Isotope effect and cluster size dependence for water and hydrated hydrogen halide clusters: multi-component molecular orbital approach

Abstract

In order to explore the proton/deuteron (H/D) isotope effect on the structures, wavefunctions, and size dependence of water clusters, both electronic and nuclear wavefunctions are determined simultaneously. The optimized centres and the exponents for the nuclear orbitals indicate the Ubbelohde effect, i.e. the deuteron has weaker hydrogen bonding than the proton. Calculations are made also of hydrogen halide water clusters, Such as HF(H₂O)_n, HB_r(H₂O)_n, (n = 0–4), and their deuterated species. Only the hydrogen transferred ring structure is optimized for the protonic HBr (H₂O)₃ cluster, while both the hydrogen transferred and the non-transferred structures are obtained for the deuterated DBr (H₂O)₃ cluster under the one-particle multi-component treatment. The proton in the HF molecule is localized more than those in the HCl and HBr molecules, and no hydrogen transferred structures are obtained for HF water clusters.