Visualizing dispersion interactions through the use of local orbital spaces

The interpretation of chemical properties/phenomena can often be aided through the use of imagery. The mapping of molecular electrostatic potentials is a prime example, serving as a guideline in the design of novel compounds or understanding transition state stabilization effects. It is today a common tool for theoreticians and experimentalists alike. With the emergence of concepts such as dispersion energy donors, and the overall importance of dispersion in chemical systems, representations targeting such a class of interactions are warranted. In this work, we make use of local orbital analysis to extract dispersion interactions and represent them in a scalar quantity, the Dispersion Interaction Density (DID). A particular advantage of the method is the possibility to represent at the same footing intermolecular and intramolecular interactions in a straightforward fashion from wave function calculations. We present examples for the benzene dimer, several substituted benzenes and a coupled diamondoid molecule. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.