Vibrational Circular Dichroism Spectra for Large Molecules through Molecules-in-Molecules Fragment-Based Approach

We present the first implementation of the vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectrum of large molecules through the Molecules-in-Molecules (MIM) fragment-based method. An efficient projection of the relevant higher energy derivatives from smaller fragments to the parent molecule enables the extension of the MIM method for the evaluation of VCD spectra (MIM-VCD). The overlapping primary subsystems in this work are constructed from interacting fragments using a number-based scheme and the dangling bonds are saturated with link hydrogen atoms. Independent fragment calculations are performed to evaluate the energies, Hessian matrix, atomic polar tensor (APT), and the atomic axial tensor (AAT). Subsequently, the link atom tensor components are projected back onto the corresponding host and supporting atoms through the Jacobian projection method, as in the ONIOM approach. In the two-layer model, the long-range interactions between fragments are accounted for using a less computationally intensive lower level of theory. The performance of the MIM model is calibrated on the d- and l-enantiomers of 10 carbohydrate benchmark molecules, with strong intramolecular interactions. The vibrational frequencies and VCD intensities are accurately reproduced relative to the full, unfragmented, results for these systems. In addition, the MIM-VCD method is employed to predict the VCD spectra of perhydrotriphenylene and cryptophane-A, yielding spectra in agreement with experiment. The accuracy and performance of the benchmark systems validate the MIM-VCD model for exploring vibrational circular dichroism spectra of large molecules.