Siddharth Dasgupta

Bio: Siddharth Dasgupta is an academic researcher from California Institute of Technology. The author has contributed to research in topics: Ab initio & ReaxFF. The author has an hindex of 27, co-authored 50 publications receiving 7154 citations. Previous affiliations of Siddharth Dasgupta include University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign & Bell Labs.

ReaxFF: A Reactive Force Field for Hydrocarbons

Abstract: To make practical the molecular dynamics simulation of large scale reactive chemical systems (1000s of atoms), we developed ReaxFF, a force field for reactive systems. ReaxFF uses a general relationship between bond distance and bond order on one hand and between bond order and bond energy on the other hand that leads to proper dissociation of bonds to separated atoms. Other valence terms present in the force field (angle and torsion) are defined in terms of the same bond orders so that all these terms go to zero smoothly as bonds break. In addition, ReaxFF has Coulomb and Morse (van der Waals) potentials to describe nonbond interactions between all atoms (no exclusions). These nonbond interactions are shielded at short range so that the Coulomb and van der Waals interactions become constant as Rij → 0. We report here the ReaxFF for hydrocarbons. The parameters were derived from quantum chemical calculations on bond dissociation and reactions of small molecules plus heat of formation and geometry data for...

Benzene forms hydrogen bonds with water.

Abstract: Fully rotationally resolved spectra of three isotopic species of 1:1 clusters of benzene with water (H_2O, D_2O, and HDO) were fit to yield moments of inertia that demonstrate unambiguously that water is positioned above the benzene plane in nearly free internal rotation with both hydrogen atoms pointing toward the π cloud. Ab initio calculations (MP2 level of electron correlation and 6-31 G** basis set with basis set superposition error corrections) predict a binding energy D_e ≳ 1.78 kilocalories per mole. In both the experimental and theoretical structures, water is situated nearly 1 angstrom within the van der Waals contacts of the monomers, a clear manifestation of hydrogen bond formation in this simple model of aqueous-π electron interactions.

Shock Waves in High-Energy Materials: The Initial Chemical Events in Nitramine RDX

Abstract: Recent advances in first principles modeling and experiments have led to enormous progress toward understanding complex gas-phase chemical phenomena. However, the progress in understanding the chemical processes in condensed phases has been considerably slower, particularly in processes as dynamical loading via shock waves important to understand the behavior of materials at extreme conditions and detonation of high energy (HE) materials. The coupling between shock loading, induced mechanical response, and complex chemistry makes the study of these materials very challenging with the result that there has been little progress in establishing a molecular level understanding. Most experimental and theoretical tools are not appropriate to characterize such heterogeneous and nonequilibrium systems subject to extreme mechanical conditions of pressure, temperature, and strain rates with length scales of nanometers, time scales of picoseconds, and involving a multitude of complex many-body chemical processes and intermediates. Consequently, despite its importance and important experimental advances (e.g., time resolved

Carbon cluster formation during thermal decomposition of octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine and 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene high explosives from ReaxFF reactive molecular dynamics simulations.

Abstract: We report molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using the first-principles-based ReaxFF reactive force field to study the thermal decomposition of 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB) and octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX) at various densities and temperatures. TATB is known to produce a large amount (15−30%) of high-molecular-weight carbon clusters, whereas detonation of nitramines such as HMX and RDX (1,3,5-trinitroperhydro-1,3,5-triazine) generate predominantly low-molecular-weight products. In agreement with experimental observation, these simulations predict that TATB decomposition quickly (by 30 ps) initiates the formation of large carbonaceous clusters (more than 4000 amu, or 15−30% of the total system mass), and HMX decomposition leads almost exclusively to small-molecule products. We find that HMX decomposes readily on this time scale at lower temperatures, for which the decomposition rate of TATB is about an order of magnitude slower. Analyzing the ReaxFF MD results leads to the detailed atomistic structure of this carbon-rich phase of TATB and allows characterization of the kinetics and chemistry related to this phase and their dependence on system density and temperature. The carbon-rich phase formed from TATB contains mainly polyaromatic rings with large oxygen content, leading to graphitic regions. We use these results to describe the initial reaction steps of thermal decomposition of HMX and TATB in terms of the rates for forming primary and secondary products, allowing comparison to experimentally derived models. These studies show that MD using the ReaxFF reactive force field provides detailed atomistic information that explains such macroscopic observations as the dramatic difference in carbon cluster formation between TATB and HMX. This shows that ReaxFF MD captures the fundamental differences in the mechanisms of such systems and illustrates how the ReaxFF may be applied to model complex chemical phenomena in energetic materials. The studies here illustrate this for modestly sized systems and modest periods; however, ReaxFF calculations of reactive processes have already been reported on systems with 106 atoms. Thus, with suitable computational facilities, one can study the atomistic level chemical processes in complex systems under extreme conditions.

Hydrogen bonding in the benzene–ammonia dimer

Abstract: AMINES have long been characterized as amphoteric (acting as both donor and acceptor) in terms of their hydrogen-bond interactions in the condensed phase. With the possible exception of (NH_3)_2, however, no gas-phase complexes exhibiting hydrogen-bond donation by ammonia, the ‘simplest amine’, have been observed. Here we present high-resolution optical and microwave spectra of the benzene–ammonia dimer in the gas phase, which show that the ammonia molecule resides above the benzene plane and undergoes free or nearly free internal rotation. In the vibrationally averaged structure, the C_3 symmetry axis of NH_3 is tilted by about 58° relative to the benzene C_6 axis, such that the ammonia protons interact with the benzene π-cloud. Our ab initio calcula-tions predict a 'monodentate' minimum-energy structure, with very low barriers to rotation of ammonia. The larger separation of the two molecular components, and the smaller dissociation energy, relative to the benzene–water dimer reflect the weak hydrogen-bond donor capability of ammonia, but the observed geometry greatly resembles the amino–aromatic interaction found naturally in proteins.

Chemistry with ADF

Abstract: We present the theoretical and technical foundations of the Amsterdam Density Functional (ADF) program with a survey of the characteristics of the code (numerical integration, density fitting for the Coulomb potential, and STO basis functions). Recent developments enhance the efficiency of ADF (e.g., parallelization, near order-N scaling, QM/MM) and its functionality (e.g., NMR chemical shifts, COSMO solvent effects, ZORA relativistic method, excitation energies, frequency-dependent (hyper)polarizabilities, atomic VDD charges). In the Applications section we discuss the physical model of the electronic structure and the chemical bond, i.e., the Kohn–Sham molecular orbital (MO) theory, and illustrate the power of the Kohn–Sham MO model in conjunction with the ADF-typical fragment approach to quantitatively understand and predict chemical phenomena. We review the “Activation-strain TS interaction” (ATS) model of chemical reactivity as a conceptual framework for understanding how activation barriers of various types of (competing) reaction mechanisms arise and how they may be controlled, for example, in organic chemistry or homogeneous catalysis. Finally, we include a brief discussion of exemplary applications in the field of biochemistry (structure and bonding of DNA) and of time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) to indicate how this development further reinforces the ADF tools for the analysis of chemical phenomena. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 22: 931–967, 2001

The hydrogen bond in the solid state.

Abstract: The hydrogen bond is the most important of all directional intermolecular interactions. It is operative in determining molecular conformation, molecular aggregation, and the function of a vast number of chemical systems ranging from inorganic to biological. Research into hydrogen bonds experienced a stagnant period in the 1980s, but re-opened around 1990, and has been in rapid development since then. In terms of modern concepts, the hydrogen bond is understood as a very broad phenomenon, and it is accepted that there are open borders to other effects. There are dozens of different types of X-H.A hydrogen bonds that occur commonly in the condensed phases, and in addition there are innumerable less common ones. Dissociation energies span more than two orders of magnitude (about 0.2-40 kcal mol(-1)). Within this range, the nature of the interaction is not constant, but its electrostatic, covalent, and dispersion contributions vary in their relative weights. The hydrogen bond has broad transition regions that merge continuously with the covalent bond, the van der Waals interaction, the ionic interaction, and also the cation-pi interaction. All hydrogen bonds can be considered as incipient proton transfer reactions, and for strong hydrogen bonds, this reaction can be in a very advanced state. In this review, a coherent survey is given on all these matters.

Merck molecular force field. I. Basis, form, scope, parameterization, and performance of MMFF94

Abstract: This article introduces MMFF94, the initial published version of the Merck molecular force field (MMFF). It describes the objectives set for MMFF, the form it takes, and the range of systems to which it applies. This study also outlines the methodology employed in parameterizing MMFF94 and summarizes its performance in reproducing computational and experimental data. Though similar to MM3 in some respects, MMFF94 differs in ways intended to facilitate application to condensed-phase processes in molecular-dynamics simulations. Indeed, MMFF94 seeks to achieve MM3-like accuracy for small molecules in a combined “organic/protein” force field that is equally applicable to proteins and other systems of biological significance. A second distinguishing feature is that the core portion of MMFF94 has primarily been derived from high-quality computational data—ca. 500 molecular structures optimized at the HF/6-31G* level, 475 structures optimized at the MP2/6-31G* level, 380 MP2/6-31G* structures evaluated at a defined approximation to the MP4SDQ/TZP level, and 1450 structures partly derived from MP2/6-31G* geometries and evaluated at the MP2/TZP level. A third distinguishing feature is that MMFF94 has been parameterized for a wide variety of chemical systems of interest to organic and medicial chemists, including many that feature frequently occurring combinations of functional groups for which little, if any, useful experimental data are available. The methodology used in parameterizing MMFF94 represents a fourth distinguishing feature. Rather than using the common “functional group” approach, nearly all MMFF parameters have been determined in a mutually consistent fashion from the full set of available computational data. MMFF94 reproduces the computational data used in its parameterization very well. In addition, MMFF94 reproduces experimental bond lengths (0.014 A root mean square [rms]), bond angles (1.2° rms), vibrational frequencies (61 cm−1 rms), conformational energies (0.38 kcal/mol/rms), and rotational barriers (0.39 kcal/mol rms) very nearly as well as does MM3 for comparable systems. MMFF94 also describes intermolecular interactions in hydrogen-bonded systems in a way that closely parallels that given by the highly regarded OPLS force field. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Cation-π Interactions in Chemistry and Biology: A New View of Benzene, Phe, Tyr, and Trp

Abstract: Cations bind to the π face of an aromatic structure through a surprisingly strong, noncovalent force termed the cation-π interaction. The magnitude and generality of the effect have been established by gas-phase measurements and by studies of model receptors in aqueous media. To first order, the interaction can be considered an electrostatic attraction between a positive charge and the quadrupole moment of the aromatic. A great deal of direct and circumstantial evidence indicates that cation-π interactions are important in a variety of proteins that bind cationic ligands or substrates. In this context, the amino acids phenylalanine (Phe), tyrosine (Tyr), and tryptophan (Trp) can be viewed as polar, yet hydrophobic, residues.