Photoelectron and Electron Momentum Spectroscopy of Tetrahydrofuran from a Molecular Dynamical Perspective

Abstract

The results of experimental studies of the valence electronic structure of tetrahydrofuran employing He I photo- electron spectroscopy as well as Electron Momentum Spectrosco- py (EMS) have been reinterpreted on the basis of Molecular Dynamical simulations employing the classical MM3 force field and large-scale quantum mechanical simulations employing Born− Oppenheimer Molecular Dynamics in conjunction with the dispersion corrected ωB97XD exchange-correlation functional. Analysis of the produced atomic trajectories demonstrates the importance of thermal deviations from the lowest energy path for pseudorotation, in the form of considerable variations of the ring- puckering amplitude. These deviations are found to have a significant influence on several outer-valence electron momentum distributions, as well as on the He I photoelectron spectrum.