Using the example of astatine, the heaviest naturally
occurring
halogen whose isotope At-211 has promising medical applications, we
propose a new infrastructure for large-scale computational models
of heavy elements with strong relativistic effects. In particular,
we focus on developing an accurate force field for At– in water based on reliable relativistic density functional theory
(DFT) calculations. To ensure the reliability of such calculations,
we design novel basis sets for relativistic DFT, via the particle
swarm optimization algorithm to optimize the coefficients of the new
basis sets and the polarization-consistent basis set idea’s
extension to heavy elements to eliminate the basis set error from
DFT calculations. The resulting basis sets enable the well-grounded
evaluation of relativistic DFT against “gold-standard”
CCSD(T) results. Accounting for strong relativistic effects, including
spin–orbit interaction, via our redesigned infrastructure,
we elucidate a noticeable dissimilarity between At– and I– in halide–water force field parameters,
radial distribution functions, diffusion coefficients, and hydration
energies. This work establishes the framework for the systematic development
of polarization-consistent basis sets for relativistic DFT and accurate
force fields for molecular dynamics simulations to be used in large-scale
models of complex molecular systems with elements from the bottom
of the periodic table, including actinides and even superheavy elements.