The surface functionalization of TiO2-based materials with alkylsilanes is attractive in several cutting-edge applications, such as photovoltaics, sensors, and nanocarriers for the controlled release of bioactive molecules. (3-Aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) is able to self-assemble to form monolayers on TiO2 surfaces, but its adsorption geometry and solar-induced photodegradation pathways are not well understood. We here employ advanced experimental (XPS, NEXAFS, AFM, HR-TEM, and FT-IR) and theoretical (plane-wave DFT) tools to investigate the preferential interaction mode of APTES on anatase TiO2. We demonstrate that monomeric APTES chemisorption should proceed through covalent Si–O–Ti bonds. Although dimerization of the silane through Si–O–Si bonds is possible, further polymerization on the surface is scarcely probable. Terminal amino groups are expected to be partially involved in strong charge-assisted hydrogen bonds with surface hydroxyl groups of TiO2, resulting in a reduced propensity to react with other species. Solar-induced mineralization proceeds through preferential cleavage of the alkyl groups, leading to the rapid loss of the terminal NH2 moieties, whereas the Si-bearing head of APTES undergoes slower oxidation and remains bound to the surface. The suitability of employing the silane as a linker with other chemical species is discussed in the context of controlled degradation of APTES monolayers for drug release and surface patterning.

In this paper the equilibrium properties of the proline catalyzed aldol reaction was studied. The use of well-established methodologies, like reaction progress kinetic analysis and linear free energy relationship analysis, led to the quantification of the reaction reversibility and to its correlation with the substrate electronic activation. Due to these experimental observations, common computational approaches based on a one way transition state analysis become unsuitable. Therefore, a computational model based on the integration of a system of kinetic differential equations associated to the multiple equilibrium reactions was proposed. Such a model was found to successfully rationalize the chemical and stereochemical outcomes of this paradigmatic reaction for the first time.

We present an optimized approach for the calculation of the density of fully coupled vibrational states in high-dimensional systems. This task is of paramount importance, because partition functions and several thermodynamic properties can be accurately estimated once the density of states is known. A new code, called paradensum, based on the implementation of the Wang–Landau Monte Carlo algorithm for parallel architectures is described and applied to real complex systems. We test the accuracy of paradensum on several molecular systems, including some benchmarks for which an exact evaluation of the vibrational density of states is doable by direct counting. In addition, we find a significant computational speedup with respect to standard approaches when applying our code to molecules up to 66 degrees of freedom. The new code can easily handle 150 degrees of freedom. These features make paradensum a very promising tool for future calculations of thermodynamic properties and thermal rate constants of complex systems.

Graphene is impermeable to gases, but introducing subnanometer pores can allow for selective gas separation. Because graphene is only one atom thick, tunneling can play an important role, especially for low-mass gases such as helium, and this has been proposed as a means of separating 3He from 4He. In this paper, we consider the possibility of utilizing resonant tunneling of helium isotopes through nanoporous graphene bilayers. Using a model potential fit to previously reported DFT potential energy surfaces, we calculate the thermal rate constant as a function of interlayer separation using a recently described time-independent method for arbitrary multibarrier potentials. Resonant transmission allows for the total flux rate of 3He to remain the same as the best-known single-barrier pores but doubles the selectivity with respect to 4He when the optimal interlayer spacing of 4.6 Å is used. The high flux rate and selectivity are robust against variations of the interlayer spacing and asymmetries in the potential that may occur in experiment.

Direct dynamics simulations are a very useful and general approach for studying the atomistic properties of complex chemical systems, since an electronic structure theory representation of a system’s potential energy surface is possible without the need for fitting an analytic potential energy function. In this paper, recently introduced compact finite difference (CFD) schemes for approximating the Hessian [J. Chem. Phys.2010, 133, 074101] are tested by employing the monodromy matrix equations of motion. Several systems, including carbon dioxide and benzene, are simulated, using both analytic potential energy surfaces and on-the-fly direct dynamics. The results show, depending on the molecular system, that electronic structure theory Hessian direct dynamics can be accelerated up to 2 orders of magnitude. The CFD approximation is found to be robust enough to deal with chaotic motion, concomitant with floppy and stiff mode dynamics, Fermi resonances, and other kinds of molecular couplings. Finally, the CFD approximations allow parametrical tuning of different CFD parameters to attain the best possible accuracy for different molecular systems. Thus, a direct dynamics simulation requiring the Hessian at every integration step may be replaced with an approximate Hessian updating by tuning the appropriate accuracy.

A time-dependent semiclassical approach for vibrational spectra calculations is shown to describe deep tunneling splittings, resonances, and quantum frequencies in multidimensional multiwell systems, by propagating a very limited number of classical trajectories. The approach is tested on ammonia by evolving eight trajectories on a full-dimensional PES. Quantum effects are reproduced, and results are in good agreement with time-independent quantum calculations. All the features are maintained when ab initio “on-the-fly” dynamics is adopted, thus demonstrating that precomputation of the PES can be avoided. The approach overcomes the typical scaling issues of quantum mechanical techniques without introducing any simplifications nor reductions of dimensionality of the problem. The proposed methodology is promising for further applications to systems of major complexity.Keywords: ab initio on-the-fly molecular dynamics; ammonia; deep resonant tunneling; MC-TA-SC-IVR; quantum vibrational spectra; semiclassical dynamics;

N-doped titanium dioxide is one of the most promising materials for photocatalysis in the visible region. The exact location of nitrogen in the host lattice is still under debate. Here, we synthesized a series of N-doped titania nanoparticles. Average Ti nearest neighbors distances were obtained from EXAFS experiments and compared with DFT calculations at different levels of theory. The comparison shows that N substitutes oxygen at low levels of doping, whereas oxygen vacancy creation is observed at higher dopant concentrations. Overall, this article illustrates a general method for bulk characterization based on DFT and EXAFS approaches, which can be extended to several systems.

In this work, we explore the use of the semiclassical initial value representation (SC-IVR) method with first-principles electronic structure approaches to carry out classical molecular dynamics. The proposed approach can extract the vibrational power spectrum of carbon dioxide from a single trajectory providing numerical results that agree with experiment and quantum calculations. The computational demands of the method are comparable to those of classical single-trajectory calculations, while describing uniquely quantum features such as the zero-point energy and Fermi resonances. The method can also be used to identify symmetry properties of given vibrational peaks and investigate vibrational couplings by selected classical trajectories. The accuracy of the method degrades for the reproduction of anharmonic shifts for high-energy vibrational levels.

In this work, we explore the use of the semiclassical initial value representation (SC-IVR) method with first-principles electronic structure approaches to carry out classical molecular dynamics. The proposed approach can extract the vibrational power spectrum of carbon dioxide from a single trajectory providing numerical results that agree with experiment and quantum calculations. The computational demands of the method are comparable to those of classical single-trajectory calculations, while describing uniquely quantum features such as the zero-point energy and Fermi resonances. The method can also be used to identify symmetry properties of given vibrational peaks and investigate vibrational couplings by selected classical trajectories. The accuracy of the method degrades for the reproduction of anharmonic shifts for high-energy vibrational levels.

In this paper the equilibrium properties of the proline catalyzed aldol reaction was studied. The use of well-established methodologies, like reaction progress kinetic analysis and linear free energy relationship analysis, led to the quantification of the reaction reversibility and to its correlation with the substrate electronic activation. Due to these experimental observations, common computational approaches based on a one way transition state analysis become unsuitable. Therefore, a computational model based on the integration of a system of kinetic differential equations associated to the multiple equilibrium reactions was proposed. Such a model was found to successfully rationalize the chemical and stereochemical outcomes of this paradigmatic reaction for the first time.