Assessing the Intrinsic Strengths of Ion–Solvent and Solvent–Solvent Interactions for Hydrated Mg2+ Clusters

Abstract

Information resulting from a comprehensive investigation into the intrinsic strengths of hydrated divalent magnesium clusters is useful for elucidating the role of aqueous solvents on the Mg2+ ion, which can be related to those in bulk aqueous solution. However, the intrinsic Mg–O and intermolecular hydrogen bond interactions of hydrated magnesium ion clusters have yet to be quantitatively measured. In this work, we investigated a set of 17 hydrated divalent magnesium clusters by means of local vibrational mode force constants calculated at the ωB97X-D/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory, where the nature of the ion–solvent and solvent–solvent interactions were interpreted from topological electron density analysis and natural population analysis. We found the intrinsic strength of inner shell Mg–O interactions for [Mg(H2O)n]2+ (n = 1–6) clusters to relate to the electron density at the bond critical point in Mg–O bonds. From the application of a secondary hydration shell to [Mg(H2O)n]2+ (n = 5–6) clusters, stronger Mg–O interactions were observed to correspond to larger instances of charge transfer between the lp(O) orbitals of the inner hydration shell and the unfilled valence shell of Mg. As the charge transfer between water molecules of the first and second solvent shell increased, so did the strength of their intermolecular hydrogen bonds (HBs). Cumulative local vibrational mode force constants of explicitly solvated Mg2+, having an outer hydration shell, reveal a CN of 5, rather than a CN of 6, to yield slightly more stable configurations in some instances. However, the cumulative local mode stretching force constants of implicitly solvated Mg2+ show the six-coordinated cluster to be the most stable. These results show that such intrinsic bond strength measures for Mg–O and HBs offer an effective way for determining the coordination number of hydrated magnesium ion clusters.