A Gaussian-3 investigation on the stabilities and bonding of the nine N10 clusters

Abstract A Gaussian-3 investigation has been performed to examine the stabilities of the nine N 10 isomers. G3 energies at 0K, enthalpies and heats of formation at 298K have been calculated. The most stable structure is VIII, which consists of three five-membered rings with a bowl-shape structure. The thermodynamic stability trend of the nine N 10 clusters is VIII > V > IX > VII > IV > VI > III > I > II, which is different from the previous theoretical results. Natural bond orbital (NBO) and atom in molecules (AIM) analysis have been carried out to study the bonding of these isomers.