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Updated: Jun 17, 2026

Multiscale Sampling of a Heterogeneous Water/Metal Catalyst Interface using Density Functional Theory and Force-Field Molecular Dynamics
Published on: April 12, 2019
LOBA: a localized orbital bonding analysis to calculate oxidation states, with application to a model water oxidation
Alex J W Thom1, Eric J Sundstrom, Martin Head-Gordon
1Department of Chemistry, University of California Berkeley, California 94720, USA. alex.thom@berkeley.edu
Abstract:
We propose a method for calculation of oxidation states in transition metal complexes, utilizing a bonding analysis based on localized molecular orbitals in conjunction with traditional population analyses. The localized orbital bonding analysis (LOBA) is seen to accurately produce both the oxidation state and chemically intuitive views of bonding in the complexes studied. This is in contrast to simple population analyses where the oxidation states are not reproduced for even simple systems and more complex analyses which break down on problematic systems. We report the application to a manganese complex with potential activity as oxygen-evolving catalyst, determining the location of the oxidations.
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