift of the central carbon atom in [(Ph3PAu)6C]2+: a theoretical investigation.

The experimental 13C NMR chemical shift of the central carbon atom in the octahedral [(Ph3PAu)6C]2+ cluster was investigated on the basis of relativistic density functional calculations. In order to arrive at independent model conclusions regarding the value of the chemical shift, a systematic study of the dependence of the cluster structure on the phosphine ligands, the chosen density functionals, and the basis set size was conducted. The best structures obtained were then used in the NMR calculations. Because of the cage-like cluster structure a pronounced deshielding of the central carbon nucleus could have been expected. However, upon comparison with the 13C NMR properties of the related complex [C{Au[P(C6H5)2(p-C6H4NMe2)]}6]2+, Schmidbaur et al. have assigned a signal at delta=135.2 ppm to the interstitial carbon atom. Our calculations confirm this value in the region of the aromatic carbon atoms of the triphenylphosphine ligands. The close-lying signals of the 108 phenyl carbon atoms can explain the difficulties of assigning them experimentally.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Vibronic structure of the permanganate absorption spectrum from time-dependent density functional calculations.

The UV absorption spectrum of the permanganate anion is a prototype transition-metal complex spectrum. Despite this being a simple d0 Td system, for which a beautiful spectrum with detailed vibrational structure has been available since 1967, the assignment of the second and third bands is still very controversial. The issue can be resolved only by an elucidation of the intricate vibronic structure of the spectrum. We investigate the vibronic coupling by means of linear-response time-dependent density functional calculations. By means of a diabatizing scheme that employs the transition densities obtained in the TDDFT calculations in many geometries around Re, we construct a Taylor series expansion in the normal coordinates of a diabatic potential energy matrix, coupling 24 excited states. The simulated vibronic structure is in good agreement with the experimental absorption spectrum after the adjustment of some of the calculated vertical excitation energies. The peculiar blurred vibronic structure of the second band, which is a very distinctive feature of the experimental spectrum, is fully reproduced in the calculations. It is caused by the double-well shape of the adiabatic energy surface along the Jahn-Teller active e mode of the allowed 1E state arising from the second 1T2 state, which exhibits a Jahn-Teller splitting into 1B2 and 1E states. We trace the double-well shape to an avoided crossing between two diabatic states with different orbital-excitation character. The crossing can be explained at the molecular orbital level from the Jahn-Teller splitting of the set of 7t2{3d(xy), 3d(xz), 3d(yz)} orbitals (the LUMO + 1), to which the excitations characterizing the diabatic states take place. In contrast to its character in the two well regions, at Re the 2(1)T2 state is not predominantly an excitation to the LUMO + 1, but has more HOMO - 1 --> LUMO (2e = {3d(x2-y2), 3d(z2)}) character. The changing character of the 2(1)T2 - 1E state along the e mode implies that the assignment of the experimental bands to single orbital transitions is too simplistic intrinsically. This spectrum, and notably the blurring of the vibronic structure in the second band, can be understood only from the extensive configurational mixing and vibronic coupling between the excited states. This solves the long-standing assignment problem of these bands.

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PubMed2004

Vibronic coupling and double excitations in linear response time-dependent density functional calculations: dipole-allowed states of N2.

The present study serves two purposes. First, we evaluate the ability of present time-dependent density functional response theory (TDDFRT) methods to deal with avoided crossings, i.e., vibronic coupling effects. In the second place, taking the vibronic coupling effects into account enables us, by comparison to the configuration analysis in a recent ab initio study [J. Chem. Phys. 115, 6438 (2001)], to identify the neglect of double excitations as the prime cause of limited accuracy of these linear response based TDDFRT calculations for specific states. The "statistical averaging of (model) orbital potentials (SAOP)" Kohn-Sham potential is used together with the standard adiabatic local-density approximation (ALDA) for the exchange-correlation kernel. We use the N2 molecule as prototype, since the TDDFRT/SAOP calculations have already been shown to be accurate for the vertical excitations, while this molecule has a well-studied, intricate vibronic structure as well as significant double excitation nature in the lowest 1Pi(u) state at elongated bond lengths. A simple diabatizing scheme is employed to obtain a diabatic potential energy matrix, from which we obtain the absorption spectrum of N2 including vibronic coupling effects. Considering the six lowest dipole allowed transitions of 1Sigma(u)+ and 1Pi(u) symmetry, we observe a good general agreement and conclude that avoided crossings and vibronic coupling can indeed be treated satisfactorily on the basis of TDDFRT excitation energies. However, there is one state for which the accuracy of TDDFRT/ALDA clearly breaks down. This is the state for which the ab initio calculations find significant double excitation character. To deal with double excitation character is an important challenge for time-dependent density functional theory.

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PubMed2004

Resonance Raman spectra of uracil based on Kramers-Kronig relations using time-dependent density functional calculations and multireference perturbation theory.

The use of time-dependent density functional calculations for the optimization of excited-state structures and the subsequent calculation of resonance Raman intensities within the transform-theory framework is compared to calculations of Hartree-Fock/configuration interaction singles-type (CIS). The transform theory of resonance Raman scattering is based on Kramers-Kronig relations between polarizability tensor components and the optical absorption. Stationary points for the two lowest excited singlet states of uracil are optimized and characterized by means of numerical differentiation of analytical excited-state gradients. It is shown that the effect of electron correlation leads to substantial modifications of the relative intensities. Calculations of vibrational frequencies for ground and excited states are carried out, which show that the neglect of Duschinsky mixing and the assumption of equal wave numbers for ground and excited state are not in all cases good approximations. We also compare the transform-theory resonance Raman intensities with those obtained within a simple approximation from excited-state gradients at the ground-state equilibrium position, and find that they are in qualitative agreement in the case of CIS, but show some important differences in calculations based on density functional theory. Since the results from CIS calculations are in better agreement with experiment, we also present approximate resonance Raman spectra obtained using excited-state gradients from multireference perturbation theory calculations, which confirm the CIS gradients.

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PubMed2004

Vibrational center-ligand couplings in transition metal complexes.

The mode-tracking principle [J. Chem. Phys. 2003, 118, 1634] for the direct quantum chemical calculation of preselected, characteristic molecular vibrations makes vibrational analyses of very large molecules feasible. This is demonstrated here for the [(Ph(3)PAu)(6)C](2+) complex, in which 18 phenyl groups in the ligand sphere are explicitly taken into account. We are aiming at the motion of the endohedral carbon atom, which is in an extraordinary bonding situation because it is surrounded by an octahedral core of gold atoms in this cluster. Secondary effects of the full ligand sphere on the vibrations of the [Au(6)C] core embedded in [(R(3)PAu)(6)C](2+) clusters are investigated. For this purpose, local vibrations of the octahedral core are generated, and their long-range couplings with the phosphine ligand sphere become visible in the mode-tracking iterations. The exact normal modes of these characteristic vibrations of the cluster are then obtained after convergence of the mode-tracking refinement. This protocol allows us to assess the coupling of the outer ligand sphere with the inner core of the cluster in terms of changes of the vibrational frequencies and of the collective motions of the atomic nuclei. The vibrational frequencies of the octahedral [Au(6)C] core split due to symmetry breaking in the C(1)-symmetric [(Ph(3)PAu)(6)C](2+) cluster. Our study demonstrates how effects of the periphery of a large molecule on local vibrations can be quantified. Furthermore, we predict the first set of characteristic vibrational frequencies obtained with first-principles methods for this gold cluster, whose vibrational spectra have not yet been recorded experimentally.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

Quantum chemical calculation of vibrational spectra of large molecules--Raman and IR spectra for Buckminsterfullerene.

In this work we demonstrate how different modern quantum chemical methods can be efficiently combined and applied for the calculation of the vibrational modes and spectra of large molecules. We are aiming at harmonic force fields, and infrared as well as Raman intensities within the double harmonic approximation, because consideration of higher order terms is only feasible for small molecules. In particular, density functional methods have evolved to a powerful quantum chemical tool for the determination of the electronic structure of molecules in the last decade. Underlying theoretical concepts for the calculation of intensities are reviewed, emphasizing necessary approximations and formal aspects of the introduced quantities, which are often not explicated in detail in elementary treatments of this topic. It is shown how complex quantum chemistry program packages can be interfaced to new programs in order to calculate IR and Raman spectra. The advantages of numerical differentiation of analytical gradients, dipole moments, and static, as well as dynamic polarizabilities, are pointed out. We carefully investigate the influence of the basis set size on polarizabilities and their spatial derivatives. This leads us to the construction of a hybrid basis set, which is equally well suited for the calculation of vibrational frequencies and Raman intensities. The efficiency is demonstrated for the highly symmetric C(60), for which we present the first all-electron density functional calculation of its Raman spectrum.

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