Ab initio van der waals interactions in simulations of water alter structure from mainly tetrahedral to high-density-like.

The structure of liquid water at ambient conditions is studied in ab initio molecular dynamics simulations in the NVE ensemble using van der Waals (vdW) density-functional theory, i.e., using the new exchange-correlation functionals optPBE-vdW and vdW-DF2, where the latter has softer nonlocal correlation terms. Inclusion of the more isotropic vdW interactions counteracts highly directional hydrogen bonds, which are enhanced by standard functionals. This brings about a softening of the microscopic structure of water, as seen from the broadening of angular distribution functions and, in particular, from the much lower and broader first peak in the oxygen-oxygen pair-correlation function (PCF) and loss of structure in the outer hydration shells. Inclusion of vdW interactions is shown to shift the balance of resulting structures from open tetrahedral to more close-packed. The resulting O-O PCF shows some resemblance with experiment for high-density water (Soper, A. K. and Ricci, M. A. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2000, 84, 2881), but not directly with experiment for ambient water. Considering the accuracy of the new functionals for interaction energies, we investigate whether the simulation protocol could cause the deviation. An O-O PCF consisting of a linear combination of 70% from vdW-DF2 and 30% from low-density liquid water, as extrapolated from experiments, reproduces near-quantitatively the experimental O-O PCF for ambient water. This suggests the possibility that the new functionals may be reliable and that instead larger-scale simulations in the NPT ensemble, where the density is allowed to fluctuate in accordance with proposals for supercooled water, could resolve the apparent discrepancy with the measured PCF.

Prediction of spin-spin coupling constants in solution based on combined density functional theory/molecular mechanics.

We present theory and implementation of calculation of spin-spin coupling constants within combined quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics methods. Special attention is given to the role of explicit solvent polarization as well as the molecular consequences due to hydrogen bonding. The model is generally applicable but is here implemented for the case of density functional theory. First applications to liquid water and acetylene in aqueous solution are presented. Good agreement between theory and experiment is obtained in both cases, thereby showing the strength of our approach. Finally, spin-spin coupling constants across hydrogen bonds are discussed considering for the first time the role of an explicit solvent on this class of spin-spin couplings.

On the performance of quantum chemical methods to predict solvatochromic effects: the case of acrolein in aqueous solution.

The performance of the Hartree-Fock method and the three density functionals B3LYP, PBE0, and CAM-B3LYP is compared to results based on the coupled cluster singles and doubles model in predictions of the solvatochromic effects on the vertical n-->pi* and pi-->pi* electronic excitation energies of acrolein. All electronic structure methods employed the same solvent model, which is based on the combined quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics approach together with a dynamical averaging scheme. In addition to the predicted solvatochromic effects, we have also performed spectroscopic UV measurements of acrolein in vapor phase and aqueous solution. The gas-to-aqueous solution shift of the n-->pi* excitation energy is well reproduced by using all density functional methods considered. However, the B3LYP and PBE0 functionals completely fail to describe the pi-->pi* electronic transition in solution, whereas the recent CAM-B3LYP functional performs well also in this case. The pi-->pi* excitation energy of acrolein in water solution is found to be very dependent on intermolecular induction and nonelectrostatic interactions. The computed excitation energies of acrolein in vacuum and solution compare well to experimental data.

Solvent effects on NMR isotropic shielding constants. a comparison between explicit polarizable discrete and continuum approaches.

The gas-to-aqueous solution shifts of the 17O and 13C NMR isotropic shielding constants for the carbonyl chromophore in formaldehyde and acetone are investigated. For the condensed-phase problem, we use the hybrid density functional theory/molecular mechanics approach in combination with a statistical averaging over an appropriate number of solute-solvent configurations extracted from classical molecular dynamics simulations. The PBE0 exchange-correlation functional and the 6-311++G(2d,2p) basis set are used for the calculation of the shielding constants. London atomic orbitals are employed to ensure gauge-origin independent results. The effects of the bulk solvent molecules are found to be crucial in order to calculate accurate solvation shifts of the shielding constants. Very good agreement between the computed and experimental solvation shifts is obtained for the shielding constants of acetone when a polarizable water potential is used. Supermolecular results based on geometry-optimized molecular structures are presented. We also compare the results obtained with the polarizable continuum model to the results obtained using explicit MM molecules to model the bulk solvent effect.