Towards the computations of accurate spectroscopic parameters and vibrational spectra for organic compounds

We present multi-component computations for rotational constants, vibrational and torsional levels of medium-sized molecules. Through the treatment of two organic sulphur molecules, ethyl mercaptan and dimethyl sulphide, which are relevant for atmospheric and astrophysical media, we point out the outstanding capabilities of explicitly correlated coupled clusters (CCSD(T)-F12) method in conjunction with the cc-pVTZ-F12 basis set for the accurate predictions of such quantities. Indeed, we show that the CCSD(T)-F12/cc-pVTZ-F12 equilibrium rotational constants are in good agreement with those obtained by means of a composite scheme based on CCSD(T) calculations that accounts for the extrapolation to the complete basis set (CBS) limit and core-correlation effects [CCSD(T)/CBS+CV], thus leading to values of ground-state rotational constants rather close to the corresponding experimental data. For vibrational and torsional levels, our analysis reveals that the anharmonic frequencies derived from CCSD(T)-F12/cc-pVTZ-F12 harmonic frequencies and anharmonic corrections (Dν = ω − ν) at the CCSD/cc-pVTZ level closely agree with experimental results. The pattern of the torsional transitions and the shape of the potential energy surfaces along the torsional modes are also well reproduced using the CCSD(T)-F12/cc-pVTZ-F12 energies. Interestingly, this good accuracy is accompanied with a strong reduction of the computational costs. This makes the procedures proposed here as schemes of choice for effective and accurate prediction of spectroscopic properties of organic compounds. Finally, popular density functional approaches are compared with the coupled cluster (CC) methodologies in torsional studies. The long-range CAM-B3LYP functional of Handy and co-workers is recommended for large systems.