SEMIEMPIRICAL DETERMINATION OF HYDROGEN BOND ENERGY FOR WATER CLUSTERS IN VAPOR PHASE .I. GENERAL THEORY AND APPLICATION TO DIMER

A simple semiempirical method is given for determining the hydrogen bond energy for water clusters in the vapor phase. This method is based on a general statistical-mechanical theory of clustering. The partition function for a system of clusters is used to determine the equilibrium distribution of clusters. In conjunction with available thermodynamic and spectroscopic data, the cluster equilibrium constants can be used to calculate the cluster potential energy and the hydrogen bond energy. Results for the water dimer agree quite well with other reported values obtained either by quantum-mechanical calculations or approximate thermodynamic estimates. A correct temperature dependence of the bond energies is found.