This concept implies that if atoms get closer to each other than a specific distance, then their interaction is significant otherwise, it can be neglected. Ivan ChernyshovĬhemists found a way out: in order to identify the extent to which intermolecular interactions affect the properties of a chemical system, they started using the principle of the effective size of atoms, commonly known as van der Waals radii. The smallest changes in the manner of molecules' interaction can make an invention very effective or completely infeasible. This knowledge makes it possible to understand how molecules of drugs affect cells, or how new materials for organic electronics work.
Then again, today it is very important for scientists to know the energy of intermolecular interactions. If we try to increase the computations’ precision, the time they require grows as well - to the point that the solutions call for a great amount of time of supercomputers' operation.” The approximation methods work very well when we are describing the behavior of individual molecules, but in case of intermolecular interactions, the inaccuracy is too high. Quantum chemistry is the field of quantum mechanics that is dedicated to the approximate solution of this equation for chemical systems. It is impossible to solve it with high accuracy. “We have the Schrödinger equation that can be used to describe any quantum system, says Ivan Chernyshov, researcher at ITMO’s ChemBio cluster.
The problem is that modern quantum chemistry methods aren’t enough to completely and precisely describe the characteristics of intermolecular interactions.
The process of brewing tea, digesting our meals or the rigidity of a new type of plastic - this all depends on the manner of the interaction of specific molecules. From the chemistry standpoint, we all live in the world of perpetual intermolecular interactions.
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