Ground and excited state properties of ThBe and AcBe
Abstract
In this work, the ground and excited states of ThBe and AcBe were investigated by performing high-level multireference and single-reference coupled-cluster quantum chemical calculations with large correlation consistent basis sets. Full potential energy curves (PECs), chemical bonding patterns, energetics, spectroscopic parameters (Te, re, ωe, and ωexe), and spin–orbit effects of 13 and 8 electronic states of ThBe and AcBe, respectively, are reported. The ground electronic states of ThBe and AcBe are single-reference 13Σ− (1σ22σ21π2) and 12Π (1σ22σ21π1), respectively, and originate from their corresponding ground state fragments. The chemical bonding of ThBe (13Σ−) and AcBe (12Π) are π-dative in character and are formed by d-electron transfers from Th/Ac to the empty 2px and 2py of the Be atom. The electron populations of the f-orbitals of both ThBe (13Σ−) and AcBe (12Π) are minor which exhibit their “transition-metal-like” nature. The estimated bond energies of the spin–orbit ground states of ThBe (13Σ−0+) and AcBe (12Π1/2) are 12.79 and 11.02 kcal mol−1, respectively. Finally, the bond energy of ThBe was used to estimate its heat of formation ΔH0f(298 K) of 869.61 ± 6 kJ mol−1.