MP4 Study of the Anharmonic Coupling of the Shared Proton Stretching Vibration of the Protonated Water Dimer in Equilibrium and Transition States.

The structure and harmonic and anharmonic IR spectra of the protonated water dimer (PWD) were calculated in C1 , C2 , and Cs symmetry at the MP4/acc-pVTZ level of theory. We found that structure and IR spectra are practically identical in C2 and C1 symmetry, demonstrating that an equilibrium C1 configuration of the PWD is not realized. Anharmonic coupling of the shared proton stretching vibration with all other modes in the PWD in C2 and Cs symmetry was the focus of this investigation. For this purpose, 28 two-dimensional potential energy surfaces (2D PES) were built at the MP4/acc-pVTZ level of theory and the corresponding vibrational Schrödinger equations were solved using the DVR method. Differences in the coupling of the investigated mode with other modes in the C2 and Cs configurations, along with some factors that determine the red- or blue-shift of the stretching vibration frequency, were analyzed. We obtained a rather reasonable value of the stretching frequency of the bridging proton (1058.4 cm-1 ) unperturbed by Fermi resonance. The Fermi resonance between the fundamental vibration ν7 and the combined vibration ν2 + ν6 of the same symmetry was analyzed through anharmonic second-order perturbation theory calculations, as well as by 3D PES constructed using Q2 , Q6 , and Q7 as normal coordinates. A significant (up to 50%) transfer of intensity from the fundamental vibration to the combined one was found. We have estimated the frequency of the bridging proton stretching vibration in the Cs configuration of the PWD based on calculations of the intrinsic anharmonicity and anharmonic double modes interactions at the MP4/acc-pVTZ level of theory (1261 cm-1 ).