Solvation Structure and Ion–Solvent Hydrogen Bonding of Hydrated Fluoride, Chloride and Bromide—A Comparative QM/MM MD Simulation Study

In this study, the correlated resolution-of-identity Møller–Plesset perturbation theory of second order (RIMP2) ab initio level of theory has been combined with the newly parameterised, flexible SPC-mTR2 water model to formulate an advanced QM/MM MD simulation protocol to study the solvation properties of the solutes F−, Cl− and Br− in aqueous solution. After the identification of suitable ion–water Lennard–Jones parameters for the QM/MM coupling, a total simulation period of 10 ps (equilibration) plus 25 ps (sampling) could be achieved for each target system at QM/MM conditions. The resulting simulation data enable an in-depth analysis of the respective hydration structure, the first shell ligand exchange characteristics and the impact of solute–solvent hydrogen bonding on the structural properties of first shell water molecules. While a rather unexpected tailing of the first shell ion–oxygen peak renders the identification of a suitable QM boundary region challenging, the presented simulation results provide a valuable primer for more advanced simulation approaches focused on the determination of single-ion thermodynamical properties.