Spin-Orbit Coupling Effect on the Electrophilicity Index, Chemical Potential, Hardness and Softness of Neutral Gold Clusters: A Relativistic Ab-initio Study

Electrophilicity index (𝜔) is related to the energy lowering associated with a maximum amount of electron flow between a donor and an acceptor and possesses adequate information regarding structure, stability, reactivity and interactions. Chemical potential (μ) measures charge transfer from a system to another having a lower value of μ, while chemical hardness (η) is a measure of characterizing relative stability of clusters. The main purpose of the present research work is to examine the Spin-Orbit Coupling (SOC) effect on the behavior of the electrophilicity index, chemical potential, hardness and softness of neutral gold clusters Au n (n=2-6). Using the second-order Douglas-Kroll-Hess Hamiltonian, geometries are optimized at the DKH2-B3P86/DZP-DKH level of theory. Spin-orbit coupling energies are computed using the fourth-order Douglas-Kroll-Hess Hamiltonian, generalized Hartree-Fock method and all-electron relativistic double-ζ level basis set. Then, spin-orbit coupling (SOC) corrections to the electrophilicity index, chemical potential, hardness and softness are calculated. It is revealed that spin-orbit correction to the vertical chemical hardness has important effect on Au 3 and Au 6 , i.e. SOC decreases (increases) the hardness of gold trimer (hexamer). Due to the relationship between hardness and softness, σ = , inclusion of spin-orbit coupling increases (decreases) the softness of Au 3 (Au 6 ) and thus destabilizes (stabilizes) it. Spin-orbit coupling (SOC) also has more important effect on the chemical potential of Au 3 by decreasing its value. It is found that spin-orbit coupling has considerable effect on the electrophilicity index of gold trimer and greatly increases its value. Furthermore, SOC increases the maximal charge acceptance of Au 3 more and thus destabilizes it more. As a result, spin-orbit coupling effect appears to be important in calculating the electrophilicity index of the gold trimer. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2021-02-01-05 Full Text: PDF