Formation and local structure of framework Al Lewis sites in beta zeolites.

Framework AlFR Lewis sites represent a substantial portion of active sites in H-BEA zeolite catalysts activated at low temperatures. We studied their nature by 27Al WURST-QCPMG nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and proposed a plausible mechanism of their formation based on periodic density functional theory calculations constrained by 1H MAS, 27Al WURST-QCPMG, and 29Si MAS NMR experiments and FTIR measurements. Our results show that the electron-pair acceptor of AlFR Lewis sites corresponds to an AlTRI atom tricoordinated to the zeolite framework, which adsorbs a water molecule. This AlTRI-OH2 complex is reflected in 27Al NMR resonance with δiso = 70 ± 5 ppm and CQ = 13 ± 2 MHz. In addition, the AlTRI atom with adsorbed acetonitrile-d3 (the probe of AlFR Lewis sites in FTIR spectroscopy) exhibits a similar 27Al NMR resonance. We suggest that these AlFR Lewis sites are formed from Al-OH-Si-O-Si-O-Si-OH-Al sequences located in 12-rings (i.e., close unpaired Al atoms).

Structure of framework aluminum Lewis sites and perturbed aluminum atoms in zeolites as determined by 27Al{1H} REDOR (3Q) MAS NMR spectroscopy and DFT/molecular mechanics.

Zeolites are highly important heterogeneous catalysts. Besides Brønsted SiOHAl acid sites, also framework AlFR Lewis acid sites are often found in their H-forms. The formation of AlFR Lewis sites in zeolites is a key issue regarding their selectivity in acid-catalyzed reactions. The local structures of AlFR Lewis sites in dehydrated zeolites and their precursors--"perturbed" AlFR atoms in hydrated zeolites--were studied by high-resolution MAS NMR and FTIR spectroscopy and DFT/MM calculations. Perturbed framework Al atoms correspond to (SiO)3AlOH groups and are characterized by a broad (27)Al NMR resonance (δi = 59-62 ppm, CQ = 5 MHz, and η = 0.3-0.4) with a shoulder at 40 ppm in the (27)Al MAS NMR spectrum. Dehydroxylation of (SiO)3AlOH occurs at mild temperatures and leads to the formation of AlFR Lewis sites tricoordinated to the zeolite framework. Al atoms of these (SiO)3Al Lewis sites exhibit an extremely broad (27)Al NMR resonance (δi ≈ 67 ppm, CQ ≈ 20 MHz, and η ≈ 0.1).

Bound states of the OH(2Pi)-HCl complex on ab initio diabatic potentials.

The bound states of the open-shell OH((2)Pi)-HCl complex were calculated in four dimensions with a diabatic model using electronic states that correlate asymptotically with the ground and excited spin-orbit states of the OH((2)Pi) fragment and the ground state of the HCl fragment. The ab initio diabatic potentials and their analytic expansion applied in these calculations were obtained earlier by Wormer et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 122, 244325 (2005)]. In addition to the four-dimensional calculations, we considered a (3+1)-dimensional model in which the intermolecular distance coordinate R is adiabatically separated from the remaining coordinates. Both models include the important spin-orbit coupling in the OH fragment. Energy levels and parity splittings were computed for a total angular momentum of J=1/2 and 3/2; rotational constants and other spectroscopic parameters were extracted from these calculations. The vibrationally averaged geometry in the ground state of the complex is planar and this state is more or less localized near the minimum in the lowest adiabatic potential with binding energy D(e)=1123 cm(-1); the dissociation energy D(0) with respect to OH((2)Pi(3/2)) and HCl is found to be 685 cm(-1). The splitting between the (2)Pi(3/2) and (2)Pi(1/2) spin-orbit states of free OH is largely reduced by the anisotropic interaction with HCl through the off-diagonal diabatic coupling potential and these states are strongly mixed. Low lying rovibronic states that correlate with the OH((2)Pi(3/2)) ground state were found at 14 cm(-1) for total angular momentum projection quantum number |Omega|=3/2 and 26 cm(-1) for |Omega|=1/2, relative to the ground state with |Omega|=1/2. The OH-HCl stretch fundamental frequency equals to 93.6 cm(-1), the lowest bend excited states (involving a coupled bend motion of both fragments) were found in the region of 150-160 cm(-1) above the ground state. Especially in the excited states important nonadiabatic effects are observed that involve both of the asymptotically degenerate adiabatic electronic states. In some of these excited states the vibrationally averaged geometry is nonplanar.

Ab initio treatment of the chemical reaction precursor complex Br(2P)-HCN. 1. Adiabatic and diabatic potential surfaces.

The three adiabatic potential surfaces of the Br(2P)-HCN complex that correlate to the 2P ground state of the Br atom were calculated ab initio. With the aid of a geometry-dependent diabatic mixing angle, also calculated ab initio, these adiabatic potential surfaces were transformed into a set of four diabatic potential surfaces required to define the full 3 x 3 matrix of diabatic potentials. Each of these diabatic potential surfaces was expanded in terms of the appropriate spherical harmonics in the atom-linear molecule Jacobi angle theta. The dependence of the expansion coefficients on the distance R between Br and the HCN center of mass and on the CH bond length was fit to an analytic form. For HCN in its equilibrium geometry, the global minimum with De = 800.4 cm(-1) and Re = 6.908a0 corresponds to a linear Br-NCH geometry, with an electronic ground state of Sigma symmetry. A local minimum with De = 415.1 cm-1, Re = 8.730a0, and a twofold degenerate Pi ground state is found for the linear Br-HCN geometry. The binding energy, De, depends strongly on the CH bond length for the Br-HCN complex and much less strongly for the Br-NCH complex, with a longer CH bond giving stronger binding for both complexes. Spin-orbit coupling was included and diabatic states were constructed that correlate to the ground 2P3/2 and excited 2P1/2 spin-orbit states of the Br atom. For the ground spin-orbit state with electronic angular momentum j = (3/2) the minimum in the potential for projection quantum number omega = +/-(3/2) coincides with the local minimum for linear Br-HCN of the spin-free case. The minimum in the potential for projection quantum number omega = +/-(1/2) occurs for linear Br-NCH but is considerably less deep than the global minimum of the spin-free case. According to the lowest spin-orbit coupling included adiabatic potential the two linear isomers, Br-NCH and Br-HCN, are about equally stable. In the subsequent paper, we use these potentials in calculations of the rovibronic states of the Br-HCN complex.

Ab initio treatment of the chemical reaction precursor complex Br(2P)-HCN. 2. Bound-state calculations and infrared spectra.

Rovibronic energy levels and properties of the Br(2P)-HCN complex were obtained from three-dimensional calculations, with HCN kept linear and the CN bond frozen. All diabatic states that correlate to the 2P3/2 and 2P1/2 states of the Br atom were included and spin-orbit coupling was taken into account. The 3 x 3 matrix of diabatic potential surfaces was taken from the preceding paper (paper 1). In agreement with experiment, we found two linear isomers, Br-NCH and Br-HCN. The calculated binding energies are very similar: D0 = 352.4 cm(-1) and D0 = 349.1 cm(-1), respectively. We established, also in agreement with experiment, that the ground electronic state of Br-NCH has |Omega| = (1/2) and that Br-HCN has a ground state with |Omega| = (3/2), where the quantum number, Omega, is the projection of the total angular momentum, J, of the complex on the intermolecular axis R. This picture can be understood as being caused by the electrostatic interaction between the quadrupole of the Br(2P) atom and the dipole of HCN, combined with the very strong spin-orbit coupling in Br. We predicted the frequencies of the van der Waals modes of both isomers and found a direct Renner-Teller splitting of the bend mode in Br-HCN and a smaller, indirect, splitting in Br-NCH. The red shift of the CH stretch frequency in the complex, relative to free HCN, was calculated to be 1.98 cm(-1) for Br-NCH and 23.11 cm(-1) for Br-HCN, in good agreement with the values measured in helium nanodroplets. Finally, with the use of the same potential surfaces, we modeled the Cl(2P)-HCN complex and found that the experimentally observed linear Cl-NCH isomer is considerably more stable than the (not observed) Cl-HCN isomer. This was explained mainly as an effect of the substantially smaller spin-orbit coupling in Cl, relative to Br.

Ab initio treatment of the chemical reaction precursor complex Cl(2P)-HF. 1. Three-dimensional diabatic potential energy surfaces.

The three adiabatic potential surfaces of the Cl(2P)-HF complex that correlate with the 2P ground state of the Cl atom were calculated with the ab initio RCCSD(T) method (partially spin-restricted coupled cluster theory including single and double excitations and perturbative correction for the triples). With the aid of a geometry-dependent diabatic mixing angle, calculated by the complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) and multireference configuration-interaction (MRCI) methods, these adiabatic potential surfaces were converted to a set of four distinct diabatic potential surfaces required to define the full 3 x 3 matrix of diabatic potentials. Each of these diabatic potential surfaces was expanded in terms of the appropriate spherical harmonics in the angle theta between the HF bond axis r and the Cl-HF intermolecular axis R. The dependence of the expansion coefficients on the Cl-HF distance R and the HF bond length r(HF) was fit to an analytic form. The strongest binding occurs for the hydrogen-bonded linear Cl-HF geometry, with D(e) = 676.5 cm(-1) and R(e) = 6.217 a0 when r(HF) = r(e) = 1.7328 a0. This binding energy D(e) depends strongly on r(HF), with larger r(HF) causing stronger binding. An important contribution to the binding energy is provided by the interaction between the quadrupole moment of the Cl(2P) atom and the dipole of HF. In agreement with this electrostatic picture, the ground state of linear Cl-HF is a 2-fold degenerate electronic Pi state. For the linear Cl-FH geometry the states are in opposite order, i.e., the Sigma state is lower in energy than the Pi state. The following paper in this issue describes full three-dimensional computations of the bound states of the Cl-HF complex, based on the ab initio diabatic potentials of this paper.

Ab initio treatment of the chemical reaction precursor complex Cl(2P)-HF. 2. Bound states and infrared spectrum.

Bound energy levels and properties of the Cl(2P)-HF complex were obtained from full three-dimensional (3D) calculations, with the use of the ab initio computed diabatic potential surfaces from the preceding paper and the inclusion of spin-orbit coupling. For a better understanding of the dynamics of this complex we also computed a 2D model in which the HF bond length r was frozen at the vibrationally averaged values r0 and r1 and a 2 + 1D model in which the 3D potentials were averaged over the v(HF) = 0 and v(HF) = 1 vibrational wave functions of free HF. Also 1D calculations were made in which both r and the Cl-HF distance R were frozen. The complex is found to have the linear hydrogen bonded Cl-HF structure, with ground-state quantum numbers J = 3/2 for the overall angular momentum and /omega/ = 3/2 for its projection on the intermolecular axis R. The binding energy is D0 = 432.25 cm(-1) for v(HF) = 0 and D0 = 497.21 cm(-1) for v(HF) = 1. Bending modes with /omega/ = 1/2 and /omega/ = 5/2 are split by the Renner-Teller effect, since the electronic ground state is a degenerate 2pi state. A series of intermolecular (R) stretch modes was identified. Rotational constants and e-f parity splittings were extracted from the levels computed for J = 1/2 to 7/2. The computed red shift of the HF stretch frequency of 64.96 cm(-1) and the 35Cl-37Cl isotope shift of 0.033 cm(-1) are in good agreement with the values of 68.77 and 0.035 cm(-1) obtained from the recent experiment of Merritt et al. (Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2005, 7, 67), after correction for the effect of the He nanodroplet matrix in which they were measured.