Building Molecules¶

Start AMSinput¶

For this tutorial we again prefer to work in the Tutorial directory:

Search for ethanol¶

The quickest solution: search (and find) ethanol.

Press ctrl/cmd-F to activate the search box (or click the search icon in the panel bar)

Enter ‘ethanol’ as search text (without quotes)

Click on the ‘C2H6O: Ethanol (ADF)’ match

Rotate to get a good view

Your ethanol is ready. The (ADF) in the search results mean that the molecule has already been optimized by ADF, using the BP86 XC potential with a TZP basis set and small core.

For the next demonstration we need a file with the xyz coordinates of ethanol. You can make such a file using the Export Coordinates option:

Import XYZ for ethanol¶

To import a molecule if you have its structure as xyz file (with element types), you can either use the File → Import Coordinates… or the Edit → Paste command.

AMSinput will start and automatically import the .xyz file.

An alternative and often easier way: just copy the contents of the .xyz file.

The coordinates are:

C       0.01247000       0.02254000       1.08262000
C      -0.00894000      -0.01624000      -0.43421000
H      -0.49334000       0.93505000       1.44716000
H       1.05522000       0.04512000       1.44808000
H      -0.64695000      -1.12346000       2.54219000
H       0.50112000      -0.91640000      -0.80440000
H       0.49999000       0.86726000      -0.84481000
H      -1.04310000      -0.02739000      -0.80544000
O      -0.66442000      -1.15471000       1.56909000

You should again get the ethanol molecule, just as you have saved it.

Import SMILES string¶

AMSinput can also interpret SMILES strings (via OpenBabel). As a demonstration, lets try again with Ethanol:

Again we have an ethanol molecule. SMILES strings do not contain the 3D structure, it was generated by OpenBabel and is NOT an ADF optimized structure. So normally the next step would be to pre-optimize with UFF (via the cog wheel), and to optimize the geometry with ADF.

Build ethanol using the structure tool¶

As a demonstration on how to use the structure tool , we start by building a methane molecule:

The next step is to add a methyl group, using the structures tool :

Select the → Alkyl Chains → Methyl structure

Notice that the button of the structures menu is glowing, which means that the structure-tool is in use.

You will see that the hydrogen is replaced by a methyl group.

Note that:

• The methyl is orientated along the newly formed C-C bond and the new hydrogens point away from the existing ones.

• The double-clicked hydrogen is replaced by the carbon atom, since this atom is the ‘replacing’ atom. This atom is defined through having xyz-coordinates (0,0,0).

• The background glow moved from the ‘Structures’ tool to the ‘Pointer’ tool button; the ‘Pointer’ tool is active again.

To create ethanol, we need to add a hydroxyl group:

Select the → Ligands → OH structure

Double-click on one of the hydrogen atoms

Again, the hydrogen is replaced by the structure. In this case, the oxygen replaces the double-clicked atom. The hydrogen is precisely aligned along the C-O bond and points away from the rest of the molecule. This shows you the very general way in which the structures will align according to the bonds in the original molecule and those in the structure. In this case, the hydroxyl group is not immediately orientated as it normally would be in an ethanol molecule:

Pre-optimize by clicking on

And again we have constructed an ethanol molecule.

AMSinput comes with a many predefined structures. Among them are some typical solvent molecules, so that you can easily add solvent molecules around your system. One of these ‘Solvent’ structures is Ethanol. Now add this molecule in empty space:

Select the → Solvents → Ethanol structure

Left-click in empty space near the hydroxyl group

Note that the oxygen is selected. Again, this oxygen is defined through having xyz-coordinates (0,0,0). Next we select the new molecule and orient it with the mouse to a reasonable position:

Building a peptide chain using the structures tool¶

Now we will build a small peptide chain as another example using the structures tool.

Select File → New

Click ‘No’ as we do not want to save the setup

Select the → Amino Acids → AA Backbone structure

Place it in the drawing area

There appears a subunit (or actually two) of a basic peptide chain. Notice that one of the atoms is selected, namely the terminal nitrogen. This atom is, again, the ‘replacing’ atom. In order to extend the peptide backbone, you now have to choose the right atom to be replaced. The obvious choice is the (non double-bonded) terminal oxygen.

Click in empty space to deselect the nitrogen

Select the → Amino Acids → AA Backbone structure (or just press the space bar)

Double click on the terminal oxygen

You may want to use View → Reset View

In a similar fashion, you can now replace the hydrogens on the backbone by amino acid side groups of your choice. These can be found in the → Amino Acid → AA Side Groups sub-menu.

Metal complexes and ligands¶

In the sub-menu ‘Metal Complexes’ you can find a set of predefined complexes corresponding to commonly encountered geometries. Furthermore, there are a number of ligands to be found, which can be easily used with these metal complexes.

Predefined Metal Complex Geometries¶

Select the File → New command

Click No (do not save changes)

Select → Metal Complexes → ML6 Octahedral tool and place it in the drawing area

Notice that six dummy (“Xx”) atoms have been placed around the metal center in an octahedral fashion.

Select one of the dummy atoms by clicking on it

Select Select → Select Atoms Of Same Type menu command

The Ligands structure sub-menu contains a number of ligands which can be used to replace the dummy atoms. The Structure menu can, however, also be reached via the Atoms menu.

Select the Atoms → Replace By Structure → Ligands → CN command

Click in empty space to clear the selection

Reset the View if needed

Notice that all dummy atoms in the selection are replaced by CN ligands.

Bidentate Ligands¶

In order to use the bidentate ligands, we must start with a bare metal center.

Select the File → New command

Click No (do not save changes)

Place an iron atom in the drawing area (click the X button in the toolbar to get a menu with all elements)

Select the → Ligands → Bidentates → Ethylenediamine structure

Double-click on the metal atom

You can see that, in this case, the metal atom is not replaced by an atom of the structure, contrary to previous experience, but that the bidentate ligand is simply attached to the central metal atom.

This works because the ‘replacing’ atom in all bidentate structures is a dummy atom, which has the property that it won’t replace an existing atom. The metal atom will simply take over the bonds that existed on the dummy atom in the structure. You can easily verify this when you would place the structure in empty space. Other multidentate ligands are defined in a similar fashion.

Press space bar and double-click on the metal atom

Notice that the second ligand appears opposite the existing one.

Modifying the Plane Angle¶

To change the relative orientation of two bidentate ligands, we can change the plane angle. The planes are defined by two sets of three atoms, the central one being present in both sets. In this case this will, of course, be the metal atom.

Select, in order, the two nitrogens on ligand one, the metal atom, and the nitrogens on the second ligand.

Change the plane angle to 90 degrees using the slider

In this way, you can easily change the environment around the metal from square planer to tetrahedral. This feature works as long as you choose the atoms in right order, and if the defined planes can freely rotate relative to each other.

Your own structures library¶

You can make your own structure library very easily.

By default, user defined structures will be stored in the .scm_gui/Structures directory.

Defining your structures¶

To be able to actually use the structures as described earlier, it is necessary to define one of the atoms as having xyz-coordinates (0,0,0). This will then be the atom that will actually appear at the spot of the atom that is replaced by the structure. If you use the Save As Structure command this will be done for you.

Select the File → New command

Click No (do not save changes)

Build methane

Replace three of the hydrogens by chloride atoms and pre-optimize

Delete the remaining hydrogen

Select the central carbon atom

Use the → Save As Structure … command

Enter a name like trichloromethyl

Note that the selected atom (currently the C atom) will be used as anchor

The new structure will appear in the structures menu and can be directly used.

Using dummy atoms¶

Dummy (“Xx”) atoms are treated differently when used in structures. A dummy atom will not replace an existing atom when it is defined as the ‘replacing atom’. Instead, the double-clicked atom will remain and will accept the bonds that the dummy atom had in the structure.

Build a methane molecule

Replace the carbon atom by a nitrogen atom

Select one of the hydrogens and replace it by a dummy atom (the Xx atom type, in the periodic system)

Select the dummy atom

Save the structure using the → Save As Structure … command

Now you can select the structure from the structures menu and directly use it.

Select your new structure from the structures menu

Double-click on one of the hydrogens

Notice that the hydrogen atom is not removed and that the NH3 group is attached to it. Similar behavior has been demonstrated with the bidentate ligands, where the dummy atoms are also used.

If you want to clean up your structures, you can use the → Manage Structures… command. If you use it, AMSjobs will open and show the contents of your Structures directory. As the structures are just (simplified) .ams files, you can open them using AMSinput. And using AMSjobs you can rename them or delete them.

A sphere of Cu atoms, cut out of the crystal¶

We start making a Cu crystal, using a super cell so we have many real Cu atoms.

To build the crystal, we need to use the periodic tools. These will work only for programs supporting periodicity.

Start AMSinput (or use File → New in the currently open AMSinput window)

Search () for ‘copper’

Click on ‘Cu’ in the Crystals section of the search results

Edit → Crystal → Generate Super Cell…

Enter ‘5’ to change left top element to 5 (the other diagonal elements should automatically adjust)

Click OK in the pop-up-window

Now we have a block of Cu, with explicit Cu atoms (that is using a super cell). Next we will center this block, and select a sphere of atoms around the origin.

As you can see, you have a (very small) sphere consisting of Cu atoms in the molecular ADF program:

Obviously, by making a bigger super-cell and selecting atoms within a larger radius you can make bigger spheres.

A carbon nanotube¶

A small piece of nanotube is included in the molecule database, so you can just search for it and use it. However, typically one wants some specific nanotube structure. And make it infinite (periodic in one dimension). This can conveniently be done by importing the structure as found on the web:

In the browser windows we get the nanotube structure in CIF format, something like the following:

data_nanotube

_audit_creation_method       '(3,3) Nanotube -- TubeGen 3.3, J T Frey, University of Delaware'

_cell_length_a         7.4762
_cell_length_b         7.4762
_cell_length_c         2.4643
_cell_angle_alpha     90.00
_cell_angle_beta      90.00
_cell_angle_gamma    120.00

_symmetry_space_group_name_H-M   'P 1'
_symmetry_Int_Tables_number       1

loop_
_atom_site_label
_atom_site_fract_x
_atom_site_fract_y
_atom_site_fract_z
C         0.7762    0.5000    0.0000
C         0.8138    0.7061    0.0000
C         0.7762    0.7762    0.5000
C         0.6077    0.8138    0.5000
C         0.5000    0.7762    0.0000
C         0.2939    0.6077    0.0000
C         0.2238    0.5000    0.5000
C         0.1862    0.2939    0.5000
C         0.2238    0.2238    0.0000
C         0.3923    0.1862    0.0000
C         0.5000    0.2238    0.5000
C         0.7061    0.3923    0.5000

Next we want to get this structure into AMSinput:

We see a piece of nanotube, repeated in all directions. Actually nine nanotubes are visible.

Notice that the nanotubes are oriented along the Z-axes.

The GUI can handle one-dimensional systems. However, in case of a one dimensional system (a chain) the lattice vector is always along the X direction. So to change our nanotube in a nice periodic one-dimensional structure we need to rotate it (including the lattice vectors) such that the tube is along the X-axes.

The Rotate 90 command did not only rotate the coordinates of the atoms, but also the lattice vectors. Now we have a small piece of nanotube (remember it already is repeated 3 times for visualization purposes). This might be sufficient for your purposes, but it is easy to make a bigger piece:

Switch to some non-periodic code (like ADF) if you wish to treat this piece of nanotube without infinite symmetry.

If you have a large system you can sometimes get a better view by introducing Fog. This works best with a white background.