First Principle Studies on the Solvation and Dissociations of Formaldehyde and Formic Acid in Gas Phase and Aqueous Phase

Solvation and chemical reactions in supercritical water are affected by a number of factors. Solvation energy, entropy, and densities are the basic thermodynamic quantities that determine the chemical equilibriums, which can be controlled by temperature and pressure. To account for these factors, static optimization leading to zero-temperature structures should be combined and compared with molecular dynamics simulation in real time. In my thesis, the solvation structures are studied in gas phase and aqueous phase, to understand the properties of solvent water and the thermal effect on the reactions.;The hydrated clusters of formaldehyde and formic acid in gas phase are explored computationally by density functional theory (DFT) with a basis set 6-311++G(d,p). Investigation on the structures and energies of hydrated HCHO, HCOO- and HCOOH solvated by a number of water molecules is important for understanding the hydrogen bond interactions as the number of water molecules increases. Comparisons between non-dissociated and dissociated clusters of hydrated formic acid provide valuable information on the acidic dissociation of formic acid in aqueous solution.;The solvations of formaldehyde and formic acid in aqueous solution are simulated by density functional theory based ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) method with pseudopotentials and a plane wave basis set using Vienna Ab-initio Simulation Package (VASP). The pair radial distribution function is obtained to elucidate the solvation structure and the hydrogen bond interaction among solvent molecules, and between solute and solvent. The hydration number indicates the weakening of the hydrogen bond with increasing temperature. The results at the temperatures above the critical point of water show that the acid dissociation of formic acid is greatly depressed which is different from the results in ambient water.;The mechanisms for the dissociations of formic acid in the gas phase and in aqueous solution are studied by Car-Parrinello (CP)-based metadynamics (MTD) method, implemented in the Car-Parrinello Molecular Dynamics (CPMD) program. The two main dissociations channels of dehydration and dehydrogenation, including zero, one, two and bulk water molecules, respectively, are simulated with a biased external potential to examine the potential catalytic role of water. In addition, the thermal effects at two different temperatures are included to account for the rapid dissociation of formic acid in supercritical water. The free energy surfaces are reconstructed and the barriers are calculated to show the main dissociation pathway of formic acid in different environments.