Hyperhardness and hypersoftness of atoms and their ions

Context

The theory of reactivity based on cDFT has been supplemented with the new method of calculating the atomic and local indices. With the use of previously derived relationship of the electron density gradient to the softness kernel and to the linear response function, we deliver theoretical analysis to obtain significant reactivity indices—the electron density derivatives: local softness and local hypersoftness together with the global hyperhardness index and the derivative of the global softness with respect to the number of electrons. The local derivatives have been applied in the calculation of responses of atoms to perturbation by an external potential by the alchemical approach. The vital role of the local softness has been confirmed; the potential role of the hypersoftness has been indicated.

Method

Our original theoretical scheme has been numerically illustrated with the results obtained with electron density calculations with B3LYP method implemented in Gaussian 16 package. The aug-cc-pvqz basis set has been routinely applied, except for the Ca atom (cc-pvqz). Using the pVTZ basis set recommended by Sadlej was necessary for the potassium atom.

Graphical Abstract