Magnetic properties and core electron binding energies of liquid water

The magnetic properties and the core and inner valence electron binding energies of liquid water are investigated. The adopted methodology relies on the combination of molecular dynamics and electronic structure calculations. Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics with the Becke and Lee-Yang-Parr functionals for exchange and correlation, respectively, and includes an empirical correction (BLYP-D3) functional and classical molecular dynamics with the TIP4P/2005-F model were carried out. The Keal-Tozer functional was applied for predicting magnetic shielding and spin-spin coupling constants. Core and inner valence electron binding energies in liquid water were calculated with symmetry adapted cluster-configuration interaction. The relationship between the magnetic shielding constant σ(¹⁷O), the role played by the oxygen atom as a proton acceptor and donor, and the tetrahedral organisation of liquid water are investigated. The results indicate that the deshielding of the oxygen atom in water is very dependent on the order parameter (q) describing the tetrahedral organisation of the hydrogen bond network. The strong sensitivity of magnetic properties on changes of the electronic density in the nuclei environment is illustrated by a correlation between σ(¹⁷O) and the energy gap between the 1a₁[O1s] (core) and the 2a₁ (inner valence) orbitals of water. Although several studies discussed the eventual connection between magnetic properties and core electron binding energies, such a correlation could not be clearly established. Here, we demonstrate that for liquid water this correlation exists although involving the gap between electron binding energies of core and inner valence orbitals.