Specialized computational chemistry packages have permanently reshaped the landscape of chemical and materials science by providing tools to support and guide experimental efforts and for the prediction of atomistic and electronic properties. In this regard, electronic structure packages have played a special role by using first-principle-driven methodologies to model complex chemical and materials processes. Over the past few decades, the rapid development of computing technologies and the tremendous increase in computational power have offered a unique chance to study complex transformations using sophisticated and predictive many-body techniques that describe correlated behavior of electrons in molecular and condensed phase systems at different levels of theory. In enabling these simulations, novel parallel algorithms have been able to take advantage of computational resources to address the polynomial scaling of electronic structure methods. In this paper, we briefly review the NWChem computational chemistry suite, including its history, design principles, parallel tools, current capabilities, outreach, and outlook.

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. RightsWorks produced by employees of the U.S. Government as part of their official duties are not copyrighted within the U.S. The content of this document is not copyrighted. ReceiVed: December 31, 2008; ReVised Manuscript ReceiVed: February 7, 2009 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 R helix, water, and ionic liquids. Authors

While graphene has attracted significant attention from the research community due to its high charge carrier mobility, important issues remain unresolved that prevent its widespread use in technologically significant applications such as digital electronics. For example, the chemical inertness of graphene hinders integration with other materials, and the lack of a bandgap implies poor switching characteristics in transistors. The formation of ordered organic monolayers on graphene has the potential to address each of these challenges. In particular, functional groups incorporated into the constituent molecules enable tailored chemical reactivity, while molecular-scale ordering within the monolayer provides sub-2 nm templates with the potential to tune the electronic band structure of graphene via quantum confinement effects. Toward these ends, we report here the formation of well-defined one-dimensional organic nanostructures on epitaxial graphene via the self-assembly of 10,12-pentacosadiynoic acid (PCDA) in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV). Molecular resolution UHV scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images confirm the one-dimensional ordering of the as-deposited PCDA monolayer and show domain boundaries with symmetry consistent with the underlying graphene lattice. In an effort to further stabilize the monolayer, in situ ultraviolet photopolymerization induces covalent bonding between neighboring PCDA molecules in a manner that maintains one-dimensional ordering as verified by UHV STM and ambient atomic force microscopy (AFM). Further quantitative insights into these experimental observations are provided by semiempirical quantum chemistry calculations that compare the molecular structure before and after photopolymerization.

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 >2.7 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. April 20, 2009; ReVised Manuscript ReceiVed: July 9, 2009 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 secondorder perturbation theory. It is demonstrated that for nonbonded interactions that are not high on the repulsive wall (generally >2.7 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 R-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) R-helices.

An ab initio study of the addition of successive water molecules to the amino acid l-alanine in both the nonionized (N) and zwitterionic (Z) forms are presented. The main focus is the number of waters needed to stabilize the Z form and how the solvent affects conformational preference. The solvent is modeled by ab initio electronic structure theory, the EFP (effective fragment potential) model, and the isotropic dielectric PCM (polarizable continuum method) bulk solvation techniques. The EFP discrete solvation model is used with a Monte Carlo algorithm to sample the configuration space to find the global minimum. Bridging structures are predicted to be the lowest energy Z minima after 3−5 discrete waters are included in the calculations, depending on the level of theory. Second-order perturbation theory and PCM stabilize the Z structures by ∼3−6 and 7 kcal/mol, respectively, relative to the N global minimum through the addition of up to 8 waters.Subsequently, the contributions of each are ∼1 kcal/mol relative to the N global minimum. The presence of 32 waters appears to be close to converging the N−Z enthalpy difference, ΔHN−Z. Disciplines Chemistry CommentsReprinted (adapted) February 17, 2009; ReVised Manuscript ReceiVed: April 12, 2009 An ab initio study of the addition of successive water molecules to the amino acid L-alanine in both the nonionized (N) and zwitterionic (Z) forms are presented. The main focus is the number of waters needed to stabilize the Z form and how the solvent affects conformational preference. The solvent is modeled by ab initio electronic structure theory, the EFP (effective fragment potential) model, and the isotropic dielectric PCM (polarizable continuum method) bulk solvation techniques. The EFP discrete solvation model is used with a Monte Carlo algorithm to sample the configuration space to find the global minimum. Bridging structures are predicted to be the lowest energy Z minima after 3-5 discrete waters are included in the calculations, depending on the level of theory. Second-order perturbation theory and PCM stabilize the Z structures by ∼3-6 and 7 kcal/mol, respectively, relative to the N global minimum through the addition of up to 8 waters. Subsequently, the contributions of each are ∼1 kcal/mol relative to the N global minimum. The presence of 32 waters appears to be close to converging the N-Z enthalpy difference, ∆H N-Z .

The solvation of alanine is investigated, with a focus on adding a sufficient number of discrete water molecules to determine the first solvation shell for both the nonionized (N) and zwitterionic (Z) forms to converge the enthalpy of solvation and the enthalpy difference for the two forms of alanine. Monte Carlo sampling was employed using the generalized effective fragment potential (EFP) method to determine the global minimum of both conformers, with the number of EFP water molecules ranging from 32−49. A subset of sampled geometries were optimized with second-order perturbation theory (MP2) using the 6-31++G(d,p) basis set. Single point energies were calculated at these geometries using the polarizable continuum model (PCM). The predicted 298.15 K enthalpy of solvation ranges for MP2/6-31++G(d,p) and MP2+PCM//MP2/ 6-31++G(d,p) are 10.0−13.2 kcal/mol and 10.1−12.6 kcal/mol, respectively. Disciplines Chemistry CommentsReprinted (adapted) ReceiVed: May 23, 2009; ReVised Manuscript ReceiVed: August 26, 2009 The solvation of alanine is investigated, with a focus on adding a sufficient number of discrete water molecules to determine the first solvation shell for both the nonionized (N) and zwitterionic (Z) forms to converge the enthalpy of solvation and the enthalpy difference for the two forms of alanine. Monte Carlo sampling was employed using the generalized effective fragment potential (EFP) method to determine the global minimum of both conformers, with the number of EFP water molecules ranging from 32-49. A subset of sampled geometries were optimized with second-order perturbation theory (MP2) using the 6-31++G(d,p) basis set. Single point energies were calculated at these geometries using the polarizable continuum model (PCM). The predicted 298.15 K enthalpy of solvation ranges for MP2/6-31++G(d,p) and MP2+PCM//MP2/6-31++G(d,p) are 10.0-13.2 kcal/mol and 10.1-12.6 kcal/mol, respectively.

Multiscale models that combine quantum mechanics and classical electrodynamics are presented, which allow for the evaluation of surface-enhanced Raman (SERS) and hyper-Raman scattering spectra (SEHRS) for both chemical (CHEM) and electrodynamic (EM) enhancement mechanisms. In these models, time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) for a system consisting of the adsorbed molecule and a metal cluster fragment of the metal particle is coupled to Mie theory for the metal particle, with the surface of the cluster being overlaid with the surface of the metal particle. In model A, the electromagnetic enhancement from plasmon-excitation of the metal particle is combined with the chemical enhancement associated with a static treatment of the molecule-metal structure to determine overall spectra. In model B, the frequency dependence of the Raman spectrum of the isolated molecule is combined with the enhancements determined in model A to refine the enhancement estimate. An equivalent theory at the level of model A is developed for hyper-Raman spectra calculations. Application to pyridine interacting with a 20 nm diameter silver sphere is presented, including comparisons with an earlier model (denoted G), which combines plasmon enhanced fields with gas-phase Raman (or hyper-Raman) spectra. The EM enhancement factor for spherical particles at 357 nm is found to be 10(4) and 10(6) for SERS and SEHRS, respectively. Including both chemical and electromagnetic mechanisms at the level of model A leads to enhancements on the order of 10(4) and 10(9) for SERS and SEHRS.

A multiscale method is presented that allows for evaluation of plasmon-enhanced optical properties of nanoparticle/molecule complexes with no additional cost compared to standard electrodynamics (ED) and linear response quantum mechanics (QM) calculations for the particle and molecule, respectively, but with polarization and orientation effects automatically described. The approach first calculates the total field of the nanoparticle by ED using the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. The field intensity in the frequency domain as a function of distance from the nanoparticle is calculated via a Fourier transform. The molecular optical properties are then calculated with QM in the frequency domain in the presence of the total field of the nanoparticle. Back-coupling due to dipolar reradiation effects is included in the single-molecule plane wave approximation. The effects of polarization and partial orientation averaging are considered. The QM/ED method is evaluated for the well-characterized test case of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of pyridine bound to silver, as well as for the resonant Raman chromophore rhodamine 6G. The electromagnetic contribution to the enhancement factor is 10(4) for pyridine and 10(2) for rhodamine 6G.