Natural bond orbital analysis of near-Hartree–Fock water dimer

We have carried out a natural bond orbital analysis of hydrogen bonding in the water dimer for the near-Hartree–Fock wave function of Popkie, Kistenmacher, and Clementi, extending previous studies based on smaller basis sets and less realistic geometry. We find that interactions which may properly be described as ‘‘charge transfer’’ (particularly the n-σ*OH interaction along the H-bond axis) play a critical role in the formation of the hydrogen bond, and without these interactions the water dimer would be 3–5 kcal/mol repulsive at the observed equilibrium distance. We discuss this result in relationship to Klemperer’s general picture of the bonding in van der Waals molecules, and to previous theoretical analyses of hydrogen bonding by the method of Kitaura and Morokuma.