Analytical Potential Energy Function for the Ground State X^{1} Sigma^+ of LaCl

Abstract

The equilibrium geometry, harmonic frequency and dissociation energy of lanthanum monochloride have been calculated at B3LYP, MP2, QCISD(T) levels with energy-consistent relativistic effective core potentials. The possible electronic state and reasonable dissociation limit for the ground state are determined based on atomic and molecular reaction statics. Potential energy curve scans for the ground state X^{1} Sigma^+ have been carried out with B3LYP and QCISD(T) methods due to their better performance in bond energy calculations. We find the potential energy calculated with QCISD(T) method is about 0.5 eV larger than dissociation energy when the diatomic distance is as large as 0.8 nm. The problem that single-reference ab initio methods don't meet dissociation limit during calculations of lanthanide heavy-metal elements is analyzed. We propose the calculation scheme to derive analytical Murrell-Sorbie potential energy function and Dunham expansion at equilibrium position. Spectroscopic constants got by standard Dunham treatment are in good agreement with results of rotational analyses on spectroscopic experiments. The analytical function is of much realistic importance since it is possible to be applied to predict fine transitional structure and study reaction dynamic process.