To study the hydrogen isotope effects in a series of diatomic molecules and water dimers we have created the any particle molecular orbital computer package (APMO). The current version of the APMO code is an implementation of the nuclear orbital and molecular orbital approaches (NMO) at the Hartree-Fock level of theory. We have applied the APMO code to a variety of systems to elucidate the isotope effects on electronic wave functions, geometries and hydrogen bonds. We have studied the isotope effect on the dipole moments, electron densities and geometries of hydrogen molecule, lithium hydride and hydrogen fluoride and we have observed a reduction in the bond distance as the mass of the hydrogen isotopes is increased. This observation is in agreement with experimental data. We have also studied the primary and secondary isotope effects on the hydrogen bond of water dimers and we have observed that the hydrogen-bond becomes weaker as the mass of the bonded hydrogen is increased. This trend has been observed by other authors. In contrast, the hydrogen bond becomes stronger when the mass of secondary hydrogens is increased. Our trends for secondary effects are in agreement with other theoretical and experimental studies. To our knowledge these are the first reported results on the secondary isotope effect on the hydrogen bond of water dimers using a NMO method. The applications presented in this paper demonstrate that the APMO code is highly suitable for the investigation of isotope effects in molecular systems containing a variety of quantum nuclei.

[b] LOWDIN is a computational program that implements the Any Particle Molecular Orbital (APMO) method. The current version of the code encompasses Hartree-Fock, second-order Mïller-Plesset, configuration interaction, density functional, and generalized propagator theories. LOWDIN input file offers a unique flexibility, allowing users to exploit all the programs' capabilities to study systems containing any type and number of quantum species. This review provides a basic introduction to LOWDIN's key computational details and capabilities.

CF3CH=CH2 (hydrofluoroolefin, HFO-1243zf) is a potential replacement of high global-warming potential (GWP) hydrofluorocarbon (HFC-134a, CF3CFH2). Both the atmospheric lifetime and the radiative efficiency of HFO-1243zf are parameters needed for estimating the GWP of this species. Therefore, the aim of this work is (i) to estimate the atmospheric lifetime of HFO-1243zf from the reported OH rate coefficients, k OH, determined under tropospheric conditions and (ii) to calculate its radiative efficiency from the reported IR absorption cross sections. The OH rate coefficient at 298 K also allows the estimation of the photochemical ozone creation potential (ε(POCP)). The pulsed laser photolysis coupled to a laser-induced fluorescence technique was used to determine k OH for the reaction of OH radicals with HFO-1243zf as a function of pressure (50-650 Torr of He) and temperature (263-358 K). Gas-phase IR spectra of HFO-1243zf were recorded at room temperature using a Fourier transform IR spectrometer between 500 and 4,000 cm(-1). At all temperatures, k OH did not depend on bath gas concentration (i.e., on the total pressure between 50 and 650 Torr of He). A slight but noticeable T dependence of k OH was observed in the temperature range investigated. The observed behavior is well described by the following Arrhenius expression: k OH(T) = (7.65 ± 0.26) × 10(-13) exp [(165 ± 10) / T] cm(3) molecule(-1) s(-1). Negligible IR absorption of HFO-1243zf was observed at wavenumbers greater than 1,700 cm(-1). Therefore, IR absorption cross sections, [Formula: see text], were determined in the 500-1,700 cm(-1) range. Integrated [Formula: see text] were determined between 650 and 1,800 cm(-1) for comparison purposes. The main diurnal removal pathway for HFO-1243zf is the reaction with OH radicals, which accounts for 64% of the overall loss by homogeneous reactions at 298 K. Globally, the lifetime due to OH reaction (τ OH) was estimated to be 8.7 days under the assumption of a well-mixed atmosphere. Assuming other removal pathways, the atmospheric lifetime (τ) was estimated to be ∼6 days. Considering the estimated τ OH and the measured IR absorption cross sections of HFO-1243zf in the atmospheric window (720-1,250 cm(-1)), its lifetime corrected radiative efficiency was calculated to be 0.019 W m(-2) ppbv(-1). GWP100 years for the HFO investigated, 0.29, is negligible compared to that of HFC-134a, the HFC to be potentially replaced (GWP100 years = 1,300, Hodnebrog et al. (Rev Geophys 51:300-378, 2013)). ε POCP for HFO-1243zf was estimated to be around 1 order of magnitude lower than that for ethylene. In conclusion, HFO-1243zf is fast degraded in the atmosphere, and it does not appreciably contribute to global warming and local/regional air pollution. Therefore, HFO-1243zf can be a suitable replacement for HFC-134a in air conditioning units.

The gas phase reaction between the CN radical and acetonitrile CH3CN was investigated experimentally, at low temperatures, with the CRESU apparatus and a slow flow reactor to explore the temperature dependence of its rate coefficient from 354 K down to 23 K. Whereas a standard Arrhenius behavior was found at T > 200 K, indicating the presence of an activation barrier, a dramatic increase in the rate coefficient by a factor of 130 was observed when the temperature was decreased from 168 to 123 K. The reaction was found to be pressure independent at 297 K unlike the experiments carried out at 52 and 132 K. The work was complemented by ab initio transition state theory based master equation calculations using reaction pathways investigated with highly accurate thermochemical protocols. The role of collisional stabilization of a CNCH3CN van der Waals complex and of tunneling induced H atom abstractions were also considered. The experimental pressure dependence at 52 and 132 K is well reproduced by the theoretical calculations provided that an anharmonic state density is considered for the van der Waals complex CH3CNCN and its Lennard-Jones radius is adjusted. Furthermore, these calculations indicate that the experimental observations correspond to the fall-off regime and that tunneling remains small in the low-pressure regime. Hence, the studied reaction is essentially an association process at very low temperature. Implications for the chemistry of interstellar clouds and Titan are discussed.