Computational IR spectroscopy of water: OH stretch frequencies, transition dipoles, and intermolecular vibrational coupling constants

The Hessian matrix reconstruction method initially developed to extract the basis mode frequencies, vibrational coupling constants, and transition dipoles of the delocalized amide I, II, and III vibrations of polypeptides and proteins from quantum chemistry calculation results is used to obtain those properties of delocalized O-H stretch modes in liquid water. Considering the water symmetric and asymmetric O-H stretch modes as basis modes, we here develop theoretical models relating vibrational frequencies, transition dipoles, and coupling constants of basis modes to local water configuration and solvent electric potential. Molecular dynamics simulation was performed to generate an ensemble of water configurations that was in turn used to construct vibrational Hamiltonian matrices. Obtaining the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the matrices and using the time-averaging approximation method, which was developed by the Skinner group, to calculating the vibrational spectra of coupled oscillator systems, we could numerically simulate the O-H stretch IR spectrum of liquid water. The asymmetric line shape and weak shoulder bands were quantitatively reproduced by the present computational procedure based on vibrational exciton model, where the polarization effects on basis mode transition dipoles and inter-mode coupling constants were found to be crucial in quantitatively simulating the vibrational spectra of hydrogen-bond networking liquid water.