Spherical Density Functional Theory and Atoms in Molecules

2019 ◽  
Vol 124 (1) ◽  
pp. 148-151
Author(s):  
Á. Nagy
Author(s):  
Victor H. Chávez ◽  
Adam Wasserman

In some sense, quantum mechanics solves all the problems in chemistry: The only thing one has to do is solve the Schrödinger equation for the molecules of interest. Unfortunately, the computational cost of solving this equation grows exponentially with the number of electrons and for more than ~100 electrons, it is impossible to solve it with chemical accuracy (~ 2 kcal/mol). The Kohn-Sham (KS) equations of density functional theory (DFT) allow us to reformulate the Schrödinger equation using the electronic probability density as the central variable without having to calculate the Schrödinger wave functions. The cost of solving the Kohn-Sham equations grows only as N3, where N is the number of electrons, which has led to the immense popularity of DFT in chemistry. Despite this popularity, even the most sophisticated approximations in KS-DFT result in errors that limit the use of methods based exclusively on the electronic density. By using fragment densities (as opposed to total densities) as the main variables, we discuss here how new methods can be developed that scale linearly with N while providing an appealing answer to the subtitle of the article: What is the shape of atoms in molecules?


2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. 5845-5857 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcos A. P. Martins ◽  
Leticia V. Rodrigues ◽  
Alexandre R. Meyer ◽  
Clarissa P. Frizzo ◽  
Manfredo Hörner ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarvesh Kumar Pandey ◽  
Mohammad Faheem Khan ◽  
Shikha Awasthi ◽  
Reetu Sangwan ◽  
Sudha Jain

The topological features of the charge densities, ρ(r), and the chemical reactivity of two most biologically relevant and chemically interesting scaffold systems i.e. trans-communic acid and imbricatolic acid have been determined using density functional theory. To identify, characterize, and quantify efficiently, the non-covalent interactions of the atoms in the molecules have been investigated quantitatively using Bader's quantum theory of atoms-in-molecules (QTAIM) technique. The bond path is shown to persist for a range of weak H···H as well as C···H internuclear distances (in the range of 2.0–3.0 Å). These interactions exhibit all the hallmarks of a closed-shell weak interaction. To get insights into both systems, chemical reactivity descriptors, such as HOMO–LUMO, ionization potential, and chemical hardness, have been calculated and used to probe the relative stability and chemical reactivity. Some other useful information is also obtained with the help of several other electronic parameters, which are closely related to the chemical reactivity and reaction paths of the products investigated. Trans-communic acid seems to be chemically more sensitive when compared with imbricatolic acid due to its experimentally observed higher half-maximal inhibitory concentration (bioactivity parameter) value, which is in accordance with its higher chemical reactivity as theoretically predicted using density functional theory-based reactivity index. The quantum chemical calculations have also been performed in solution using different solvents, and the relative order of their structural and electronic properties as well as QTAIM-based parameters show patterns similar to those observed in gas phase only. This study further exemplifies the use and successful application of the bond path concept and the quantum theory of atoms-in-molecules.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document