Extensive ab initio calculations have been performed using the 6-31G(d,p) and 6-311++G(2d,2p) basis sets for several possible structures of water clusters (H 2 O) n , n ) 8-20. It is found that the most stable geometries arise from a fusion of tetrameric or pentameric rings. As a result, (H 2 O) n , n ) 8, 12, 16, and 20, are found to be cuboids, while (H 2 O) 10 and (H 2 O) 15 are fused pentameric structures. For the other water clusters (n ) 9, 11, 13, 14, and 17-19) under investigation, the most stable geometries can be thought of as arising from either the cuboid or the fused pentamers or a combination thereof. The stability of some of the clusters, namely, n ) 8-16, has also been studied using density functional theory. An attempt has been made to estimate the basis set superposition error and zero-point energy correction for such clusters at the HartreeFock (HF) level using the 6-311++G(2d,2p) basis set. To ensure that a minimum on the potential-energy surface has been located, frequency calculations have been carried out at the HF level using the 6-31G(d,p) and 6-311++G(2d,2p) basis sets for some of the clusters. Molecular electrostatic potential topography mapping has been employed for understanding the reactivity as well as the binding patterns of some of the structurally interesting clusters.

It is shown that the electron density at the hydrogen bond critical point increases approximately linearly with increasing stabilization energy in going from weak hydrogen bonds to moderate and strong hydrogen bonds, thus serving as an indicator of the nature and gradual change of strength of the hydrogen bond for a large number of test intermolecular complexes.

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The effect of spatial confinement on the properties of isoelectronic molecules HF, H2O, NH3, and CH4 has been studied by encapsulating them in a C60 fullerene cage. Second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theoretical (MP2) calculations suggest that all the guest species are stable inside the fullerene cage. This stabilization arises from the dispersion interaction between the guest and the host. It is shown that the excitation energy (Esigma*-Esigma) for the X-H bond increases and that there is a blue shift in the stretching frequencies due to confinement.

pi-pi Interaction in pyridine dimer and trimer has been investigated in different geometries and orientations at the ab initio (HF, MP2) and DFT (B3LYP) levels of theory using various basis sets (6-31G, 6-31G, 6-311++G) and corrected for basis set superposition error (BSSE). While the HF and DFT calculations show the pyridine dimer and the trimer to be unstable with respect to the monomer, the MP2 calculations show them to be clearly stable, thus emphasizing the need to include electron correlation while determining stacking interaction in such systems. The calculated MP2/6-311++G binding energy (100% BSSE corrected) of the parallel-sandwich, antiparallel-sandwich, parallel-displaced, antiparallel-displaced, T-up and T-down geometries for pyridine dimer are 1.53, 3.05, 2.39, 3.97, 1.91, 1.47 kcal/mol, respectively. The results show the antiparallel-displaced geometry to be the most stable. The binding energies for the trimer in parallel-sandwich, antiparallel-sandwich, and antiparallel-displaced geometry are found to be 3.18, 6.14, and 8.04 kcal/mol, respectively.

Structure, stability, and hydrogen-bonding interaction in phenol, water, and phenol-water clusters have been investigated using ab initio and density functional theoretical (DFT) methods and using various topological features of electron density. Calculated interaction energies at MP2/6-31G level for clusters with similar hydrogen-bonding pattern reveal that intermolecular interaction in phenol clusters is slightly stronger than in water clusters. However, fusion of phenol and water clusters leads to stability that is akin to that of H(2)O clusters. The presence of hydrogen bond critical points (HBCP) and the values of rho(r(c)) and nabla(2)rho(r(c)) at the HBCPs provide an insight into the nature of closed shell interaction in hydrogen-bonded clusters. It is shown that the calculated values of total rho(r(c)) and nabla(2)rho(r(c)) of all the clusters vary linearly with the interaction energy.

A global analytical potential energy surface for the ground state of H(3)(-) has been constructed by fitting an analytic function to the ab initio potential energy values computed using coupled cluster singles and doubles with perturbative triples [CCSD(T)] method and Dunning's augmented correlation consistent polarized valence triple zeta basis set. Using this potential energy surface, time-dependent quantum mechanical wave packet calculations were carried out to calculate the reaction probabilities (P(R)) for the exchange reaction H(-)+H(2)(v, j)-->H(2)+H(-), for different initial vibrational (v) and rotational (j) states of H(2), for total angular momentum equal to zero. With increase in v, the number of oscillations in the P(R)(E) plot increases and the oscillations become more pronounced. While P(R) increases with increase in rotational excitation from j=0 to 1, it decreases with further increase in j to 2 over a wide range of energies. In addition, rotational excitation quenches the oscillations in P(R)(E) plots.

Energetics of the ground and excited state intramolecular proton transfer in salicylic acid have been studied by ab initio molecular orbital calculations using the 6-31G** basis set at the restricted Hartree−Fock (RHF) and configuration interaction−single excitation (CIS) levels and also using the semiempirical method AM1 at the RHF level as well as with single and pair doubles excitation configuration interaction spanning eight frontier orbitals (PECI = 8). The ab initio potential energy profile for intramolecular proton transfer in the ground state reveals a single minimum corresponding to the primary form. In the first excited singlet state, however, there are two minima corresponding to the primary and tautomeric forms, separated by a barrier of ∼6 kcal/mol, thus accounting for dual emission in salicylic acid. Electron density changes with electronic excitation and tautomerism indicate no zwitterion formation. Changes in spectral characteristics with change in pH, due to protonation and deprotonation of salicylic acid, are also accounted for, qualitatively. Although the AM1 calculations suggest a substantial barrier for proton transfer in the ground as well as the first excited state of SA, it predicts the transition wavelength in near quantitative accord with the experimental results for salicylic acid and its protonated and deprotonated forms.