Exploring Hydrogen Bonding through Reduced Dimensional Treatments in Oblique Coordinates

Recent work by Zuñiga and coworkers has demonstrated the utility of the oblique coordinate transformation as a complement to the classic normal mode treatment. Further work by Boyer and Sibert has shown that this transformation may be seen as the best local approximation to the normal modes and has provided a simple approach for the calculation of the oblique transformation. These coordinates therefore provide a convenient starting point for reduced dimensional models, allowing for the inclusion of important potential couplings while retaining ease of interpretation. In this talk we will explore the application of the oblique coordinates to the construction of reduced dimensional local mode models in hydrogen bonded systems, looking at the benefits and restrictions of such a treatment to a series of prototypical water clusters and the formic acid dimer.