Higher analytic derivatives. IV. Anharmonic effects in the benzene spectrum

Abstract

This is the fourth in a series of papers on the ab initio calculation of the third and fourth derivatives of the energy of a molecule. In this paper we examine anharmonic effects in the infrared and Raman spectra of benzene. The following spectroscopic properties have been calculated; ab initio anharmonic corrections (ω−ν) and estimates of the harmonic frequencies ω for all 30 vibrational modes of C6H6 and C6D6, a complete set of anharmonic constants x and g for C6H6, intensities for the infrared spectrum of C6H6 up to 6148 cm−1, and anharmonic corrections to the Raman scattering factors for the fundamental modes of C6H6. In addition, we have improved on previous calculations of the equilibrium geometry of benzene, using Mo/ller–Plesset perturbation theory and a triple zeta plus double polarization (TZ2P) basis. We have also calculated a zero-point vibrationally averaged geometry which is in good agreement with the experimental R0 value. All these calculations are based on a Hartree–Fock quartic potential, cubic dipole surface, and quadratic polarizability surface, using a double-zeta plus polarization (DZP) basis. This is the first time a complete anharmonic potential has been obtained for a molecule of this size; the computer time required was minimized by the use of analytic derivative programs in favor of finite-difference programs. The quartic potential is presented in three coordinate systems. We discuss efficient algorithms for the nonlinear transformation of the potential from normal coordinates to valence coordinates and for symmetry checking the potential. The approximations used in our calculations have been examined and we find that the use of a Hartree–Fock DZP potential together with a perturbative treatment of the vibrational Hamiltonian is just as accurate for D6h benzene as for smaller molecules. In order to examine correlation effects in the B2u modes 14 and 15, basis-set limit second-order Mo/ller–Plesset TZ2P+f harmonic frequencies have been calculated for these modes. It is suggested that, while these modes are very sensitive to correlation, anharmonicity has only a small effect, so a Hartree–Fock DZP anharmonic potential is adequate. Furthermore, experimental determination of anharmonic corrections to frequencies is very difficult for a molecule of this size so we hope our calculations will fill this gap.