The Gaussian-2, Gaussian-3, complete basis set- (CBS-) QB3, and CBS-APNO methods have been used to calculate Delta H degrees and Delta G degrees values for neutral clusters of water, (H(2)O)(n), where n = 2-6. The structures are similar to those determined from experiment and from previous high-level calculations. The thermodynamic calculations by the G2, G3, and CBS-APNO methods compare well against the estimated MP2(CBS) limit. The cyclic pentamer and hexamer structures release the most heat per hydrogen bond formed of any of the clusters. While the cage and prism forms of the hexamer are the lowest energy structures at very low temperatures, as temperature is increased the cyclic structure is favored. The free energies of cluster formation at different temperatures reveal interesting insights, the most striking being that the cyclic trimer, cyclic tetramer, and cyclic pentamer, like the dimer, should be detectable in the lower troposphere. We predict water dimer concentrations of 9 x 10(14) molecules/cm(3), water trimer concentrations of 2.6 x 10(12) molecules/cm(3), tetramer concentrations of approximately 5.8 x 10(11) molecules/cm(3), and pentamer concentrations of approximately 3.5 x 10(10) molecules/cm(3) in saturated air at 298 K. These results have important implications for understanding the gas-phase chemistry of the lower troposphere.

It has been speculated that the presence of OH(H2O)n clusters in the troposphere could have significant effects on the solar absorption balance and the reactivity of the hydroxyl radical. We have used the G3 and G3B3 model chemistries to model the structures and predict the frequencies of hydroxyl radical/water clusters containing one to five water molecules. The reaction between hydroxyl radical clusters and methane was examined as a function of water cluster size to gain an understanding of how cluster size affects the hydroxyl radical reactivity.

Accurate anharmonic experimental vibrational frequencies for water clusters consisting of 2-5 water molecules have been predicted based on comparing different methods with MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ calculated and experimental anharmonic frequencies. The combination of using HF/6-31G* scaled frequencies for intramolecular modes and anharmonic frequencies for intermolecular modes gives excellent agreement with experiment for the water dimer and trimer, and are as good as the expensive anharmonic MP2 calculations. The water trimer, the cyclic C i and S 4 tetramers, and the cyclic pentamer all have unique peaks in the infrared spectrum between 500 and 800 cm -1 and between 3400 and 3700 cm -1 . Under the right experimental conditions these different clusters can be uniquely identified using high resolution IR spectroscopy.

ABSTRACT:The Gaussian-2, Gaussian-3, Complete Basis Set-QB3, and Complete Basis Set-APNO methods have been used to calculate geometries of neutral clusters of water, (H 2 O) n , where n ϭ 2-6. The structures are in excellent agreement with those determined from experiment and those predicted from previous high-level calculations. These methods also provide excellent thermochemical predictions for water clusters, and thus can be used with confidence in evaluating the structures and thermochemistry of water clusters.

The G2, G3, CBS-QB3, and CBS-APNO model chemistry methods and the B3LYP, B3P86, mPW1PW, and PBE1PBE density functional theory (DFT) methods have been used to calculate deltaH(o) and deltaG(o) values for ionic clusters of the ammonium ion complexed with water and ammonia. Results for the clusters NH4(+) (NH3)n and NH4(+) (H2O)n, where n = 1-4, are reported in this paper and compared against experimental values. Agreement with the experimental values for deltaH(o) and deltaG(o) for formation of NH4(+) (NH3)n clusters is excellent. Comparison between experiment and theory for formation of the NH4(+) (H2O)n clusters is quite good considering the uncertainty in the experimental values. The four DFT methods yield excellent agreement with experiment and the model chemistry methods when the aug-cc-pVTZ basis set is used for energetic calculations and the 6-31G* basis set is used for geometries and frequencies. On the basis of these results, we predict that all ions in the lower troposphere will be saturated with at least one complete first hydration shell of water molecules.