Contracted Gaussian basis sets for molecular calculations are derived from uncontracted (12,8) and (12,9) sets for the neutral second row atoms, Z=11–18, and for the negative ions P−, S−, and Cl−. Calculations on Na...2p63p, 2P and Mg...2p63s3p, 3P are used to derive contracted Gaussian functions to describe the 3p orbital in these atoms, necessary in molecular applications. The derived basis sets range from minimal, through double-zeta, to the largest set which has a triple-zeta basis for the 3p orbital, double-zeta for the remaining. Where necessary to avoid unacceptable energy losses in atomic wave functions expanded in the contracted Gaussians, a given uncontracted Gaussian function is used in two contracted functions. These tabulations provide a hierarchy of basis sets to be used in designing a convergent sequence of molecular computations, and to establish the reliability of the molecular properties under study.

How does basis set superposition error change the potential surfaces for hydrogen-bonded dimers?

Recent spectroscopic advances have led to the first determinations of infrared vibration-rotation bands of polyatomic molecular ions. These initial detections were guided by ab initio predictions of the vibrational frequencies. The calculations reported here predict the vibrational frequencies of additional ions which are candidates for laboratory analysis. Vibrational frequencies of neutral molecules computed at three levels of theory, HF/3-21G, HF/6-31G*, and MP2/6-31G*, were compared with experiment and the effect of scaling was investigated to determine how accurately vibrational frequencies could be predicted. For 92% of the frequencies examined, uniformly scaled HF/6-31G* vibrational frequencies were within 100 cm-1 of experiment with a mean absolute error of 49 cm-1. This relatively simple theory thus seems suitable for predicting vibrational frequencies to guide laboratory spectroscopic searches for ions in the infrared. Hence, the frequencies of 30 molecular ions, many with astrochemical significance,were computed. They are CH2+, CH3+, CH5+, NH2+, NH4+, H3O+, H2F+, SiH2+, PH4+, H3S+, H2Cl+, C2H+, classical C2H3+, nonclassical C2H3+, nonclassical C2H5+, HCNH+, H2CNH2+, H3CNH3+, HCO+, HOC+, H2CO+, H2COH+, H3COH2+, H3CFH+, HN2+, HO2+, C3H+, HOCO+, HCS+, and HSiO+.

Theoretical rate constants among the lowest 45 para and 45 ortho rotational levels of water in collisions with He atoms have been calculated for temperatures between 20 and 2000 K using a recently improved theoretical interaction potential. These values are about 30%-40% larger than those reported previously (Palma et al. 1988b) but relative sizes of different state-to-state rates have not changed significantly. Successive improvements to the theoretical description of this system now appear to have converged.

Buckingham's theory of the interaction between a polarizable charge distribution and an external electric field is presented and extended in a unified way. Transformations of components of the molecular polarizability tensors under change of the coordinate origin are derived. Relationships between tensor components in systems of axial and spherical symmetry are given.