Car-Parrinello and path integral molecular dynamics study of the hydrogen bond in the chloroacetic acid dimer system

We have studied the double proton transfer (DPT) reaction in the cyclic dimer of chloroacetic acid using both classical and path integral Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics. We also attempt to quantify the errors in the potential energy surface that arise from the use of a pure density functional. In the classical dynamics a clear reaction mechanism can be identified, where asynchronized DPT arises due to coupling between the O-H stretching oscillator and several low energy intermolecular vibrational modes. This mechanism is considerably altered when quantum tunneling is permitted in the simulation. The introduction of path integrals leads to considerable changes in the thermally averaged molecular geometry, leading to shorter and more centered hydrogen bond linkages.