Encapsulation of charged halogens by the 512 water cage

Sara Gómez, Elizabeth Flórez, Nancy Acelas, Chiara Cappelli, Cacier Hadad, Albeiro Restrepo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This study focuses on the encapsulation of the entire series of halides by the 512 cage of twenty water molecules and on the characterization of water to water and water to anion interactions. State-of-the-art computations are used to determine equilibrium geometries, energy related quantities, and thermal stability towards dissociation and to dissect the nature and strength of intermolecular interactions holding the clusters as stable units. Two types of structures are revealed: heavily deformed cages for F indicating a preference for microsolvation, and slightly deformed cages for the remaining anions indicating a preference for encapsulation. The primary variable dictating the properties of the clusters is the charge density of the central halide, with the most severe effects observed for the F case. For the remaining halides, the anion may be safely viewed as a sort of “big electron” with little local disruptive power, enough to affect the network of non-covalent hydrogen bonds in the cage, but not enough to break it. Gibbs energies for dissociation either into cavity and halide or into water molecules and halide suggest that, in a similar way as to methane clathrate, a more weakly bonded complex that has been detected in the gas phase, all halide containing clathrate-like structures should be amenable to experimental detection in the gas phase at moderate temperature and pressure conditions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)15426-15436
Number of pages11
JournalPhysical Chemistry Chemical Physics
Volume26
Issue number21
DOIs
StatePublished - 6 May 2024

Product types of Minciencias

  • A2 article - Q2

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