title: Finding Chemical Reaction Paths with a Multilevel Preconditioning Protocol.
abstract: Finding transition paths for chemical reactions can be computationally costly owing to the level of quantum-chemical theory needed for accuracy. Here, we show that a multilevel preconditioning scheme that was recently introduced (Tempkin et al.J. Chem. Phys.2014,140, 184114) can be used to accelerate quantum-chemical string calculations. We demonstrate the method by finding minimum-energy paths for two well-characterized reactions: tautomerization of malonaldehyde and Claissen rearrangement of chorismate to prephanate. For these reactions, we show that preconditioning density functional theory (DFT) with a semiempirical method reduces the computational cost for reaching a converged path that is an optimum under DFT by several fold. The approach also shows promise for free energy calculations when thermal noise can be controlled.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, James Franck Institute, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, Computation Institute, Department of Statistics, University of Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States ; Department of Chemistry, James Franck Institute, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, Computation Institute, Department of Statistics, University of Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States.
authors.forename: Seyit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kale
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, James Franck Institute, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, Computation Institute, Department of Statistics, University of Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States ; Department of Chemistry, James Franck Institute, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, Computation Institute, Department of Statistics, University of Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States ; Department of Chemistry, James Franck Institute, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, Computation Institute, Department of Statistics, University of Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States ; Department of Chemistry, James Franck Institute, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, Computation Institute, Department of Statistics, University of Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States ; Computing, Environment, and Life Sciences, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States.
authors.forename: Olaseni
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sode
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, James Franck Institute, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, Computation Institute, Department of Statistics, University of Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States ; Department of Chemistry, James Franck Institute, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, Computation Institute, Department of Statistics, University of Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States ; Department of Chemistry, James Franck Institute, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, Computation Institute, Department of Statistics, University of Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weare
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, James Franck Institute, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, Computation Institute, Department of Statistics, University of Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States ; Department of Chemistry, James Franck Institute, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, Computation Institute, Department of Statistics, University of Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States ; Department of Chemistry, James Franck Institute, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, Computation Institute, Department of Statistics, University of Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States ; Department of Chemistry, James Franck Institute, Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, Computation Institute, Department of Statistics, University of Chicago , Chicago, Illinois 60637, United States.
authors.forename: Aaron R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Dinner