Practical Guide For Applying Techniques To Real World Proble

Description:
A practical, easily accessible guide for bench-top chemists, this book focuses on accurately applying computational chemistry techniques to everyday chemistry problems. Provides nonmathematical explanations of advanced topics in computational chemistry. Focuses on when and how to apply different computational techniques. Addresses computational chemistry connections to biochemical systems and polymers. Provides a prioritized list of methods for attacking difficult computational chemistry problems, and compares advantages and disadvantages of various approximation techniques. Describes how the choice of methods of software affects requirements for computer memory and processing time.

Review:
'...offers a research guide rather than a primary text...students might find some of the material useful...explains to chemists how to use computational techniques to address real-world research problems.' (SciTech Book News, Vol. 25, No. 4, December 2001) 'If you're looking for an aggregation of what's out there, and a starting point for further reading or research, then this book does a pretty good job.' (Chemweb - Alchemist, 11 February 2002)

Table of Contents:
Preface; Acknowledgments; Symbols Used in This Book; Introduction; BASIC TOPICS; Fundamental Principles; Ab initio Methods; Semiempirical Methods; Density Functional Theory; Molecular Mechanics; Molecular Dynamics and Monte Carlo Simulations; Predicting Molecular Geometry; Constructing a Z-Matrix; Using Existing Basis Sets; Molecular Vibrations; Population Analysis; Other Chemical Properties; The Importance of Symmetry; Efficient Use of Computer Resources; How to Conduct a Computational Research Project; ADVANCED TOPICS; Finding Transition Structures; Reaction Coordinates; Reaction Rates; Potential Energy Surfaces; Conformation Searching; Fixing Self-Consistent Field Convergence Problems; QM/MM; Solvation; Electronic Excited States; Size Consistency; Spin Contamination; Basis Set Customization; Force Field Customization; Structure Property Relationships; Computing NMR Chemical Shifts; Nonlinear Optical Properties; Relativistic Effects; Band Structures; Mesoscale Methods; Synthesis Route Prediction; APPLICATIONS; The Computational Chemist's View of the Periodic Table; Biomolecules; Simulating Liquids; Polymers; Solids and Surfaces; Appendix: Software Packages; Appendix 1: Integrated Packages; Appendix 2: Ab initio and DFT Software; Appendix 3: Semiempirical Software; Appendix 4: Molecular Mechanics/Molecular Dynamics/Monte Carlo Software; Appendix 5: Graphics Packages; Apendix 6: Special-purpose Programs; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.

Author Biography:
DAVID YOUNG, PhD, is a scientist with Cytoclonal Pharmaceutics in Dallas, Texas. Prior to joining the team at Cytoclonal, Dr. Young worked as a super-computer analyst for Nichols Research Corporation and Computer Sciences Corporation, and as an affiliate professor of chemistry at Auburn University.