A density functional theory exchange-correlation functional for the exploration of reaction mechanisms is proposed. This functional, denoted BMK (Boese-Martin for Kinetics), has an accuracy in the 2 kcal/mol range for transition state barriers but, unlike previous attempts at such a functional, this improved accuracy does not come at the expense of equilibrium properties. This makes it a general-purpose functional whose domain of applicability has been extended to transition states, rather than a specialized functional for kinetics. The improvement in BMK rests on the inclusion of the kinetic energy density together with a large value of the exact exchange mixing coefficient. For this functional, the kinetic energy density appears to correct “back” the excess exact exchange mixing for ground-state properties, possibly simulating variable exchange.

A new “HCTH” generalized gradient approximation (GGA) functional is presented. Its 15 parameters have been refined against data from a training set containing 407 atomic and molecular systems. We believe that the much enhanced training set means that the new functional HCTH/407 has a much greater universality than previous GGA functionals. Statistical data is presented for the 407 set for the new functional, as well as other functionals.

The sixth blind test of organic crystal structure prediction (CSP) methods has been held, with five target systems: a small nearly rigid molecule, a polymorphic former drug candidate, a chloride salt hydrate, a co-crystal and a bulky flexible molecule. This blind test has seen substantial growth in the number of participants, with the broad range of prediction methods giving a unique insight into the state of the art in the field. Significant progress has been seen in treating flexible molecules, usage of hierarchical approaches to ranking structures, the application of density-functional approximations, and the establishment of new workflows and `best practices' for performing CSP calculations. All of the targets, apart from a single potentially disorderedZ′ = 2 polymorph of the drug candidate, were predicted by at least one submission. Despite many remaining challenges, it is clear that CSP methods are becoming more applicable to a wider range of real systems, including salts, hydrates and larger flexible molecules. The results also highlight the potential for CSP calculations to complement and augment experimental studies of organic solid forms.

New density functionals, using the kinetic-energy density Tau are reported. The newly introduced variable enhances the performance of previous functionals, leading to highly accurate functionals with and without the use of exact exchange. All these functionals are compared to commonly used functionals for a large test set, looking also at reactions and hydrogen bonded systems. Furthermore, their physical plausibility is discussed.

We are proposing a new computational thermochemistry protocol denoted W3 theory, as a successor to W1 and W2 theory proposed earlier [Martin and De Oliveira, J. Chem. Phys. 111, 1843 (1999)]. The new method is both more accurate overall (error statistics for total atomization energies approximately cut in half) and more robust (particularly towards systems exhibiting significant nondynamical correlation) than W2 theory. The cardinal improvement rests in an approximate account for post-CCSD(T) correlation effects. Iterative T3 (connected triple excitations) effects exhibit a basis set convergence behavior similar to the T3 contribution overall. They almost universally decrease molecular binding energies. Their inclusion in isolation yields less accurate results than CCSD(T) nearly across the board: It is only when T4 (connected quadruple excitations) effects are included that superior performance is achieved. T4 effects systematically increase molecular binding energies. Their basis set convergence is quite rapid, and even CCSDTQ/cc-pVDZ scaled by an empirical factor of 1.2532 will yield a quite passable quadruples contribution. The effect of still higher-order excitations was gauged for a subset of molecules (notably the eight-valence electron systems): T5 (connected quintuple excitations) contributions reach 0.3 kcal/mol for the pathologically multireference X 1Σg+ state of C2 but are quite small for other systems. A variety of avenues for achieving accuracy beyond that of W3 theory were explored, to no significant avail. W3 thus appears to represent a good compromise between accuracy and computational cost for those seeking a robust method for computational thermochemistry in the kJ/mol accuracy range on small systems.

New generalized gradient approximation (GGA) functionals are reported, using the expansion form of A. D. Becke, J. Chem. Phys. 107, 8554 (1997), with 15 linear parameters. Our original such GGA functional, called HCTH, was determined through a least squares refinement to data of 93 systems. Here, the data are extended to 120 systems and 147 systems, introducing electron and proton affinities, and weakly bound dimers to give the new functionals HCTH/120 and HCTH/147. HCTH/120 has already been shown to give high quality predictions for weakly bound systems. The functionals are applied in a comparative study of the addition reaction of water to formaldehyde and sulfur trioxide, respectively. Furthermore, the performance of the HCTH/120 functional in Car–Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations of liquid water is encouraging.