Journal of Physical Chemistry A, Vol.114, No.32, 8463-8473, 2010
Ab Initio Study of Ternary Complexes A center dot center dot center dot NCH center dot center dot center dot C with A,C = HCN, HF, HCl, CIF, and LiH: Energetics and Spin-Spin Coupling Constants across Intermolecular Bonds
A systematic ab initio study has been carried out to investigate the structures, binding energies, and spin-spin coupling constants of binary complexes A center dot center dot center dot NCH and NCH center dot center dot center dot C and ternary complexes A center dot center dot center dot NCH center dot center dot center dot C for A,C = HCN, HF, HCl, FCl, and HLi. These complexes are stabilized by some combination of hydrogen bonds, dihydrogen bonds, halogen bonds, and lithium bonds. The binding energies of the ternary complexes are enhanced relative to those of the corresponding binary complexes, suggesting that A center dot center dot center dot NCH is a stronger proton-donor acid and NCH center dot center dot center dot C is a stronger base relative to the isolated monomer HCN. The ternary complexes with the largest enhancement energies are FH center dot center dot center dot NCH center dot center dot center dot HLi, HLi center dot center dot center dot NCH center dot center dot center dot NCH, and HLi center dot center dot center dot NCH center dot center dot center dot HLi, each containing molecules with large dipole moments, and each with a linear head-to-tail arrangement of dipole moment vectors. The equation-of-motion coupled-cluster single and doubles method (EOM-CCSD) has been employed to evaluate spin-spin coupling constants across intermolecular bonds for binary complexes A center dot center dot center dot NCH and NCH center dot center dot center dot C and for ternary complexes A center dot center dot center dot NCH center dot center dot center dot C. These data are used to investigate how the presence of C influences coupling constants associated with the A center dot center dot center dot NCH interaction, and how the presence of A influences coupling constants for the NCH center dot center dot center dot C interaction. Changes in coupling constants in the ternary complexes relative to the binary may be related to the binding energies of corresponding binary complexes and the enhanced binding energies of the ternary complexes. Two-bond coupling constants across X-H center dot center dot center dot Y hydrogen bonds [(2h)J(X-Y)] are related to changes in intermolecular distances.