Methods In Computational Chemistry

This book reviews a variety of methods in computational chemistry and their applications in different fields of current research. Ab initio methods and regression analyses are discussed with special focus on their application to investigate chemical structures as for example dyes or drug compounds. Further topics are the use of computational methods in the modeling of spectroscopic data or to study reaction mechanisms.

On the occasion of the fourth International Conference on Industrial and Applied Mathematics!, we decided to organize a sequence of 4 minisymposia devoted to the mathematical aspects and the numerical aspects of Quantum Chemistry. Our goal was to bring together scientists from different communities, namely mathematicians, experts at numerical analysis and computer science, chemists, just to see whether this heterogeneous set of lecturers can produce a rather homogeneous presentation of the domain to an uninitiated audience. To the best of our knowledgde, nothing of this kind had never been tempted so far. It seemed to us that it was the good time for doing it, both . because the interest of applied mathematicians into the world of computational chemistry has exponentially increased in the past few years, and because the community of chemists feels more and more concerned with the numerical issues. Indeed, in the early years of Quantum Chemistry, the pioneers (Coulson, Mac Weeny, just to quote two of them) used to solve fundamental equations modelling toy systems which could be simply numerically handled in view of their very limited size. The true difficulty arose with the need to model larger systems while possibly taking into account their interaction with their environment. Hand calculations were no longer possible, and computing science came into the picture.

Providing specialist reviews and analyses of contemporary theories, algorithms, and techniques, this series aims to facilitate the effective exploitation of available computing power. The current volume focuses on the theoretical determination of atomic and molecular properties as related to wave functions, electron densities, and total energies.

Computational chemistry has become extremely important in the last decade, being widely used in academic and industrial research. Yet there have been few books designed to teach the subject to nonspecialists. Computational Chemistry: Introduction to the Theory and Applications of Molecular and Quantum Mechanics is an invaluable tool for teaching and researchers alike. The book provides an overview of the field, explains the basic underlying theory at a meaningful level that is not beyond beginners, and it gives numerous comparisons of different methods with one another and with experiment. The following concepts are illustrated and their possibilities and limitations are given: - potential energy surfaces; - simple and extended Hückel methods; - ab initio, AM1 and related semiempirical methods; - density functional theory (DFT). Topics are placed in a historical context, adding interest to them and removing much of their apparently arbitrary aspect. The large number of references, to all significant topics mentioned, should make this book useful not only to undergraduates but also to graduate students and academic and industrial researchers.

When, forty years ago, as a student of Charles Coulson in Oxford I began work in theoretical chemistry, I was provided with a Brunsviga calculator-a small mechanical device with a handle for propulsion, metal levers for setting the numbers, and a bell that rang to indicate overflow. What has since come to be known as computational chemistry was just beginning. There followed a long period in which the fundamental theory of the "golden age" (1925-1935) was extended and refined and in which the dreams of the early practitioners were gradually turned into hard arithmetic reality. As a still-computing survivor from the early postwar days now enjoying the benefits of unbelievably improved hardware, I am glad to contribute a foreword to this series and to have the opportunity of providing a little historical perspective. After the Brunsviga came the electromechanical machines of the late 1940s and early 1950s, and a great reduction in the burden of calculating molecular wavefunctions. We were now happy. At least for systems con taining a few electrons it was possible to make fully ab initio calculations, even though semiempirical models remained indispensable for most molecules of everyday interest. The 1950 papers of Hall and of Roothaan represented an important milestone along the road to larger-scale non empirical calculations, extending the prewar work of Hartree and Fock from many-electron atoms to many-electron molecules-and thus into "real chemistry.

A practical, easily accessible guide for bench-top chemists, thisbook focuses on accurately applying computational chemistrytechniques to everyday chemistry problems. Provides nonmathematical explanations of advanced topics incomputational chemistry. Focuses on when and how to apply different computationaltechniques. Addresses computational chemistry connections to biochemicalsystems and polymers. Provides a prioritized list of methods for attacking difficultcomputational chemistry problems, and compares advantages anddisadvantages of various approximation techniques. Describes how the choice of methods of software affectsrequirements for computer memory and processing time.

This book presents an overview of recent progress in computational techniques as well as examples of the application of existing computational methods in different areas of chemistry, physics, and biochemistry. Introductory chapters cover a broad range of fundamental topics, including: state-of-the-art basis set expansion methods for computing atomic and molecular electronic structures based on the use of relativistic quantum mechanics; the most recent developments in Hartree-Fock methods, particularly in techniques suited for very large systems; the current analysis of the solute-solvent free energy of interaction and the physical bases used to evaluate the electrostatic, cavitation, and dispersion terms; an introduction to the additive fuzzy electron density fragmentation scheme within various ab initio Hartree-Fock quantum-chemical computational schemes, which has provided the means for generating representative molecular fragment densities characteristic to their local environment within a molecule. This book also features a review of recent ab initio calculations on the structure and interactions of DNA bases, a chapter on computational approaches to the design of safer drugs and their molecular properties, and a systematic conceptual study on a route which allows one to stuff fullerenes.

The development of new drugs always was time consuming and costly. With the development in experimental methods, it was possible to scan small-compound libraries in order to find potentially suitable molecules. Protein kinases are a class of enzymes involved in the great majority of cellular processes. This book begins with a discussion on the protein kinase targeting drug discovery and design. It continues with topics on computational chemistry investigation of UV filters; using the network simulation method to study ionic transport processes in electrochemical cells; molecular simulation of electron beam nanofabrication; interpreting of chiral ordering of hybrid system of several AZO dyes; a general procedure for a priori calculation of thermochemical properties of organic molecules and free radicals; strategies for design of new organic molecular rectifiers; and DFT studies.