Enthalpy of formation and anharmonic force field of diacetylene

The enthalpy of formation of diacetylene (C4H2) is pinpointed using state-of-the-art theoretical methods, accounting for high-order electron correlation, relativistic effects, non-Born-Oppenheimer corrections, and vibrational anharmonicity. Molecular energies are determined from coupled cluster theory with single and double excitations (CCSD), perturbative triples [CCSD(T)], full triples (CCSDT), and perturbative quadruples [CCSDT(Q)], in concert with correlation-consistent basis sets (cc-pVXZ, X=D, T, Q, 5, 6) that facilitate extrapolations to the complete basis set limit. The first full quartic force field of diacetylene is determined at the highly accurate all-electron CCSD(T) level with a cc-pCVQZ basis, which includes tight functions for core correlation. Application of second-order vibrational perturbation theory to our anharmonic force field yields fundamental frequencies with a mean absolute difference of only 3.9 cm(-1) relative to the experimental band origins, without the use of any empirical scale factors. By a focal point approach, we converge on an enthalpy change for the isogyric reaction 2 H-C[triple bond]C-H-->H-C[triple bond]C-C[triple bond]C-H+H2 of (+0.03, +0.81) kcal mol(-1) at (0, 298.15) K. With the precisely established fHdegrees of acetylene, we thus obtain DeltafHdegrees(C4H2)=(109.4,109.7)+/-0.3 kcal mol(-1) at (0, 298.15) K. Previous estimates of the diacetylene enthalpy of formation range from 102 to 120 kcal mol(-1).